http://indigenouspeople.net/Otomie/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otomi_people
ORIGEN DE LOS OTOMI
LA RIQUEZA DE LOS OTOMÍES EN MICHOACÁN
Otomíes: Significado, Origen, Historia, Leyendas y mucho más.
Otomi woman selling traditional Otomi embroidered cloths in Tequisquiapan.
The two most populous groups are the Highland or Sierra Otomí living in the mountains of La Huasteca and the Mezquital Otomí, living in the Mezquital Valley in the eastern part of the state of Hidalgo, and in the state of Querétaro. Sierra Otomí usually self-identify as Ñuhu or Ñuhmu depending on the dialect they speak, whereas Mezquital Otomi self-identify as Hñähñu (pronounced [ʰɲɑ̃ʰɲũ]). Smaller Otomi populations exist in the states of Puebla, Mexico, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Guanajuato. The Otomi language belonging to the Oto-Pamean branch of the Oto-Manguean language family is spoken in many different varieties some of which are not mutually intelligible.
One of the early complex cultures of Mesoamerica, the Otomi were likely the original inhabitants of the central Mexican altiplano before the arrival of Nahuatl speakers around ca. 1000 CE, but gradually they were replaced and marginalized by Nahua peoples. In the early colonial New Spain period, Otomi speakers helped the Spanish conquistadors as mercenaries and allies, which allowed them to extend into territories that had previously been inhabited by semi-nomadic Chichimecs, for example Querétaro and Guanajuato.
The Otomi traditionally worshipped the moon as their highest deity, and even into modern times many Otomi populations practice shamanism and hold prehispanic beliefs such as Nagualism. Otomies traditionally subsisted on maize, beans and squash as most Mesoamerican sedentary peoples, but the Maguey (Century Plant) was also an important cultigen used for production of alcohol (pulque) and fiber (henequen).
LIFE AMONG THE OTOMI
According to the best estimates of the Mexican government, there are about 42,000 Otomi people living around the Sierra Madre mountains, primarily in the Mexican state of Hidalgo, but also in smaller populations in the states of Queretaro, Guanajuato, Michoacán, Puebla, and Veracruz. Most communities survive through subsistence farming, or growing crops for a family’s own consumption, but the rocky soil also requires many Otomi men to work in cities for part of the year in order to support their families. Their main crops are corn, beans, and chilies, while some families also grow coffee and sugar cane to sell at markets.
HISTORY OF THE OTOMI
According to archaeologists, the Otomi were the original settlers of the Mexican highlands, arriving by 8,000 BCE. For the first 3,000 years of their settlement in the area, they were a single people believed to speak a single language. However, as they developed agriculture and improved their skills, they began to expand their territory. The more distant groups interacted less and less, creating a diversity of Otomi people, each with their own dialect version of the Otomi language they once shared. In fact, the diversity of these groups made it quite difficult, until recently, for archaeologists to piece together the fact that the Otomi were the creators of vast ancient cities like Teotihuacan.
Another great city built by the ancient Otomi is Toluca
OTOMI LANGUAGE
The Otomi language has at least ten different dialects among its diverse speakers. The most common are the Texcatepec dialect, found in the mountains of Veracruz; the Huehuetle dialect, spoken in Hidalgo and Veracruz; and the Tenango dialect, spoken in parts of Hidalgo. Of the various dialects, some are so different from one another that the speakers can barely understand each other, sparking debate whether they have developed into two completely different languages. Where the dialects overlap the most is in agricultural terms, lending support to the idea that they developed farming prior to expanding their territory.
OTOMI TEXTILES
One area of artistic mastery among the Otomi, particularly recognized among the Tenango speakers in Hidalgo, is their intricately embroidered clothing with unique shapes, subject matter, and bright colors. These styles are inspired by cave paintings found on the Mexican Plateau, and are believed to be related to ancient Otomi myths and rituals. Prior to the 1960s, however, the world barely knew of their embroidery arts. Then a severe drought threatened the many villages in Hidalgo, forcing the Otomi to try anything they could to earn money for food. While many men became wage laborers, the women began to sell some of their embroidered cloth, which became extremely popular, spreading far beyond Mexico.
Ceremonial stage of the Otomi Cultural Center in Temoaya, Mexico state.
Contemporary Indian people of Mexico. The Otomi live in the states of Guanajuato, Querétaro, and Hidalgo, with isolated groups in San Luis Potosí, Puebla, and Michoacán. Population, approximately 300,000 (1961, estimate). The Otomi language belongs to the Otomian-Mixtecan-Zapotecan language family.
