Rethinking Zapotec Time: Cosmology, Ritual, and Resistance in Colonial Mexico 9781477324523

Citation preview

rethinking zapotec time

joe r . a nd t er es a l oz a no l ong ser ies in l a t in a mer ic a n a nd l a t ino a r t a nd c ult ur e

Rethinking Zapotec Time CO S MOLOG Y, R ITUA L , A ND R E S I S TA NCE IN COLONI A L ME X I CO

d av id tavá r e z

u ni v er si t y of t e x a s pr e s s

aus t in

Copyright © 2022 by the University of Texas Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition, 2022 Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to: Permissions University of Texas Press P.O. Box 7819 Austin, TX 78713-7819 utpress.utexas.edu/rp-form The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper). library of congress cataloging-in-publication data

Names: Tavárez, David Eduardo, author. Title: Rethinking Zapotec time : cosmology, ritual, and resistance in colonial Mexico / David Tavárez. Other titles: Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long series in Latin American and Latino art and culture. Description: First edition. | Austin : University of Texas Press, 2022. | Series: Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long series in Latin American and Latino art and culture | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2021027220 isbn 978-1-4773-2451-6 (cloth) isbn 978-1-4773-2452-3 (PDF) isbn 978-1-4773-2453-0 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Manuscripts, Zapotec. | Zapotec mythology—Calendars. | Religious calendars. | Zapotec cosmology. | Zapotec Indians—Social life and customs. | Zapotec language—Writing. | Zapotec Indians—History. | Zapotec Indians—Antiquities. Classification: lcc f1219.8.z37 t38 2022 | ddc 972/.7401—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021027220 doi:10.7560/324516

In memory of doña Aurelia Cano and Víctor de la Cruz; and to Ricardo Ambrosio, bene lachi quichijno

contents

ix xiii xv

lis t of illus tr ations and tables lis t of abbre viations acknowled gment s

1

chap ter one Introduction

13

chap ter t wo Rethinking Time: Zapotec and Nahua Cycles after the Conquest

46

chap ter three Northern Zapotec Writing, Literacy, and Society

92

chap ter four The Shapes of the Universe: Theories of Time and Space

139

chap ter five Deities, Sacred Beings, and Their Feasts

178

chap ter six Singing the Ancestors Back to Earth

240

chap ter se ven Confronting Christianity: Resistance, Adaptation, Reception

263

chap ter eight Conclusions

269

appendix Analytical Translations of Songbooks 100 and 101, and Manual 1, Excerpt notes glossary biblio gr aphy inde x

381 423 424 441

illustrations and tables

map 8

Northern Zapotec ethnolinguistic and territorial divisions in the alcaldía mayor of Villa Alta, Oaxaca

pl a t es p-1

pl ate 1. The Tiltepec Year Count in Manual 85-1

p-2

pl ate 2 . Testament of Bartolomé de Chávez I Tia Lapag

p-3

pl ate 3 . Codex Fejérváry-Mayer 1

p-4

pl ate 4 . Cosmological Theory B in Manuals 6 and 11

p-5

pl ate 5 . Codex Borgia 29–30

p-6

pl ate 6. Codex Borgia 31–32

p-7

pl ate 7. Logquechi, Paper of the Roots from Comaltepec/Yachialag, with portrait of Ruler 2-Face

p-8

pl ate 8 . First folios of the Vargas-Lopes (100) and Gonzalo (101) songbooks

figu r e s 21

figure 2 .1. The first two trecenas in Manual 85-1

29

figure 2 . 2 . Two Zapotec year festivals in Manual 98

37

figure 2 .3 . Izcalli at the beginning and end of the year

54

figure 3 .1. Analco petition, 1564

59

figure 3 . 2 . Testaments with nonstandard dates

86

figure 3 .3 . False covers for calendrical manuals

illus tr ations and ta bles

x

90

figure 3 . 4 . Creation narrative excerpt in Manual 31

95

figure 4 .1. Manual 23, Yatzona

97

figure 4 . 2 . Feria’s Doctrina rotunda type as pictographic source for Manual 11

100

figure 4 .3 . Codex Vaticanus B 13–14

102

figure 4 . 4 . Codex Vaticanus B 15–16 and its interpretation by Seler

111

figure 4 .5 . The Zapotec four-place cycle and intercardinal directions in Codex Fejérváry-Mayer 1

114

figure 4 .6. Cosmological landscapes: mountains, precipices, and trees

118

figure 4 .7. The sixteen-day ritual labor cycle in Manuals 11, 53, 54, 94, and 97

120

figure 4 . 8 . Seven-day cycles, offerings by gender, and eclipses

126

figure 4 .9 . Cosmological fields above Sky in Manuals 11 and 66-1

131

figure 4 .10 . Cosmological fields in Manuals 42 and 97

133

figure 4 .11. Cosmological fields in Manual 94, compared with the night sky over Yagneri

135

figure 4 .12 . Cosmological seats in Manuals 94, 42, 97, and 85-1

136

figure 4 .13 . Alternative cosmological theories in Manuals 37, 70, and 72

145

figure 5 .1. Paired vases bearing the names 1-Jaguar and 2-Field

146

figure 5 . 2 . 1-Jaguar; Cipactonal and Ohxomoco

155

figure 5 .3 . Codex Borgia 25

158

figure 5 . 4 . Deity sequence after 10-Movement

161

figure 5 .5 . Codex Borgia 26

168

figure 5 .6. Pairs of lords counted from 1-Caiman and other counts

169

figure 5 .7. Manual 1

186

figure 6.1. The Comaltepec/Yachialag Map and the Lienzo de San Juan Comaltepec

191

figure 6. 2 . Signatures of specialists from Yatee, Betaza, and other towns

193

figure 6.3 . Miniature ceramic drums

205

figure 6. 4 . Jaguar-mottled serpents; serpent-jaguar sculpture

210

figure 6.5 . Don Moisés González and Ricardo Ambrosio, with Yiaj Bilo in the background

illus tr ations and ta bles

213

figure 6.6. Description of 1-Rabbit’s sacred bundle in the Lachirioag confession

223

figure 6.7. Zapotec monument MNA-6-6059

227

figure 6. 8 . The sacred mountain of Ya Huiz; doña Aurelia Cano at Ya Be site, Lachirioag

229

figure 6.9 . Noriega Stela 1

231

figure 6.10 . Ancestor sacrificers as turtles

236

figure 6.11. 1-Caiman and Great Eagle in the Quiaviní Genealogy

247

figure 7.1. The eleven celestial spheres in Peter Apian, Cosmographicus Liber (1524), fol. 6

252

figure 7. 2 . Lists of nine sacred beings and offerings in Manuals 53 and 37

254

figure 7.3 . First folios of Christian Songbooks 102 and 103

260

figure 7. 4 . Yalalag idolatry confession

t a bl e s 16

table 2 .1. The twenty day signs in the Zapotec and Nahua 260-day counts

20

table 2 . 2 . The thirteen positional prefi xes in the 260-day count

26

table 2 .3 . The eighteen festivals in the Zapotec and Nahua years

32

table 2 . 4 . The Nahua year’s eighteen festivals in five sixteenthcentury sources

42

table 2 .5 . Three colonial Nahua calendars and their correlations

48

table 3 .1. Estimated International Phonetic Alphabet values of Colonial Northern Zapotec orthography

51

table 3 . 2 . Select affi xes in Colonial Valley Zapotec and Colonial Northern Zapotec

56

table 3 .3 . Heirs of Bartolomé de Chávez I Tia Lapag

71

table 3 . 4 . Manuals surrendered, according to collective confessions

74

table 3 .5 . Structure of AGI México 882 by pagination, authorship, and towns of origin

88

table 3 .6 . Titles and labels for AGI México 882 manuals

99

table 4 .1. Feast movement across the cosmos according to Cosmological Theory B

xi

illus tr ations and ta bles

xii

104

table 4 . 2 . Cardinal orientation and offering cycles for the fifty-two years

107

table 4 .3 . Main offering cycle for the fifty-two years

113

table 4 . 4 . Major cycles in the manuals related to cosmic geography and ritual labor

141

table 5 .1. Northern, Southern, and Valley Zapotec deities

162

table 5 . 2 . Sacred beings propitiated during the first trecena

166

table 5 .3 . Pairings of day signs and deities in Codex Borgia 25 and 26, along with the Zapotec manuals

170

table 5 . 4 . Instructions for Days 1–18 of the 260-day count in Manual 1

172

table 5 .5 . Main festivities for Days 18–260

173

table 5 .6 . Propitious and unpropitious dates in the AGI México 882 corpus

180

table 6 .1. Founding ancestors in four Northern Zapotec documents

188

table 6 . 2 . Sacred sites in the Comaltepec/Yachialag Map (AGI Estampas 219v)

196

table 6 .3 . Structure and themes of the songs in Books 100 and 101

251

table 7.1. Nine-tier diagram in Manual 53 with Christian and Zapotec sacred beings

abbreviations

AGA

Archivo General Agrario (Mexico)

AGI

Archivo General de Indias (Spain)

AGN

Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico)

AHAO

Archivo Histórico del Arzobispado de Oaxaca (Mexico)

AHJO

Archivo Histórico del Poder Judicial de Oaxaca (Mexico)

-VA

Alcaldía mayor de Villa Alta, ramos Civil, Criminal

AMO

Archivo Parroquial de La Merced, Oaxaca (Mexico)

APVA

Archivo Parroquial de Villa Alta (Mexico)

ASV

Archivio Segreto Vaticano (Vatican)

-SS

Secretaria di Stato

BNF

Bibliothèque Nationale (France)

BU

Butler, Ines. 2000. Vocabulario zapoteco de Yatzachi el Bajo

CO

Córdova, Juan de. 1578. Vocabulario en lengua Çapoteca

HSA

Hispanic Society of America (USA)

JCB

John Carter Brown Library (USA)

MNA

Museo Nacional de Antropología (Mexico)

NL

Newberry Library (USA)

-Ayer

Edward Ayer Collection

acknowledgments

i acknowledge with gr atitude and humility my many debts to colleagues and friends. My closest collaborator was Professor Ricardo Ambrosio, who nurtured me as his dilla walhall student in Lachirioag. Several extraordinary bene zaa intellectuals supported my endeavors, and chief among them were the late anthropologist Víctor de la Cruz and the late bene wenllin che yia yegu doña Aurelia Cano, and thus this book is dedicated to their memory, and to Professor Ambrosio’s extraordinary work in Lachirioag. Other bene zaa scholars whose support was invaluable include the ritual specialists don Moisés González and doña Aurora Ramírez; the community leader Odilia Romero; the writer Javier Castellanos; the poet Pergentino Cruz; the educator Filemón Beltrán; and the late linguist Emiliano Cruz Santiago. The late eminent linguist Thomas Smith-Stark graciously provided advice and guidance for many years. Javier Urcid amicably nourished this project and provided valuable illustrations. John Justeson was a selfless and erudite collaborator; Susan Schroeder contributed unwavering support; Alfredo López Austin provided timely advice; and María de los Ángeles Romero Frizzi, Manuel Esparza, and Juana Vásquez Vásquez shared their extensive knowledge. I am also grateful for the hospitable reception at Betaza, San Francisco Caxonos, Lachirioag, Solaga, Yaa, Yalahui, Yalalag, Yatee, and Zoogocho. I am greatly indebted to Kevin Terraciano and Lisa Sousa for their encouragement and invitations to present my work; to the late Ana Díaz Álvarez, for her unfailingly brilliant perspectives on codices; to Bill Taylor, for his steadfast support; to John Chuchiak, for various research suggestions; and to Marina Garone and Erika Loic, for their assistance regarding early modern hands and print types. I warmly thank Michael Galant for his comments on chapter 3; Daniel Suslak, for his help with chapter 6; Viola König, for providing a photograph of the Lienzo de San Juan Comaltepec; and an anonymous reviewer, for making sagacious suggestions. I am also grateful to Solange Alberro, Davíd Carrasco, Roger Chartier, the late Paul Friedrich, the late Miguel León-Portilla, Rosemary Joyce, the late Marshall Sahlins, and Carlo Severi for their amiable advice. Joe Campbell, Brook Lillehaugen, and Pam Munro made several useful suggestions regard-

acknowled gment s

ing linguistic analyses; Andrew Laird contributed information about Latin grammars; and Javier Rendón Sandoval and Eduardo Ruiz-Sánchez provided advice on plant morphology, and photographs. I also received helpful feedback from Víctor Cata, John K. Chance, Oswaldo Chinchilla, Bill Connell, Danièle Dehouve, Bas van Doesburg, Jonathan Truitt, Gaby Vail, Joseph Whitecotton, and Judith Zeitlin, and cordial assistance from Luis Arrioja, Margaret Bender, Ned Blackhawk, Aaron Broadwell, Jesús Bustamante, Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra, Francisco José Cervantes, Susan Kellogg, Gerardo Lara Cisneros, Alessandro Lupo, Diana Magaloni, Susan Milbrath, Guilhem Olivier, Ethelia Ruiz Medrano, Carlos Sánchez Silva, Fritz Schwaller, Stuart Schwartz, Marc Sicoli, Aaron Sonnenschein, Michael Swanton, and Daniela Traffano. Before 2016, when I ceased contact with Michel Oudijk due to professional and legal issues, we shared with each other unpublished materials; all insights derived from these exchanges and other publications are acknowledged. Elizabeth Boone, Kris Lane, and Camilla Townsend kindly wrote letters in support of this project. Idelette Domínguez Vásquez and Óscar Falcón Martín retook high-quality photographs of documents, and Ligia Quiroz Bermúdez, Laura Carolina Vásquez, and Teresa Rojas Rabiela helped with some inquiries. I am, of course, responsible for all errors or omissions in this work. I acknowledge the amiable support of Antonio Sánchez de Mora and his colleagues at the Archivo General de Indias; Israel Garrido at the Archivo Histórico del Poder Judicial de Oaxaca; Father Antonio Villalobos at the Archivo Parroquial de Villa Alta; Norman Fiering and Neil Safier at the John Carter Brown Library; John O’Neill at the Hispanic Society of America; Regina Tapia Chávez, director of the Archivo General Agrario; and the personnel at Archivo Histórico del Arzobispado de Oaxaca, Archivo General de la Nación, Archivo Parroquial de La Merced in Oaxaca, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Museo Nacional de Antropología, and the Newberry Library. My research and writing was funded by a 2017–2018 award from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation; a National Endowment for the Humanities grant held at the John Carter Brown Library; and by assistance from the Lucy Maynard Salmon Fund and the Elinor Nims Brink Fund at Vassar College, which also covered indexing and permission costs. Several esteemed colleagues hosted presentations of work in progress: Louise Burkhart, University at Albany; Sergio Navarrete and Manuel Ríos Morales, CIESAS-Pacífico Sur; Gunlög Fur, Linnaeus University; Frank Salomon, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Maarten Jansen, Leiden University; Kelly McDonough, University of Texas, Austin; and Kittiya Lee, California State University, Los Angeles. Earlier work on the project was presented at various meetings of the American Historical Association; chapters 3 and 5 were presented at the 2007 and 2011 American Society for Ethnohistory

xvi

acknowled gment s

meetings; and chapter 2 was delivered at the 2018 Northeastern Nahua Scholars Conference. Early versions of my analysis of Borgia group codices and Zapotec manuals in chapters 4 and 5 were presented at a 2014 conference and a 2015 seminar generously organized at the Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México by Federico Navarrete and Ana Díaz, and at a 2018 seminar graciously hosted by Davide Domenici at the University of Bologna. Chapter 6 was presented at the Los Angeles Frente Indígena de Organizaciones de Base in 2017, and at the 2019 meetings of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, and the American Anthropological Association. I express my gratitude to the organizers of these events, to their students, and to audience members for their feedback. At Vassar, I received congenial support from my Anthropology Department and Latin American and Latinx Studies Program colleagues, and from my research assistants Elise Stickles, the late Ariana Salguero, and Ariana Sierra- Chacón. I thank Neil Curri for drafting the Villa Alta map, and Nicole Scalessa and Baynard Bailey for their devoted work on a companion web site. At the University of Texas Press, my editor, Kerry Webb, and Andrew Hnatow gently steered the journey from proposal to publication, and Lynne Ferguson and Kerri Sullivan made judicious edits. At home, my work was sustained daily in myriad ways by the love of my wife, Elisabeth; my daughter, Eva; my parents, David and Estela; and my brother, Arturo, and his family: Chizuru, Erika, Vero, Irving, and David Aleksei.

