Purépecha People
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The Purépecha ( ) are a group of
Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
centered in the northwestern region of
Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...
,
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the derogatory term " Tarascan", an
exonym An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
, 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, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...
and
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
. Celaya, Acambaro, Cerano, and Yurirapundaro. Now, the Purépecha live mostly in the highlands of central Michoacán, around Lakes Patzcuaro and Cuitzeo.


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, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...
. The capital city was Tzintzuntzan. Purépecha architecture is noted for step pyramids 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 Family (biology), biological family Trochilidae. With approximately 366 species and 113 genus, genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but most species are found in Cen ...
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, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...
, 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 coppersmithing. 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 was a pivotal event in the history of the Americas, marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire. Taking place between 1519 and 1521, this event saw the Spanish conquistad ...
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 (W ...
, the '' cazonci'' Tangaxuan II pledged his allegiance as a vassal of the
King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...
without a fight in 1525. It is believed that the Spanish
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
Cristóbal de Olid Cristóbal de Olid (; 1487–1524) was a Spanish adventurer, conquistador and rebel who played a part in the conquest of the Aztec Empire and present-day Honduras. Born in Baeza, Olid grew up in the household of the governor of Cuba, Diego V ...
, 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, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...
, explored some parts of
Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...
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. In 1530, the president of the
Real Audiencia A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' (), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional designation ''chancillería'' (or ''cancillería'', Catala ...
,
Nuño de Guzmán Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (1558) was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain. He was the governor of the province of Pánuco (province), Pánuco from 1525 to 1533 and of Nueva Galicia from 1529 to 1534, and president of the ...
, 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'' (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 1 ...
, who established a lasting colonial rule. The lands of the Purépecha were subjected to serious
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction 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. Ab ...
during the Spanish Colonial period.


Post-independence history


Cárdenas era

Following the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
(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. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...
, 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 "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.


Emigration from Michoacán

In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century social scientists have studied Purépecha emigration from the region.


Religion

Many traditions live on, including the ''Jimbani Uexurhina'' (New Fire), 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
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 and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
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, pottery and their skill in battle. 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 baptism 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 did not look like their
Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...
n counterparts. Purépecha today celebrate 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 1 and 2, 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 men express their masculinity and court their sweethearts. The dance is celebrated during the Christian holiday of Epiphany.


Language

The Purépecha language is spoken by nearly 200,000 people in
Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...
. 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 the Untamable''). The 2017 Disney film, ''
Coco Coco or variants may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Coco'' (2009 film), a French comedy film * ''Coco'' (2017 film), an American animated fantasy film * '' Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle'' (), a 2020 Japanese anime film ...
'' presents a character named “Mama Coco”, who was apparently based on the real Purépecha woman María Salud Ramírez Caballero, although it was never officially confirmed by
Pixar Pixar (), doing business as Pixar Animation Studios, is an American animation studio based in Emeryville, California, known for its critically and commercially successful computer-animated feature films. Pixar is a subsidiary of Walt Disney ...
. The 2022 film, '' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'', introduces
Namor Namor McKenzie (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc., the character first appeared in '' Moti ...
, whose mythos is rewritten to include an Indigenous Meso American background with influences from Mayan and Aztec culture. Tenoch Huerta, who portrays Namor, comes from a Purépecha background. The 2024 film, '' The Casagrandes Movie'', based on the
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
animated series '' The Casagrandes'', has lead protagonist Ronnie Anne Santiago travel with her family to the fictional city of Japunda, which is largely based on the real-life Michoacán town of Pátzcuaro. The movie draws inspiration from director Miguel Puga's Purépecha heritage, and the director, along with cultural consultant Lalo Alcaraz, worked "to portray the P’urhépecha community in this universe — their customs, their food, their music." Ice cream (paleta) stores' logos often incorporate a girl in traditional Purépecha clothing as a nod to the paleta's origina in Michoacán, Mexico.


See also

* Pirekua * Pelota purépecha * Purépecha deities *
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 flag


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