The Guarijío () are an Indigenous people of Mexico. They primarily live in 17 villages near the West Sierra Madre Mountains in Chihuahua and the

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

n border. Their homelands are remote and reached either on foot or horseback.Yetman 30 Their traditional Guarijio language has about 2100 speakers.

Name

The Guarijío people are also known as the Huarijío, Maculái, Macurái, Macurawe, Varihío, Varijío, Varohio, or Vorijío people.

Language

The Guarijío language is a Tarahumaran language of the Uto-Aztecan language family, written in the

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

. A dictionary and grammar have been published for the language. Children primarily learn Spanish in school.

History

Guarijíos lived between the Tarahumara to the south and east and Mayo to the west. Spanish Jesuit missionaries arrived in their territory in the 1620s. The Jesuits established a mission in Chínipas, where some Guarijío and Guazapare people rebelled against them. After the Spanish military retaliated, the Guarijío dispersed and split into two distinct communities—one in Sonora and the other in Chihuahua

Culture

These people enjoy seclusion in spacious villages. A festival, called ''tuburada'', brings them together socially on momentous occasions, including the planting and harvesting of maize. A tubrada includes feasting, ceremonial smoking of '' Nicotiana rustica'', processions with fireworks, and dancing.Yetman 61–63

Subsistence

Guarijío adapted farming to their dry climate and grow

amaranth ''Amaranthus'' is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan group of more than 50 species which make up the genus of annual plant, annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some names include "prostrate pigweed" an ...

, beans, maize, and squash. They supplement these crops with wild plants harvested from the forest.

Notes

References

*Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020 INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guarijio People Indigenous peoples in Mexico Indigenous peoples of Aridoamerica People from Chihuahua (state) People from Sonora Uto-Aztecan peoples