The Caxcanes of Nochistlán: Defenders of Their Homeland

Throughout human history, many groups of people have witnessed the arrival of aliens from far away countries in their traditional homeland territories. Responses to such intrusions have varied from century to century, continent to continent and from one people to another. In most cases, the invader intruded upon the economy, the resources and the political administration of the indigenous peoples. And all too often, the invader dominates and enslaves the people. Other occupations are less dramatic.

Although this is an event that has taken place time and again to many peoples, I find the story of the Caxcanes in the Juchipila and Nochistlán areas of southern Zacatecas to be particularly interesting.  Although the Caxcanes have disappeared as a cultural and linguistic entity, millions of people whose origins are in southern Zacatecas and northern Jalisco carry on the genetic legacy of the Caxcanes.

The Expedition of Guzmán (1530-1531)

The Caxcanes living in the vicinity of present-day Juchipila and Nochistlan in April of 1530 were visited by an army of intruders, led by Nuño Beltran de Guzmán. Guzmán, commanding an army of 300 Spaniards and 6,000 indigenous soldiers, had left Mexico City four months earlier to escape a political war with the great Conquistador, Hernán Cortés.  When Guzmán’s forces entered the area, most of the Caxcanes faded into the surrounding hills of the Sierra de Nochistlán. The Caxcanes, themselves, had been newcomers to the area three centuries earlier. In the Twelfth Century, the Caxcanes had driven out another indigenous group, the Tecuexes, using armed force.

The Founding of Guadalajara (1532-1533)

On December 3, 1531, Guzmán, a native of Guadalajara in Espana, had tasked his chief lieutenant, Captain Juan de Oñate, with creating a settlement at the place the native peoples called Nochistlán. Guadalajara, named in honor of Guzmán to honor his birthplace, was officially founded on January 5, 1532. The building of the city progressed but faced a major obstacle in that the local Indians refused to provide manual labor for the town’s construction. Lacking basic resources and located far from other Spanish settlements, the young city of Guadalajara struggled.

When Guzman visited the town in May 1533, the inhabitants of the town told Guzman that they lacked sufficient resources of water.  In addition, they were very concerned about Indian attacks.  The Spanish inhabitants seemed perplexed that they could not get the Caxcanes to labor for them but it’s possible that the Caxcanes had already heard about the abuses of the notorious encomendero system and did not want to subject themselves to a system that was so degrading.  While the encomienda system was meant to establish a beneficial relationship between the Spanish encomendero and the community he was responsible for.  However, in some areas, the system quickly degenerated into an abusive system rife with taxes and closely resembling slavery.

So the Caxcanes resisted and did not cooperate. And, in July 1533, Guzman ordered that Guadalajara be moved south. The historian Peter Gerhard has indicated that as many as 50,000 Indians lived in the area at the time of contact, including approximately 6,000 families in Nochistlan. Eventually, the conquest of the area proceeded as it did in other adjacent areas of what we now call Zacatecas and Jalisco.

Mixtón Rebellion (1540-1541)

Eventually the abuse of the encomienda system led to a violent uprising of the Caxcanes and Tecuexes and other Indians throughout the region.  Tenamaxtle, originally from Nochistlan, was one of the leaders of this rebellion which quickly spread south. With the help of his second-in-command, Caitlacotl, Tenamaxtle led a coalition of 60,000 indigenous soldiers southward to threaten Guadalajara.

The revolt gained the attention of the Viceroy Antonio Mendoza who called for aid.  Pedro de Alvarado had recently arrived in the coastal area to take part in the search for gold in the northern regions, but decided to assist the Viceroy.  To Alvarado, the Great Conquistador, the Conqueror of Guatemala and the Architect of La Noche Triste, this change of plans was a minor convenience.  As he had done so many times in the past, he expected to put the indigenous rebels in their place.

Against the advice of Mendoza, Pedro de Alvarado made a reckless attack against Nochistlan on June 245h. The resistance of the Caxcanes surprised Alvarado and his men who were forced to retreat. In the chaos of the retreat, Alvarado was crushed under a horse. In great pain, he died of his injuries in Guadalajara on July 4, 1541. Later in 1541, Viceroy Mendoza had put together enough forces to force the Caxcanes and Tecuexes of Nochistlan and surrounding areas into submission.

The Fate of the Caxcanes

The reconquest of the indigenous people in this area was tragic. Many of the surviving Caxcanes around Apozol and Juchipila were enslaved and sent to Guadalajara. In addition to the hard labor imposed upon them, many of these Indians died in the epidemic of 1546-1548. However, some of those who survived returned to their homes after a decade.

On December 12, 1550 Bishop Maraver sent a letter to King of Spain requesting that the Crown permit the conversion of the Caxcanes. In an effort to carry out this effort, the Bishop indicated that the entry of Spanish soldiers in the area should be prohibited for at least 15 years so that the clergy could concentrate their efforts on the people of the region, without distraction by possible negative elements. This request was granted.

In the following decades, many indigenous groups in the area of Nochistlan and Juchipila remained hostile towards Spanish intruders and their indigenous allies from the south. Gradually, however, the area was settled by outsiders who made Nochistlan and Juchipila their homes.

The resistance of the Caxcanes and the Tecuexes in southern Zacatecas and northern Jalisco has been forgotten by some, but not by all.  Some people from this area feel a sense of pride in the fact that the famous Guadalajara had to be removed nearly 60 miles (95 kilometers) to the south because of the resistance of their ancestors.

The Caxcanes no longer exist as a cultural entity. According to the Czech anthropologist, Ales Hrdlicka, the last speakers of their language died in the late 1890s. However, anyone whose ancestors from the border regions of southern Zacatecas and northern Jalisco is most likely descended from the Caxcanes.

The people of Nochistlán also speak with pride of their resistance to the French. More than three centuries later, during the French occupation, Colonel J. Jesús Mejía led an attack on French forces on May 13, 1864. During this period, the people of Nochistlan still talk about the French general who was shot in the head.

Bibliography

Carvajal de Barragán, Paulina. “Costumbres y Tradiciones en Guadalajara,” in Manuel Caldera Robles, ed., Capítulos de Historia de la Ciudad de Guadalajara, Tomo II. Guadalajara: Ayuntamiento de Guadalajara, 1989-1992.

Gerhard, Peter. The North Frontier of New Spain. Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1982.

Hrdlicka, Ales. “The Region of the Ancient Chichimecos, with Notes on the Tepecanos and the Ruin of La Quemada, Mexico,” American Anthropologist 5(3): 384-440 (1903).

Torres, Francisco Mariano de. Crónica de la Sancta Provincia de Xalisco. Mexico, 1960.