xvii

rethinking zapotec time

chap ter one

Introduction

arly on september 17, 1718, Sebastián de Aziburu Arichaga, alcalde mayor, or governor, of the Villa Alta province in Oaxaca, New Spain, was notified that the people of Lachitaa (see map) had relapsed into ancient devotions and were preparing tepache, “fruit alcohol,” for a feast,1 even though, only fourteen years earlier, fray Ángel Maldonado, bishop of Oaxaca, had gathered Zapotec calendrical manuals and songs, along with collective confessions, from the 104 Indigenous towns in Villa Alta in exchange for a general amnesty from the crime of idolatry—understood in Zapotec through the thunderous neologism the Dominican Pedro de Feria coined in his 1567 Doctrina, quela huecete bitoo quiela yagala, “the teachings of stone and wood deities.”2 This volume provides the first analysis of the entire contents of this exceptional collection of manuals and songbooks, which were surrendered to Maldonado by thirtyseven Northern Zapotec communities in 1704 and 1705, forwarded to Spain, and eventually preserved at the Archivo General de Indias (AGI) as legajo, or archival unit, México 882. The means by which this news had reached the magistrate revealed a profound rift in Northern Zapotec communities—highly autonomous territorial,

E

re thinking z ap otec time

residential, and religious units known as queche, yeche, and yetze. The celebrations at Lachitaa were anything but mystical. They entailed obligations that divided Zapotecs along gender and political lines, mobilized their households, and affected their domestic budgets—a local politics of universal realms. In cosmological terms, September 17, 1718, was lala, 11-Night, or Day 63 in the biyee, the 260-day divinatory count that had been consulted by ritual specialists for the previous 2,300 years.3 September 17 was also the eleventh day of the eleventh period in the yza, the pre-Columbian Zapotec 365-day year. This eleventh period, called Gaha (Fruit), matched the feast of Xocotlhuetzi (Fruit Falls) in the Nahua year. 11-Night was an auspicious date in the divinatory cycle, as several Zapotec daykeepers designated it as a feast when saa titza tzahui, “the good words go.” 4 Moreover, this celebration was only two days from the end of the first of four 65-day periods (cocijo or cocii) in the 260-feast count. Mesoamerican communities had similarly structured versions of that count before the Spanish conquest, but its quotidian use had vanished or been curtailed throughout Central Mexico by the late seventeenth century. Lachitaa officials were charged with collecting contributions from each household, in order to acquire turkeys, costly quetzal feathers from Chiapas, and other items necessary for a collective feast. Around September 3, Mariana Martín, a fifty-two-year-old woman, refused to contribute the three reales that town leaders required of every adult town resident. Her husband, Simón de Santiago, grew angry and beat her, and the fiscal (minor official), Juan de Santiago, advised Simón to kill Mariana, so she would not divulge their plans to Spanish authorities. Mariana fled to San Ildefonso, Villa Alta’s seat of governance, and revealed the events at Lachitaa to her son-in-law, Juan Sánchez, then in prison, who notified the authorities. Besides Mariana and Juan, Catharina María, a twenty-five-year-old woman, also contended she and her husband refused to contribute money toward those celebrations. But when Juan Martínez de Escapa, Villa Alta’s alguacil mayor (chief constable), arrived in Lachitaa a day later, most adults had fled town, except for Melchora Martín, a widow whose house was being used by Zapotec authorities to store the festivity’s implements: seats for the celebrants, eight vats of tepache, a two-tone drum known as nicachi in Zapotec and teponaztli in Nahuatl, turkey and deer bones to be used as drumsticks, a round box made of horn, and twenty-nine perforated stones wrapped in tree bark. Melchora had also made maize tamales with amaranth seeds.5 The rift that separated Mariana and Catharina from their officials was not merely based on gender or political divisions; it also involved cosmological knowledge. Mariana testified that, on an early morning in May 1718—a month in which another sixty-five-day period ended, on May 12 (13-Field, quecina)— she had seen the adult men of Lachitaa gather at a plantain field downhill

2

intr oduc tion

from the town. Before the assembly, Gaspar Baptista began to play the nicachi drum, while Fabián Luis accompanied him on a turtle shell.6 These two men came from Betaza, a town a few miles north with close ties with Lachitaa, and were known for their prowess as ritual singers. According to witnesses in an idolatry trial held fourteen years earlier, both men had been trained by the maestro de idolatrías, teacher of idolatries, Nicolás de Selis, in exchange for a payment of twenty-five pesos from a confraternity devoted to the Virgin of the Rosary.7 From her house, high above the plantain field, all Mariana could hear was that they were singing “in the ancient fashion.” She believed she heard the phrase se queman las estrellas, “the stars are burning,” and specified that it was sung not in Northern but in Valley Zapotec. Mariana’s reference to “burning” suggests a ritual song that began, indeed, with quichohuici y.ba y.nesa, “the gratitude will be charred8 right away,” and which referred to a food offering for sacred beings (see the appendix for a translation of these songs). This composition opened a lengthy song cycle that had been transcribed by Pedro de Vargas of Betaza, given to Fernando de Lopes of Lachirioag, and eventually surrendered to Bishop Maldonado, who submitted it to the Council of the Indies as proof that the Dominicans’ evangelization efforts had been less than diligent.9 According to Mariana, the arcane words in those songs resembled a variant not spoken in the Sierra, Colonial Valley Zapotec (CVZ). She was right: as the appendix demonstrates, cognates for specialized terms in these songs appear in Vocabulario en lengua Çapoteca (1578), the most authoritative Colonial Valley Zapotec dictionary, compiled by the Dominican lexicographer Juan de Córdova, also author of a grammar, Arte en lengua zapoteca (1578).10 As shown by Thomas Smith-Stark in 2007, four branches of Zapotec, including Central (Valley) and Northern, split from the same ancestor language. Hence, in colonial times, Northern and Valley Zapotec were mutually intelligible, but only to a degree. Besides political, cosmological, and linguistic differences, there was another divide between town residents and ritual specialists: literacy. In the second half of the seventeenth century, while a few Northern Zapotec escribanos, “notaries,” had been idolaters, many ritual specialists were literate, and composed texts in various genres in their communities. The manuals and songs that will be analyzed here were produced or owned by about 120 ritual specialists (see table 3.4). During the second half of the seventeenth century, these writers and readers had developed an autonomous “republic of letters” that, while deeply entrenched in an ancestral understanding of the universe and the interests of sixty Zapotec communities, also had substantial intellectual links with literacy practices, legal discourses, and astronomical knowledge that spanned the Spanish Atlantic world.

3

re thinking z ap otec time

signific a nce of t he cor p us As the largest archive of Native calendrical and cosmological texts in the colonial Americas, the Villa Alta corpus—composed by Indigenous intellectuals for Indigenous readers and preserved as a result of their confiscation by Bishop Maldonado—is an extraordinary source for Latin American history, religion, and culture. Its study occupies a place at the confluence of four themes: the entanglements of cultural and political mediation in the Atlantic World, Native colonial identities, the history of colonial religious institutions, and interdisciplinary Mesoamerican studies. Over the last decade, the study of cultural mediation has come of age to yield more exacting histories of interconnections. After sketching the “connected histories” of Europe and Asia, Sanjay Subrahmanyam turned to the origins of a global history that showcased links among Asian, Middle Eastern, and European scholars.11 A more deliberate examination of multiple connections and transatlantic information exchanges resulted in important contributions not only to the study of elite scientific milieux in Spanish America, but also to “entangled” British and Spanish colonial projects, or to our knowledge of healing and medical practices through networks that included enslaved people, and commoners of African, Indigenous, and mixed descent.12 Connected histories are not novel in colonial Mexico, as entangled intellectual histories have showcased the achievements of colonial Indigenous scholars since Carlos María Bustamante, following Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora and Lorenzo Boturini, began championing the work of Nahua historian Chimalpahin shortly after the War of Independence. As is well known, Native scholars educated in the liberal arts at the Franciscan Colegio de Santa Cruz assisted missionaries with translation, evangelization, and lexicographic enterprises from 1536 onward, and Nahua Latinists such as Pablo Nazareo and the scholar-politician of plebeian origin Antonio Valeriano eloquently argued for the preservation of their privileges.13 In the seventeenth century, Native or mestizo historians such as Chimalpahin, Tezozomoc, Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, and Juan Buenaventura Zapata y Mendoza, along with anonymous Zapotec and Nahua authors of origin narratives known as títulos primordiales (primordial records), recast oral histories, pictographic accounts, and earlier alphabetic texts into elite histories and genealogical narratives. In doing so, Indigenous historical narratives tied to specific polities expanded their footing in the colonial order.14 Some authors, like Chimalpahin and Alva Ixtlilxochitl, linked local histories to “universal” discourses about European history and classical antiquity. From the late seventeenth century onward, Creole and European intellectuals such as Carlos de Sigüenza y

4

intr oduc tion

Góngora, Lorenzo Boturini, and Antonio de León y Gama shaped how these histories would be remembered and archived. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, both notables of Native origin and ascendant Creoles publicly, and expediently, embraced symbols of Native identity. At the heart of these connected histories stands a grave discordance: there was an emphasis on the narratives, genealogies, and works of Indigenous nobility and elites, who often were attuned to European knowledge, or educated by missionaries or clerics, or participants in urban social networks. Nevertheless, many other Indigenous elites and commoners did not align with colonial authorities, or had fewer occasions to engage them in ways easily traceable in ecclesiastic or civil archives. Two distinct but related approaches—the ascendancy of the New Philology and the systematic study of catechetical texts—have provided a measure of balance and also undergirded efforts to analyze the workings of colonial communities through the study of routine records in Mesoamerican languages, such as wills, petitions, tributary rolls, and letters.15 These approaches fostered an expansion of Ángel Rama’s famed trope about the Latin American “lettered city.” There is ample evidence not only for a flourishing of genres in Mesoamerican languages in regional and local settings, sometimes with relative autonomy from colonial notarial and legal practice, but also for literacy networks beyond urban settlements in the Andes.16 The study of these sophisticated literacy spheres and networks challenges a received historiography regarding a “republic of letters” that leads, inevitably, to a public sphere in the Enlightenment, as posited by Jürgen Habermas.17 Given the early adoption of alphabetic literacy in Central Mexico, and the readiness with which Indigenous claimants embraced litigation in civil courts from the mid-sixteenth century onward, it comes as no surprise that these subjects were capable of negotiating and partially transforming the frameworks through which their claims were adjudicated.18 To understand the society that produced the sacred texts that are the subject of this book, however, one must engage in what Bernard Cohn memorably called “proctological history”: a history from the “bottom up” that not only examines the agency and strategies of “subaltern” groups but also analyzes how various actors aligned with or dissented from collective action.19 Unlike other texts that circulated across Indigenous republics of letters in New Spain, these clandestine manuals and songs could not position memories within a public legal framework. Thus, their authors made no concessions, and did not engage readers outside a Northern Zapotec social and intellectual sphere. Theirs was a variant form of colonial subjecthood that coexisted with more orthodox strategies for preserving elite privilege and seeking alliances with other elites or with civil authorities.

5

re thinking z ap otec time

This history from below must also engage Native subjects who exercised little agency regarding the documents and archives that recorded their beliefs and lived experience. Alongside historical scholarship that has continued to build upon foundational studies about the Mexican Inquisition, ecclesiastical tribunals, and popular religious practices,20 other studies influenced by the New Philology in the last decade have turned to the study of trial records generated by ecclesiastic tribunals and inquisitorial judges in New Spain. These recent works depart from earlier studies in terms of scope, but also in terms of extending their analyses to previously unknown or poorly studied sources. Some scholars examined inquisitorial politics, juridical procedure, and jurisdictional conflicts, and others attempted surveys that trace institutional policies, both for ecclesiastic tribunals and for civil judges who intervened in cases of Native idolatry, sorcery, and superstition.21 Among the vast number of colonial documents in Mesoamerican languages produced by Indigenous writers, a subset of works stands out because they preserve, in impressive detail, collective memories about pre-Columbian cosmological beliefs, sacred narratives, rhetorical performance, and a complex narrative of origins, migrations, and foundations. Many of these works were part of a protracted conversation between Native and European authors. The Cantares Mexicanos, although transcribed by Christianized Nahuas, feature traditional rhetorical forms, and commemorate preconquest feats. The Popol Vuh collected unique narratives regarding the origins and history of K’iche’ Maya polities.22 An important set of sixteenth- and seventeenthcentury records preserved the political history of Kaqchikel Maya communities.23 At a remove, mediated by Franciscans, Book 6 of the Florentine Codex preserved songs devoted to Central Mexican deities, and a manuscript by Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón records in superb detail Nahua prayers.24 On the other hand, while parts of the Northern Zapotec corpus align with some genres outlined above—like the songs in Cantares Mexicanos—they were part of a social world in which texts, such as colonial K’iche’ and Kaqchikel daykeeping manuals, circulated clandestinely. Similar works included the Yucatec Maya Books of the Chilam Balam, which contained prophecies and arcane narratives, the Cantares de Dzitbalché, which propitiated Maya deities, and the Ritual of the Bacabo’ob, which recorded hybrid healing practices, among other genres.25 Entangled histories produce entangled objects. The Zapotec manuals were shaped by colonial literacy and writing practices and corralled in a subterranean sphere through punishment. But they also reflect an astoundingly rich religious tradition that may be seen as an equivalent of Mediterranean antiquity, in terms of the depth of its historiography and the dependence on linguistic analyses and interdisciplinary methodologies to plumb its con-

