Other Indigenous Groups
Following the period of
Mayan dominance, the area that would eventually comprise Honduras
was occupied by a multiplicity of indigenous peoples. Indigenous
groups related to the Toltec of central Mexico migrated from the
northwest into parts of what became western and southern Honduras.
Most notable were the Toltec speaking Chorotega, who established
themselves near the present-day city of Choluteca. Later enclaves of
Nahua-speaking peoples, such as the Pipil, whose language was
related to that of the Aztec, established themselves at various
locations from the Caribbean coast to the Golfo de Fonseca on the
Pacific coast.
While groups related
to indigenous peoples of Mexico moved into western and southern
Honduras, other peoples with languages related to those of the
Chibcha of Colombia were establishing themselves in areas that
became northeastern Honduras. Most prominent among these were the
Ulva and Paya speakers. Along the Caribbean coast, a variety of
groups settled. Most important were the Sumu, who were also located
in Nicaragua, and the Jicaque, whose language family has been a
source of debate among scholars. Finally, in parts of what is now
west-central Honduras were the Lenca, who also were believed to have
migrated north from Colombia but whose language shows little
relation to any other indigenous group.
Although divided into
numerous distinct and frequently hostile groups, the indigenous
inhabitants of preconquest Honduras (before the early 1500s) carried
on considerable trade with other parts of their immediate region as
well as with areas as far away as Panama and Mexico. Although it
appears that no major cities were in existence at the time of the
conquest, the total population was nevertheless fairly high.
Estimates range up to 2 million, although the actual figure was
probably nearer to 500,000.
Indigenous Groups The Lenca, the
largest indigenous group (numbering about 50,000), live in the west
and in the southwestern interior. Some anthropologists argue that
the Lenca still practice some traditional customs and that they are
the survivors of a once extensive indigenous population that lived
in the departments of Lempira, Intibucá, La Paz, Valle, Comayagua,
and Francisco Morazán. Controversy has arisen, however, regarding
the identification of this community as indigenous because their
native language is no longer spoken and their culture is to a large
extent similar to the ladino majority.
Other smaller
indigenous groups are scattered throughout Honduras. Several hundred
Chortí, a lowland Maya community, formerly lived in the departments
of Copán and Ocotepeque in western Honduras. In the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, the Chortí migrated to the northeast coastal
area, and by the early 1990s, they were practically extinct. The
Chorotega migrated south from Mexico in pre-Columbian times and
settled in the department of Choluteca. Like the Chortí, the
Chorotega speak Spanish, but they retain distinct cultural and
religious traits. A population of Maya live in the western
departments of Copán and Ocotepeque and still speak a Mayan dialect.
Several hundred Pipil live mainly in the isolated northeast coastal
region in the departments of Gracias a Dios and parts of Yoro and
Olancho. About 300 Tol or Hicaque are found in an isolated
mountainous area of rain forests.
The Spread of
Colonization and the Growth of Mining The defeat of Lempira's revolt, the
establishment of the bishopric (first at Trujillo, then at Comayagua
after Pedraza's death), and the decline in fighting among rival
Spanish factions all contributed to expanded settlement and
increased economic activity in the 1540s. A variety of agricultural
activities was developed, including cattle ranching and, for a time,
the harvesting of large quantities of sasparilla root. But the key
economic activity of sixteenth-century Honduras was mining gold and
silver.
The initial mining
centers were located near the Nicaraguan border, around
Gracias. In 1538 these mines produced significant quantities of
gold. In the early 1540s, the center for mining shifted eastward to
the Río Guayape Valley, and silver joined gold as a major product.
This change contributed to the rapid decline of Gracias and the rise
of Comayagua as the center of colonial Honduras. The demand for
labor also led to further revolts and accelerated the decimation of
the native population. As a result, African slavery was introduced
into Honduras, and by 1545 the province may have had as many as
2,000 slaves. Other gold deposits were found near San Pedro Sula and
the port of Trujillo.
By the late 1540s,
Honduras seemed headed for relative prosperity and influence, a
development marked by the establishment in 1544 of the regional
audiencia of Guatemala with its capital at Gracias, Honduras.
The audiencia was a Spanish governmental unit encompassing
both judicial and legislative functions whose president held the
additional titles of governor and captain general (hence the
alternative name of Captaincy General of Guatemala). The location of
the capital was bitterly resented by the more populous centers in
Guatemala and El Salvador, and in 1549 the capital of the
audiencia was moved to Antigua, Guatemala.
Mining production
began to decline in the 1560s, and Honduras rapidly declined in
importance. The subordination of Honduras to the Captaincy General
of Guatemala had been reaffirmed with the move of the capital to
Antigua, and the status of Honduras as a province within the
Captaincy General of Guatemala would be maintained until
independence. Beginning in 1569, new silver strikes in the interior
briefly revived the economy and led to the founding of the town of
Tegucigalpa, which soon began to rival Comayagua as the most
important town in the province. But the silver boom peaked in 1584,
and economic depression returned shortly thereafter. Mining efforts
in Honduras were hampered by a lack of capital and labor, difficult
terrain, the limited size of many gold and silver deposits, and
bureaucratic regulations and incompetence. Mercury, vital to the
production of silver, was constantly in short supply; once an entire
year's supply was lost through the negligence of officials. By the
seventeenth century, Honduras had become a poor and neglected
backwater of the Spanish colonial empire, having a scattered
population of mestizos, native people, blacks, and a handful of
Spanish rulers and landowners.
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