Tepanecs

“ Wull, yes. 'Casionally meet a hunter from there who has news; an' then the soldiers—thick as mosquitoes round here o' late—they have a heap to say. Some o' them—the Tepanecs, are lookin' for the Tezcucan prince, who's hidin' somewhere in the mountains. Maxtla, the new Tepanec king, is after his life. ”

“ The additions to the population in Tenochtitlan were chiefly Culhuas, who came in so large numbers as to outnumber, perhaps, the original Mexicans; while Tlatelulco received a corresponding influx of Tepanecs, and many from other neighboring nations. We have no further details of their history down to the death of the emperor Techotl, at Tezcuco, except that the establishment of a monarchy in each of the two cities. The Mexicans were at first ruled by the priests, with certain chiefs not definitely named; although by some Tenuch is still spoken of as alive and ruling down to 1357. ”

“ Their belief in their old god, Huitzilopochtli, was strong as ever; probably their fortunes rose and fell with the intelligence or the lack of it in the priests who transmitted to the people the will of this deity. Through them it was decreed that the tribute demanded by the Tepanecs should be paid. These neighbors were pacified, and the Mexicans could go on unmolested in their work of improving their city, which they did by building temples and houses, and cutting canals through their island that the water of the lake might circulate freely. ”

“ In the new era of prosperity that now dawned on Anáhuac, Culhuacan, where some remnants even of the Toltec nobility remained, under Chichimec auspices regained to a great extent its old position as a centre of culture and power. Among the new nations 104 whose name now first appears in history, the Acolhuas and Tepanecs soon rose to political prominence in the valley. The Acolhuas were the Chichimecs par excellence, or, as tradition has it, the Chichimec nation was absorbed by them, giving up its name, language, and institutions. ”

“ About one hundred years before the Europeans made their appearance in the valley, the Tezcucans—who were on the losing side in a conflict with their neighbors, the Tepanacs, who appear at that time to have been masters of the table-land—entered into a league with the Aztecs and Tlacopans. In gratitude for the valuable assistance rendered by the former tribe at a time when their nation was nearly crushed, the Tezcucans gave their once-despised neighbors the tribute they levied on the conquered Tepanacs, and henceforth the Aztecs were masters of the valley. ”

“ The Aztecâ, or Aztecs, were a nomad tribe of doubtful origin, but probably of Nahua blood. Wandering over the Mexican plateau for generations, they at length settled in the marshlands near the Lake of Tezcuco, hard by Tlacopan. The name Aztecâ means “Crane People,” and was bestowed upon the tribe by the Tecpanecs, probably because of the fact that, like cranes, they dwelt in a marshy neighbourhood. They founded the town of Tenochtitlan, or Mexico, and for a while paid tribute to the Tecpanecs. ”

“ Neither did they interfere at all in the government of the Tecpanics. They simply received tribute from them.
Once started on their career of conquest, the Mexicans, supported by allies, sought to extend their power. The result was that soon they had subdued all of the Nahua tribes of the valley except one, that was a tribe located at Tezcuco. This does not imply that they had become masters of the territory of the valley. When a modern nation or state conquers another, they often add that province to their original domain, and extend over it their code of laws. ”

“ By the aid of the Aztecs the Tecpanecs greatly extended their territorial possessions. City after city was added to their empire, and the allies finally invaded the Otomi country, which they speedily subdued. Those cities which had been founded by the Acolhuans on the fringes of Tezcuco also allied themselves with the Tecpanecs with the intention of freeing themselves from the yoke of the Chichimecs, whose hand was heavy upon them. The Chichimecs or Tezcucans made a stern resistance, and for a time the sovereignty of the Tecpanecs hung in the balance. ”

“ The dominions of the Sultan of Mindanao mark the limits of the province. A race of Indians remarkable for the whiteness of their skin, and supposed to be of Japanese descent, called Tago-balvoys, live on the borders of a creek in the neighbourhood of a town bearing the name of Bisig, a station of the Recolets. [349] Some of this race pay tribute, and live in a state of constant hostility with the Moros. They are advanced in civilization beyond the neighbouring tribes. ”

