Purépecha
The Purépecha (also P'urhépecha or Tarasken ) are an indigenous people in Mexico , which comprises around 203,000 members and is thus one of the larger indigenous peoples of North America.
term
Demarcation
The terms tarasken and purépecha are sometimes used synonymously. However, the people refer to themselves as Purépecha, while Tarasken is the name the Spanish conquerors used for the people. The word purépecha is therefore increasingly used to emphasize the freedom and independence of the people. For the language of the Purépecha, however, the word Tarasco has become common. The Tarasco is only spoken by the Purépecha.
Spellings
The old Purépecha had no script, so there is no original spelling of the word. The Spanish chroniclers later tried to transfer the sequence of sounds into the characters as true to the original as possible. Therefore there are several spellings: An alternative spelling to Purépecha is P'urhépecha.
distribution
Today the Purépecha people can be found mainly in the state of Michoacán , in the Purépecha plateau of the same name .
history
The Purépecha are one of the few peoples whose territory the Aztecs were never able to conquer. The capital at that time was Tzintzuntzan . Unlike the Aztecs, the Copper Age Purepecha already had knowledge of weapon manufacture with metal, which made them dangerous opponents for the Aztecs. When the Spanish conquerors came to Michoácan in 1525, the leader of the Purépecha, Tangaxuan II, surrendered without a fight. In 1530 Nuño de Guzmán began to plunder the country and murdered Tangaxuan II. After that, large parts of the Purépecha fled to the mountains.
literature
- Horst Nachtigall: West Tarasken: Contributions to the archeology, ethnology and acculturation of a West Mexican people . Reimer, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-496-00415-0 .
- Beate Engelbrecht, Teresa Davalos de Luft: Crafts in the life of the Purhépecha in Mexico . Zurich 1986, ISBN 3-909105-01-7 .
- Helen Perlstein Pollard: Taríacuri's Legacy. The Prehispanic Tarascan State . University of Oklahoma Press, Norman (Oklahoma) 1993, ISBN 0-8061-2497-0 .