6

intr oduc tion

tents. This interdisciplinary endeavor calls for the integration of historical, linguistic, philological, and archaeological data. The corpus of Postclassic codices and material culture has stimulated the production of exegeses of particular codices, synthetic works, and research on colors and manufacture.26 Several lines of inquiry have questioned received interpretations regarding the representation of Mesoamerican deities, astronomical observations, and correlations between Indigenous and European calendars.27 Such approaches benefit from a broader discussion within archaeology that focuses on Native ontologies, and religious practices interpreted through material traces.28 The Northern Zapotec corpus allows for a deep inquiry about Mesoamerican theories about the structure of cosmos and time. Its emphasis on the worship of founding ancestors allows for comparisons with Zapotec writing and pictorial and archaeological data from Classic (250–900  CE) and Postclassic (900–1519  CE) stone carvings, effigy vessels, and tombs in central Oaxaca.29 As chapters 4 through 6 of this book demonstrate, there are clear convergences in terms of cycles and protocols between the manuals and four Central Mexican codices that belong to the Borgia group: the Borgia, the Cospi, the Fejérváry Mayer, and the Vaticanus B. At the same time, the Zapotec books articulate a theory regarding the interdigitation of time—the 260  feasts—and space—the geography of the cosmos—a unique tradition that differs from diagrams in other Central Mexican codices. Zapotec social and cultural history, enmeshed within Atlantic history, is another major focus of this work. Through the pioneering work of Joseph Whitecotton and María de los Ángeles Romero Frizzi, the study of Postclassic and early colonial Zapotec elites acquired new paradigms and emphasized a variety of sources.30 Marcello Carmagnani noted that, after population recovery in Northern Oaxaca and the Isthmus, Native authorities engineered the return of ancient deities, and confronted alcaldes mayores. This work was followed by John K. Chance’s masterful analysis of the political and demographic history of Villa Alta and Judith Zeitlin’s critical assessment of the 1660 Tehuantepec rebellion.31 The exemplary work of Thomas Smith-Stark on the two most important lexicographic sources for Colonial Valley Zapotec—Juan de Córdova’s 1578 dictionary and grammar—illuminated cosmology and catechesis for historians, and other linguists have continued to investigate colonial Valley Zapotec sources.32 In the last two decades, the translation, study, and comparative analysis of sources in colonial Zapotec variants gained greater importance through the work of scholars who explored important archival depositories in Mexico and Spain33 and analyzed Zapotec catechetical imprints and manuscripts.34 Other works have focused primarily on Spanish-language civil and ecclesiastical records from Villa Alta, and documented Zapotec social and political

7

Northern Zapotec ethnolinguistic and territorial divisions in the alcaldía mayor of Villa Alta, Oaxaca. Map by Neil Curri, GISP. Map data © 2021 INEGI.

intr oduc tion

history.35 Several digital humanities sites offer valuable resources, including online dictionaries36 and transcriptions and translations of colonial Zapotec texts.37

agi mé x ic o 8 82 a nd t he m a n ua l s: a n ov er v ie w This corpus of calendrical manuals and ritual songs—referred to here as AGI México 882—was composed by specialists who belonged to three ethnic and cultural Northern Zapotec subdivisions: people who now call themselves bene xhon (Caxonos), bene xidza (Nexitzo), and bene xan (Bixanos) Zapotec.38 The texts were surrendered by town officials to facilitate collective survival. After the execution of fifteen rebels as punishment for a violent 1700 rebellion in San Francisco Caxonos, the newly arrived Bishop Maldonado visited the northern sierras, beginning in 1702, and issued a general amnesty for crimes of idolatry, in exchange for full collective confessions. From September 1704 to January 1705, the authorities of pueblos de indios, Indigenous communities, in Villa Alta went to the jurisdictional seat of San Ildefonso to register their confessions regarding ceremonies both de particulares, private, and del común, collective, that focused on deities and ancestors (see map). In the end, sixty-eight Zapotec communities—fifteen Bixanos, twenty-seven Caxonos, twenty-six Nexitzo—as well as twenty-nine Ayuuk (Mixe) and seven Tsa Jujmi-speaking (Chinantec) towns, deposited brief confessions, denounced their specialists, and turned in calendrical manuals or ritual implements (see table 3.4).39 This exercise was substantially different from other ambitious inquisitorial campaigns against heretics and sorcerers, such as Jacques Fournier’s inquiries in Montaillou, and Juan de Zumárraga’s investigations of Basque witches and, later, Nahua idolaters.40 Rather than conducting personal interrogations, Bishop Maldonado delegated his powers to his visitador general (visitor general), the renowned extirpator of idolatries Joseph de Aragón y Alcántara, and to a Dominican commissioned judge, Diego de Cardona, while Zapotec testimony was translated by the mestizo interpreter Joseph de Ramos. These efforts constitute the most ambitious idolatry extirpation attempt carried out in New Spain, as they mobilized the elected authorities of about 104 recognized Indigenous communities, which comprised 421 settlements with an estimated total population of 36,396.41 Its scale was unusual not only in terms of its target demographic, but also due to the large corpus it amassed: 102 calendar manuals from thirty-seven communities, composed in the second half of the seventeenth century. Four collections of ritual songs

9

re thinking z ap otec time

were also turned in, two devoted to deities and founding ancestors, while the other two celebrated Christian entities.42 The 102 manuals contain partial or full lists of the 260-day Zapotec ritual calendar, and contemporary archivists grouped them into ninety-nine cuadernos (booklets). The corpus contains ninety-two complete lists of the 260-feast cycle, seven calendars with at least 75 percent of the 260-day cycle, two calendar fragments, and two calendars with nonstandard day orders. This is a unique corpus for the colonial Americas, in terms of its unparalleled contents and the number of texts confiscated. While most ecclesiastical judges would burn effigies and ritual implements in a public disciplinary act, these divinatory texts were spared that fate, as Maldonado employed them as evidence of the uneven results obtained by Dominicans after almost 170 years of residence in Oaxaca. Unlike many other Mesoamerican sources, the historiography of the Villa Alta corpus is of recent vintage. In the early 1960s, the art historian Enrique Marco Dorta alerted the Spanish anthropologist José Alcina Franch about its existence. One of Franch’s students, Cristina Zilbermann, wrote her undergraduate thesis on the documents, and Franch and Zilbermann authored the first publications about them in 1966.43 Franch explored the topic in the early 1970s, and in 1993 he authored a monograph that publicized this corpus’s importance, discussed deities and the structure of the 260- and 365day counts, and provided a synoptic analysis of local ceremonies. Franch analyzed these manuals from the vantage point of Spanish-language documentation, as he did not read Zapotec, and subsequently Arthur Miller addressed this corpus.44 I started working on the Villa Alta documents in 1997 as a doctoral student, began studying Songbooks 100–103 (not previously translated or addressed by Alcina Franch), and published my first analysis of them in 2000. My research was facilitated by a microfilm copy of México 882 kindly supplied by the AGI in 2000, by transcriptions, scans, and photographs of Zapotec-language documents at the Archivo Histórico Judicial de Oaxaca (AHJO) that I collected between 1999 and 2020, and by access to and permissions from APVA in 2008. While this book focuses on the México 882 corpus rather than on testaments, I have also completed transcriptions and analytical translations of more than forty wills and petitions from the vast testament corpus held at AHJO, and these have been occasionally cited in earlier preliminary analyses.45 My translations of these documents, along with transcriptions of all the calendar data in the México 882 corpus and select transcriptions of ecclesiastic and civil idolatry proceedings from AHJO and other archives, will be made available through this book’s bilingual companion websites: biyee.vassar.edu and zapotectime.vassar.edu. In the end, for contemporary Northern Zapotec communities, this excep-

10

intr oduc tion

tional corpus is connected to devotions and sacred sites that still are part of everyday life. Hence, this project rests on the solidarity of Indigenous intellectuals listed in my acknowledgments, who magnanimously shared their wisdom with me, and on the judgment of Indigenous readers, who will be this work’s ultimate arbiters. The present volume is the first interpretation of the calendar and ritual song corpus together, fully contextualized, and supported not only by philological and linguistic analyses of Zapotec texts, but also by a social history of Northern Zapotec communities informed by Mesoamerican calendrics, and by linguistic and ethnographic research that I have conducted since 1999 in Lachirioag, Yaa, Yatee, Yalahui, Betaza, Lachitaa, Yalalag, and other Northern Zapotec communities. My research is also based on mundane and sacred texts in Northern Zapotec preserved at the Archivo Histórico Judicial de Oaxaca, the Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), and the Archivo General de Indias, and on colonial and modern Valley and Northern Zapotec dictionaries, grammars, and devotional literature.46 The nature of this corpus poses multiple challenges: as these are writings meant only for Indigenous readers, any interpretation of the alphabetic texts and diagrams requires considerable philological and linguistic knowledge about colonial Northern Zapotec documents. The contents of these texts demonstrate that, as late as the end of the seventeenth century, two time counts of pre-Columbian origin were in constant use in most Northern Zapotec communities. The foundational cycle was a 260-feast day divinatory count called biyee, or “time period.” The second time count depicted was a vague solar year cycle of 365 days, called yza. Like its Nahua counterpart the xihuitl, also a 365-day count, the yza divided into eighteen festivals, and ended on a period called quicholla quieainij, “[the days] will be disconcerted and angry” in Zapotec, and nemontemi, “they are full in vain,” in Nahuatl. The list of 260 feasts, which served as the manuals’ central axis, was sometimes preceded or followed by other lists, usually one of which contained the fifty-two Zapotec years, along with instructions for offerings. Feast names were frequently followed by notes referring to deities, cycles within the 260-day count, observances, and auguries. What label best fits this corpus? These calendrical books often began with a variant of the phrase biyee xoci xotao reho, “the periods [or time count] of the fathers and ancestors of us all.” Specialists used these manuals as highly portable texts that could be corrected, amended, or expanded following pragmatic criteria. Seizing on this fact, idolatry eradicators identified these works as cuadernos, “notebooks.” However, these documents contain not only the 260 feasts, but also other cycles, auguries, cosmological diagrams, drawings that explore time–space correlations, lists of deities, instructions for ritual

11

re thinking z ap otec time

practices segregated by gender and age, eclipse annotations, correlations with the Christian calendar, and origin narratives. Therefore, I will refer to these documents as “manuals” that encompass the entire cosmology and divinatory practices of Northern Zapotec colonial society.

volu me ov er v ie w This chapter has introduced the Northern Zapotec corpus and addressed its significance in Latin American history, ethnohistory, religion, Mesoamerican studies, and historical anthropology. Chapter 2 begins with a sketch of the central engine of Zapotec divination: the 260-feast count. It then explores the rethinking of knowledge of Central Mexican calendars by addressing correspondences between Nahua and Northern Zapotec years, Mexica calendar reform, and correlations by Indigenous and Creole intellectuals. Chapter 3 introduces Colonial Northern Zapotec (CNZ) as written, examines literacy practices in Zapotec communities, and places sacred songs and rhetoric in the context of related genres. Chapter 4 analyzes a central principle in Zapotec cosmology: a continuum that spanned time (feast days) and space (cosmological regions), through examples drawn from Zapotec diagrams and Codex Borgia scenes. Chapter 5 examines the cult of Zapotec deities, and examines narratives that informed both the cosmogonic scenes in the Borgia, and Zapotec theories about cosmic origins. After a review of ancestor genealogies, chapter 6 analyzes the reenactment of creation events and sacred history and exchanges with ancestors, turning also to their political consequences. This chapter also reveals continuities in ancestor worship between Classic period Zapotec writing and iconography and seventeenth-century songs, which memorialized the return of ancestors in the shape of snake, turtle, and jaguar co-beings. Chapter  7 examines statements about the preservation of ancestral devotions and the rejection of Christianity as anti-colonial discourses. It also analyzes the absorption of Christian entities into cosmological theories, and the reception of Christian teachings in testament preambles. A concluding chapter summarizes the local politics that reshaped a colonial universe: the concerted practice of lineages, elites, and specialists, who successfully defended local autonomy through coercion, legal maneuvers, and alliances.

12

chapter t wo

Rethinking Time Zapotec and Nahua Cycles after the Conquest

issionaries and spanish conquerors brought Christian time to Central Mexican societies not merely as new sacred observances, but also as novel timekeeping practices that forced a rethinking of time in the colonial order. A conquest of time measurements took place as Indigenous writers and notaries began to use the European year. But more tantalizing fare, European divination, was also an early arrival. In June 1520, as the need for Cortés’s army to flee Mexico Tenochtitlan became evident, Blas Botello, “who thought himself astrologer or necromancer,” insisted that the Spaniards had to leave on a particular hour and night, for otherwise they would perish.1 Paradoxically, Botello perished during that evening’s retreat—the famed Noche Triste, Sad Night—and a search of his possessions revealed a divination booklet and a fetish object.2 Indigenous observers would later become fascinated with European astrology, but this interest went both ways: one of the earliest Mexican inquisitorial trials, in 1528, investigated the notary Juan Fernández del Castillo, who made natives burn papers before a dog-shaped effigy.3 This chapter places the structure of the Zapotec 260-day divinatory count and 365-day cycle in the context of Central Mexican counts. First it examines the structure of the Zapotec divinatory and year counts and proposes a novel

M

re thinking z ap otec time

interpretation of year periods, focusing on an astounding correspondence between five periods in the Zapotec year and in the Nahua pre-reform year that began on the Izcalli period. The next section reviews five important early sources for the Nahua year and its periods and correlation with the European year, and reviews the historiography of correlation proposals after Caso’s signature intervention. The next section argues that a momentous reform of the Mexica (or Aztec) calendar took place in 1507–1508, and reconciles apparently contradictory statements by Chimalpahin and Sahagún. Another section explores further evidence for Izcalli as first period, based on calendars by Chimalpahin and Cristóbal del Castillo. The chapter ends with an assessment of the rethinking of Central Mexican time counts by Indigenous and Creole authors.4

t he z a p o t ec 26 0 -f e a s t day di v ina t or y c ou n t : s t ruc t u r e a nd c on t e x t The interpretation of the Zapotec divinatory count was, for reasons that will become readily apparent, a specialized pursuit. According to Córdova’s dictionary, ritual specialists who focused on the interpretation of the 260-day cycle were colanij, “one who casts the feasts,” and less neutrally denominated “conjurers or sorcerers.”5 Huechijlla or huechilla was translated as adiuino or sortílego, “diviner, conjurer,” while pijzi was an “augury,” and this term also recurred in entries linked to disgrace or injury.6 Colani, “maker of feasts,” contains the agentive co- and the nominal root lanij, “feast.”7 In his dictionary, Córdova cites a number of ritual specializations linked to the term colanij, which included forecasting based on star gazing (colanij pèlle); on fire (colanij quij); on air or wind (colanij pèe); on water (colanij niça); on birds (colanij màni zàbi); on sacrifices (colanij pichijlla); and also on human faces (colanij lào peni). A diviner “through the magical arts” was colanij tào, “great feast-maker.” This list, lexicographic in intent, was influenced by Nebrija’s Vocabulario, as were most lexicographic projects of its age,8 and it lacks the contextualization found in Sahagún, Ruiz de Alarcón, and other Nahua sources. In Colonial Northern Zapotec, bene guechea referred to ritual specialists in colonial times,9 and this label gave rise to bene walla, which now designates contemporary Northern Zapotec ritual specialists, particularly malevolent ones.10 In some Southern Zapotec communities, daykeepers still employ divinatory counts with five different periods, and thus the structure of many of these counts differs from that of the colonial cycles.11 Another Valley Zapotec term, huía tào, is glossed as “pope or priest of the