“ The Tecpanecs, who dwelt in Tlacopan, Coyohuacan, and Huitzilopocho, were also typical Nahua. The name, as we have already explained, indicates that each settlement possessed its own tecpan (chief's house) , and has no racial significance. Their state was probably founded about the twelfth century, although a chronology of no less than fifteen hundred years was claimed for it. This people composed a sort of buffer-state betwixt the Otomi on the north and other Nahua on the south. ”

“ When the Tepeacans became convinced that the Mexicans were no protection, they sent messengers suing for peace and they then took the oath of allegiance to our king.
Because it was on the road to Vera Cruz, and because the town was one among many and the land about it produced plenty of maize, and we had allies, the Tlaxcalans, to guard the frontier, we founded a town at Tepeaca and set up a regular government. We scoured the neighboring territory, and at one town where fifteen Spaniards had been killed, we turned many into slaves. ”

“ Nor is there any cause for wonder if the Chinese, being well versed in navigation, have been induced to penetrate into lands separated from them by a single sea, either by the curiosity of exploring them, or by necessity, the great propagator of the human race. The worship of the sun prevailed among the Peruvians before the arrival of the Spaniards, the same which from time immemorial formed the chief worship among the Chinese. And just as the King of the Chinese says, that he is the child of the sun, so also the Incas of Peru have said that they are the lords of empire. ”

“ While there are many mestizos in the town, it may truly be called an indian town, the largest of those belonging to the Tepehuas. According to Orozco y Berra, Tepehua is not related to any other language in Mexico. We have not studied it sufficiently to be sure that he is right; it is, however, certain that the language has been much affected by the Totonac, if it is not related to it, and many words in the two languages are the same. The people of this tribe have a great reputation, more or less deserved, for cleanliness ”

“ The population is not very great, but the exact amount cannot be ascertained. Each of the tribes is governed by an Orang Kaya, elected from among the richest and oldest of the [Pg 137] inhabitants. Tepa, the village before which we anchored, consisting of no more than twenty-five houses, is considered as the capital of the western tribe; but they also have dwellings on the island Wetang, while many others are scattered among the gardens in the vicinity.
The manners, customs, &c. of the people of Baba resemble those of the heathen inhabitants of the islands we had already visited. ”

“ The story of the nomads of Patagonia living east of the Andes—the Tehuelche Indians,—is, on the whole, more cheerful reading than that of either of the other tribes of the region. For over 350 years after they were discovered by white men they maintained an undisputed sway over their desert territory. They were visited by missionaries, but were never brought into the enervating subjection to them that ruined the Yahgan. They were physically and mentally a noble race of aborigines, and when at last they went down before a merciless civilization, they fell, man fashion, face to the enemy. ”

“ Tupac Inca, by his clemency, pardoned them, ordering that those who remained alive should continue the sowing of their lands, and should not again take up arms. The Inca’s delegate remained in Chimu, and the rest of the valley sent their tribute to Caxamalca. As the natives were expert in the working of metals, many were sent to Cuzco, and to the capitals of provinces, where they worked gold and silver ornaments and vases, and any other things that were ordered. ”

“ The most popular theory gives to China the credit of introducing the earliest civilization on the American continent; and in support of this belief many parallels are drawn between the Mongolians and the primitive races of the New World in their traditions, customs, and, particularly, the similarity of their features. In some parts of the coast district of Peru, the indigenes do not speak Quichua, as do the descendants of the Incas’ people, but have a language which is said to be easily understood by the Chinese ”

“ Their natural disposition is good, excepting that they have the trait of dreadfully abusing and misusing the poor Indians. The Chinese, of which there are thirty thousand in the provinces of Callao and Lima, have not intermarried with the other races so much as the other three mentioned ones. They are lawabiding and quiet, but the mixed offspring from them is deficient in good qualities. The worst of all races in Peru is the offspring of the negro and the cholo. ”

