The Nonoalca (Nahuatl for "mutes") or Nonoalca Chichimeca were a group of people in Mesoamerica who played an important role in the Toltec culture. According to Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, they originated in Tlapallan/Huehuetlapallan (possibly located near Honduras or Coatzacoalcos) and subsequently migrated successively to Tuxtepec, Quiahuiztlan, Zacatlán, Papantla, Huejutla, Tulancingo, and finally Tula. Mexican archaeologist Wigberto Jiménez-Moreno identified them with metalworking Nahuas from the Teotihuacan civilization who had been culturally influenced by the Classic Veracruz culture after settling among following the decline of Teotihuacan. They may have been influenced by the Maya civilization.Henderson, John S. “Olmecs, Toltecs, and Zapotecs.” The Olmec World.; The Toltecs: Until the Fall of Tula.; The Zapotecs: Princes, Priests, and Peasants.by Ignacio Bernal et al. Latin American Research Review, vol. 16, no. 2, 1981, pg. 266. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2503139. Accessed 2 Sept. 2026. At Tula, they were the majority of the devotees of Quetzalcoatl, clashing with the devotees of Tezcatlipoca.
After the fall of Tula, they moved south, settling in Izúcar de Matamoros, Zongolica, Tehuacán, Teotitlán de Flores Magón, and Coxcatlán, guided by their legendary progenitor Xelhua. They were also present in Chalco and Xaltocan. Neighborhoods called Nonoalco existed in many cities in the Valley of Mexico, such as Tlatelolco, Tacubaya, Chiautla and Coatlinchan, and were likely home to Nonoalca.Wauchope, Robert. Handbook of Middle American Indians / Robert Wauchope, general editor. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964. Vol 11 pp. 463-64 Some seem to have moved to Tabasco and the Laguna de Términos, later moving to the Yucatán Peninsula where they were associated with the cults of Chaac and Kukulkan.Rivera Dorado, Miguel. «Cambios en la religión maya desde el periodo Clásico a los tiempos de Hernán Cortés». Los mayas de los tiempos tardíos, Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, 1986, p. 163 They are also sometimes postulated as the ancestors of the Pipil of Central America, where multiple towns bear their name to this day (Santiago Nonualco, San Juan Nonualco, San Pedro Nonualco). The metalworkers from the gulf coast who the Lienzo de Jucutacato describes as settling in Jucutácato (now a district of Uruapan), Michoacán during the postclassic period may have been Nonoalca.Pollard, Helen Perlstein. “The Political Economy of Prehispanic Tarascan Metallurgy.” American Antiquity, vol. 52, no. 4, 1987, pg. 743. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/281382. Accessed 2 Sept. 2026. Wigberto Jiménez Moreno proposed that the Nonoalca were "Mazatec-Popolocas, more or less Nahuatized" based on their location next to these peoples.Jiménez Moreno, Wigberto. El enigma de los Olmecas / Wigberto Jimenez Moreno. of Ediciones Cuadernos Americanos ; Nú. 5. México, D.F.: [s.n.], 1942. pg.138 Both Jiménez Moreno and Enrique Florescano connected the Nonoalca to the culture of Teotihuacan.Florescano, Enrique. “Tula-Teotihuacán, Quetzalcóatl y La Toltecayótl.” Historia Mexicana, vol. 13, no. 2, 1963, pp. 193–234. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25135207. Accessed 2 Sept. 2026.
The name "Nonoalca" was also given to a small sailing boat that was sailed across the Atlantic to Fenit harbour in Tralee Bay by Bill Verity.
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