14

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

Devil; only he entered in his sancta sanctorum, where the idols were to offer sacrifices.”12 The term huía may be glossed as “carrier,” as the verb toaya means “to carry a load on one’s back,”13 and its agentive form recurs in the terms “water carrier,” huia niça, and “carrier of provisions (despensero), of provisions for the road,” huia huaana.14 Hence, the literal meaning of huía tào may be “sacred carrier.” Thus analyzed, huía tào and another term for a Zapotec or Christian priest, còpa pitào, “keeper of deities,” have semantic parallels with a Nahuatl term for a preconquest priest, teopixqui, literally “deity keeper,” and later glossed as “ecclesiastic, religious.”15 The most important count in Mesoamerican divinatory and timekeeping practices was the cycle of 260 feast days. As Elizabeth Brumfiel asserted, these “technologies of time” framed dialogues between specialists and clients based on the exchange of cosmological and social information.16 Although each “feast” equaled twenty-four hours, the 260 feasts were much more than solar days: they were entities with a unique name, position, and periodization, and also units for sacred celebrations. As discussed in later chapters, feasts were characterized as doors, portals, mats of authority, and flowers. Their names and structure derived from two major cycles: one of positional prefi xes, or numbers, from 1 to 13, and another of twenty terms that referred to plants, animals, or forces of nature, yielding 260 names. Both Zapotec and Nahuatl feasts corresponded to, but were different from, solar days. While ilhuitl referred to “day” or “festivity” in Nahuatl, the 260day cycle was called tonalpohualli, or “count of tonalli.” The term tonalli, literally “solar heat,” referred to an essential component of personhood, and was also used to translate the Christian notion of “soul.”17 In Colonial Zapotec, while chij, chèe, and copijcha referred to a “day,” the 260 units were lani, a term Córdova defined as “solemn occasion, feast,” also used in glosses for “festivity” or “day of obligation.”18 Like ilhuitl, Zapotec lani conferred characteristics to the people born under them. The association between one individual and their feast of birth was called xiàa, “name, or birth, planet, feast, or sign under which each one was born, and which was his fate.”19 The 260 units were distributed into twenty groups of thirteen, and less frequently into thirteen groups of twenty.20 The 260-feast count was called piyè (“time” or “interval”) in Colonial Valley Zapotec, and biyee in Colonial Northern Zapotec. The latter term, used here, could also refer to years. Biyee/piyè stresses an ancient link between divination and writing: piyè contains the animacy prefi x pi- and the root -yye, “picture, letter, painted image.”21 Lastly, the Zapotec word cocii designated a time span; Córdova used it for thirteen-day periods and seasons in the year, and Northern Zapotec specialists for year periods.22 This work follows the long-standing convention of calling thirteen-day periods trecenas.

15

table 2.1. The twenty day signs in the Zapotec and Nahua 260-day counts Gómara, Conquista, Nahuatl Sign order (1552)

Zapotec signs, 400– 500 CE

Córdova, Arte, Valley Zapotec (1578)

AGI México 882, Northern Zapotec (before 1704)

Glosses

1

Caiman: cipactli

-chiilla,

-chila

CAIMAN: pi-chilla

2 YEAR BEARER

Wind: ehecatl

-ii (before 1, 12, 13)

-ee (before 1, 12, 13)

-laa (elsewhere)

-laa, -lao (elsewhere)

2a) WIND: pee, pij

3

House: calli

2b) Lightning: làha quìepàa -eela (before 1, 12, 13)

-ela (before 1, 12, 13)

NIGHT: quèela

-ala (elsewhere)

-aala (elsewhere) 4

Lizard: cuetzpallin

-ichi, -echi (before 1, 12, 13)

-echi (before 1, 12, 13)

-achi (elsewhere)

-achi (elsewhere)

LIZARD: cotáche, huaachi

5

Snake: coatl

-zii

-zee

(SNAKE) Omen: pij-zi, pij-ze

6

Death: miquiztli

-laana

-lana

(DEATH) Flesh or Carcass: hua-làna

7 YEAR BEARER

Deer: mazatl

-china

-china

DEER: pi-china

8

Rabbit: tochtli

-lapa

-laba

(RABBIT): 8a) Rabbit, hare: zo-lhaba 8b) Hare: pèla pi-llàana

9

Water: atl

-niça, -queza

-agniza, -ogniza

WATER: nìça

10

Dog: itzcuintli

-tella

-tela, -dela

Tied in a KNOT: na-tèla

11

Monkey: ohzomatli

-loo

-lao

MONKEY: pi-lloo

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

table 2.1. (continued) Gómara, Conquista, Nahuatl Sign order (1552)

Zapotec signs, 400– 500 CE

Córdova, Arte, Valley Zapotec (1578)

AGI México 882, Northern Zapotec (before 1704) -cuia, -cueo (before 1)

12 YEAR BEARER

Grass: malinalli

-apiia

13

Reed: acatl Jaguar: ocelotl

14

Glosses

-obia (elsewhere)

SOAPROOT: piàa

-ii (before 1, 12, 13)

-ee (before 1, 12, 13)

REED: qui, quéla

-laa (elsewhere)

-la(a) (elsewhere)

-eche (before 1, 12, 13)

-echi (before 1, 12, 13)

-ache (elsewhere)

-achi (elsewhere)

JAGUAR: pèche tào

15

Eagle: cuauhtli

-nnaa

-ina

Sown FIELD: quiñaa

16

Buzzard: cozcacuauhtli

-loo

-lao

16a) EYE: lào

17 YEAR BEARER

It Moved: olin

-xoo

-xoo

EARTHQUAKE: xoo

18

Flint: tecpatl

-opa

-opa(g)

DEW or COLD: còpa

19

Rain: quihuitl

-ap(p)e

-epag (before 1, 12, 13)

DROP: làpa, labə’

16b) Crow: mani pe-lào

-apag (elsewhere) 20

Flower: xochitl

-lao

-lao, -laa

Drawings by Elbis Domínguez and Javier Urcid, reproduced with permission.

Table 2.1 summarizes our understanding of the twenty signs in the Zapotec divinatory calendar. The Zapotec day signs belong to the earliest calendrical system in the Americas, as epigraphic evidence has dated it to about 600 BCE.23 The terms for these signs are similar in Colonial Valley and Northern Zapotec sources. It is not known whether these similarities reflect terms extant in a core protolanguage from which Northern, Central, Southern, and 17

FACE: lao, loo

re thinking z ap otec time

Papabuco Zapotec emerged, or whether they were introduced from the central valleys to the sierra during the Late Classic period.24 Writing arrived in Northern Oaxaca in the Late Classic, as carvings in Yaguila and other Northern Zapotec towns featured day signs that follow stylistic conventions employed in Oaxaca’s central valleys that date to the sixth to ninth centuries CE.25 The 260 feast names appear primarily in two sources: Córdova’s 1578 Zapotec grammar, and the 102 Villa Alta manuals; the twenty day name roots appear in bold below. These names remained stable for many centuries. The earliest pictograms for the twenty day signs from Monte Albán and the central valleys ca. 400  ACE, as proposed by Javier Urcid, have close semantic correspondences with colonial day names. Fourteen names had naturalized representations: Caiman, -chilla26 (Sign 1) Night, horned owl, -èela27 (Sign 3) Lizard, -echi, -achi (Sign 4) Deer, -china28 (Sign 7) Rabbit or Hare, -lhaba (Sign 8) Water, -nìça (Sign 9) Knot, -tèla29 (Sign 10) Monkey, -lloo30 (Sign 11) Soaproot, -piàa31 (Sign 12) Reed, -ii, -ee, -laa (Sign 13) Jaguar, -eche, -ache, from pèche tào32 (Sign 14) Field, corncob and leaves, -(in)na, from quiñaa33 (Sign 15) Drop, water and plants, -appe, -epag, -apag (Sign 19) Face, -lao (Sign 20)

While Nahua day signs corresponded to full words, Zapotec sign names are either base morphemes (-china, “deer”) or non-morphemic final word segments, like those in cotáche or huaachi,34 Lizard; or làpa,35 Drop. In two cases, one sign has two variants. Sign 2 has the form -ee, from bee,36 “wind,” when preceded by positionals 1, 12, and 13; elsewhere, it is -laa, from làha quìepàaa,37 “lightning.” Sign 13 has two variants, -laa from quéla, “unripe maize,” and -ii from qui, “reed.”38 Two signs have two possible readings. Sign 18, -òpa, comes from còpa, glossed as “dew,” and “cold.”39 The Classic period pictogram for Sign 16, -lào, depicted an eye, while mani pe-lào, “crow,”40 is, like the Nahua count’s “buzzard,” a carrion eater. Day signs 5 (Snake), 6 (Death), and 17 (Earthquake, equivalent to ollin 41 in Nahuatl) are iconographically similar to their Central Mexican counterparts, but the names of the first two employed words that differed from “snake”

18

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

(pèlla) and “death” (quela coti). The Zapotec name for day sign Snake probably meant “omen.” Córdova stressed the link between -zi, -çee, “omen,” and serpents by translating toni pijcia, toçàca pijzia, tocòaya pijzi as “to divine what singing birds or snakes do,” and mentioned the “deity of omens,” Pij-zi,42 whose Northern Zapotec counterpart was E-ci. Sign 6, a cranium, was -lana, glossed as “flesh; something that stinks like flesh or a carcass, hua-làna, nalàna.”43 Sign 8, -laba, was read as “Rabbit” in Nahua and Mixtec counts. The Zapotec sign depicts a hare or rabbit, and Córdova’s grammar referred to “animal figures” employed for this count that included “Deer, Hare,” which correspond to Signs 7 and 8 in sequence. Sign 8’s name, -laba, is an exact match for zo-lhaba, which still means “rabbit, hare” in Lachirioag according to Ricardo Ambrosio, and it also resembles “harvest,” cocij co-llàpa,44 rather than “hare,” pèla pi-lláana in Valley and be-lana in Northern Zapotec.45 The recitation of the 260 Zapotec feast names was an ancient verbal art. While Nahuas transparently used numbers as coefficients, specialists deployed positional prefi xes that were not words for numbers, even though Zapotec languages have an elaborate numeral system.46 To keep their place in the count, colonial specialists wrote the numerals 1 to 13 next to day names. Table 2.2 lists the thirteen positional prefi xes from sources in Valley (italics) and Northern (regular type) Zapotec. Day sign names were rendered in full after the prefi x yag-. While this table is indebted to Terry Kaufman’s analysis, it also differs from it.47 First, I analyze these prefi xes as positional, rather than augments: while some seem identical (5 and 9, 7 and 10), they differed in terms of tone or other untranscribed features. Moreover, the seven sign names that begin with vowels take a positional prefi x that ends with -l or duplicate consonant (-g); all of them, except for Dew, change the first vowel from a to e before prefi xes 1, 12, and 13. Positional prefi xes blended seamlessly with day sign names to yield the 260 feast names, as depicted in figure 2.1, which shows the two first trecenas in Manual 85-1.

t he nor t her n z a p o t ec y e a r in con t e x t Early colonial accounts about Nahua calendars, written by Indigenous scholars, chroniclers, and missionaries, coincide on some observations: alongside the 260-day count ran a vague solar year, called xihuitl. It included 360 days divided into eighteen periods of twenty days, which Chimalpahin called metztli, metztlapohualli, “moon, moon count,” and five days called nemontemi, “they are full in vain.” As recorded in the Florentine Codex and other sources, communal celebrations took place during each of the eighteen festivals, whose names had regional variants.48 The festivities called for the par-

19

re thinking z ap otec time

table 2.2. The thirteen positional prefixes in the 260-day count Positional value 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

Zapotec variant

Before vowel

Before -l

Before other consonants

Underlying form

Valley

quiag-, quieg-

quia-, quie-

quia-, quie-

quiag-

Northern

yag(g)-

yag-, yagi-

yag-

yag-

Valley

pe(o)l-, pal-

pi-, pela-, pala-

pe-

pela-

Northern

yol-/quiol-

yo-

yo-

yol-

Valley

pe(o)l-

peo-, ca-

peo-, peola-, cala-

peola-

Northern

yol-, quiol-

yo-, yolo-/yala-

yolo-, yo-

yolo-

Valley

l-

cala-, ca- pe-

cala-

cala-

Northern

cal-, l-

cala-, ca-, na-

cala-, la-

cala-

Valley

pe(o)l-

pe-, qua-

pe-, pela-

pel-

Northern

yol-, yal-

yo-/ya-

yo-, yolo-

yolo-

Valley

qual-, pill-

qua-, que-, pilla-

qua-, quala-

quala-

Northern

cual-

cua-

cuala-, cua-

cuala-

Valley

pill-

pilla-

pilla-, (pi)ni-

pilla-

Northern

bil-

bila-

bila-

bila-

Valley

l-, nel-, piñ-

ne-

ne-, cala-

nel-

Northern

l-, nal-

Ø-, ya-, na-

Ø-, ya-

ya-

Valley

pe(o)l-

peo-, pilla-

pe-

pel-

Northern

yol-

yo(lo)-, ya-

yo(lo)-

yolo-

Valley

pill-, l-

ne-, pi(lla)-

pilla-

pilla-

Northern

bil-

bi(la)-

bila-

bila-

Valley

pill-, l-

ne-, piño-

pilla-, cala-

pilla, ne-

Northern

l-

Ø-, ya-/yo-, na-

la-, ya-

ya-, na-

Valley

piñ-

piña/piñe/piño-

piño-

piño-

Northern

ben(e)-, n-, bil-

bene-

bene-

bene-

Valley

piz-, pin-

pece-, quici-

pici-, pini-

pici-

Northern

quez-

quece-

quece-

quece-

ticipation of residents in a political, territorial, and ethnic unit, known as altepetl in Nahuatl and yeche, yetze, or queche in Zapotec. An entire cycle of fifty-two Nahua years was a xiuhmolpilli, “bundle of years.” As shown below, calendar specialists could name any 365-day period by using a sequence of four day signs as year bearers; the Nahua day sign name appears first, followed by the Zapotec name, whenever they differ. Five year-

20

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

bearer sets (I–V) existed.49 Classic period Zapotec counts used Set II, Nahua and Mixtec calendars employed Set III, and Set I appears in the TellerianoRemensis.50 Although Set III is used in some Postclassic Zapotec monuments,51 Northern Zapotec specialists continued to employ Set II (in bold here) until the 1700s. Each day sign in these sets is spaced five positions apart from the next one. Set I Set II Set III Set IV Set V

1. Caiman 2. Wind 3. House/Night 4. Lizard 5. Snake

6. Death 7. Deer 8. Rabbit 9. Water 10. Dog/Knot

11. Monkey 12. Grass/Soaproot 13. Reed 14. Jaguar 15. Eagle/Field

16. Vulture/Crow 17. Movement/Earthquake 18. Flint/Dew 19. Rain 20. Flower/Face

While these five sets may be considered primarily as year bearers, there is much more than meets the eye here. Daykeepers treated the 260-day count as a cycle of cycles, divisible into various patterns imbued with meanings,

figure 2.1. The first two trecenas in Manual 85-1. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1405v–1406r.

