Chīchīmēcah

The Chichimec religion is the traditional belief of the peoples the Nahua called Chichimeca, the hunters and farmers of the northern highlands, among them the Otomi of Metztitlán. Mixcoatl, the Cloud Serpent, god of the hunt and the Milky Way, was patron of the Chichimecs and the Otomi, and as Camaxtli the central god of Tlaxcala and Huejotzingo. Metztitlán, an Otomi state the Aztecs never conquered, honoured the lunar deity Zäna.

Spanish writers of the late 16th century said the Chichimecs worshipped no idols as their neighbours did, though they made animal sacrifices. The Chichimeca War, begun in 1550, ended in peace treaties and the absorption of the native peoples into New Spain.