worship idols as did many of the surrounding indigenous peoples. Wars with the Spanish Chichimeca military strikes against the Spanish included raidings, ambushing critical economic routes, and pillaging. In the long-running Chichimeca War (1550–1590), the Spanish initially attempted to defeat the combined Chichimeca peoples in a war of "fire and blood", but eventually sought peace as they were unable to defeat them. The Chichimeca's small-scale raids proved effective. To end the war, the Spanish adopted a "Purchase for Peace" program by providing foods, tools, livestock, and land to the Chichimecas, sending Spanish to teach them agriculture as a livelihood, and by converting them to Catholicism. Within a century, the Spanish and Chichimeca assimilated. References Sources Gradie, Charlotte M. "Chichimec." In Davíd Carrasco (ed).The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures''. : Oxford University Press, 2001. Indigenous peoples of Aridoamerica Pre-Columbian cultures of Mexico History of Coahuila History of Guanajuato History of Jalisco History of Michoacán History of San Luis Potosí History of Zacatecas History of Sonora Barbarians Nomadic groups in the Americas