21

re thinking z ap otec time

which provided a structure for ritual action. The so-called year-bearer pattern was formed by taking the canonical list of twenty day signs and ordering it into five series of four day signs, each spaced five positions apart. This procedure yielded not only year bearers, but also cycles of sixty-five days, if each day sign in the series is read as the first day of a trecena. Hence, Set I, 1-Caiman (trecena 1), 1-Death (trecena 6), 1-Monkey (trecena 11), and 1-Vulture/ Crow (trecena 16) each mark the day of a 65-day period, and thus divide the 260-day count into four equal sections. The same is true of Set II (trecenas 18–3–8–13), Set  III (trecenas 15–20–5–10), Set  IV (trecenas 12–17–2–7), and Set V (trecenas 9–14–19–4). Hence, these series should be regarded as a fiveposition series, which yield both year bearers and 65-day periods. Set IV also determined the trecenas during which specific offerings (maize, maize plants, orchard produce, tortillas) were given in a cycle of fi ftytwo Zapotec years: trecenas 12–17–2–7. Given the close link between this series and Zapotec offerings, chapter 4 proposes that the five-position series in Borgia 30, 31, 39, and 40 also provide a sequence for ritual protocols. In addition, the five-position series fit the resulting 65-day cycles into a span of fiftytwo 365-day Mesoamerican years. The logical counterpart to these series is the four-position series, which is composed of four series of five day signs, each spaced four positions apart. These series locate in the 260-day count a set of well-known divinatory arrangements with complex spatial, temporal, and narrative elements. As discussed in detail by various Mesoamericanists, the illustrations in Borgia 49–52, Fejérváry-Mayer 33–34, and Vaticanus B 17–18 contain four major divinatory scenes linked to the same trecena sequences. In the Borgia, these are the jeweled tree of the East with a quetzal, associated with trecenas 1–5–9– 13–17; the spiny cactus of the North with a flint-feathered eagle, linked to trecenas 2–6–10–14–18; the maize tree of the West with an eagle, associated to trecenas 3–7–11–15–19; and the thorn tree of the South with a macaw, linked to trecenas 4–8–12–16–20.52 Besides its manifold prognosticatory meanings, this four-position series also provides four different ways of dividing the 260-day count into five 52-day periods. As discussed in chapters 4 and 5, while Northern Zapotec daykeepers occasionally referred to these cosmological trees and associated groups of thirteen years with the four cardinal points, they stressed other fourfold arrangements within the 260-day count: one that foregrounded the four intercardinal points, and another that prominently featured four quina, or cosmological fields, in lieu of the four directional trees. As they sought to understand and control Mesoamerican calendrics, European observers made two crucial errors of interpretation: they used analogies that treated the 260- and 365-day counts as a single cycle, and they as-

22

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

sumed that subdivisions within those counts equaled those in the European year. Motolinia called trecenas “weeks,” and twenty-day periods “months”; Gómara asserted a fifty-two-year cycle was a “century, jubilee.”53 Nonetheless, Zapotec and Nahua counts privileged arithmetic relationships: since the counts of 260 and 365 days ran side by side, a unique date in a period of fiftytwo years of 365 days, or 18,980 days, could be expressed in terms of both counts. As 260 and 18,980 are exactly divisible by 4, 13, and 20, these integers played crucial roles. Specialists could begin counting anywhere in the 18,980 day period, and any cycle of 365 days could be expressed by departing from any date in the 260-day count, adding 1 to the coefficient, and then leaping over to the next fifth sign in the twenty-sign sequence. If one began with 1-Earthquake, the next date would be 2-Wind, then 3-Deer, and this sequence named the first three Zapotec years in a fifty-two-year period. This sequence holds whether the day that names the year is Day  1 of 365 (Zapotec protocol), or Day 360 of 365 (Nahua protocol). These fluid relationships could not be fully contained in “calendar wheels” developed by Motolinia, Sahagún, Durán, and Serna.54 By persisting in their belief that Indigenous counts were analogous to European ones, European chroniclers misunderstood the elegant arithmetic relationships that made Mesoamerican time tick. Furthermore, Central Mexican days did not begin after midnight. Chroniclers reported that Zapotec and some Nahua specialists counted their days from noon to noon, rather than from midnight to midnight. In the Codex Telleriano-Remensis (48v), the Dominican Pedro de los Ríos indicated that “they also count the day from midday until the next day at midday.” In his Arte, after listing the 260 lani, Córdova stated: “Those who were born were called according to the aforementioned names, each with the name of the day. And the day was counted from midday until another midday.”55 Some specialists retained this principle, while others adopted Christian standards. Below I present the first substantial comparison of the Colonial Zapotec and Nahua years. It is unprecedented because, in spite of earlier discussions,56 no other work provides a full review of the Zapotec year and its periods, much less in the context of Central Mexican counts. My analysis yields three major observations. First, there is a close correspondence between the Northern Zapotec and the pre-reform Nahua year regarding the names and positions of five 20-day periods: the 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. This correspondence suggests that the Colonial Zapotec year was modeled after a Nahua year that began on Izcalli, as proposed by Alfonso Caso and Wigberto Jiménez Moreno. It is highly unlikely these correspondences are coincidental, as there is also another crucial similarity: the Zapotec 260-day count remained in synchrony with the pre-1507 Tenochtitlan 260-day count. Finally, this comparison demonstrates the maintenance of ancestral counts, while

23

re thinking z ap otec time

Nahua counts were often rethought by Nahua, mestizo, and Creole scholars, as shown below. Daykeepers were keenly interested in points of contact among their 260-feast calendar, eclipses, and Christian holidays and weekdays. Manual 81, surrendered in December 1704 by the fiscal Juan Mathías of the Bixanos Zapotec town of San Juan Marinaltepeque (Malinaltepec),57 is of cardinal importance for establishing the correlation between the Northern Zapotec and Gregorian counts. A specialist, probably Juan Mathías’s father, added two annotations to this booklet. He noted that a lunar eclipse took place on 2-Jaguar, or Wednesday, January 21, 1693, and that a solar eclipse was visible on 5-Earthquake, or Thursday, August 23, 1691, mistakenly rendered “1692.” This latter eclipse was also described by a Nahua annalist in Puebla.58 John Justeson and I determined that this Manual 81 correlation, recorded by Juan Mathías’s father, coincided with the correlation in Manual 85-1, discussed below, which placed the beginning of a Zapotec year on February 23, 1695. This date, Day 1 in the Zapotec year, is 11-Earthquake, a year-bearer date. Therefore, the next year, 12-Wind, which started on February 23, 1696, was followed by 13-Deer, which began on February 22, 1697. These data helped us establish the correlation between the Zapotec year, the 260-feast count, and the Christian calendar.59 The two statements in Manual 81 and the beginning of the year recorded in Manual 85-1 corroborate three important features of Northern Zapotec calendars: (1) the 260-day count was in synchrony with the pre-1507 Tenochtitlan count, discussed in the next section; (2) the year did not have a leapyear correction in colonial times; (3) the Zapotec year was named after its first day and not after Day 360, as in the Mexica system. It is not surprising to find synchrony between Zapotec and pre-reform Mexica counts. As J. Eric Thompson observed in 1955, Caso’s correlation also applied to the divinatory cycles of twentieth-century Chol, Jacaltec, Ixil, K’iche’, Kaqchikel, and Mixe daykeepers, while Yucatec Maya counts were off by a day.60 Lastly, due to the position of Zapotec and Nahua year bearers, the former began 62–63 days after the Nahua year. Several correlation statements in Manual 63 confirm the aforementioned correlation, and show that some Zapotec daykeepers counted feasts from midnight to midnight, while others, as recorded by Córdova and the TellerianoRemensis, measured them from noon to noon. Several annotators placed fifteen correlation statements alongside feasts in Manual 63.61 Only one of them mentions a European date, October 6, [16]93, and it was placed after the intended feast, 13-Soaproot. Eight others list European months and days that align with the Manual 85-1 year count for the years 1691 and 1695, and the correlations work regardless of whether Zapotec feasts began at dawn or noon.62

24

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

Four other statements in Manual 63 align with this correlation if the daykeeper counted feasts from noon to noon. Hence, one statement pairs the August 29, 1695, observance of Saint John the Baptist’s martyrdom with 2-Night, an accurate statement if the specialist referred to the morning of August 29 and believed the count shifted to 3-Lizard at noon.63 In sum, while the two correlations in Manual 81 are accurate if Juan Mathías’s father counted feasts from midnight to midnight, all but one of the statements in Manual 63 align with a noon-to-noon daykeeping practice. An interest in eclipse observations, as Manual 81 shows, recurred in two other manuals. In Manual 63, an annotator linked 6-Water with Saint Gregory’s Day, November 29, and in 1686 this was the date of a visible lunar eclipse. A statement that equated 5-Reed with Saint Andrew’s Day celebrations in 1694 (November 30 to December 1) may also have signaled the daykeeper’s interest in a pattern for possible lunar eclipses.64 Moreover, the author of Manual 37 recorded that on Year 13-Soaproot, “the sun was eaten,” an eclipse prediction further analyzed in chapter 4.

t he y z a in t he m a n ua l s Córdova does not describe the structure of the yza, but his dictionary reports the term cacij píchij, “month, part, one-twelfth of the year,” where cacij refers to 20-day periods.65 Exceptionally, the most detailed information regarding the periods of the ancient Zapotec year comes from a few Nexitzo Zapotec specialists who resided in three settlements in the parish of Santa Cruz Yagavila in the 1690s. Out of 438 Zapotec ritual specialists active in early eighteenth-century Northern Oaxaca,66 and from a corpus of 102 manuals, year period names were recorded exclusively in manuals from three neighboring communities: Manual 85-1 from San Miguel Tiltepec (henceforth, the Tiltepec Year Count); Manual 98 from San Juan Yaxila; and Manual 94 from San Pedro Yagneri. Manual 85-1 must have come from Tiltepec, as it is adjacent to Manual 85-2, surrendered by Miguel de Aragón from Yaza, a Tiltepec dependency. The Tiltepec Year Count’s first folio is the only surviving text, alphabetic or pictographic, that lists all eighteen festivals in the Zapotec year (plate 1). It also provides a correlation between these feasts and the Gregorian calendar for the years 1695–1696, which is in synchrony with the Manual 81 correlation discussed above. This manual was owned by one of three specialists who surrendered booklets in January 1705. The first two were prominent Tiltepec daykeepers: Miguel Hernández Latza and Juan de Luna. In 1698, Luna said that he supervised a child sacrifice at Lao Gui, a sacred marsh near Tiltepec,

25

table 2.3. The eighteen festivals in the Zapotec and Nahua years Zapotec year festivals Manual 85-1, Tiltepec Year Count

Zapotec year festivals Manual 98, Yaxila

Nahuatl festivals

1. Toohuà (Maguey, or Entrance) February 23 [1695, 20 days]

No entry

1. Izcalli (Revived)

2. Hui Tao (Great Humidity, or Great Illness) March 15 [20 days]

No entry

2a. Atlcahualo (Water Was Abandoned) 2b. Cuahuitl Eua (Tree Rises) 2c. Cihuailhuitl (Feast of Women) 2d. Xilomaniztli (Green Maize Offering)

3. Tzegag (It Is Becoming Green) April 4 [20 days]

Tzeag [20 days, starting Day 123]

3. Tlacaxipehualiztli (Flaying of People)

4. Lohuee (Parrot Feathers) April 24 [20 days]

Lohue [20 days, starting Day 143]

4. Tozoztontli (Little Vigil)

5. Yagqueo (1-Soaproot) March 12 [20 days]

Yaggueo [20 days? starting Day 163]

5. Huey Tozoztli (Great Vigil)

6. Gabenàa (They Will Keep a Vigil) June 3 [20 days]

No entry

6a. Toxcatl (Drought) 6b. Tepupochuliztli (Perfuming Someone with Incense)

7. Golagoo (Nurturer, Sustainer) June 23 [20 days]

Golagoo [20 days, starting Day 203]

7. Etzalcualiztli (Eating of Bean Stew)

8. Cheag (It Will Be Tied, or It Will Be Filled) July 13 [20 days]

Tieag [20 days, starting Day 223]

8. Tecuilhuitontli (Little Feast of Lords)

9. Gogaa (Nine) August 2 [20 days]

Gogaa [20 days, starting Day 243]

9. Huey Tecuilhuitl (Great Feast of Lords)

10. Gonaa (Offering) August 22 [20 days]

Gona [20 days, starting Day 3]

10a. Tlaxochimaco (Flowers Are Given to Things) 10b. Nexochimaco (Flowers Are Given to Someone) 10c. Miccailhuitontli (Little Feast of the Dead)

11. Gaha (Fruit) September 11 [20 days]

Gaa [20 days, starting Day 23]

11a. Xocotlhuetzi (Fruit Falls) 11b. Huey Miccailhuitl (Great Feast of the Dead)

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

table 2.3. (continued) Zapotec year festivals Manual 85-1, Tiltepec Year Count

Zapotec year festivals Manual 98, Yaxila

12. Tina (It Will Be Cleaned, or It Will Wrinkle) October 1 [20 days]

Dina [20 days, starting Day 43]

12a. Ochpaniztli (Sweeping of Roads) 12b. Tenahuatiliztli (Commanding Someone)

13. Zaha (Beans) October 21 [20 days]

Çaa [20 days, starting Day 63]

13a. Pachtli Ecoztli (Spanish Moss, Yellow Beans) 13b. Teotl Eco (The Deity Arrived)

14. Zachi (Fat) November 10 [19 days]

Zaxi [7 days, starting Day 83]

14a. Tepeilhuitl (Mountain Feast) 14b. Huey Pachtli (Great Spanish Moss)

15. Zohuao (It Can Eat, or It Can Be Bloody) November 29 [20 days]

Çogao [13 days, starting Day 90]

15. Quecholli (Macaw)

16. Yetilla (It Will Fight) December 19 [20 days]

Hui t.[a]o [8 days, starting Day 103]

16. Panquetzaliztli (Raising of Banners)

17. Yecho (Blister) January 8 [1696, 20 days]

Yutila [12 days, starting Day 111]

17. Atemoztli (Descent of Water)

18. Gohui (Exchange) January 28 [20 days]

No entry

18. Tititl (Wrinkled, Stretched Out)

Quicholla quieainij (They Will Be Disconcerted and Angry) February 17–23 [6 days]

No entry

Nemontemi (They Are Full in Vain)

Nahuatl festivals

Period names bearing semantic correspondences in the Zapotec and Nahua years are highlighted in bold. Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

hoping to end a smallpox epidemic.67 A third possible author is Juan Velasco, who served as the town’s alcalde (chief town official) in 1705, and who surrendered a manual he inherited from his father-in-law, Marcial Pacheco. In Tiltepec, only these three men surrendered manuals, although two other manualowning specialists were denounced. The exceptional contents of the Tiltepec Year Count were informed by knowledge about the year possessed by one of two experienced specialists, Luna or Hernández, or by the alcalde, Velasco. Local political arrangements in the remote town of Tiltepec favored the preservation of ancestral beliefs. Two of the town officials were specialists: Velasco, and the healer and regidor

