Tepehuán

The Tepehuán are an indigenous people of Mexico. They live in Northwestern, Western, and some parts of North-Central Mexico. The indigenous Tepehuán language has three branches: Northern Tepehuan, Southeastern Tepehuan, Southwestern Tepehuan. The heart of the Tepehuan territory is in the Valley of Guadiana in Durango, but they eventually expanded into southern Chihuahua, eastern Sinaloa, and northern Jalisco, Nayarit, and Zacatecas. By the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Tepehuan lands spanned a large territory along the Sierra Madre Occidental. Tepehuán groups are divided into the Ódami (Northern Tepehuán), Audam (Southwestern Tepehuán), and O'dam (Southeastern Tepehuán), each with their own language, culture, and beliefs.