Mexico’s 2020 Population and Housing Census was conducted in March 2020. More than 147,000 interviewers traveled the nearly two million square kilometers of the national territory, visiting all Mexican households to obtain information about the demographic, socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of the people of each state.

More missions were established among the Chumash than among any other Native American group in California. Five missions were founded in Chumash territory: San Luis Obispo (1772), San Buenaventura (1782), Santa Bárbara (1786), La Purísima Concepción (1787) and Santa Ynez (1804). The Indians of this area were described by the Spaniards as gentle, hospitable to strangers, lively, industrious, skillful and clever.

“The Enemies of the Aztecs” will discuss the various groups who fought the Aztecs and were not conquered by them. In 1519, the Aztec Empire ruled over fifteen million people living in 489 communities in 38 provinces. Professor Michael E. Smith has stated that “one of the more intriguing characteristics of the Aztec Empire is the existence of major unconquered enemy states surrounded by imperial territory... Ethnohistoric sources from Tenochtitlán [the Aztec capital city] suggest that the Aztecs did not really want or need to conquer these states, and that they could easily have done so had they wished.” But Smith adds, “the boasts of the Mexica are better seen as propaganda than as accurate descriptions of political reality.” In fact, Smith’s research concluded that “the nature of the enemy states and their dealings with the empire shows that they were serious and powerful adversaries.”

Coahuila de Zaragoza – the third largest state of Mexico – was inhabited by six nomadic indigenous groups when the Spaniards arrived in the late Sixteenth Century: The Tobosos, Irritilas, Coahuiltecans, Rayados, Chisos and Guachichiles. The Coahuiltecans occupied a considerable part of what is now eastern Coahuila, but also occupied a large portion of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas. They were made up of hundreds of small autonomous bands of hunter-gatherers.

This presentation explores the Chumash tribes that inhabited the coastal region of the Santa Barbara area when the Spaniards arrived there in 1769. Speaking eight distinct languages – most of which were mutually unintelligible – the Chumash lived and thrived in an area where five Catholic missions were founded between 1772 and 1804. Their history, customs and present status with regards to federal recognition will be explored.

The following tables contain information of the native people of the Spanish jurisdictions in Nueva Galicia, Nueva Vizcaya, Sonora and Sinaloa. These extracts primarily contain information about the indigenous groups occupying these areas at the time of the Spanish contact, the year of which varies from one place to another. However, Peter Gerhard’s book contains a wealth of local information, and it is highly recommended that interested researchers purchase the book to have access to all the information provided.

According to Professor Jürgen Buchenau, Mexico has proven to be a "salad bowl," instead of a "melting pot." Why?: Largely due to the fact that "most immigrant families sought to retain their native languages and customs." Although the British, French, Americans, Germans and Chinese have been the largest foreign ethnic groups in Mexico in the Twentieth Century, they tended to form enclaves, or “colonies,” in which they could maintain their own cultural integrity. For most of these groups, only after two or three generations did their descendants blend into the Mexico’s Spanish-speaking population.

This presentation will discuss the settlement and evolution of the Nuevo Santander Colony along the Rio Grande. José de Escandón’s Villas del Norte– established in the mid- Eighteenth Century – appeared like a string of pearls along the Lower Rio Grande River, where Spain was reinforcing the distant frontier of its American empire.

The Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains run from south of the Arizona-Sonora border southeast through eastern Sonora, western Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Jalisco and farther south. The Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains run parallel to the Sierra Madre Occidental range on the eastern side of the country.

The German Merchant Colony in Mexico

Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821 after an eleven-year armed struggle against that European nation which had colonized it since 1519. The subsequent period from 1821 to 1876 was a period of great instability and economic stagnation for Mexico. During this period Mexico was ravaged by civil wars between rival generals, as well as foreign wars against other countries (Spain, United States, France).

Established in 1548, the Spanish province of Nueva Galicia embraced 180,000 kilometers and included most of present-day Jalisco, Nayarit, Aguascalientes and Zacatecas. Across this broad range of territory a wide array of indigenous groups lived during the Sixteenth Century. The old Aztec empire had been replaced with Nueva España.

Oaxaca is characterized by extreme geographic fragmentation with extensive mountain systems, wide tropical coastal plains and fertile valleys. The entire state is very mountainous, being crossed by three cordilleras:

1. The Sierra Madre Oriental in western Oaxaca.

2. The Sierra Madre del Sur covers 70% of the state territory.

3. The Sierra Atravesada in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

Mexico’s 2020 Population and Housing Census was conducted in March 2020. More than 147,000 interviewers traveled the nearly two million square kilometers of the national territory, visiting all Mexican households to obtain information about the demographic, socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of the people of each state.

This presentation will discuss the ECPP database, with suggestions on how to use it. To the beginner, this database -- with dozens of search fields -- seems challenging and confusing, but John Schmal will describe how to use it effectively, and after that will do selected searches to show examples of baptism and marriage documents of California Mission Indians and of Mexican soldiers and their families.

Learn to trace your indigenous roots in northeastern Mexico and south Texas. Historian, genealogist, and author John P. Schmal will discuss the various tribal groups inhabiting this region; research techniques for finding your ancestors in this area; and helpful websites.

Today, in the northeast corner of Mexico, there are two Mexican states, Tamaulipas and Nuevo León. When the Spaniards arrived in this area in 16th Century, they were confronted by a large number of hostile indigenous tribes. Over time, the Coahuiltecans – the dominant linguistic group in the region – were weakened by epidemics, warfare, the Spanish encomienda, forced slavery, dispersion and general demoralization. With the Spaniards coming from the south and Apaches and Comanches attacking from the north, the Coahuiltecans declined significantly within the period of a century, many of them seeking refuge in the Spanish missions.

This presentation discusses the native groups that occupied the regions adjacent to and on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border over the last three centuries. While some of these tribes are well-known to us today (i.e., the Yaquis, Tohono O'odham, Kumeyaay, etc.), tribal groups that have nearly disappeared as distinguishable cultural entities (i.e., Carrizos, Mansos, Jocome, Coahuiltecans, etc.) will also be discussed. In addition to the history of those tribes, we will explore the current status of some of the tribal communities that still exist today.

The Cristero Rebellion – also known as La Cristiada – was a popular uprising in 1926-29 of Catholic peasants in the central-western Mexican states against the secularist, anti-Catholic and anti-clerical policies of the Mexican government under President Plutarco Elías Calles. The rebellion took place in response to the imposition of the Calles Law which strictly enforced the secularist and anticlerical articles of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico.

This presentation explores the original settlement of the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley, including the Expedition of 1781 and the establishment of the San Gabriel Mission (1771) and the San Fernando Mission (1797). The lecture also includes a discussion of the original indigenous inhabitants who lived near the Spanish missions. The presentation will discuss how the San Fernando evolved through occupation by three powers (Spain, Mexico and the U.S.).

This presentation explores the Native American people that inhabited Southern California in the 18th Century. The region from San Diego to Santa Barbara will be discussed. The current status of these tribes in the present day will also be discussed.