Zapotec

“ The first Zapotec king of whom we have any definite information is Ozomatli, who, it is said in the Codex Chimalpopoca, [X-95] reigned in 1351. The next king, whose name or deeds are recorded, is Zaachilla, who, being master of all Zapotecapan, coveted the region lying east of the river Nexapa, and inhabited by the Chontales, Mijes, and Huaves. The Chontales were the most powerful of these nations, and against them Zaachilla proceeded first. He took from them the city of Nexapa, which he fortified and garrisoned with his own soldiers. ”

“ Zapotec Creation-Myth
Among the Zapotecs, a people related to the Mixtecs, we find a similar conception of the creative process. Cozaana is mentioned as the creator and maker of all beasts in the valuable Zapotec dictionary of Father Juan de Cordova, and Huichaana as the creator of men and fishes. Thus we have two separate creations for men and animals. Cozaana would appear to apply to the sun as the creator of all beasts, but, strangely enough, is alluded to in Cordova’s dictionary as [122] “procreatrix,” whilst he is undoubtedly a male deity. ”

“ The ruins stand in the most desolate portion of central Oajaca, in a high, narrow valley, surrounded by bare and barren hills. The soil is a powdery sand, which supports no vegetation save a few scattered pitahayas, and is borne through the air in clouds of dust by the cold dry wind which is almost continually blowing. A stream with parched and shadeless banks flows through the valley, becoming a torrent in the rainy season, when the adjoining country is often flooded. No birds sing or flowers bloom over the remains of the Zapotec heroes, but venomous spiders and scorpions are abundant. ”

“ The Tzental and Quiche-Cakchiquel, tziquin, signifies “bird” in general, and the Nahuatl, quauhtli, “eagle.” The Maya and Zapotec names are more difficult to bring into harmony with the others. Dr Brinton thinks that the Zapotec name is derived from na, “to know, to understand, to be able through knowledge.” This, he says, “exactly corresponds to the Maya men, which means to understand, to be able to do ...; hence in this latter tongue, ah-men means the man of knowledge, the wise one, the master of wisdom.” “The bird,” he adds, “was the symbol of wisdom and knowledge.” ”

“ It was to one of these Zapotec princes that the fortified city of Zaachilla Yoho, or Teotzapotlan, as it was called by the Mexicans, owed its origin. At the time when history first sheds its light on these [531] regions, Teotzapotlan was the capital of Zapotecapan, [X-91] and rivaled in power and extent of territory the Miztec kingdoms of Tututepec and Tilantongo. ”

“ It will be remembered that this town is Zapotec, Coatlan being the last Mixe town. The school-teacher interested himself in our welfare, securing for us a real sleeping-room with cots, putting our horses into the corridor of the schoolhouse, and arranging for our meals. Chocolate and bread were at once furnished, and at eight o'clock a good supper was sent to our room. In the plaza outside, the wind was blowing a hurricane and the cold cut like a knife ”

“ Archæologically considered the Zapotec country constitutes an extremely interesting region, if only for the reason that they and the smaller tribes immediately in their neighbourhood possessed no legends hinting at immigration, but claimed that their ancestors issued from caves, rocks or trees in the locality. Similar myths were found among the Mixtec also, but [25] immigration legends are not wanting. For instance, one story relates that the first lords entered the country from the north, after the Mexican migration, and settled between Achiutla and Tilantongo. ”

“ The women dress much like the Zapotec women in the neighboring towns. The men present nothing notable in dress. Outside the plaza, the houses were built of light materials, and resembled the ordinary cane-walled, thatched huts of the Zapotecs. ”

“ Looking at the round huts of Chicahuastla, he shivered, and remarked: "Ah, sir, but it is cold in Chicahuastla." I replied, "Your Excellency, I see that you have been in Chicahuastla." When he saw the Zapotec types, from the District of Tehuantepec, he said: "They are fine large fellows; they make good soldiers; when I was Governor of Oaxaca, I had a body-guard of them." ”

“ The most powerful lords never entered his presence except with eyes lowered and feet bared, and even the Zapotec princes of the blood must occupy a seat before him lower than his own. Continence was strictly imposed upon the Zapotec priests, and especially was it incumbent upon the pontiff of Yopaa, from the eminence of his position, to be a shining light of chastity for the guidance of those who looked up to him; yet was the pontifical dignity hereditary in the family of the Wiyatao. ”

