Those who walk with arrows

By Marilú Acosta

In Nahuatl, Otomí is the plural of otomitl, while in Spanish otomí is the singular of otomíes, meaning one who walks with arrows or bird arrowman. From linguistic studies it is estimated that this native people has existed in central Mexico for more than eight thousand years, their language derives from Otomanguean and they call themselves hñähñü: hñä speak and hñü nose, because these languages are predominantly nasal. Although their presence is solid and millenary, there is not much history of them prior to what was told by the Spaniards. That is to say, there is no codex that tells their history and how they coexisted with other peoples, their culture has been integrated. Their main settlement area is the Mezquital Valley, B'ot'ähi in Otomí, which is located in part of what is currently Hidalgo, State of Mexico and Querétaro, despite this, they are also known as a wandering people.