Rarámuri

The Rarámuri or Tarahumara is a group of Indigenous people of the Americas living in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. They are renowned for their long-distance running ability. Originally, inhabitants of much of Chihuahua, the Rarámuri retreated to the high sierras and canyons such as the Copper Canyon in the Sierra Madre Occidental on the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the 16th century. The area of the Sierra Madre Occidental which they now inhabit is often called the Sierra Tarahumara because of their presence. Estimates put the Rarámuri population in 2006 at between 50,000 and 70,000 people. Most still practise a traditional lifestyle, including inhabiting natural shelters (caves or cliff overhangs). Staple crops are corn and beans; however, many of the Rarámuri still practise transhumance, raising cattle, sheep, and goats. Almost all Rarámuri migrate from one place to another during the course of a year. The Rarámuri language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family. Although it is in decline under pressure from Spanish, it is still widely spoken. In the Rarámuri language, the endonymic term rarámuri refers specifically to the men; women are referred to as mukí (individually), and as omugí or igómale (collectively). The Rarámuri are believed to be descended from a people of the Mogollon culture. The Rarámuri repulsed and were never conquered by the Spanish conquistadors or fully converted by the Jesuit missionaries. When the Spanish arrived in the 1500s, they called these native people the "Tarahumara". By the early 17th century, the Spanish had established mines in Tarahumara territory and made some slave raids to obtain workers for the mines. Jesuit Juan Fonte established a mission, San Pablo Balleza, at the southern end of Tarahumara territory, expanding from missionary work with the Tepehuan to the south. The Tepehuan's violent resistance to Spanish incursion in the Tepehuan revolt of 1616 killed Fonte and seven other Jesuit missionaries, closing the mission for over a decade.