The Chichimeca Jonaz are an

Indigenous people of Mexico Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico before the arrival of Europe ...

, living in the states 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 ...

and

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

. In Guanajuato, the Chichimeca Jonaz people live in a community in San Luis de la Paz municipality. The settlement is 2,070 m above sea level. They call this place ''Rancho Úza'' or ''Misión Chichimeca''. They are descendants of the Pame people, who fought in the

Chichimeca War The Chichimeca War (1550–1600) was a military conflict between the Spanish Empire and the Chichimeca Confederation established in the territories today known as the Central Mexican Plateau, called by the Conquistadores La Gran Chichimeca. ...

(1550-1590) in the Chichimeca Confederation. Members_of_the_Chichimeca_Jonaz_tribe_at_San_Luis_De_La_Paza%2C_Guanajuato

In the 2000 General Census by INEGI 1,641 people named themselves as speakers of the

Chichimeca Jonaz language Chichimeca or Chichimeca Jonaz is an indigenous language of Mexico spoken by around 200 Chichimeca Jonaz people in Misión de Chichimecas near San Luis de la Paz in the state of Guanajuato. The Chichimeca Jonaz language belongs to the Oto-P ...

. Of these 1,433 speakers lived in Guanajuato, and the other 115 in San Luis Potosí. Their language belongs to the Pamean sub-branch of the Oto-Pamean branch of the

Oto-Manguean The Oto-Manguean or Otomanguean () languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of indigenous languages of the Americas. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean languages, Ma ...

language family, the closest relative of the Chichimeca Jonaz language is the

Pame language The Pame languages are a group of languages in Mexico that is spoken by around 12,000 Pame people in the state of San Luis Potosí. It belongs to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family. Distribution and languages Ethnologue ...

Spanish colonization of the Americas

During the ensuing Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Chichimecas Jonaz descendants, whom are the Pame nation, joined the Chichimeca Confederation to fight against the Spanish Empire in the

. The Chichimeca Confederation defeated the Spanish Empire in this forty-year war.

References

{{Authority control Indigenous peoples in Mexico Ethnic groups in Mexico Spanish colonization of the Americas

Spanish colonization of the Americas

See also

References