Lake Chapala and Environs
A Short History

There is much local history for this area yet to be translated into English, and far more left unrecorded. Here is a brief outline of the history of Lake Chapala and the various communities along its shoreline.

There is no consensus on the origins of the name Chapala, but the most popular theory is that it is derived from Chapatla or Chapatlan, a contracted form of Chachapatlan, which is derived from the root word Chachapatli, which means 'clay pot', with the suffix tlan which denotes abundance. Hence Chapala may mean the place with an abundance of clay pots. This could be a reference to the aboriginal practice of throwing small clay pots and figurines into the lake as an offering to the god Ixtlazalteotl, or it could be due to the location of the village of Chapala, on an alluvial fan that would provide clays for making pottery.

The Coca tribe of Indians are said to have arrived in the Chapala basin about 1400 A.D., after conflict with the Purépecha (or Tarascans) -- the dominant group in Michoacán. They settled at Cutzatlán (modern San Juan Cosala) and founded settlements at Axixic (Ajijic) and Xilotepec (Jocotepec).

The first conquistador to reach the Chapala valley was Don Alonso de Avalos who arrived in 1531 with friar Martín de Jesús (or de la Coruña), though there may have been visits by this and other clerics in the preceding few years. They met with no resistence from the native population. In what is now the town of Chapala they found chief Chapalac ruling a small band of Nahuatl speakers (the same language group as the Aztecs). Chapalac was christened Martín, and was to be the last traditional chieftain of this band. On his death he was succeeded by Francisco Ixquixúchil and Nicolás Xuili, who were civil administrators under Spanish authority. That the Spanish named the town (and in turn the lake) Chapala after this chief Chapalac is one of the more believable origins suggested for the name.