27

re thinking z ap otec time

(councilman) Nicolás Santiago. In total, town officials counted among Tiltepec residents twenty-eight specialists or assistants in a town with 736 household heads: the aforementioned six manual owners, nine sorcerers, two healers, four men who knew about “ancient observances,” and seven assistants.68 According to the Tiltepec Year Count (table 2.3), the yza began on February 23 [1695], a Saturday. Since January 1, 1695, began on a Tuesday, and every year’s first day was allocated the dominical letter A, Tuesdays in 1695 were paired with an A. Luna, Hernández, or Velasco correctly assigned the dominical letter A to Wednesdays in 1696, and recorded the end of the year as Sunday, February 23 [1696]. Because the beginning and end of the yza was recorded as February 23, it follows that the author(s) of the Tiltepec Year Count tracked Zapotec feasts from noon to noon, as did the annotators of Manual 63.69 A legend at the bottom of this page instructed nonspecialists on how to calculate the beginning of the Zapotec year: vigillia Samathie cij làçà tohuâ, “the vigil of Saint Matthias receives the turn of tohuâ [the year’s first period]” (see plate 1). Since Saint Matthias’s Day was celebrated on February 24, in 1689–1692 the First of Tohuà, or Maguey,70 fell on this holiday; in 1693–1697 on its “vigil,” or February 23; and in 1697–1704 on February 22. Awareness of the connection between Saint Matthias’s feast and the Zapotec year’s first day was widespread: eight Nexitzo towns revealed that the year’s first major festivity took place in February, and five towns mentioned Saint Matthias’s feast as a day when offerings, bathing, and sexual abstinence took place: Yagneri, Yavago, Xosa, Santa Cruz Xuquila, and Xogochi.71 In contrast with the Tiltepec count, Manual 98 by Juan de Santiago of Yaxila erroneously tried to cram the eighteen yearly cocii, or periods, equal to 360 days, into the 260 days of the biyee. Hence, his reckoning is uneven, as he listed only fourteen of eighteen festivals, and the resulting periods are shorter than the usual twenty days: Zaxi has seven days, Çogao thirteen, Hui Tao eight, and Yutila only twelve (table 2.3). Figure 2.2 shows how Santiago placed the beginning of goziy gona, Offering Period, on 3-Night, and the start of ggozi gaa, Fruit Period, twenty days later, on 10-Night. To date, there has been no detailed analysis of the structure and divisions of the Zapotec yza and its possible correspondences with the Nahua year. A pointed reference in the Zapotec songs suggests that the observances of the first period reflected Mexica influence. As shown in the appendix, a note before song 9, stanza 2 of Manual 100 characterizes the Zapotec year’s first period, Tohuà (Maguey), as godo i.pa niquita goto yo i.no zagquita, “The first square tomb, the first house of he of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.” 72 Moreover, as demonstrated by table 2.3, eight festival names in the Nahua and Zapotec twenty-day festivals have close semantic correspondences with one another. Three Mexica and Zapotec festivals correspond to each other, but are not

28

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

figure 2.2. Two Zapotec year festivals in Manual 98. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1551r.

in the same order in their respective years. The Mexica Feast 1, Izcalli (Rebirth) has a semantic correlate in Zapotec Festival 3, Tzegag (It Is Becoming Green);73 Festival 5, Huey Tozoztli (Great Vigil) is echoed by Festival 6, Gabenàa, the potential form of the Valley Zapotec verb -peennáa, “to be alert, to have a vigil at night.”74 Finally, the name of Mexica Festival 15, Quecholli (Macaw) closely resembles that of Zapotec Festival 4, Lohuee (Parrot Feathers).75 More importantly, the positions for Festivals 7 and 10 to 13 are occupied in the Zapotec and pre-reform Nahua years by celebrations whose names strongly resemble each other. Feast 7 in both the Nahua and Zapotec years references eating and sustenance, as it is Etzalcualiztli (Eating of Bean Stew) and Golagoo (Sustainer).76 A focus on gifting is implied by Festival 10, Tlaxochimaco (Flowers Are Given) and Gonaa (Offering). Festival 11 refers to fruits, as it is named in Zapotec Gaha (Fruit),77 and in Nahuatl Xocotlhuetzi (Fruit Falls), while Festival 12 is Tina (It Will Be Cleaned)78 or Ochpaniztli (Sweeping of Roads). Finally, Festival 13 is Pachtli (Spanish Moss)79 Ecoztli (Yellow Beans), a phrase whose second component semantically aligns with the Zapotec period Zaha (Beans).80 Such close correspondence between the positions of Zapotec and Nahua year periods 7, 10, 11, 12, and 13 also suggests that the Zapotec year periods were in synchrony with those of a Nahua year that began on Izcalli. As the

29

re thinking z ap otec time

next section demonstrates, there is strong evidence that the Nahua year began on Izcalli before a calendrical reform recorded in the Codex Borbonicus, and traceable through dates in the Florentine Codex and Chimalpahin’s annals. Several Zapotec year period names are echoed by festival names in other Mesoamerican calendars. The Tiltepec Year Count’s first year period, of cardinal importance for collective celebrations, was Tohuà (Maguey) and the second was Hui Tao, either “Great Humidity” or “Great Illness.”81 The Chiapanec calendar in Albornoz’s 1691 Chiapanec grammar listed Ñumbi (Plant Maguey) and Haumé (Humid) as third and fifth year periods, while the second and twelfth periods in the Chiapanec Nimigua-Tia Suchiapa calendar were Ñumbi and Topia (Humidity Rises).82 In 1936 and 1938, the Weitlaners compiled a list of eighteen month names in Mazatec and Chinantec. This year count had changed in colonial times, as it began on January 1. As Festival 11 in both Nahua and Zapotec years is associated with fruit, it is not surprising that Mazatec Period 7, chiatò and its variants, also refers to fruit, as does Chinantec Period 14. Moreover, Zapotec Period 14, Zachi (Fat),83 is echoed by Mazatec Period 8, chiumahe and variants, which refer to he (Fat) or mahé (Getting Fat).84 Lastly, five Zapotec year festivals have more ambivalent relations to other traditions: Period 8, Cheag, “It Will Be Tied” or “It Will Be Filled”;85 Period 9, Gogaa, “Nine”; Period 15, Zohuao, “It Can Eat” or “It Can Be Bloody”;86 Period 16, Yetilla, “It Will Fight”;87 Period 17, Yecho, “Blister.”88 The last period, Gohui, “Exchange,”89 is named after an important ritual protocol discussed in chapter 6. The Tiltepec Year Count and Manuals 98 and 94 address a silence in the sources regarding the structure of the Zapotec year. Córdova did not describe the yza in detail in either his dictionary or his grammar, even if he recorded the 260-day count in the latter imprint. In his 1674 Geográfica descripción, the Dominican chronicler Francisco de Burgoa stated that the Zapotec year began on March 12, without specifying his source. March 12 coincided with the beginning of the yza only in 1624–1627, according to the AGI México 882 corpus. Burgoa’s choice for the first day of the Zapotec year may have been influenced by an earlier account by Pedro de los Ríos, who stated in the sixteenth century that the Mixtec year began on March 16.90 Burgoa also observed that the Zapotecs called their year’s final period “a month that was small, disconcerted, and a remainder of the other ones,” and erroneously argued that a leap-year correction was made every four years.91 His curiously anthropomorphic label for a time period is, indeed, a literal translation of the verb -ttola or -cholla, “to be disconcerted, out of sorts, clumsy, disoriented.”92 Burgoa recorded only one element of a couplet that

30

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

designated the year-ending period in Zapotec. The second verb of the couplet is -yeni or -ieanij, “to be angry,” and it also appears in the translation of Moteuczoma’s Zapotec name, coquì piyèni làchi, “Lord Who Was Angry,” which in Nahuatl meant “He Is Angry Like a Lord.”93 Both verbs were used in Manual 94, which was copied by Juan de Santiago, an extremely knowledgeable daykeeper from Yagneri:94 naha tza lones 26 tza lasa beo febrero rittola rehenii tza sabado ribee biyee Yohoxo quito Ysaa, “now is the day Monday 26, the day of the turn of the month of February, they are disconcerted and angry, on the day Saturday the time period 5-Earthquake sits itself, one year”; Nahaha tzaa biyeernes lasa beo Marzio riitola reheyeni tza Miercules reesi laasa biiyee cualaa quitoo yza, “now is the day Friday, on the turn of the month of March they are disconcerted and angry, on the day Wednesday the time period 6-Wind takes a turn.” This note refers to two periods at the end of the year: The first phrase addressed Monday, February 26, to Friday, March 2, 1663, the last five days of Year 4-Soaproot, and noted that Year 5-Earthquake began on a Saturday (March 3, 1663). The second phrase located the five-day terminal period by citing its first day—Friday, February 26—and the month on which it ended—Tuesday, March 1, 1664— and recorded the beginning of Year 6-Wind on Wednesday, March 2, 1664.95 The Tiltepec Year Count changed the habitual prefi x ri- employed in Manual  98 to the potential qui-, and recorded the phrase qui-cholla, “[the days] will be disconcerted,” referring to five of the last six days in the year, and quieainij, “[the day] will be angry,” in reference to the year’s final day.

na hua a nd europe a n y e a r cor r el a t ions in si x t een t h- c en t u r y s ou rc es Nahua year periods and their correlation with European time have occupied observers since the 1520s. This section summarizes the basis for the most widely accepted correlation for the Nahua year, proposed by Caso. It also addresses Paul Kirchhoff ’s and Howard Cline’s signature revisions, as well as further evidence for calendrical reform from Edward Calnek, and relevant analyses by Ross Hassig, Michel Graulich, and Hanns Prem.96 Table 2.4 shows the names and order of the eighteen festivities of the Nahua year as detailed in five sixteenth-century sources: Gómara’s 1552 Conquista; the calendar in the Codex Tovar, which represents either 1549 or 1591; Sahagún’s Primeros memoriales (ca. 1549–1551); Book 2 of the Florentine Codex (1560s); and a letter to Sahagún from Nahua scholars Pedro González and Pedro de San Buenaventura, written in the 1560s.97 These sources illustrate two traditions as to the Nahua year’s first period. Gómara and the Codex

31

table 2.4. The Nahua year’s eighteen festivals in five sixteenth-century sources

Gómara’s 1552 Conquista, 128r [no dates]

Tovar Calendar 1549 or 1591

Sahagún, Primeros memoriales 250r–253r, ca. 1549–1551

Sahagún, Florentine Codex, Book 2, ca. 1565

González/ San Buenaventura calendar

1

Tlacaxipeualiztli (Flaying of People)

Tlacaxipehualiztli Begins February 26

Quauitleoa Begins February 6

Atl Cahualo Begins February 2

Cuahuitlehua Begins February 27

2

Tozçuztli (Little Vigil)

Toçoztontli

Tlacaxipeualiztli

Tlacaxipehualiztli

Tlacaxipehualiztli

3

Uey Tozçuztli (Great Vigil)

Huey Toçoztli

Toçoztontli

Toçoztontli

Toçoztontli

4

Toxca[tl] (Drought) or Tepupochuliztli (Perfuming Someone with Incense)

Toxcatl

Uey Toçoztli

Huey Toçoztli

Huey Toçoztli

5

Ezalcoaliztli (Eating of Bean Stew)

Yetzalcualiztli

Toxcatl

Toxcatl

Toxcatl

6

Tecuilhuicintli (Little Feast of Lords)

Tecuilhuitontli

Etzalqualiztli

Etzalqualiztli

Etzalqualiztli

7

Huei Tecuilhuitl (Great Feast of Lords)

Vey Tecuilhuitl

Tecuilhuitontli

Tecuilhuitontli

Tecuilhuitontli

8

Miccailhuicintli (Little Feast of the Dead)

Tlaxochimaco

Uey Tecuilhuitl

Huey Tecuilhuitl

Huey Tecuilhuitl

9

Uei miccailhuitl (Great Feast of the Dead)

Xocotlhuetzi

Micaylhuitontli

Tlaxochimaco

Tlaxochimaco

10

Uchpaniztli (Sweeping of Roads) or Tenauatiliztli (Commanding Someone)

Ochpaniztli

Uey Micailhuitl

Xocotlhuetzi

Xocotlhuetzi

11

Pachtli (Spanish moss) or He[c]oztli (Yellow Beans)

Teotl Eco

Ochpaniztli

Ochpaniztli

Ochpaniztli

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

table 2.4. (continued)

Gómara’s 1552 Conquista, 128r [no dates]

Tovar Calendar 1549 or 1591

Sahagún, Primeros memoriales 250r–253r, ca. 1549–1551

Sahagún, Florentine Codex, Book 2, ca. 1565

González/ San Buenaventura calendar

12

Huei Pachtli (Great Spanish Moss) or Pachtli

Tepeilhuitl

Teteu Heco

Teotl Eco

Teotl Eco

13

Quecholli (Macaw)

Quecholli

Tepeilhuitl

Tepeilhuitl

Tepeilhuitl

14

Panqueçaliztli (Raising of Banners)

Panquetzaliztli

Quecholli

Quecholli

Quecholli

15

Hatemuztli (Descent of Water)

Atemoztli

Panquetzaliztli

Panquetzaliztli

Panquetzaliztli

16

Tititlh (Wrinkled, Stretched)

Tititl

Atemoztli

Atemoztli

Atemoztli

17

Izcalli (Revived)

Yzcalli

Tititl

Tititl

Tititl

18

Coauitleuac (A Tree Rises) or Ciuailhui[tl] (Feast of Women)

Quahuitlehua

Yzcalli

Izcalli

Izcalli

“five other days”

Nemontemi (They Are Full in Vain)

Nemontemi

Nemontemi

[implicit]

Tovar embrace the Tlacaxipehualiztli tradition, which coincides with Jiménez Moreno’s Colhua  II tradition. Sahagún and González/San Buenaventura embody the Atl Cahualo/Cuahuitlehua, or Jiménez Moreno’s Cuitlahuac tradition. Did Nahua and Zapotec years, which lasted only 365 days, employ a correction? Early observers, familiar with the Julian calendar’s leap-year correction, noted the absence of such an adjustment. Motolinia observed that Natives “began their year at the beginning of March at the time when this land was won. . . . Since they did not claim a leap year, their year would change over all the months.”98 In 1552, Gómara became the first chronicler to make

