Chichimeca War
Chichimeca War | |||||||
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Part of the Mexican Indian Wars | |||||||
1580 Codex depicting a Battle at San Francisco Chamacuero in the Current State of Guanajuato | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Chichimeca Confederation |
Allies & auxiliaries: | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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The Chichimeca War (1550–90) was a military conflict between the
The Chichimeca War (1550-1590) began eight years after the two-year
Prelude
On September 8, 1546, natives near the
Chichimecas
The Chichimecas were nomadic and semi-nomadic people who occupied the large desert basin stretching from present day
The Chichimecas Confederation consisted of four main nations: Guachichiles, Pames, Guamares, and Zacatecos. These nations had decentralized governments, and were more of independent states.[7] Due to decentralized political unity, their territories overlapped and other Chichimecs joined one or another in raids.
The
The Pames lived north of present-day state of Querétaro and south and east of the Guachichiles. They were the least warlike and militant of the Chichimecas. They had absorbed some of the religious and cultural practices of the more urbanized native nations.[9]
The
The Zacatecos lived in the present-day states of Zacatecas and Durango. They had participated in the earlier Mixtón War and thus were experienced fighters against the Spanish. Some of the Zacatecos grew maize; others were nomadic.
The nomadic culture of the Chichimecas made it difficult for the Spanish to defeat them. The bow was their principal weapon and one experienced observer said the Zacatecos were "the best archers in the world." Their bows were short, usually less than four feet long, their arrows were long and thin and made of reed and tipped with obsidian, volcanic rock sharper than a modern-day razor. Despite the fragility of the obsidian arrows they had excellent penetrating qualities, even against Spanish armor which was de rigueur for soldiers fighting the Chichimeca. Many-layered buckskin armor was preferred to chain mail as obsidian arrows penetrated the links of the mail.[11]
The Chichimeca bow and arrow was expertly crafted allowing for penetration of Spanish armor. There are two Spanish accounts of the Chichimeca's archery skill that Powell writes in his book:
- On one occasion I saw them throw an orange into the air, and they shot into it so many arrows that, having held it in the air for much time, it finally fell in minute pieces" (Powell 48). "One of don Alonso de Castilla's soldiers had an arrow pass through the head of his horse, including a crownpiece of double buckskin and metal, and into his chest, so he fell with the horse dead on the ground 'this was seen by many who are still living' (Powell 48).
The Chichimeca were a nomadic culture making them very mobile and experts of rough terrain with vegetation filled (mostly cactus) land in which they always looked for hiding spots. "His long use of the food native to the Gran Chichimeca gave him far greater mobility than the sedentary invader, who was tied to domesticated livestock, agriculture, and imported supplies. The Chichimeca could and did cut off these supplies, destroy the livestock, and thus paralyze the economic and military vitality of the invaders; this was seldom possible in reverse" (Powell 44). They attacked in small groups ranging from five to two hundred warriors. In one account, with only fifty Zacateco warriors, the Chichimeca killed two hundred Spanish soldiers in one battle. They had no shortage of raiding parties because of the highly valued supplies attracting warriors from far off allowing for the highest quality of trade goods.
As the war escalated, both the Spanish and Chichimeca adapted and bettered their defensive and offensive tactics. "He [The Chichimeca] sent spies into Spanish towns for appraisal of the enemy's plans and strength; he developed a far-flung system of lookouts and scouts (atalays); and, in major attacks, settlements were softened by preliminary and apparently systematic killing and stealing of horses and other livestock, this being an attempt, sometimes successful, to change his intended victim from horseman to foot soldier" (Powell 46). When they attacked they used a very good tactic that terrified the animals and scared the Spanish. The Guachichil especially would disguise themselves as grotesque animals using animal heads and paint then yelled like crazed beasts making the Spanish lose control of horses and livestock. The Spanish started to set up many forts, bought mercenaries, and tried to use as many slaves as they could.
Chichimeca battle tactics were mostly ambushes and raids on the Spanish. Some of their raids were conducted by up to 200 men, groups of 40 to 50 warriors were more common, about the size of a modern infantry company or platoon with attachments, respectively. During the war, the Chichimecas learned to ride horses and use them in war. This was perhaps the first time that the Spanish in North America faced mounted Native warriors.[12] The undeniable advantage for the Spanish was their use of horses and other animals of burden that they had introduced to the Americas. Horses were unknown to the Americas before the Spanish imported them in 1519.
