page_title: Los Haro
section_title: Pre-Hispanic
hierarchical_section_title: Los Haro / History / Pre-Hispanic
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Plody opuncie English: Prickly Pears Español: Tunas Italiano: Fico d'india Português: Figos da Índia
context_page_description: Los Haro is a small village located about 10 miles from the town center of Jerez, Zacatecas, Mexico. Los Haro was first settled by Spanish immigrants over 400 years ago, around the same time that the first English settlements were getting started in North America. Since the time of its founding, Los Haro has had a colorful history, enduring as an independent ranching and farming community on the periphery of Spanish control. Since the 1950s men have traveled to work in the vineyards and wineries of Napa, California; there are now some 200 families living and working in Napa; other families have settled in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Phoenix, as well as in towns and cities in Colorado and Texas. While people have become geographically dispersed, many still see themselves as belonging to Los Haro and maintain a strong connection and a deep affection for their hometown, making this a truly "transnational" community.
  As of 2010, the population was of about 900. It is named after one of the original 10 families who settled the town during the 17th century.
context_section_description: Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the Jerez Valley was home to Chichimecas who cultivated corn and squash adjacent to the river and streams. However, for the most part this vast region of semi-arid land was the domain of bands of hunter-gatherers who successfully resisted any attempts at control by the Aztec empire in the south. The Chichimecas instilled fear upon Meso-American sedentary people thanks to their fierce tactics of lightning raids and scalping of enemies. These marksmen hunted, with bow and arrow, deer, rabbits, snakes, and rats. 
  The nopal cactus and mesquite were vital to their subsistence. From the nopal, they ate its leaves, hearts, flowers and the fruit called "tunas" and from the mesquite they made bread cakes that could be stored. Unlike their neighbors to the South, whose rich volcanic soils and rainfall made possible agriculture that could generate a considerable surplus, their semi-arid ecosystem forced substantial mobility.
caption: Prickly pear fruit for sale at a market, Zacatecas, Mexico
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