33

re thinking z ap otec time

such an observation in print: “They could not help but go about in error with this count, which could not equal the punctual cycle of the sun.”99 Henrico Martínez, author of the 1606 Reportorio de los tiempos, the first almanac published in New Spain, concurred with Motolinia and Gómara, noting that natives “did not have knowledge about the leap year.  .  .  . Some say the Indians began their year in January, and others, in February. They are all correct, because, due to the period of almost six hours that the year has beyond 365 days, every four years their year begins almost one day earlier.”100 Hypothetical leap-year corrections were conflated with the five nemontemi days. Gómara remarked these “loose” days resembled intercalary days, and the Tovar Calendar (157r) noted that nemontemi days were “useless, as in a leap year of sorts, but every year.” In his 1656 Manual de ministros de Indias, Jacinto de la Serna stated that Natives “had no notice regarding leap years,” but proposed they inserted “thirteen intercalary days” at the end of a 52-year cycle, an interpretation Lorenzo Boturini echoed.101 Sahagún was ambivalent regarding a Nahua leap-year correction. In Book 2, he placed the nemontemi on the fi xed dates January 28–February 1, right before the first period, Atl Cahualo, on February 2. He also noted, “There is a conjecture that, when they would pierce boys’ and girls’ ears, which took place every four years, they would put in six days of nemontemi, and it is the same as the leap year that we have every four years.”102 As for the Zapotec year, Burgoa boldly asserted that every four years an extra day was inserted in a final “month” of five days,103 but the Tiltepec Year Count demonstrates he was in error. Other scholars claim that the eighteen periods in the Central Mexican year had originally aligned with the solar year. Michel Graulich calculated that the Nahua year was introduced in 682 CE, when it was in alignment with solar events, while Johanna Broda proposed that feasts continued to be aligned with the seasons.104 While contemporary scholars have proposed various possibilities for corrections that mimic European leap-year corrections, there is no decisive proof of their preconquest use.105 As for the Gregorian reform of the Julian calendar, a change in the calendar was first approved at the Council of Trent in 1545. After a careful consideration of various proposals, on February 24, 1582, Pope Gregory VIII announced this reform in his bull Inter gravissimas. Dates were moved forward ten days: October 4 was immediately followed by October 15, 1582. The Gregorian adjustment maintained the Julian leap-year correction every four years, except for each century year not divisible by 400. This change helped account for the solar year’s average length, which is 365.242 days, rather than 365.25.106 In New Spain, this transition was carried out on October 15, 1583, as specified by a May 1583 order from Philip II publicized by Archbishop Moya de Contreras.107

34

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

Sahagún and Chimalpahin as Sources for Caso’s Correlation In an exacting study of Mesoamerican calendars, Prem argued that the variations among sources regarding correlations stemmed from misunderstandings, varying local traditions, and calendars “frozen” on a single European year. Nonetheless, four of five sources in table 2.4 are in synchrony with the most widely accepted correlation, proposed by Caso in 1939. Caso’s “equation” held that 8-Wind in the 260-day count and 9th of Quecholli in the year count aligned with Cortés’s entrance into Tenochtitlan on November 8, 1519. As Nahua annalist Chimalpahin noted, Cortés first met Moteuczoma “on the feast count of 8-Wind, and on the past moon count of the elder ones, who nine-celebrate Quecholli.”108 Similar correlation statements also appear in Anales Históricos, Anales de Tula, Castillo, and Sahagún, and most Nahua sources reported that Cortés arrived in the year 1-Reed (1519–1520). The date Tenochtitlan was defeated by Indigenous and Spanish armies appears as a second correlation: the sixteenth-century source Historia de Tlatelolco recorded it as Year 3-House, Day 1-Snake, and Chimalpahin echoed these dates for August 13, 1521.109 A one-day adjustment is needed to make these two statements mutually consistent. Caso thought the discrepancy came from the fact that Nahuas counted days from noon to noon—thus, 8-Wind began at noon, November 8, and ended on November 9 at noon. Cline countered that the first Moteuczoma-Cortés meeting occurred on November 9, not November 8, a possibility that Caso also embraced.110 The classic version of Caso’s correlation—8-Wind as November 8–9, 1519—is compatible with three of four stated correlations in table 2.4. As Prem noted, although the Tovar Calendar and Sahagún’s Primeros memoriales begin the xihuitl on different festivals, both sources record the start of Tlacaxipehualiztli on February 26. In Caso’s correlation, this date would be valid for Julian years 1549–1552. Since the Gregorian adjustment modified the correlation between Nahua and European years, Tovar’s February 26 date also agrees with Caso’s correlation during four Gregorian years, 1589–1592.111 Sahagún’s discrepancy for the start of the xihuitl in Primeros memoriales (February 6) and Book 2 of the Florentine Codex (February 2), composed in the 1560s, is easily explained: while February 6 is valid for 1549–1552, the second one, February  2, corresponds to 1565–1568, and thus the apparent discrepancy reflects the times when Sahagún edited these two works: Primeros memoriales first, Book  2 later.112 Therefore, the asynchrony between the Tlacaxipehualiztli and Atl Cahualo traditions in these sources is only apparent: while Sahagún stated the xihuitl began on Atl Cahualo, Gómara and Tovar insisted it began one period later, on Tlacaxipehualiztli, but all give dates in agreement with Caso’s correlation.

35

re thinking z ap otec time

Sahagún and Chimalpahin appear to be internally inconsistent, as they have a second set of correlations for Cortés’s arrival in Tenochtitlan that diverges from 8-Wind, as given above. Book 12 of the Florentine Codex states the Spanish entered Mexico on 1-Wind, a day before the 10th of Quecholli, and on his Third Relación, Chimalpahin also asserts that Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlan on 1-Wind.113 This difference in dates follows a pattern: 1-Wind comes twenty signs before 8-Wind in the 260-day count. While Caso ascribed this discrepancy to scribal error, Kirchhoff argued that, in fact, Chimalpahin and Sahagún had recorded the same European date according to two different Nahua counts. This argument was later developed by Cline, who concluded, following Kirchhoff, that the 8-Wind date came from the Tlatelolco calendar, while 1-Wind represented the Tenochtitlan count.114 While Chimalpahin and the authors of Book 12 did not explicitly acknowledge two separate Nahua counts, they stressed there was something distinctive about the 1-Wind correlation statement. After introducing this correlation, Book 12 and Chimalpahin’s text both listed afterward Nahua year periods in rapid sequence, as if attempting to recall the correct sequence, and thus listed most festivals after Quecholli, stressed the Spanish attack during Toxcatl,115 and mentioned the Spaniards’ exit from Tenochtitlan during Teucilhuitontli.

Mexica Calendrical Reform in 1507–1508, and Izcalli as the Year’s First Period When Caso presented his correlation, he also proposed that Izcalli was, originally, the Mexica year’s first period.116 This proposal seemed counterintuitive, as most Nahua sources, except for Castillo’s 1600 calendar, listed Tlacaxipehualiztli or Atl Cahualo/Cuahuitlehua as first period. Caso also concluded that the eighteenth period’s final day, Day 360, named the Nahua year. Nonetheless, Henry B. Nicholson noted that since most Nahua sources mentioned Izcalli as last period, the day naming the year fell at the end of Tititl, the period before Izcalli. Caso and Nicholson agreed that Tititl’s final day named the year, but differed on the placement of nemontemi. If they came before Izcalli, this was the year’s first period, and Caso was correct; if they came afterward, Izcalli was the last period, and Nicholson prevailed.117 As support for the Izcalli thesis, Caso cited the dedication stone for Tenochtitlan’s Templo Mayor, which recorded Day 7-Reed, Year 8-Reed, or December 18, 1487. He argued that this day-year combination could fall on the 20th of Panquetzaliztli, feast of Tenochtitlan’s patron deity Huitzilopochtli, only if that year began on Izcalli. Turning to the Anales de Tecamachalco, he highlighted four correlation dates, and noted the first two were accurate only

36

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

figure 2.3. Izcalli at the beginning and at the end of the year. Borbonicus 23 (left) and 37 (right). After Loubat 1899, images in the public domain.

if Izcalli started the year: 20th of Quahuitlehua/Atl Cahualo as February 19, 1575, 10-Reed; and 20th of Ochpaniztli as September 7, 1575, 2-Reed.118 Finally, Caso invoked Izcalli’s position in an important early colonial depiction of the xihuitl, part 3 of the Codex Borbonicus.119 As the glyph for Izcalli appeared both at the beginning and at the end of the year, Caso entertained two possibilities: either Izcalli began a year 1-Rabbit, or Izcalli was the last period for Years 1-Rabbit and 2-Reed.120 Borbonicus 23 unambiguously shows that Year 1-Rabbit (upper left-hand corner, fig. 2.3) elapsed before Year 2-Reed begins with Izcalli, as 2-Reed’s glyph accompanies the depiction of Panquetzaliztli in Borbonicus 32. Once Izcalli ended Year 2-Reed, Year 3-Flint followed (Borbonicus 37, upper lefthand corner, fig. 2.3), and a year sequence in the bottom right highlights 2-Reed with a drill and a fireboard. These implements linked 2-Reed to a New Fire, a celebration held at the end of every 52-year “bundle,” or xiuhmolpilli; a fire was lit on a sacrificial victim’s chest, and the flame was passed on among Tenochtitlan’s inhabitants as augury and sign that a new 52-year cycle would begin.121 Various sources record a transition for a New Fire ceremony from 1-Rabbit to 2-Reed. A note for the year 1507 (1-Rabbit) in folio 41v of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis states that the 52-year cycle originally ended on 1-Rabbit, but that Moteuczoma the Younger moved it to 2-Reed, as 1-Rabbit, associated with misfortune,122 “was always for them a difficult year.” Sahagún also observed that 1560 coincided with the end of a 52-year cycle on Year 2-Reed.123

37

re thinking z ap otec time

Calnek formulated a persuasive analysis that combined Kirchhoff ’s and Caso’s interpretations, and also made room for Nicholson’s thesis.124 Calnek’s thesis returns to Caso’s ideas by proposing that Borbonicus presents an unusual xihuitl that began and ended with Izcalli. In addition, he offers an explanation for the twenty-day discrepancy between 8-Wind and 1-Wind in the Tlatelolco and Tenochtitlan calendars, as proposed by Kirchhoff and confirmed by Cline. Finally, Calnek links this reform to a larger one by proposing the twenty-day shift took place at the same time that the end of the 52-year cycle and its New Fire ceremony was moved by Moteuczoma from 1-Rabbit to 2-Reed in 1507–1508. How would a twenty-day shift occur without disturbing festival synchrony across Nahua polities? Calnek proposed that, if Tenochtitlan decreed that the twenty day signs in Izcalli be repeated in the following period, Atl Cahualo, the end result would be two systems—one untouched and one reformed— with a twenty-day discrepancy in the 260-day count. However, a further adjustment is required to move the five nemontemi days to their canonical position, after the eighteenth festival. Calnek’s solution requires that the five nemontemi days be left permanently between festivals 17 (Tititl) and 18 (Izcalli), as otherwise their positioning interferes with year-bearer dates. However, if the additional Izcalli period depicted in Borbonicus 37 repeated the twenty day signs of Tititl, then the five nemontemi can be moved after the end of the eighteenth month, now Izcalli, and before the first period of the year, now Atl Cahualo, as shown below:

38

Pre-Reform Count

Post-Reform Count

Days 1–20 of Tititl: 9-Jaguar to 2-Reed

SAME

20th of Tititl, Day 360, and year bearer: 2-Reed

SAME

1–5 nemontemi: 3-Jaguar to 7-Flint

Days 1–20, Izcalli: 9-Jaguar to 2-Reed: Izcalli repeats Tititl’s 20 days

Days 1–20, Izcalli: 8-Rain to 1-Flint

1–5 nemontemi: 3-Jaguar to 7-Flint

Days 1–20, Atl Cahualo: 2-Rain to 8-Flint

Days 1–20, Atl Cahualo: 8-Rain to 1-Flint

Days 1–20, Tlacaxipehualiztli: 9-Rain to 2-Flint

Days 1–20, Tlacaxipehualiztli: 2-Rain to 8-Flint

Julian Date

January 22, 1508

February 16, 1508

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

This adjusted version of Calnek’s thesis provides a compelling explanation that accounts for why Days 8-Wind (pre-reform) and 1-Wind (postreform) coincided with the same Julian date, November 8–9, 1519, and for the fact that, in both systems, the year period date remains the same: the 9th of Quecholli. After the reform, the post-reform Tenochtitlan calendar differed in two respects from the pre-reform count used by Tlatelolco, other Nahua communities, and Zapotec daykeepers. Besides a difference of twenty day signs, they diverged at the end of the year: while both pre-reform and postreform calendars began seventeen of their eighteen festivals on the same day, pre-reform counts kept their five nemontemi between Tititl and Izcalli, while the post-reform Tenochtitlan count placed them between Izcalli and Atl Cahualo. Thus, pre-reform polities began their Izcalli five days after postreform Tenochtitlan’s. This difference resolved itself every 365 days on the first day of Atl Cahualo; immediately after this reform, Atl Cahualo began on February 16, 1508, in both pre- and post-reform calendars, and all festivals, as Kirchhoff noted, were synchronous, except for Izcalli.125 The reform involving the twenty day signs may have taken place right after Moteuczoma’s shift of the New Fire ceremony from 1-Rabbit to 2-Reed in late 1507, and it would have been a permanent reminder of this change.126 There exist various views on the duplication of Izcalli in Borbonicus part 3. Following Paso y Troncoso, both Prem and Hassig proposed that the sequence in Borbonicus 23–37 represents a normal xihuitl with eighteen periods, where Izcalli ends 1-Rabbit and also closes 2-Reed. However, their analyses do not directly address why the Izcalli is the only period depicted twice. Hassig also contended that the last New Fire celebrated in 1-Tochtli took place in 1454, as it coincided with the end of a building stage for the Templo Mayor, and noted that the change from 1-Tochtli to 2-Acatl was made in 1507–1508 due to the importance of 2-Acatl as a double Calendar Round, as the length of 104 Nahua years (two 52-year cycles) coincides with that of 65 cycles of Venus.127 Rather than going from Izcalli to Atl Cahualo, Hassig proposed a reform in the opposite direction, following Kubler and Gibson: a transition circa 1454 from an ancient calendar that began on Tlacaxipehualiztli to a reformed Mexica calendar that now began on Atl Cahualo.128 While Hassig’s hypothesis is plausible, it rests on the assumption that Tlacaxipehualiztli must have been the first year period in the earliest Nahua calendars. However, Tlacaxipehualiztli as first period in Gómara, Tovar, and other sources can be explained in several ways. As Jiménez Moreno proposed in 1961, there were nine concurrent Central Mexican traditions regarding the period of the year: Tenochtitlan’s began on Izcalli, Tetzcoco’s started on Tititl, Cuitlahuac on Atl Cahualo, and the Colhua II tradition on Tlacaxipehualiztli, for instance. Furthermore, as mentioned by Calnek, there is pictographic evidence that 39

re thinking z ap otec time

the Izcalli glyph in the Borbonicus refers to a single Nahua year. The Izcalli glyph first appears on Borbonicus 23; this image is followed by depictions of the remaining seventeen feasts, and Borbonicus 37 shows again the Izcalli glyph as a mirror image of the first one, as the paper band in this glyph curves to the left on 21, and to the right on 35 (fig. 2.3). These mirror images show that the Izcalli glyph marks the beginning and end of a single Nahua year. All in all, the most compelling thesis is that the Borbonicus presents an unusual xihuitl of nineteen 20-day periods. Finally, as shown earlier in this chapter, the Zapotec year had five periods that have an excellent fit with the names and order of five periods in a Nahua year that began on Izcalli, thus aligning the Zapotec year with pre-reform Central Mexican counts.

