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= = **Bienvenidos/Welcome** **to** ** ANTH103A: Cultural Anthropology ** **Tarascan Ethnic Group Project**

__**Origins**__
Western Mexico during the sixteenth century was under the control of the capital, //Iréchecua Tzintzuntzáni,// or the lands of Tzintzuntzan (the place of the Hummingbird), hich was known to the Spanish conquistadors as the Tarascan kingdom. The Spaniards referred to this territory and the language it spoke as Tarasco or Tarascan because it is said that upon arrival to the area the Spanish mistook the native people saying "tarascue" (which means father-n-law or son-n-law) to be the name of these native people. According to Friar Martin Coruña, it was term the natives used mockingly for the Spaniards, who regulary violated their women. For more than a thousand years, Michoacán has been the home of the Purhépecha Indians. By 1324 A.D., they had become the dominant force in western Mexico, with the founding of their first capital city Pátzcuaro, located 7,200 feet (2,200 meters) above sea level along the shore of Lake Pátzcuaro (Mexico's highest lake). The name, Pátzcuaro, meaning "Place of Stones," was named for the foundations called "Petatzecua" by Indians who found them at the sites of ruined temples of an earlier civilization. Eventually, however, the Purhépecha transferred their capital to Tzintzuntzan ("Place of the Hummingbirds"), which is about 15 kilometers north of Pátzcuaro, on the northeastern shore of the lake. Tzintzuntzan would remain the Purhépecha capital until the arrival of the Spaniards in 1522 (Pollard 1993: 3).

The P'urhépechan state was under the control of elite lords until the Spanish conquest in the sixteenth century. At this time, the P'urhépechan state consisted of the following pueblos according to a census completed in April 1528: Colantia, Colatla o Coyuca, Pungaravato (a), Tazantla, Deque (a), Asuchitlan, Guaymeo, Cuhseo, Zinagua, Guaviquaran, Animaro, Sicactan, Purandero, Comanja, Vcareo, Tancitaro, Vrbaya, Taimeo, Acambaro, Tepacatepec, Amula, Tamazula, Tuchpa, Zapoltlan, Avalos, Sindonguaro, Chaudan, Quaraquio, Zirandaro, Tacandaro, Iztapa, Vruapan, Canicuaran, Tepehuacan, Cinagua, Tacambaro, Tucatl, Mazamitla, Xiquilpan, Guarachan, Cauayo, Tarecuato, Chilchotla, Artiaga, Tazazalca o Vragato, Tlatzan, Zacapo, Taximaroa, Indaparepeo, Tanchitaro, Teremendo, Jaso, Tiripitio, Guaniqueo, Puruandiro, Catzan, Capula, Mazamila, Tatzazalco, Cavigaran, Lacacaguana, Maravatio, Yurirapuandaro, Guacana, Turicato, Cuiseo, Chucandiro, Xacona, Yurirpundaro, Chararo, Colima, Naranjan, Tamazalapan, Zayula, Atoyac, Tancitata, Chilnutia, Tzacualpa, Cocula, and Motin (Cabera V. 1991: 13).

The Tarascan kingdom stretched across what is today the modern Mexican state of Michoacán media type="googlemap" key="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Michoac%C3%A1n,+Mexico&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.080379,79.013672&vpsrc=6&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Michoac%C3%A1n,+Mexico&ll=19.83906,-101.074219&spn=7.961895,9.876709&t=m&z=7&output=embed" width="425" height="350" align="right"(oddly enough the Nahuatl name for the Tarascans was "Michhuàquê" or "those who have fish", hence the name Michoacán) and the state still preserves, to some extent, the territorial integrity of the pre-Columbian kingdom. The modern state of Michoacan is located in the west central part of the Mexico and occupies 59,864 square kilometers (23,113 square miles) and is the sixteenth largest state in Mexico, taking up 3% of the national territory. With a population that was tallied at 3,985,667 in the 2000 census, Michoacán is divided into 113 municipios and has a common border with Jalisco and Guanajuato (to the north), Querétaro (on the northeast), the state of Mexico (on the east), Guerrero (to the southeast), and Colima (to the west). In addition, Michoacán's southeast border includes a 213-kilometer (132-mile) shoreline along the Pacific Ocean.

However, the term "Tarascan" is becoming obsolete because of the Tarascan people's interest in their own prehistory and the significance it holds within the Mexican state. Therefore most indigenous people of the area have chosen to return to their pre-hispanic name of the P'urhépecha. media type="custom" key="11229612" align="right"