Course of the war
The conflict proved much more difficult and enduring than the Spanish anticipated. The first outbreak of hostilities was in late 1550 when Zacatecos attacked supply routes of
The Spanish government first attempted measures of both carrot and stick to attempt to tamp down the war, but, those failing, in 1567 it adopted the policy of a "war of fire and blood" (guerra a fuego y a sangre) – promising death, enslavement, or mutilation to the Chichimeca. One of the priorities of the Spaniards throughout the war was to keep the roads open to Zacatecas and the silver mines – especially the
The first main forts were in San Miguel and San Felipe in 1562 and Nombre de Dios in 1563. Yet even then the Chichimeca managed to achieve successes. By 1571, most of the Chichimeca nations were raiding towns and crucial economic routes. A letter from fray Guillermo de Santa María to fray Alonso de Alvarado stated that: "Later those same Zacatecos, made another assault against Onate and Ybara, one legue from Zenaguilla del Monte and three from the mining town of Zacatecas, of which they did a lot of damage" (Santa 220 (1)). After 1560, and especially in the decade of the 1570s, the Chichimecas turned to the raiding of several towns. In a letter written October 31, 1576, the viceroy of New Spain informed King Felipe II of Spain that:
- "We need for some quantity of soldiers to be sent, and to be paid a royal salary as agreed upon by the V.M. and of which the V.M. will send to be paid, a third of the Royal Hacienda (in Mexico City), and by the miners and those interested" (Hernandez 326 (2)).
Also reported in the same letter:
- "No one can sustain the war, the cost is too big, neither in arms nor in squadrons can we sustain war. The situation is very crucial, we don't have weapons, squadrons, food because every day our livestock gets stolen or killed of which sustaining the cattle has been very difficult. We don't have enough funds to keep the people happy. Everyone agrees that we need support from the royal box" (Hernandez 326 (3)).
Even after offensives were fully financed by the royal treasury; from 1575 to 1585 the Chichimeca started attacking with even greater military force. In a letter from the viceroy of New Spain, Conde de Coruna, to Felipe II on April 1, 1581: "I have let the V.M. understand about the happenings with the Chichimeca War and about how dire the situation is that all the mines in those districts where the Natives are engaging in battle, and with such a great number and that many mines in Zacatecas are closed" (Hernandez 340 (4)). The Spanish did not attain more success even when they tried other tactics of trickery and deceit. The royal road was destroyed and there was no Spanish fort that was not also destroyed within the Guachihile territory.
The increase in number of Spanish soldiers in the Gran Chichimeca was not entirely favorable to the war effort as the soldiers often supplemented their income by slave-raiding, thus reinforcing the animosity of the Chichimeca. Despite the influx of Spanish settlers and soldiers from Southern Mexico to the Gran Chichimeca, the Spanish were always short of soldiers compared to the Chichimeca ever growing recruitment of raiders, often staffing their presidios with only three Spaniards. The Spaniards, even with the assistance from other native soldiers and auxiliaries, especially the
Purchase for Peace
As the war continued unabated, it became clear that the Spanish policy of a war of fire and blood had failed. The royal treasury was being emptied by the demands of the war. Churchmen and others who had initially supported the war of fire and blood now questioned the policy. Mistreatment and enslavement of Chichimeca women, children, and men by Spaniards increasingly came to be seen as the cause of the war. In 1574, the Dominicans, contrary to the Augustinians and Franciscans, declared that the Chichimeca War was unjust and caused by Spanish aggression.[15] Thus, to end the conflict, the Spanish began to change public policy to purchase peace from the Chichimeca and assimilate with them.
In 1584, the Bishop of Guadalajara made a proposal for a "Christian remedy" to the war: the establishment of new towns with priests, soldiers, and friendly Indians to gradually Christianize the Chichimecas. The Viceroy,
The next step, in 1591, was for a new Viceroy,
The Purchase for Peace program worked to lower the rate of hostilities and the majority of the Chichimecas gradually became sedentary, Catholic, or nominally Catholic.
Importance
The Spanish policy evolved to make peace with the Chichimecas had four components: negotiation of peace agreements; welcoming, instead of forcing, conversion to Catholicism; encouraging native allies to settle the frontier to serve as examples and role models; and providing food, other commodities, and tools to potentially hostile natives. This established the pattern of Spanish policy for assimilating natives on their northern frontier. The principal components of the policy of purchase for peace would continue for nearly three centuries and would not be as successful, as later threats from hostile natives such as Apaches and Comanches would demonstrate.
