Therefore, xiotenko means "place next to the jiñocuabos" and xiotenkatl, "neighbor of the jiñocuajos". The ending -tenko or "neighbors" is similar in function to the ending "ville" or "land" in English. The latter is probably the most accurate of the translations, because there is an abundance of the bursera simaruba trees in the region, which are today known as jiñocuajo or jiñocuabo trees, a balsamic tree to which the natives of Jinotega attributed great medicinal properties. The Nahuas and Chorotegas revered the jiñocuajo as a tree of eternity and wisdom. According to historian Eddy Kühl Aráuz, the name Jinotega does not come from the Nahuatl language, since the indigenous people of this area (Jinotega, Matagalpa, Sébaco and Muy Muy) spoke the Misumalpa language, as they were not of Mesoamerican origin like the Mangues (Chorotegas) and the Nahua peoples who inhabited the Pacific area of present-day Nicaragua. The historian Julián Guerrero, in his work "Jinotega Monograph" affirms that the word Jinotega is Chorotegan. According to the German linguist Walter Lehmann, the language of the indigenous people of Jinotega and Matagalpa belonged to the Macro-Chibcha family. History Pre-colonial era The settlement of Jinotega was established in the middle of a cauldron-shaped mountainous valley by indigenous people in pre-Columbian times. There is quite a bit of controversy about its original settlers; for some historians, the natives of this region were descendants of the Mayangna people of the Chontales Department, from the Caribbean of the Atlantic coast; other believe the aborigines of the region were Chorotega-speaking people, and therefore, Mesoamericans. The chroniclers listed the first possible inhabitants of the central and northern part of the country as one or more of the following: Chontales according to the chronicler Oviedo. Uluas, a group of Cacaopera people, according to Alonso Ponce. Popoluca according to Fray Blas de Hurtado. Matagalpa according to Brinton, Lehmann and Noguera. The government of Jinotega consisted of a king who was advised by a council of elders. Indigenous kings where called caciques as an umbrella term by the Spanish, although truthfully caciques were unique to the Taíno and kings were not called this term by Jinoteganos. The religion was polytheistic; they had a pantheon of gods of the air, thunder, lightning, rain, harvest, and more. Agriculture consisted mainly of the cultivation of corn, legumes, cocoa, and the harvest of roots and edible fruits. Corn was the staple of the diet. Among the