Rediscovering The Great Chichimeca: Regional Assertiveness and Social Anthropology in the Rehabilitation of a Mexican Ethnic Plurality

Abstract

For centuries Mexicans have used the term “Chichimeca” as a synonym for “Barbarian” or “Savage.” However, in the past decades a deeper understanding of the Chichimeca peoples —largely affected by a political assertiveness of the regions in Mexico— has resulted in a fresh reconstruction of the memory of the Spanish conquest and, thereby, of the view of these peoples. To a unexpected extent, social anthropology —particularly, the “Seminario Permanente de Estudios de la Gran Chichimeca” (SPECH), promoting regular discussions and publications on the subject from different academic disciplines— has contributed to this rehabilitation as well. A convergence is thus emerging between new scholarly interest in the indigenous nations of Mexico’s northern frontier —taking the Chichimeca out of the ostracism to which official history in the country had confined them— and a newly found reason for pride among the rest of the population in belonging to the same area.