OTOMI PEOPLES IN PRE-HISPANIC TIMES
By the fifth millennium B.C.E., the Otomi people formed a large group. The diversification of the languages and their geographic expansion from the valley of Tehuacán (currently in Puebla)[15] must have occurred after the domestication of the Mesoamerican agricultural, composed of maize, beans and chili. This is established on the basis that there is a large number of cognates that exist in the Otomi languages in the repertoire of words alluding to agriculture. After the development of emerging agriculture, the proto-Otomanguean legion gave rise to two distinct languages that constitute the antecedents of the present-day eastern and western groups of the Otomi family. Following the linguistic evidence, it seems likely that the Oto-Pames—members of the western branch—arrived in the Basin of Mexico around the fourth millennium B.C.E. and that, contrary to what some authors maintain, they did not migrate from the north but from the south.
WHO WE ARE:
Hñäho-Ñähñu-‘Ñuhmu-‘Ñuhu
The Otomi people currently maintains much of its ancestral territory, but has lost many tracts of land product of five centuries of invasions and plunder that has suffered. Otomi territory comprises:
a) State of Hidalgo Ixmiquilpan, Alfajayucan, Cardonal, Tasquillo, Actopan, Zimapan, Nopalan, Huichapan, Tepeji del Rio, Tecozautla, Chapantongo, Tula, Huehuetla, Tenango de Doria, Tototepec, Tulancingo, Santa Ana, Agua Blanca, San Jeronimo , San Esteban and San Gregorio.
b) State of Veracruz; Texcatepec, Ixhuatlan, Tlachichilco, Otatilan, Zacualpan, Santa Maria and Zontecomatlán.c) State of Guanajuato: Tierra Blanca, Silao, Irapuato, Celaya, Salamanca and San Miguel de Allende.
d) State of San Luis Potosi: Xichu and Jacala.
e) State of Queretaro; Amealco, San Juan del Rio, Toliman and Marquis.
f) State of Puebla: Pahuatlan, Chila, Cuaxtla, Tlaxco, Jalpan, Pantepec, Mecapalapa, Villa Avila, Xicotepec, Huauchinango and Metlaltoyuca.
g) State of Tlaxcala and Huamantla Ixtenco.
h) State of Michoacan: Zitacuaro, Melchor Ocampo and Ciudad Hidalgo.
I) State of Mexico: Aculco, Acambay, Amanalco Becerra, Jilotepec, Timilpan, Chapa de Mota, Jilotepec, Zoyaniquilpan, Timilpan, Morelos, Villa del Carbon, Nicolas Romero, Jiquipilco, Santiago Tianguistenco, Ocoyoacac, Naucalpan, Huixquilucan, Jilotzingo, Isidro Fabela, Lerma, Xonacatlan, San Mateo Atenco, Temascalcingo, Toluca, Zinacantepec, Almoloya de Juárez and Temoaya. In the metropolitan area there original population in Tepotzotlan, Otumba, Teotihuacan, Temamatla, Cuahtitlan, Tultitlan, Melchor Ocampo, Zumpango, Tlalnepantla and Nezahualcoyotl.
The Otomi (/ˌoʊtəˈmiː/; Spanish: Otomí [otoˈmi]) are an indigenous people of Mexico inhabiting the central Mexican Plateau (Altiplano) region.
The Otomi are an indigenous people of Mexico that inhabit a discontinuous territory in central Mexico. They are linguistically related to the rest of the Otomanguean-speaking peoples, whose ancestors have occupied the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt since several millennia before the Christian era.[1] Currently, the Otomi inhabit a fragmented territory ranging from northern Guanajuato, to eastern Michoacán and southeastern Tlaxcala. However, most of them are concentrated in the states of Hidalgo, Mexico and Querétaro. According to the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples of Mexico, the Otomi ethnic group totaled 667,038 people in the Mexican Republic in 2015, making them the fifth largest indigenous people in the country. Of these, only a little more than half spoke Otomi. In this regard, it should be said that the Otomi language presents a high degree of internal diversification, so that speakers of one variety often have difficulty understanding those who speak another language. Hence, the names by which the Otomi call themselves are numerous: ñätho (Toluca Valley), hñähñu (Mezquital Valley), ñäñho (Santiago Mexquititlán in southern Querétaro) and ñ’yühü (Northern highlands of Puebla, Pahuatlán) are some of the names the Otomi use to refer to themselves in their own languages, although it is common that, when speaking in Spanish, they use the native Otomi, originating from the Nahuatl.
The Otomi are apparently the descendants of the most ancient inhabitants of Mexico. Catholicism is their official religion, although traditional beliefs, cast in Christian form, have been preserved. Farming is the people’s chief occupation. The Otomi have retained their traditional culture with considerable pre-Hispanic elements.
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