“ Benito Juarez, who laid the foundations on which Diaz has so magnificently built, was a pure-blood Zapotec. From the Aztecs, the Tlaxcalans, Mixtecs, Zapotecs and Mayas, we may hope much in the future. They were races of achievement in the past, and the monuments of their achievement still remain. But that the Otomi, the Triqui, or the Mixe, should be made over by the schools is doubtful. Personally, I feel that the prosperity of Mexico rests more upon the indian blood than on any other element of national power. ”

“ The second body of troops were to fall into the Zapotec territory from the side of Guaxaca, and were commanded by an officer named Figuero, who, it was said, had likewise previously been a captain in Spain; one thing is certain, he stood on a most confidential footing with the governor Estrada. He had a like number of troops under his command as Barrios, but also men recently arrived from Spain. As soon as he reached the territory of the Zapotecs, he despatched a messenger to a certain Alonso Herrera to repair to his camp. ”

“ After some bickering, we arranged for carriers to San Carlos, which is the cabecera of the district. Starting by moonlight, at two o'clock in the morning, we struck out over the enormous mountain mass to which we have already referred. Roads in the Zapotec country do not go directly up the hillside, as in the land of the Mixes, but zigzag by gentle diagonals up the slopes. The road was largely composed of jagged rock; two hours and fifteen minutes were necessary for the ascent; the descent was bad enough, but a distinct improvement. ”

“ They make excellent eating, and Manuel kept our larder supplied with fresh meat, which was welcome, and which we could not otherwise have had among these non-meat-eating folk. An old Zapotec woman, seventy years of age, with snowy hair and gentle face, was deputed by the town authorities to do our cooking. Her relatives live in Juchitan, and why she had chosen to live among these people I do not know. She took a motherly interest in all our party. Nothing was too good for us. She spent her whole time in hunting supplies and cooking and serving food. ”

“ Of the kingdom of Tututepec, which stretched for sixty leagues along the shore of the Pacific, nothing is known, except that its princes were among the richest in all Mexico, that its kings had many powerful vassals, and that its principal city, which was also called Tututepec, was very populous. [X-93]
One of the earliest conquests of the Zapotec kings was that of the Mountain of the Sun, near the town of Macuilxuchil. There dwelt on this mountain a tribe of very fierce and blood-thirsty barbarians, who lived by plundering the surrounding nations. ”

“ Another peculiarity of Mixtec and Zapotec worship is the great number of cave-temples, many of them so holy that they became centres of pilgrimage. Some of these shrines were oracular, and one of them, at Achiutla, held such a high reputation that Montecuzoma sent an embassy to consult it at the coming of the Spaniards. Human sacrifice was practised by both these tribes, though to a far less extent than by the Mexicans, the heart of the victim being held to the lips of the idol of stone or wood. ”

“ Quite surrounded by Nahuatlan and Otomian tribes was the Tarascan stock of Michoacan, a group of peoples whose culture certainly ante-dates that of the Nahua, of whom, indeed, they may have been the teachers. Still to the south—their territories nearly conterminous with the state of Oaxaca—were the Zapotecan peoples, [Pg 43] chief among them the Zapotec and Mixtec, whose civilization ranks with those of Nahua and Maya in individual quality, while in native vitality it has proved stronger than either. ”

“ They are described as a tribe of rich, shrewd traders, very miserly, great liars, "incorrigible and inveterate evil-doers"—the Jews of Oajaca, Brasseur calls them. They were among the first to submit to the Zapotec kings, in the hope of being allowed to retain their wealth. ”

“ The Zapotec country was famed in old times for its copper.
In the working of gold the Mexicans exhibited particular skill, and though great quantities of the wrought metal were found by the conquerors, yet a very small percentage of the enormous amount exported since the conquest has found its way into museums. ”

