The Purépecha (
endonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
pua, P'urhepecha ) are a group of
indigenous people
Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
centered in the northwestern region of
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, mainly in the area of the cities of
Cherán
Cherán () is a municipality located in the Mexican state of Michoacán, which is situated in the central western portion of Mexico, extending west to the Pacific Shore. Cherán itself lies in the northwestern portion of Michoacán, about west ...
and
Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro () is a city and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Purépecha Empire and later its ceremonial center. After the Spanish took over, Vasco de ...
.
They are also known by the pejorative "
Tarascan
Tarascan or Tarasca is an exonym and the popular name for the Purépecha culture. It may refer to:
* the Tarascan State, a Mesoamerican empire until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, located in (present-day) west-central Mexico
* the Purépecha p ...
", an
exonym
An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...
, applied by outsiders and not one they use for themselves.
The Purépecha occupied most of Michoacán but also some of the lower valleys of both
Guanajuato
Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...
and
Jalisco
Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
.
Celaya
Celaya (; ) is a city and its surrounding municipalities of Mexico, municipality in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, located in the southeast quadrant of the state. It is the third most populous city in the state, with a 2005 census population of 3 ...
,
Acambaro,
Cerano
Cerano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about southeast of Novara.
Cerano borders the following municipalities: Abbiategrasso, Boffalora sopra Ticino, ...
, and
Yurirapundaro. Now, the Purépecha live mostly in the highlands of central Michoacán, around Lakes
Patzcuaro and
Cuitzeo
Cuitzeo () is a municipality located in the north of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The municipal seat is the town of Cuitzeo del Porvenir It is located in a relatively flat depression around Lake Cuitzeo, a large, very shallow lake, which is ...
.
History
Prehispanic history
It was one of the major empires of the
Pre-Columbian era
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the Migration to the New World, original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization of the Americas, European colonization, w ...
. The capital city was
Tzintzuntzan. Purépecha architecture is noted for
step pyramid
A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several ...
s in the shape of the letter "T". Pre-Columbian Purépecha artisans made feather mosaics that extensively used
hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...
feathers, which were highly regarded as luxury goods throughout the region.
During the Pre-Colonial era, the Purépecha kingdom engaged in conflict with the Aztecs. The Purépecha kingdom expanded through conquest. However, many avoided conquest and bloodshed and, in order to maintain their freedom, exchanged goods and resources such as metal with the Purépecha kingdom.
The Purépecha empire was never conquered by the
Aztec Empire
The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...
, in fact there is no record of the Aztecs ever defeating them in battle. This was most likely due to the presence of metal ores within their empire, and their knowledge of metallurgy, which was far superior to that of the Aztec
such skills have persisted in their descendants and are still widely regarded today, particularly their
coppersmith
A coppersmith, also known as a brazier, is a person who makes artifacts from copper and brass. Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. The term "redsmith" is used for a tinsmith that uses tinsmithing tools and techniques to make copper items.
Hi ...
ing. Even though they were enemies with the Aztecs, the Aztecs still traded with them, mainly for metal tools and weapons.
Spanish era (1525-1821)
After hearing of the
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...
and having the native population much diminished by an epidemic of
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
, the ''
cazonci
Irecha was the title held by the ruler of the Purépecha Empire, which existed from the 14th to the 16th centuries in the area of the modern mexican states of Michoacán, Guerrero, Jalisco, Guanajuato, and the State of Mexico
The State of Mexi ...
''
Tangaxuan II
Tzimtzincha-Tangaxuan II (died February 14, 1530) was the last ''cazonci'' (monarch) of the Purépecha Empire, from 1520–1530. He was baptized Francisco when his realm made a peace treaty with Hernán Cortés. He was executed by burning by Nuñ ...
pledged his allegiance as a vassal of the
King of Spain
, coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg
, coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain
, image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg
, incumbent = Felipe VI
, incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
without a fight in 1525. It is believed that the Spanish
conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
Cristóbal de Olid
Cristóbal de Olid (; 1487–1524) was a Spanish adventurer, conquistador and rebel who played a part in the conquest of Mexico and Honduras.
Born in Baeza, Olid grew up in the household of the governor of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar. In ...
, upon arriving in the
Purépecha Empire
The Purépecha Empire, also known by the term Iréchikwa, was a polity in pre-Columbian Mexico. Its territory roughly covered the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán, as well as parts of Guanajuato, Guerrero, and Jalisc ...
