Untitled - Smithsonian Institution
Untitled - Smithsonian Institution
Untitled - Smithsonian Institution
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THOMAS] INDIAN LANGUAGES OF MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 43<br />
He adds, however, that they did not all use the same idiom, and that<br />
those who wandered in the lands of the Zacatecas and the Aguas-<br />
calientes took in common the name "Teules Chichimecas," but that<br />
they were divided into factions having particular idioms. Of these<br />
he mentions the Cazcan, Tepecano (who, however, as already shown,<br />
were probably connected with the Cora), and Tecuexe. Orozco y<br />
Berra considered Zacateco a dialect of his Mexican©. He seems to<br />
include also the Guachichile among the Chichimeca, although speaking<br />
a distinct language (1 : 285). The Indians of Aguascalientes he<br />
denominates " Chichimecas Blancos," but is not aware that they bore<br />
any relation to the Guachichile, though inclined to the belief that they<br />
were related to the Otomi (1 : 286).<br />
Speaking of the Indians of Queretaro (1 : 261), and basing his conclusion<br />
on a manuscript of 1582, Orozco y Berra says the Chichimeca<br />
of this region were of the Otomi family. The Chichimeca of Jalisco<br />
(next to the borders of Guanajuato) are believed by him to have been<br />
Chichimecas-Blancos, hence of the Otomi family (1 : 278). Sahagun<br />
(656) says the true name of the Tolteca was Chichimeca. A little<br />
farther on, in the same chapter, he states that the Chichimeca form<br />
three groups—the Otomi, the Tamime, and the Teo-Chichimeca. He<br />
considers the last two of the same "race" and the more barbarous<br />
in their customs and mode of life, and states that those who mingle<br />
with the Mexicanos, or Nahua, speak Mexican as well as their own<br />
tongue, and those mingling with the Otomi and the Huasteca speak<br />
the languages of those tribes as well as they do their own.<br />
Hervas (298) says that north of the Otomi were the Chichimecas who<br />
did not speak the Mexican language. Perez de Ribas (lib. 12, cap. 2)<br />
refers to their location as north of the City of Mexico, of their wild and<br />
barbarous habits, and of their division into numerous tribes speaking<br />
various languages, but gives no particulars in regard to these idioms.<br />
The following information with regard to them is given by Villa-<br />
Senor y Sanchez (ii, lib. 3, cap. 3). At Zelaya, or in its jurisdiction<br />
there were "2,650 families" of the nation Otomi, descendants of the<br />
Chichimeca, who peopled these parts before the Conquest. Again<br />
(ii, lib. 3, cap. 9), referring to San Luis Potosi, this author says<br />
it was on the frontiers of the Chichimeca. He states also in the same<br />
chapter that some of these Indians were converted at the mission<br />
near the pueblo of Santa Catarina Martyrs de Rio Verde. This indi-<br />
cates that the name Chichimecas was still actually applied in his<br />
day (1746). In the same work (ii, lib. 3, cap. 10) he estimates the<br />
Indians of the jurisdiction of San Pedro Guadalcazar at about 2,000<br />
families, all Chichimeca, some of whom had accepted the holy faith,<br />
and the various connected districts at 3,000 families, all Chichimeca.<br />
He speaks in like manner of these Indians at other places, recognizing<br />
them at that day as known by this name.