Nicarao (cacique)

Macuilmiquiztli
Monument to Macuilmiquiztli in Nicaragua.
Monument to Macuilmiquiztli in Nicaragua.
Born1485
Nicānāhuac
Died1540
Nicaragua
Known forResisting the Spanish conquest of Nicaragua

Nicarao, or Macuilmiquiztli (Nahuatl Makwilmikistli: macuil "five", miquiztli "death") was the name of a ruler of the Nicarao, a Nahua group that inhabited the land they called Nicānāhuac,[1][2][3][4][5][6] located in present-day western Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica.[7][8][9] Based on research done by historians in 2002, it was discovered that his real name was Macuilmiquiztli, meaning "Five Deaths" in the Nahuatl language.[10][11][12][13] Macuilmiquiztli governed the Nicarao from his capital Kwawkapolkan, which is Nahuat for place of the acorns or capulines of the forest. It was located in what is today the department of Rivas in southwestern Nicaragua.[14][15]

  1. ^ "Origin of the names of the Latin American countries".
  2. ^ "The curious story of the origin of the names of Latin American countries".
  3. ^ "Nicaragua".
  4. ^ "Nahuatl Dictionary".
  5. ^ "Etymology of Nicaragua".
  6. ^ "Nicaraguan place names" (PDF).
  7. ^ "The Kingdom of this world".
  8. ^ "The Aboriginals of Costa Rica".
  9. ^ "Las culturas indígenas y su medioambiente".
  10. ^ "Nicarao"
  11. ^ "Encuentro"
  12. ^ Sánchez, Edwin (October 3, 2016). "De Macuilmiquiztli al Güegüence pasando por Fernando Silva" [From Macuilmiquizli to Güegüence through Fernando Silva]. El 19 (in Spanish). Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  13. ^ Silva, Fernando (March 15, 2003). "Macuilmiquiztli". El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  14. ^ McCafferty and McCafferty 2009, p. 186.
  15. ^ "Cocibolca y Xolotlán: Relectura de sus toponimias indígenas" (PDF).