Chapala is the largest of the six Lakeside communities. The region where Lake Chapala is located was called Chimaloacán: “place for the people using shield”.  In the ninth century a big migration of Nahuatl origin tribes, from the northwest of the country, gave rise to the major settlements of the central plateau of Mexico; the residents of Chapala belonged to the group of Tanalan from where a warlord named Chapa encouraged groups to form a new population on the shores of the lake. Thus was formed Chapatla or Chapatlán. The word Chapala comes from the Nahuatl and means “place of Grasshoppers on the water”. Due to the characteristics of the area, the main activities were fishing, hunting, trade and agriculture. Over the entire basin was established the first pre-Hispanic communications between Tenochtitlan and northern and western regions. Later this long basin favored the Spanish exploration and conquest. more…