Nicarao

Nahua community in Rivas, Nicaragua.
Total population
20,000+
Regions with significant populations
Western Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica
Nicaragua	Estimated 20,000[1][2]
Costa Rica	~1000
Languages
Nawat, Nicaraguan Spanish
Religion
Predominantly Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Nahuas, Pipil people, Mexica

The Nicarao are a Nahua people who live in western Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} They spoke the Nahuat language before it went extinct in both countries.

The Nicarao are believed to be descendants of migrating Toltecs.^[10][11][12] The Nicarao migrated from North America and central and southern Mexico over the course of several centuries from approximately 700 CE onwards.^[13] However there is also evidence to suggest that this branch of the Nahua originated in Chiapas and the Yucatan, most likely descended from Toltec invaders of Chichen Itza.^{[14][15][16][17]} Around 1200 CE, the Nicarao split from the Pipil people and moved into what is now Nicaragua.^[18] The migration of the Nicarao has been linked to the collapse of the important central-Mexican cities of Teotihuacan and Tula, as well as the Classic Maya collapse. The Nicarao settled throughout western Nicaragua, such as Rivas, Jinotega, Chinandega, Nueva Segovia, Tiger Lagoon, Lake Xolotlan, Lake Nicaragua, Ometepe Island, Matagalpa, Esteli, and parts of Leon, Granada and Managua.^{[19][20][21][22][23]} The Nicarao also settled in Bagaces, Costa Rica after kicking out the Huetar people that were already there, resulting in tribal warfare between the Nahuas and the Huetares which lasted over a century.^[24][25] As a Mesoamerican group, the Nicarao shared many blended cultural traits with both indigenous North American and Mexican belief systems as well as their Toltec parent tribe, including an identical Toltec calendar, similar organizational treaties, the use of screenfold books, the worship of the Great Spirit and closely related sky deities, Nagual mysticism, the practice of animal and Tonal spirituality, and expertise in medical practice.^{[26][27][28][29][30]}

The Nicarao were first contacted by the Spanish in 1522 CE, initiating the Spanish conquest of Nicaragua. At the time of contact, they were ruled by a cacique that the Spanish called Nicarao, who governed from his capital Quauhcapolca, not far from the modern town of Rivas. At that time, the Nicarao had a sizeable population concentrated in nucleated villages. Within a century of European contact, the Nicarao were effectively dismantled as a tribal Confederation by the Spanish incursion.

Today Nicaragua is estimated to have around 20,000 Nicarao people. In Costa Rica the Nicarao population ranges from several hundred to 1000 and are primarily located in the Bagaces District, with smaller pockets inhabiting other parts of Bagaces Canton and elsewhere in Guanacaste.

Origin and distribution

The Nicarao people migrated south from North America and central and southern Mexico over the course of several centuries from approximately 700 CE onwards. Around 1200 CE, the Nicarao split from the Pipil people and moved into what is now Nicaragua. The beginning of this series of migrations was likely to have been linked to the collapse of the great central-Mexican city of Teotihuacan, and later with the collapse of the Toltec city of Tula.^[31] The dating of Nicarao arrival in what is now Nicaragua has also been linked to the Classic Maya collapse, with the cessation of Maya influence in the region, and the rise of cultural traits originating in the Valley of Mexico.^[32] The Nicarao settled in several pockets distributed throughout western Nicaragua and what is now northwestern Costa Rica.^[33] They are believed to have displaced both the Chorotega and the Chibcha inhabitants that had previously settled the region.^[34] The Nicarao appear to have seized control of the most productive land around the western portions of Lake Nicaragua, and the Gulf of Fonseca.^[35] The area now covered by Rivas Department appears to have been conquered by the Nicarao shortly before the Spanish conquest.^[36]

Major settlements

At the time of contact with the Spanish, the Nicarao were governed from their capital at Quauhcapolca, near the modern town of Rivas. Other principal settlements included Ometepe, Asososca Lagoon (Managua), Mistega, Ochomogo, Oxmorio, Papagayo, Tecoatega, Teoca, Totoaca, and Xoxoyota.^[37]

Spanish contact

When the Spanish first encountered the Nicarao in 1522 CE, they inhabited the Isthmus of Rivas. Their ruler was referred to in later sources as Nicarao, and the capital city was Quauhcapolca.^[38] The Nicarao had a sizeable population concentrated in nucleated villages.^[39] The Nicarao experienced complete demographic collapse within the first century after the Spanish conquest of Nicaragua, from a combination of disease and being sold into slavery. A remnant Nahuat-speaking population existed as late as the mid-19th century, but the Nicarao as a tribal Confederation are now extinct.^[33] However, some of their practices and beliefs continue to survive among their displaced descendants within the Nahua communities of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.^[27]

Culture

Spanish chronicler Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, writing soon after the conquest, recorded that the Nicarao practised cranial modification, by binding the heads of young children between two pieces of wood. Archaeologists have unearthed pre-Columbian burials in the former Nicarao region with evidence of both cranial and dental modification.^[40] The Nicarao possessed a number of cultural traits in common with North American tribes as well as the Toltecs of central Mexico, including an identical calendar, the use of screenfold books, worship of the Great Spirit and a Toltec pantheon of deities such as sky spirits, animal spirits and Tonal mythology, Nagual mysticism, and treaties.^[41][42][28] They also, in common with their Mexican cousins from Aztec culture, practiced ritual confession, and the volador (flying men) ritual.^[43][44]

Legacy

Despite their massive decrease in population and the loss of their native language, the Nicarao, and their culture, are still an integral part of Nicaraguan identity. Towns, lakes, islands, and volcanoes bear their place names, Nicaraguan Spanish has been heavily influenced by their native language, and the popularity of the nacatamal, a national dish of Nicaragua, has cemented itself in the legacy of Nicaraguan gastronomy. The nacatamal is arguably their greatest contribution to Nicaraguan culture.^{[45][46][47][48][49][50]}