“ Her headdress in this place would seem to be a compromise between the Zapotec hairdressing and a motif representative of florescence. She wears the same V-shaped tippet, which is here adorned with three tassels, and she has the stepped nose-ornament. In her right hand she carries a sceptre of water-rushes, the same as that held by Tlaloc, and in her left the staff commonly seen in the representation of gods in the Sahagun MS. (Biblioteca del Palacio) , and which seems to me to be a development of the chicaunaztli, or rain-rattle. ”

“ Among the Otomi the child's head was cropped close, men and young girls cut the locks on the forehead, and women after becoming mothers allowed it to grow all over the head and dressed it on the top. Zapotec chiefs and warriors wore long hair gathered at the back in a pigtail. In Mexico men of rank, being warriors, cut the hair, and brushed it up on the right side (Pl. LX, 4) , while chiefs cropped most of the head, leaving a long lock on the forehead which they kept erect by means of a fillet (Pl. IX, 5) . ”

“ The conception of the after life is wholly material. The Zapotec, for instance, believes that he will return to his familiar haunts after a few hundred years, and [55] buries all the money he makes that he may then live at his ease. ”

“ The Mexican chronicles, however, show instances of the king’s son succeeding or of powerful chiefs being elected to the kingship. The term republic is sometimes used to describe the little state of Tlascala, but this was in fact a federation of four chiefs, with an assembly of nobles. In the Zapotec district the Wiyatao or high-priest of Zopaa was a divine ruler before whom all prostrated themselves with faces to the ground; he was even too sacred to allow his foot to touch the earth, and was only seen carried in a litter. ”

“ Axayacatl died in 1469, and Tizoc in 1482, and Auitzotl became the Aztec ruler. He continued the strenuous foreign policy of his predecessors, and proved a vigorous conqueror, though he was passionate and often cruel in administration. His armies conquered many cities in the Zapotec country, including Mitla (1494) , Teozapotlan (1495) and Tehuantepec, and after seizing Tonala, the key to the country further south and east, pursued their victorious course through Soconusco, via Mapaxtepec, Escuintla and Huiztla, as far as Huehuetlan. ”

“ Having gained the pass looking down upon the valley, we could see, at its further side, lying on a terrace, the pueblo of San Bartolo, stretching out in a long line near the front of a mighty mountain, upon which plainly our way would pass. It was almost noon when we reached the municipal-house, and found that our carriers had already arrived, and left the luggage. Here things were really quite as bad as at Tequixistlan, but here fortunately we had no work to do. The town was Zapotec. One might suppose, from its being upon the main high-road, that they would be accustomed to see strangers. ”

“ The Zapotecs are a bold and independent people, exhibit many intellectual qualities, and are of an impatient disposition, though cheerful, gentle, and inoffensive; they make good soldiers; they are fanatical and superstitious like their neighbors. The women are full of vivacity, of temperate and industrious habits, their manners are characterized by shyness rather than modesty, and they are full of intrigue. ”

“ The Mexican bucklers were small and circular, usually made of wicker with a covering of feather-work (Fig. 18, p; p. 118) and sometimes gold plates; tortoise carapaces were also used, and among the Zapotec larger shields covering the whole body. Helmets were of wood, with [126] hide and feather ornaments, and often represented the head of some animal, jaguar or snake, the jaws of which framed the face of the warrior (as Fig. 18, m) . The defensive armour of the Mixtec was of hide. Clubs with heads of stone or wood were employed by the Tarascans. ”

“ Some women make two journeys weekly between the two towns. They come in ox-carts, with loads of corn, fodder, coffee, chocolate, cotton and the like. These they trade or sell. When they return to Juchitan, they carry with them a lot of salted and dried fish, shrimps, salt and eggs. Upon these expeditions the whole family accompanies the woman; the traveling is done almost entirely by night. These Zapotec women are shrewd at bargaining. They must be doing a paying business. ”

“ The ordinary dress of the Zapotec priests was a full white robe, with openings to pass the arms through, but no sleeves; this was girt at the waist with a colored cord. During the ceremony of sacrifice, and on feast-days, the Wiyatao wore, over all, a kind of tunic, with full sleeves, adorned with tassels and embroidered in various colors with representations of birds and animals. On his head he wore a mitre of feather-work, ornamented with a very rich crown of gold; his neck, arms, and wrists were laden with costly necklaces and bracelets ”