Bernardino de Sahagún's Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España provides a fuller account: he describes some Chichimec people, such as the Otomi, as knowing agriculture, living in settled communities, and having a religion devoted to the worship of the Moon.
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Still other Chichimec peoples maintain separate identities into the present day, for example the Otomi, Chichimeca Jonaz, Cora, Huichol, Pame, Yaqui, Mayo, O'odham and the Tepehuan peoples.
In pre-Hispanic times the region of present day Tarímbaro was inhabited by the semi-nomadic Chichimeca (who knew the area "place of the willows") and the P'urhépecha people of Central Mexico.
In 1670 Chichimecas invaded Durango, and the governor, Francisco González, abandoned its defense.
In the early 17th century, the town was under the jurisdiccion of neighboring Tlaltenango and was primarily inhabited by indigenous people, though a few Spanish families had begun to settle in the area with the end of the Chichimeca War.