“ There had been, in the old days, a really fine Spanish and rich mestizo society, but all, or nearly all, of the Spaniards had left the Islands, and the mestizos had not yet decided just which way to “lean,” or just how to meet the American control of the situation. I may say here that most of the educated, high-class Filipinos are mestizo; that is, of mixed blood. They may be Spanish mestizo or Chinese mestizo, but they have in them a strong strain of foreign blood. Besides the Spanish- and 124Chinese-Filipinos, there are a number of British mestizos who are very interesting people. ”

“ Tenbroeck we find a repetition of the Iroquois rule to set food before the guest when he first enters the house.
With respect to the Village Indians of Mexico, Central and South America, our information is, in the main, limited to the hospitality extended to the Spaniards; but it is sufficient to show that it was a part of their plan of life, and, as it must be supposed, a repetition of their usages in respect to each other. ”

“ The Maya verb tepal=to govern or reign, or to be “one who mediates,” appears to be allied to the above Nahuatl words and it is not unlikely that the employment of the flint-knife or tecpatl as an emblem of office had been suggested by the fact that its Nahuatl name resembles, in sound, the above words formed with tecpan, and also the Maya verb tepal. ”

“ Very soon, however, the Indians repented, and, remembering the purity of their lives, and satisfied of their innocence, they sent after the monks fifty leagues, and begged them to return. The monks, zealous only for their souls, forgave them and returned; but, finding that the Spaniards would not leave the country, and that they were constantly aggrieving the Indians, and especially that they could not preach in peace, nor without continual dread, they determined to leave the country and return to Mexico. ”

“ The warriors of the place who survived either fled or were taken captive, and the women and children, who were generally sent to some cliff-dwelling among the hills before the storm broke on their homes, came back—if they came at all—to a scene of utter desolation.
But war did not always end thus. When a tribe refused to pay a valuable tribute, no attempt was made to destroy it, but merely to force obedience. The Aztecs once paid tribute to the Tepanacs, a tribe on the mainland, near Mexico. ”

“ South of the Tarahumaras and immediately adjoining them, in the State of Chihuahua, are the Tepehuanas on the eastern slope of the Sierra Madre, from 25° to 27° latitude north. They are a people of unusual intelligence, of excellent memory, and when first met were living in solid houses of logs or of stone and clay, or as genuine troglodytes in artificial caves, and cultivating abundant crops of maize and cotton, which latter they wove and dyed with much skill. [146] The chroniclers speak of them as the most valiant of all the tribes of New Spain, but laborious and devoted to their fields. ”

“ In Peru, for example, the Chinaman readily establishes himself in business in the smaller villages (and often surrounds himself with several wives or female companions from among the Indian women) . The Japanese have long cast eyes upon the upper reaches of the Amazon basin, or Montaña, of Peru and Brazil, for purposes of settlement and industry, and of late a company from Nippon has acquired a large tract of land there, with such an object. These folk are not unwelcome, or not so far, by the South Americans, who are desirous of seeing these vast and sparsely inhabited regions brought to life. ”

“ When it pleased God they should afterwards return, and reorganise, and obtain some victories over the enemy who had routed and expelled us from Temixtitan, the people of Chinantla told those Christians that they knew there were Spaniards in the province of Tepeaca, and that, if they wished to learn the truth, they would risk sending two Indians who, although they had to pass through much hostile country, could travel at night and off the highway till they reached Tepeaca. ”

“ The rude nations of the country, without any principle of cohesion among themselves, fell one after another before the victorious arm of the Incas. Yet it was not till the middle of the fifteenth century that the famous Topa Inca Yupanqui, grandfather of the monarch who occupied the throne at the coming of the Spaniards, led his armies across the terrible desert of Atacama, and, penetrating to the southern region of Chili, fixed the permanent boundary of his dominions at the river Maule. ”