Chichimecas today
Over time most of the Chichimeca people transformed their ethnic identities and absorbed into the Catholic population and more assimilated in mainstream society before and during the Mexican War of Independence. Large portions of the Guachihil population from La Montesa to Milagros migrated to the larger cities of Zacatecas or Aguascalientes and to the territories of California, Colorado, and Texas.
The Wixárika or
There are about 10,000 speakers of the
See also
References
- ISBN 0816505691
- ^ LatinoLA|Comunidad: The Indigenous People of Zacatecas Archived March 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Bakewell, P. J. Silver Mining and Society in Colonial Mexico: Zacatecas, 1546-1700. Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 1971, pp. 4-14
- ^ Schmal, John P. "The Indigenous People of Zacatecas Archived March 14, 2016, at the Wayback Machine." , accessed Jan 10, 2011
- ^ Marlowe, Frank W. "Hunter-Gatherers and Human Evolution." Evolutionary Anthropology. Vol 14, 2005, p. 57. Average and median population densities for the New World.
- ^ Powell, Phillip Wayne Soldiers, Indians & Silver. Berkeley: U of CA Press, 1952, pp. 39-41
- ^ Powell, pp. 33-35
- ^ Powell, pp. 35-37
- ^ Powell, p. 37
- ^ Powell, p. 38
- ^ Powell, p. 48
- ^ Powell, pp. 43-54
- ^ Powell, pp. 29-30, 60-62, 124
- ^ Powell, pp. 158-171
- ^ Gradie, Charlotte M. The Tepehuan Revolt of 1616. Salt Lake City: U of UT Press, 2000, p. 47
- ^ Powell, pp. 182-190
- ^ Powell, pp. 191-199
- ^ Schaefer, Stacy B. and Furst, Peter T. People of the Peyote: Huichol (Wixárika) Indian History, Religion, and Survival, Albuquerque: U of NM Press, 1997, p. 40-41
- ^ a b Ethnologue report for language code: hch Archived February 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Schaefer and Furst, p. 40
- ^ Lugares de México - Santa María Acapulco Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://davidmarkham.org/updates/1992_06.htm[permanent dead link]
- ^ Schmal, John P. "A Look into Guanajuato's Past Archived November 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine."
- Sources
- Powell, Philip Wayne. Soldiers, Indians, & Silver: The Northward Advance of New Spain, 1550-1600. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1952 (republished 1969)
- Schmal, John P. The History of Zacatecas. Houston Institute for Culture. 2004.
- Schmal, John P. Sixteenth Century Indigenous Jalisco. 2004.
- Hernandez, Manuel G. "Cartas de Indias: Publicalas Por Primera Vez" Ministerio De Formento 1877. 326–340. Madrid. Print.
- Santa Maria, Guillermo de. "Guerra de los Chichimecas : Mexico 1575 – Zirosto 1580" Paleography by Carrillo Cazares, Alberto. 2nd Ed. University of Guadalajara, Michoacan College, University of Norte, University Los Lagos, 220. San Luis College 2003. Print.
(1) Translated from: "Despues estros mismos Zacatecas, dende a pocos dias, hicieron otro salto en unas recuas de Cristobal de Onate y de Diego de Ybarra, una legua antes Zenagulla del Monte y tres de Zacatecas, en que hicieron muncho dano." (2) Translated from: "Es que se haga alguna cantidad de soldados, a los quales se les pague sueldo, en virtue de una Real cedula de V.M. en que V.M. manda se pague, la tercia parte, de la Real hazienda, y las otras does, por los mineros y personas interesads" (3) Translated from: "ninguno puede sustentar la Guerra con dos ni tres cauallos, y la costa es muy grande, asi de las armas como de los cauallo y nunguno puede sustentar la Guerra con dos nit res cauallos, y la costa es muy grande, asi de las armas como de los cauallos y comida, que cada dia se les mueren y se los matan, y es el trabajo grandisimo . . . sienten tanto todos la paga de lo que les toca, que, si yo lo puediese remidar con uender quanto tengo, lo haria, por euitar el descontento de la gente, que a todos les parece que se a de pagar de la Real caja" (4) Translated from: "Ya he dado quenta particular a V.M. de lo que toca a la Guerra de los chichimecas, y del incombiniente que se sigue a todas las minas de aquel districto, en que aquellos indos anden tan lebantados y con tanto numero y desberguanca; y demas, desto, soy informado que en Zacatecas ay munchas minas ceradas"