, now in present-day
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
, explored some parts of
Guanajuato
Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...
in the early 1520s. A legend relates of a 16- or 17-year-old Purépecha,
Princess Eréndira, who led her people into a fierce war against the Spanish. Using stolen Spanish horses, her people learned to ride into battle. In 1529 to 1530, the Spanish forces entered Michoacán and some parts of Guanajuato with an army of 500 Spanish soldiers and more than 10,000 Native warriors.
Then, in 1530, the president of the
Real Audiencia
A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' ( ca, Reial Audiència, Audiència Reial, or Audiència), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional des ...
,
Nuño de Guzmán
Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (c. 14901558) was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain. He was the governor of the province of Pánuco from 1525 to 1533 and of Nueva Galicia from 1529 to 1534, and president of the first Royal ...
, a conquistador notorious for his ruthlessness and brutality towards the natives, plundered the region and executed Tangaxuan II, destroying the Purépecha State and provoking a chaotic situation and widespread violence. In 1533, the Crown sent an experienced ''
Oidor
An ''oidor'' () was a judge of the Royal ''Audiencias'' and ''Chancillerías'', originally courts of Kingdom of Castile, which became the highest organs of justice within the Spanish Empire. The term comes from the verb ''oír'', "to hear," referr ...
'' (Judge of the Audiencia) and later bishop, Don
Vasco de Quiroga
Vasco de Quiroga (1470/78 – 14 March 1565) was the first bishop of Michoacán, Mexico, and one of the judges (''oidores'') in the second Real Audiencia of Mexico – the high court that governed New Spain – from January 10, 1531, to April 16, ...
, who established a lasting colonial rule. The lands of the Purépecha was subjected to serious
deforestation
Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
during the Spanish Colonial period.
Post-independence history
Cárdenas era
Following the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
(1910-1920), Michoacán experienced political unrest. When former revolutionary general
Lázaro Cárdenas
Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940.
Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...
, originally from a small town in Michoacán, was appointed governor of his state, he began an ambitious program of reform and economic development, which he continued when he became president of Mexico (1934–40). For him, the indigenous heritage of Michoacán was foundational for the construction of Mexico's post-revolutionary identity. Although the Aztecs loomed large in Mexican history and the construction of identity, Cárdenas saw the Purépecha as "purer" source. The Purépecha had never been conquered by the Aztecs, but in the era of the Spanish conquest, the resistance of the Purépecha was a point of regional pride. In particular, Cárdenas promoted the story of
Princess Eréndira who is said to have fought against the Spanish. He named the house he built in
Pátzcuaro
Pátzcuaro () is a city and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Purépecha Empire and later its ceremonial center. After the Spanish took over, Vasco de ...
"La Quinta Eréndira" and commissioned muralists to depict Purépecha history in his residence and elsewhere. Purépecha traditions of folkloric performance became a source of ''indigenista'' pride.
Out-migration from Michoacán
In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century social scientists have studied Purépecha out-migration from the region.
Religion
Many traditions live on, including the ''Jimbani Uexurhina'' (New Year), which is celebrated on February 2. It has both traditional indigenous and
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
elements. The community lights a fire, called the ''chijpiri jimbani'' or "new fire," as part of a ceremony that honors the four elements.
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
is also celebrated in the Purhépecha language. They believed in God of the sky, earth, and underworld. The God of the sky and war, Kurikaweri. The Goddess of earth, controlling life and climate, Kweawaperi. The Goddess of the sea and the underworld, Xaratenga.
Culture
The Purépecha are mainly fishers because they mainly lived around the Patzcuaro lakes. They are also known for their skill in weaving and pottery. Many live in wooden cabins within compounds surrounded by dry-stone walls. However, many of these structures are being replaced with homes made out of brick and concrete.One distinctive practice of the Purépecha include the baptization of newborns after forty days of separate rest for the mother and child. The infant is then swaddled for six weeks and kept in physical contact with the mother or a close female relative. Temples created by Purépecha didn't look like their
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
counterparts.
Purépecha today celebrates many holidays. One of the most popular holidays celebrated by the Purépecha is the Day Of The Dead or
"Día De Los Muertos" . While it is celebrated throughout Mexico in the same way, Purépechans celebrate slightly differently. On November 1st and 2nd, family members take part in all-night vigils at the graves of their loved ones. Purépecha believe that the souls of the dead watch over their living relatives on the Day of the Dead.
