El Nayar
Encyclopedia
El Nayar is a municipality
in the Mexican
state of Nayarit
. The population was 30,551 in 2005 in a total area of 5,100 km². The municipal seat of Jesús María
had a population of 1,520 in 2005. El Nayar is the home of the Huichol and the Cora
Indians.
El Nayar is the largest municipality in territorial dimension in the state. Its area makes up 18.46% of the surface of the state. It is also the sparsely populated.
The name of the municipality is in honor of the tribal chief
Cora Naye, Nayar
, or Nayarit
, caudillo
, legislator
, and king
; defender of his tribe who successfully maintained the Huacica or Xécora kingdom. Nayarit was named leader of the Cora around the year 1500. During his reign, he was able to resist the Spanish
incursions into the mountains and preserve his kingdom. When he died, his remains were preserved and venerated in a cave in the mountains.
The municipality of El Nayar is located in the northeastern portion of the state of Nayarit
, between the extreme coordinates 21° 25 and 22° 40 latitude north and the meridian 103° 58' and 105° 03’ longitude west. In the north there are boundaries with the municipality of Acaponeta
and the state of Durango
; in the south with the municipalities of Tepic
, Santa María del Oro
and La Yesca
; in the east with the states of Jalisco
and Zacatecas
and in the west with the municipalities of Santiago Ixcuintla
, Acaponeta
, Rosamorada
and Ruíz
. See map of state at http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/mapnayarit.html and http://www.maps-of-mexico.com/nayarit-state-mexico/nayarit-state-mexico-map-main.shtml
This is the most rural of all the municipalities in the state and the one with the most scattered population.
The municipality is located in the Sierra Madre Occidental
and there are several mountain peaks including Cerro Dolores (2,480 mts) and Los Tecolotes (2,360 mts).
The municipality is crossed by two major rivers: Rio San Pedro and the Bolaños-Huaynamota . There is also the reservoir of Aguamilpa, opened in 1997. See http://www.bassadventures.com/aguamilpa/ . This reservoir is located below the confluence of the waters of the Río Grande de Santiago
and the Huaynamota. 21.884120°N 104.752579°W
The economy is based on agriculture, which due to the rough terrain, is limited to subsistence farming. The main crops are maize, beans and fruit trees.
The main ethnic groups are the Cora
and the Huichol with 10,515 and 6,349 inhabitants respectively (1995). Another group is the Tepehuán
, with only 18 inhabitants. These three ethnic groups make up 81.8% of the population over the age of 5. El Nayar has 49% of all the indigenous language speakers of the state. Of the total population of 21,948, 18,215 were members of the indigenous population. 12,103 of this population could speak Spanish and 5,809 could not.
The people are farmers, planting corn (maize), beans, squash, and cucumbers in steep hillside plots. Burning is used to clear undergrowth, plows and planting sticks being the chief cultivating implements. Most families keep a cow for milk and cheese, and sheep are sometimes kept for wool; however, very little meat is eaten. Other barnyard animals are also kept, and hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild foods augments farming. Neither the Huichol nor the Cora commonly live in villages but, rather, have households in the countryside clustered in loose groups of 1 to 12; these are called rancherias. Community centres consist of a church or Huicholtemple, public buildings, sometimes schools or jails, and houses that are kept by some families to live in when they are at the centre. The rancherias may be quite isolated from such community centres.
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
in the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
state of Nayarit
Nayarit
Nayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
. The population was 30,551 in 2005 in a total area of 5,100 km². The municipal seat of Jesús María
Jesús María, Nayarit
Jesús María is the municipal seat of the municipality of El Nayar in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The population was 1,783 in 2000.XEJMN-AM, a government-run indigenous community radio station that broadcasts in Cora, Huichol, Tepehuano and Nahuatl, is based in Jesús María.-References:...
had a population of 1,520 in 2005. El Nayar is the home of the Huichol and the Cora
Cora people
The Cora are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra de Nayarit and in La Mesa de Nayar in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. They call themselves náayarite , whence the name of the present day Mexican state of Nayarit...
Indians.
El Nayar is the largest municipality in territorial dimension in the state. Its area makes up 18.46% of the surface of the state. It is also the sparsely populated.
The name of the municipality is in honor of the tribal chief
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
Cora Naye, Nayar
Nayar
Nayar, Nayyar or Nair can refer to:Groups of people:* Naga People from North Eastern India* The successors of Nāga tradition* Nayar – a caste from the South Indian state of Kerala...
, or Nayarit
Nayarit
Nayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
, caudillo
Caudillo
Caudillo is a Spanish word for "leader" and usually describes a political-military leader at the head of an authoritarian power. The term translates into English as leader or chief, or more pejoratively as warlord, dictator or strongman. Caudillo was the term used to refer to the charismatic...
, legislator
Legislator
A legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
, and king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
; defender of his tribe who successfully maintained the Huacica or Xécora kingdom. Nayarit was named leader of the Cora around the year 1500. During his reign, he was able to resist the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
incursions into the mountains and preserve his kingdom. When he died, his remains were preserved and venerated in a cave in the mountains.
The municipality of El Nayar is located in the northeastern portion of the state of Nayarit
Nayarit
Nayarit officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.It is located in Western Mexico...
, between the extreme coordinates 21° 25 and 22° 40 latitude north and the meridian 103° 58' and 105° 03’ longitude west. In the north there are boundaries with the municipality of Acaponeta
Acaponeta
Acaponeta is a both a municipality and a town in the northern part of the Mexican state of Nayarit. The town is located at the geographical coordinates of . The population of the municipality was 34,665 in the 2005 census, living in a total area of 1,667.7 km²...
and the state of Durango
Durango
Durango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...
