Yuman Tribes of the Lower Colorado. (University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology. vol. XVI, pp. 475-485, 1920.)
Chapters L and LI, “The Mohave,” of “The Indians of California,” (in press as Bulletin of the Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington, D. C.).
Tepecanos
The Tepecanos were formerly a tribe of some importance, occupying considerable territory on the southern slopes of the Sierra Madre range in Western Mexico. Here they were found by the early Spanish conquerors who refer to them as Chichimec tribes. Their subsequent history is yet to be culled from prosy Mexican records. They probably fought valiantly against the white invaders but were defeated. As the country became settled and European blood introduced, the conservative members of the tribe continually retreated, until to-day they occupy but one village, Azqueltán, in the northern part of the state of Jalisco, and a few square miles of surrounding territory. Their numbers are reduced to a few hundred and many of these are mixed-bloods.
Physically the Tepecanos are closely akin to the other native tribes of western Mexico. The same may be said as regards their language, though in this respect the differences are greater. The Tepecano language is very closely related to the Tepehuane, Papago and Pima of northwestern Mexico and Arizona and more distantly related to Huichol, Cora, Aztec and Ute.
Little of a connected nature has been written on the Tepecano. The following list includes practically all the extant literature:
Orozco y Berra, Manuel. Geografía de las lenguas y carta etnográfica de México; México, 1864. pp. 49, 279, 282.
Lumholtz, Carl. Unknown Mexico, vol. II, p. 123, New York, 1902.
Hřdlička, Aleš. The Chichimecs and their Ancient Culture. (American Anthropologist, N. S., vol. III, 1903.)