In the town of San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro, which is a Purépecha town, unmarried men will dance the Dance of the Cúrpites. The dance is used to help the man express their masculinity and court their sweetheart.
The dance is celebrated during the Christian holiday of
Epiphany
Epiphany may refer to:
* Epiphany (feeling), an experience of sudden and striking insight
Religion
* Epiphany (holiday), a Christian holiday celebrating the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ
** Epiphany season, or Epiph ...
.
Language
![Purépecha tospråklig skole](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Pur%C3%A9pecha_tospr%C3%A5klig_skole.jpg)
The
Purépecha language
Purépecha (also ''P'urhépecha'' , tsz, Phorhé or ''Phorhépecha''), often called Tarascan, which is a pejorative term coined by Spanish colonizers ( es, Tarasco), is a language isolate or small language family that is spoken by some 140,000 ...
is spoken by nearly 200,000 people in
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
. Since Mexico's 2000 indigenous language law, indigenous languages like Purépecha were granted official status equal with Spanish in the areas in which they are spoken. Recently, educational instruction in Purépecha has been introduced in the local school systems. Additionally, many Purépecha communities offer classes and lessons in the language.
In popular culture
Princess Eréndira of the Purépecha was depicted in the 2006 film ''
Erendira Ikikunari
''Erendira Ikikunari'' is a 2006 drama film based on the story of Princess Eréndira.
Plot
The plot is based on a mixture of folk mythology and oral tradition. When the Spanish come to take over Tenochtitlan
, ; es, Tenochtitlan also k ...
'' (''Erendira the Untameable'').
The 2017 Disney film,
Coco presents a character named “Mama Coco”, who was based on a real Purépecha woman, María Salud Ramírez Caballero.
The 2022 film,
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, introduces
Namor
Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc. ...
, who’s mythos is rewritten to include an indigenous Meso American background with influences from Mayan and Aztec culture.
Tenoch Huerta
José Tenoch Huerta Mejía (; born 29 January 1981) is a Mexican actor. He has appeared in a number of movies in Latin America and Spain, starring in both feature films, short films, and '' Narcos: Mexico'', credited as Tenoch Huerta. He is f ...
, who portrays Namor, comes from a Purépecha background.
See also
*
Pirekua
''Pirekua'' (Purépecha) is a song form of the Purépecha (Michoacán, Mexico). The singer of a ''pirekua'', a ''pirériecha'', may be male or female, solo or accompanied, and ''pirekua'' may be performed instrumentally. ''Pirériechas'' act as so ...
*
Pelota purépecha Pelota purépecha (Spanish language, Spanish for "Purépecha ball"), called ''Uárukua Ch'anakua'' ( "a game with sticks") in the Purépecha language, is an Sport in Mexico, Indigenous Mexican sport similar to those in the hockey family. A common va ...
*
Purépecha deities
The culture of the Purépecha people was polytheist.
List of some deities:
* Curicaveri - Sun god
* Cuerauáperi - Creation goddess
* Xarátanga - Water god
* Cuitzeo - War god
* Auicamine - Evil goddess
* Pehuame - Birth goddess (advocation ...
*
Purépecha Empire
The Purépecha Empire, also known by the term Iréchikwa, was a polity in pre-Columbian Mexico. Its territory roughly covered the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán, as well as parts of Guanajuato, Guerrero, and Jalisc ...
*
Purépecha language
Purépecha (also ''P'urhépecha'' , tsz, Phorhé or ''Phorhépecha''), often called Tarascan, which is a pejorative term coined by Spanish colonizers ( es, Tarasco), is a language isolate or small language family that is spoken by some 140,000 ...
*
Purépecha flag
The Purépecha flag is the official flag of the Purépecha people, an Indigenous nation in Michoacán, Mexico. This flag consists of four fields of four colors with a shield and the words ''Juchari Uinapekua'' (Our Strength) below the shield. Th ...
References
Further reading
*Anderson, Warren. "P'urépecha migration into the US Rural Midwest: History and current trends." ''Indigenous Mexican Migrants in the United States'', edited by Jonathan Fox and Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, La Jolla: University of California, San Diego, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies/Center for US-Mexican Studies (2004).
*Bellamy, K. R. "On the external relations of Purepecha: an investigation into classification, contact and patterns of word formation." Diss. 2018.