; in the south with the municipalities of Tepic
Tepic
Tepic is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Nayarit.It is located in the central part of the state, at.It stands at an altitude above sea level of some 915 meters, on the banks of the Río Mololoa and the Río Tepic, approximately 225 kilometers north-west of Guadalajara, Jalisco....
, Santa María del Oro
Santa María del Oro, Nayarit
Santa María del Oro is a municipality and municipal seat in the Mexican state of Nayarit. It is located in the south of the state and has boundaries with the municipalities of El Nayar, Tepic, Ahuacatlán, Jala, San Pedro Lagunillas, La Yesca, and Xalisco. The population was 21,688 in 2005, with...
and La Yesca
La Yesca
La Yesca is a municipality and the municipal seat of the same in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The population of the municipality was 12,025 in a total area of 2,218.5 km². The population of the town and municipal seat was 356 inhabitants in 2005...
; in the east with the states of Jalisco
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
and Zacatecas
Zacatecas
Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas....
and in the west with the municipalities of Santiago Ixcuintla
Santiago Ixcuintla
Santiago de Ixcuintla is a municipality and a municipal seat in the western Mexican state of Nayarit. The municipal population was 84,314 inhabitants with the municipal seat having 18,269. The area of the municipality was 1,831.92 square kilometers...
, Acaponeta
Acaponeta
Acaponeta is a both a municipality and a town in the northern part of the Mexican state of Nayarit. The town is located at the geographical coordinates of . The population of the municipality was 34,665 in the 2005 census, living in a total area of 1,667.7 km²...
, Rosamorada
Rosamorada
Rosamorada is a municipality of the state of Nayarit in Mexico. It is located in the extreme north of the state. The area of the municipality is 2,073 km² and the population was 32, 217 in 2005, showing a significant decrease from 1980 when it was 34,695...
and Ruíz
Ruiz, Nayarit
Ruiz is a municipality and the municipal seat of the same located in the north of the Mexican state of Nayarit.-Origin of the name:The name was given to honor General Mariano Ruiz Montañés , soldier of the Mexican Revolution and last political leader of the territory of Tepic, who lived in and...
. See map of state at http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/mapnayarit.html and http://www.maps-of-mexico.com/nayarit-state-mexico/nayarit-state-mexico-map-main.shtml
This is the most rural of all the municipalities in the state and the one with the most scattered population.
The municipality is located in the Sierra Madre Occidental
Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a mountain range in western Mexico.-Setting:The range runs north to south, from just south of the Sonora–Arizona border southeast through eastern Sonora, western Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Durango, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco, Aguascalientes to Guanajuato, where it joins...
and there are several mountain peaks including Cerro Dolores (2,480 mts) and Los Tecolotes (2,360 mts).
The municipality is crossed by two major rivers: Rio San Pedro and the Bolaños-Huaynamota . There is also the reservoir of Aguamilpa, opened in 1997. See http://www.bassadventures.com/aguamilpa/ . This reservoir is located below the confluence of the waters of the Río Grande de Santiago
Río Grande de Santiago
The Río Grande de Santiago is one of the longest rivers in Mexico, measuring up long. The river begins at Lake Chapala and continues roughly north-west through the Sierra Madre Occidental, receiving the Verde, Juchipila, Bolaños, and other tributaries...
and the Huaynamota. 21.884120°N 104.752579°W
The economy is based on agriculture, which due to the rough terrain, is limited to subsistence farming. The main crops are maize, beans and fruit trees.
The main ethnic groups are the Cora
Cora people
The Cora are an indigenous ethnic group of Western Central Mexico that live in the Sierra de Nayarit and in La Mesa de Nayar in the Mexican states of Jalisco and Nayarit. They call themselves náayarite , whence the name of the present day Mexican state of Nayarit...
and the Huichol with 10,515 and 6,349 inhabitants respectively (1995). Another group is the Tepehuán
Tepehuán
The Tepehuán are a Native American ethnic group in northwest Mexico, whose villages at the time of Spanish conquest spanned a large territory along the Sierra Madre Occidental from Chihuahua and Durango in the north to Jalisco in the south...
, with only 18 inhabitants. These three ethnic groups make up 81.8% of the population over the age of 5. El Nayar has 49% of all the indigenous language speakers of the state. Of the total population of 21,948, 18,215 were members of the indigenous population. 12,103 of this population could speak Spanish and 5,809 could not.
The people are farmers, planting corn (maize), beans, squash, and cucumbers in steep hillside plots. Burning is used to clear undergrowth, plows and planting sticks being the chief cultivating implements. Most families keep a cow for milk and cheese, and sheep are sometimes kept for wool; however, very little meat is eaten. Other barnyard animals are also kept, and hunting, fishing, and gathering of wild foods augments farming. Neither the Huichol nor the Cora commonly live in villages but, rather, have households in the countryside clustered in loose groups of 1 to 12; these are called rancherias. Community centres consist of a church or Huicholtemple, public buildings, sometimes schools or jails, and houses that are kept by some families to live in when they are at the centre. The rancherias may be quite isolated from such community centres.
External links
- Aguamilpa Reservoir
- Bass fishing at Lake Aguamilpa
- Lake Aguamilpa
- Ethnologue report for Cora language
- Enciclopedia de Municipios de Mexico article on El Nayar
- The Cora of Nayarit
- Territorial Prelature of Jesús María
- Arte Popular Nayarita
- La Tierra de Nayar
- Article on the town of Jesús María
- Fishing Aguamilpa