THE 4 MAIN DURANGO ETHNIC GROUPS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The ethnic groups of Durango are the Tepehuanes, Mexicaneros, Huichols, and Tarahumara. During the second half of the 16th century, when they came into contact with the Europeans, the indigenous groups of Durango were mostly semi-nomadic societies.

Its main economic activities were in fishing, hunting and gathering. In addition, on a marginal basis, they had agricultural and mining activities and produced cotton fabrics.

At that time, the most important linguistic groups were the Tepehuanes, Acaxees, Xiximes, Tarahumara, Conchos, and Tobosos.

Indigenous groups from Durango, Mexico

Currently, in this entity there are 30,894 people over the age of five, who speak an indigenous language. That is, 2% of the population.

According to the General Law of the Indigenous Peoples and Communities of Durango, the right to protection of customs, uses, traditions, language, clothing, features of their culture and religion is recognized for indigenous people from another federative entity or from another country, who transit or reside temporarily or permanently within the territory of the State.

Tepehuanes or southern Tepehuanos

They are called “del sur” to differentiate them from a group of Tepehuanes that settled in the state of Chihuahua, who are known as the Tepehuanes del norte.

According to INEGI, in the 2000 Census, in the state of Durango, there were 17, 051 speakers of Tepehuán.

Of these, 14,138 resided in the municipality of Mezquita. The communities of this indigenous group are located in the regions furthest from the urban centers of Durango.

Mexicans

This is a group that communicates in a variation of Nahuatl. The origin of these people is unknown, although it is possible that they are of Tlaxcala descent.

They are settled in a region that extends through the states of Durango, Nayarit, Jalisco and Zacatecas. In the case of Durango, they settled in San Agustín de Buenaventura and San Pedro Jícoras.

Among its productive activities are agriculture, which is carried out on stony slopes. His work tools are, among others, the machete, ax and whetstone and sacks.

The whole family participates in agricultural work. On the other hand, they do not exploit forests, since they do not have logging areas.

Huichol

The origins of the Huichols are uncertain, although it is presumed that some of the founding tribes belonged to the Yuto-Aztec family. In the states of Durango and Zacatecas this indigenous community is a minority.

The total Huichol population is approximately 43,929. Most adult men are bilingual, women also speak Spanish, but to a lesser extent.

Tarahumara

The Rramurís or Tarahumaras are inhabitants of the part of the Sierra Madre Occidental. In other words, they spread through the state of Chihuahua and the southwest of Durango and Sonora.

In Durango they live in the following towns: Guanaceví, Ocampo and San Bernardo.

The economy of this community is based on agriculture, gathering, grazing and hunting. Territorially, they are usually divided into ejidos.

References

1. National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico (April 2017). "Atlas of Indigenous Peoples". cdi.gob.mx
2. National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico (December 2003), "Tepehuanes del Sur", Indigenous Peoples of Contemporary Mexico. gob.mx
3. National Indigenous Institute-Secretariat for Social Development, (1994) "Tepehuanes del Sur", in Contemporary Ethnography of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, Western Region, Mexico.
4. National Autonomous University of Mexico, Institute of Historical Research (1996) "The northern border of New Spain, Mexico."
5. National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico (December 2003), "Huicholes", Indigenous Peoples of Contemporary Mexico. gob.mx
6. CFE (=), «Durango. Brief history », José de la Cruz Pacheco Rojas.