*Boyd, Maurice. Tarascan myths & legends: a rich and imaginative history of the Tarascans. No. 4. Texas Christian University Press, 1969.
*Boyd, Maurice. Eight Tarascan Legends. No. 3. University of Florida, 1958.
*Brand, Donald D. "An Historical Sketch of Geography and Anthropology in the Tarascan Region: Part I." New Mexico Anthropologist 6.2 (1943): 37-108.
*Bush, Jason W. "Architectural patterning in the Purepecha heartland: An intrasite settlement study at the urban center of Sacapu Angamuco, Michoacán, México." Diss. Colorado State University, 2012.
*Carot, Patricia, and Marie-Areti Hers. "Epic of the Toltec Chichimec and the Purepecha in the Ancient Southwest." Archaeology without Borders. Contact, Commerce, and Change in the US Southwest and Northwestern Mexico, Boulder, University Press of Colorado (2008): 301–334.
*Chamoreau, Claudine. "Dialectology, typology, diachrony, and contact linguistics: A multi-layered perspective in Purepecha." STUF-Language Typology and Universals Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung 65.1 (2012): 6-25.
*Cohen, Anna S., and Christopher Fisher. "The Tarascan (Purépecha) Empire." The Oxford Handbook of the Aztecs.
*Godinez, Isaura. "Migration and Health Outcomes in Purepecha Sending Communities." PhD Diss. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2016.
*Haskell, David L. "From Tribute to Communal Sovereignty: The Tarascan and Caxcan Territories in Transition." The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 35.2 (2015): 265.
*Haskell, David Louis. "History and the construction of hierarchy and ethnicity in the prehispanic Tarascan state: a syntagmatic analysis of the Relación de Michoacán." Diss. University of Florida, 2003.
*Hellier-Tinoco, Ruth. ''Embodying Mexico: Tourism, Nationalism, and Performance''. New York: Oxford University Press 2011.
*Jolly, Jennifer. ''Creating Pátzcuaro, Creating Mexico: Art, Tourism, and Nation Building Under Lázaro Cárdenas''. Austin: University of Texas Press 2018.
*Kemper, Robert V., and Julie Adkins. "From the" Modern Tarascan Area" to the" Patria Purépecha: Changing Concepts of Ethnic and Regional Identity."." (2006).
*Krippner-Martínez, James. "The politics of conquest: An interpretation of the Relación de Michoacán." The Americas 47.2 (1990): 177–197.
*Marr, Paul, and Christopher Sutton. "Demographic changes in the Purepecha region of Michoacan, Mexico: 1970-2000." Journal of Latin American Geography (2004): 52–66.
*Marr, Paul, and Christopher Sutton. "Impacts of Transportation Changes on the Woodworking Industry of Mexico's Purépecha Region." Geographical Review 94.4 (2004): 440–461.
*Pollard, Helen Perlstein. "The construction of ideology in the emergence of the prehispanic Tarascan state." Ancient Mesoamerica 2.2 (1991): 167–179.
*Pollard, Helen Perlstein. "A model of the emergence of the Tarascan State." Ancient Mesoamerica 19.2 (2008): 217–230.
*Ragone, Agnes, and Paul Marr. "Language maintenance in the Meseta Purépecha region of Michoacán, Mexico." Anthropological linguistics (2006): 109–131.
*Ramírez Barreto, Ana Cristina, "'Eréndira a caballo': Acoplamamiento de Cuerpos e historias en un relato de conquista y resistencia."e-misférica: Performance and Politics in the Americas, 2 no. 2 (2005)1-19.
*Roskamp, Hans. "Tarascan (P'urhépecha) Empire." ''The Encyclopedia of Empire'' (2016): 1–3.
*Roth-Seneff, Andrew, Robert V. Kemper, and Julie Adkins, eds. From Tribute to Communal Sovereignty: The Tarascan and Caxcan Territories in Transition. University of Arizona Press, 2016.
*Silverstein, Jay E. "A Study of the Late Postclassic Aztec-Tarascan Frontier in Northern Guerrero, Mexico: The Oztuma-Cutzamala Project." (2000).
*Thurtell, Joel, and Emily Klancher Merchant. "Gender-Differentiated Tarascan Surnames in Michoacán." Journal of Interdisciplinary History 48.4 (2018): 465–483.
External links
P'urhépecha WEB Page and Community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purhepecha
History of Michoacán
Mesoamerican cultures