Tarahumaran

Tarahumaran is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan family of northern Mexico, made up of Tarahumara, the language of the Raramuri of Chihuahua, and Huarijio, spoken in Chihuahua and Sonora. The Raramuri, probably heirs of the Mogollon culture, withdrew into the Sierra Madre Occidental as Spaniards moved in from the late sixteenth century.

Jesuits built the first mission at San Pablo Balleza in the early 1600s. The Tepehuan Revolt of 1616 closed it for years. The Parral silver mines opened in 1631, bringing slave raids and more missions, and prompting Raramuri wars in 1648 and from 1696 to 1698; the war leader Teporaca was executed in 1690.

Never fully conquered, the highland Raramuri kept their language and identity, while lower mission communities merged into the colonial population. After the Jesuit expulsion of 1767, Franciscans took over the missions.