Izcalli as First Period in the Nahua Year and the Calendars by Castillo and Chimalpahin So far, this chapter has reviewed evidence regarding a pre-reform Nahua year that began on Izcalli, based on the Codex Borbonicus and on a comparison with the Zapotec year. However, there is further support for the position of Izcalli as first period in works by Castillo, and in the Codex Chimalpahin. As the latter manuscript received little scholarly attention before the 1990s, neither Caso nor others examined Chimalpahin’s calendar—except for Prem, who called it “a failed attempt to build a simple and perpetual Indigenous calendar.”129 However, Chimalpahin’s calendar contained crucially accurate statements along with less felicitous ones. In folios 159r–160v of Codex Chimalpahin, volume 3, the Nahua annalist presents an erroneous reading of the xihuitl’s structure. Chimalpahin states that, while the Mexica new year began “on January 18th,” the 260-day divinatory count began on May 1 and ran only in the 260-day period between May 1 and January 15, an error that forced him to conclude that the remaining 105 days, January 16–April 30, were amo tonalle, “without a [Nahua] fate.” In addition, Chimalpahin did not label the five nemontemi days: he claimed they were “just inserted” in the count, and in his calendar January 13 to 17 were only implicitly counted as nemontemi. Chimalpahin took his calendar from a man he probably never met. He identified his source with a sentence in which no claim of a direct exchange was made: “So says he whose name was Martín Tochtli Mexicatl (a Mexica), who wrote down this tonalpohualli book, according to which I now go, which I renew.”130 An otherwise blank folio (163r) after the calendar bears calculations in Chimalpahin’s hand regarding years before 1636, thus placing the calendar’s composition circa 1636. There are two possibilities regarding Mar-

40

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

tín Tochtli’s life span. Both point to the 1550s or 1580s, a time when Chimalpahin, born in 1579, could not have discussed calendrical matters with Tochtli. Chimalpahin’s Tochtli may be Martín Tochtli, a resident of Santa María de la Concepción in Cuepopan, one of Tenochtitlan’s four subdivisions. Tochtli gave his age as 60 when he appeared in a 1558 land case as a witness for Magdalena Teyacapan. Although he signed with a cross, he could have composed a pictographic Nahua calendar.131 A second possibility is Martín Mexicatl, mentioned in a 1586–1590 dispute between Mexicatl’s sons, Francisco Martín and Lorenzo Tomás, and Mexico City’s Indigenous council, led by don Antonio Valeriano. Since Chimalpahin served in a church located in Teopan, where Mexicatl owned land, the annalist could also have interacted with Mexicatl’s descendants.132 Chimalpahin, unfamiliar with Nahua divination, performed a spectacular misreading of Tochtli’s calendar. Nonetheless, his copy of this calendar preserved two important correlation dates, August 13 and January 18. First, Chimalpahin equated August 13 with Ce Cohuatl, 1-Snake, a statement that mirrors his dating of the fall of Tenochtitlan in his Seventh Relación, a central exhibit for Caso’s correlation. If 1-Snake fell on August 13, then the European year Tochtli cited cannot be other than 1521. More importantly, and unbeknownst to Caso, Tochtli’s calendar is the only confirmed source for Chimalpahin’s correlation regarding 1-Snake as August 13, 1521, which aligns with the Mexica pre-reform count (table 2.5). As for January 18, according to Caso, this date in 1521 corresponds to Day 360, or the 20th of Tititl before calendrical reform, and the year-bearing date of 2-Flint. Hence, Chimalpahin’s identification of January 18 [1521] as the year’s “first day” suggests he was right about its importance as year-bearer date 2-Flint, but wrong about its place in the Nahua year, as it was Day 360, not Day 1. While Chimalpahin correctly recorded January 18 as Tititl’s twentieth day, since he omitted Izcalli and did not count the nemontemi, his other Julian dates fell on the fifteenth day of each year period listed (table 2.5). The second source listed in table 2.5 presents one of two correlations by Cristóbal del Castillo in his Historia de la venida de los mexicanos.133 Castillo’s correlation is exceptional, as it corroborates Caso’s assertion that the Nahua year began on Izcalli and presents an accurate pre-reform correlation. According to Castillo, Atemoztli begins on December 15, and he recorded the beginning of Izcalli on January 9, a twenty-five-day interval that corresponds to Atemoztli’s twenty days plus five nemontemi. Two conclusions follow: although Izcalli is not listed first, Castillo did recognize it as the year’s first period, and his calendar confirms the pre-reform Nahua count correlation with 1581–1583, the last Julian years before the Gregorian reform arrived in New Spain. However, Castillo modified the received

41

table 2.5. Three colonial Nahua calendars and their correlations Chimalpahin (1636), 1521 correlation

Castillo (1600), 1581–1583 correlation

Serna (1656): Anonymous (Becerra Tanco’s) 1519 correlation

[20th] Tititl, January 18 [2-Flint, 1521]

[nemontemi implicit: January 4–8]

[25-day gap: omits nemontemi and Izcalli]

Yzcalli, January 9 [1581–1584]

[15th] Xilomaniztli, 27 February

Xochilhuitl, January 29

[15th] Tlacaxipehualiztli, 19 March

Xilomaniztli, February 18

[15th] Toçoztontli, 8 April

Tlacaxipehualiztli, March 10

Tlacaxipehualiztli or Atl C[a]hualo, March 10–29, 1519

[15th] Huei Toçoztli, 28 April

Toçoztontli, March 30

Toçoztontli, March 30–April 19 [sic, April 18]

[15th] Toxcatl, 18 May

Huei Tozoztli, April 19

Huei Tozoztli, April 19–May 8

[15th] Etzalcualiztli, 7 June

Tochcatl, May 9

Tochcatl, May 8 [sic, May 9]–28

[15th] Teucilhuitontli, 27 June

Etzalcualiztli, May 29

Etzalli, May 29–June 17

[15th] Huei Tecuilhuitl, 17 July

Teucilhuitontli, June 18

Teucilhuitzintli, June 18–July 7

[15th] Miccailhuitontli, 6 August 1-Snake = August 13

[omits Huey Teucilhuitl]

Huey Teucilhuitl, July 8–27

[15th] Huey Miccailhuitl, 26 August

Micailhuitontli, July 28

Micailhuitzintli, July 28–August 16

[15th] Ochpaniztli, 15 September

Huey Miccailhuitl, August 17

Huey Micailhuitl, August 17–September 5

[15th] Pachto[n]tli, 5 October

Ochpaniztli, September 6

Ochpaniztli, September 6–25

[15th] Huei Pachtli, 25 October

Pachtontli, September 26

Pachtli ecoztli, September 26–October 15

[15th] Quecholli, 14 November

Huei Pachtli, October 16

Huei Pachtli, October 16–November 4

[15th] Pa[n]quetzaliztli, 4 December

Quecholli, November 5

Quecholli, November 5–24

[15th] Atemoztli, 24 December

Panquetzaliztli, November 25

Panquetzaliztli, November 25– December 14

Atemoztli, December 15

Atemoztli, December 15–January 3, 1520 Tititl, January 4–23 Yzcalli, January 24–February 17 [sic, February 12] Quahuitlehua or Cihuailhuitl February 18 [sic, February 13]–March 4 Nemontemi, March 5–9

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

order of Nahua periods: while many calendars have Izcalli–Atl Cahualo– Tlacaxipehualiztli in sequence, Castillo inserted Xochilhuitl, thus creating an Izcalli–Xochilhuitl–Xilomaniztli progression. Even if Castillo believed in Nahua leap-year corrections, as Prem claimed,134 Castillo indeed recorded a Nahua year with a Caso correlation valid for 1581–1583 that began on Izcalli.

from id ol a t rous t ime t o gua da lupe: r e t hink ing t he na hua y e a r In 1576 and 1578, Archbishop of Mexico Pedro Moya de Contreras asked for the surrender of Sahagún’s manuscripts in order to send them to Spain.135 Nonetheless, copies of these works continued to circulate, as Sahagún’s description of the Nahua year in Book 2 (see table 2.3) inspired a correlation published by Martín de León in his 1611 Camino del cielo. Four decades later, Jacinto de la Serna, an extirpator of idolatries and eventual rector of the Royal University, copied León’s account in his 1656 Manual.136 Serna’s intent was revisionist: he noted that the Nahua year, in spite of León’s calendar, did not begin on February 2, as it lacked a leap-year correction. As a better alternative, Serna cited an anonymous correlation that placed the beginning of the Nahua year on March 10, 1519 (table 2.5). Serna noted that the identity of this correlation’s author was not disclosed “because he did not wish it.” However, the most likely candidate for its authorship is Luis Becerra Tanco, a priest and professor of mathematics, astronomy, and Nahuatl at the Royal University in Mexico. While Serna acknowledged his use of idolatry accounts by Ruiz de Alarcón and Pedro Ponce de León, Becerra Tanco is the only scholar he names as “one of the principal ones I consulted” on other matters,137 while noted scholar Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora could not have collaborated with Serna, as he was eleven years old in 1656.138 Becerra Tanco participated in the 1666 inquiry into Guadalupan apparitions, discussed in his 1675 posthumous imprint Felicidad de Mexico.139 This account shone for its revisionist Creole science, as it explained the imprinting of Guadalupe’s image on Juan Diego’s cloak by invoking perspective theories.140 It also claimed, in a turn as inventive as it was erroneous, that “Guadalupe” was not derived from the eponymous Virgin in Extremadura, but from the otherwise unattested Nahuatl word tequantlanopeuh. Ironically, we owe Becerra Tanco’s calendar to his Guadalupan fervor. In Felicidad, Becerra Tanco noted that Natives no longer knew how to compute “their centuries.” He then made the expedient argument that it fell to ecclesiastics to reconstruct their calendar, for “what the Indians now state about their antiquity has many errors, confusion, and disorder. . . . It took many ef-

43

re thinking z ap otec time

forts for me to adjust their computation to ours, and separate the superstitious from the natural.”141 Becerra Tanco’s calendar, as rendered by Serna, depicts a Nahua year only four days behind Caso’s correlation for 1519–1520. However, a comparison between correlations (table 2.5) yields a surprising conclusion: Becerra Tanco must have borrowed Castillo’s correlation, even for periods when Castillo’s dates were arithmetic impossibilities. While Castillo’s correlation is accurate for 1581–1583, Becerra Tanco mistakenly believed it referred to 1519–1520. For the fifteen periods between Tlacaxipehualiztli and Atemoztli, Becerra Tanco used the same correlation dates, March 10 to December 15, but inserted Huey Teucilhuitl and Tititl, which Castillo skipped, and deleted Castillo’s Xochilhuitl.142 Most Nahua annalists and non-Indigenous scholars no longer possessed Nahua daykeeper skills by the late sixteenth century. For instance, a Nahuatl seventeenth-century account now archived as Histoire mexicaine dates Cortés’s arrival to 13-Rabbit and not 1-Reed.143 Paleographic evidence suggests that this annalist worked on other texts for Indigenous audiences, including seventy-two name glosses and two texts in a most extraordinary pictorial catechism from colonial Mexico, the Atzaqualco Catechism.144 Nonetheless, the anonymous annalist arrived at 13-Rabbit as 1519 by error, as he elided or repeated years in entries between 1451 and 1519.145 In other Nahua annals, there is a wide range of discrepancies. The Codex Aubin places Moteuczoma the Younger’s death too early—in 1519, rather than in 1520. The Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca places the 1524 arrival of twelve Franciscans on Year 4-Rabbit, or 1522—perhaps conflating this event with Pedro de Gante’s 1522–1523 journey to Mexico.146 As noted above, while two of four dates in the Anales de Tecamachalco align with Caso’s correlation, the last two are off by two days. Late annals omitted Nahua year coefficients and employed only year-bearer signs, and thus discrepancies occurred in terms of canonical counts. Serna and Becerra Tanco were in good company as they floundered in Nahua time. A notorious example comes from Historia de la nación chichimeca, a Spanish-language historical account by a scholar of Nahua descent, don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl. This chronicler provided a chronology using Nahua dates that were internally inconsistent, as they depart by a variable number of days from the 260-day count and Nahua year periods. Thus, Alva Ixtlilxochitl asserted that Tetzcoca ruler Nezahualcoyotl was born on 1-Deer, 20th of Tozoztzintli, April 28, 1402, a date that diverges from the pre-reform Mexica calendar by 185 days, and Nezahualpilli on 12-Snake, 8th of Atemoztli, January 1, 1465, divergent by 221 days. Moreover, he reports Moteuczoma the Younger’s accession on 1-Caiman, 9th of Toxcatl, May 24, 1503, which differs by 208 days. These dates are also inconsistent, as the fi rst two diverge by fifteen and the third by seven days from pre-reform Nahua years.147 44

z ap otec and nahua c ycles af ter the conque s t

su mm a r y Based on a reconsideration of the contributions of Caso, Kirchhoff, Cline, and Calnek, this chapter presented evidence for strong correspondences between the Zapotec year and a Nahua year that began on Izcalli and underwent a reform. These correspondences may derive from pan-Mesoamerican traditions regarding the names of the eighteen feasts of the 365-day year that influenced both the Zapotec and Mexica calendars, or from Mexica influence on the Zapotec year. My analysis offers a reflexive account of how European observers and Zapotec and Nahua authors memorialized the 365-day cycle and turned it into colonial knowledge, as the Nahua year became an important colonial possession. For European and Creole observers, the Nahua year was the foundation for describing Mexica festivals in Sahagún’s work, and a display of Creole erudition that undergirded claims about the Guadalupan miracles. This chapter also reviewed detailed evidence about the reform of the Nahua year and emphasized the strong parallels between Zapotec and prereform Nahua years. Finally, it addressed what may be termed the “fallacy of fi xity” for Central Mexican calendars. While the temporal cycles of feasts and fates were similar across Mesoamerican societies, there existed local theories about the cosmos and its cycles. The 260- and the 365-day counts were open to recalibration, and this chapter has presented strong evidence for two approaches: calendrical reform, as embraced by the Mexica state, and maintenance of synchrony for the 260-day count, as demonstrated by the uninterrupted correlation between Northern Zapotec and pre-reform calendars. The next chapter examines the legal and linguistic context in which Northern Zapotec writers labored.

45

chap ter three

Northern Zapotec Writing, Literacy, and Society n february 10, 1595, the alcalde, or chief town official, Bartolomé de Chávez had his testament drafted in Northern Zapotec by the town’s notary, don Gerónimo Flores, before six fellow officeholders and notables in his hometown, Zoogocho (plate 2). In this will, Chávez disclosed his non-Christian names: he was Tia, a member of a “Deer” lineage, and Lapag, 4/8/11-Rain, the feast when he was born. Likewise, the six men who acted as his witnesses were named by their Spanish appelations and calendrical names. While other extant Northern Zapotec wills bear dates of composition that refer to earlier years in the sixteenth century, they appear to be copies made in the seventeenth century or later, as attested by the style of their hands. In contrast, the 1595 Chávez will is composed in a careful hand that possesses strong stylistic affinities with known sixteenth-century hands, and hence it must be placed among the earliest extant texts drafted by Northern Zapotec writers. In his will, Chávez presented himself as the paramount descendant of a nine-generation noble lineage that began with the legendary ancestor Bilapag (7-Rain) Laguiag, who established Zoogocho and sired three sons who founded neighboring towns. The very calendrical name of this ancestor signaled its importance. Many Northern Zapotec ancestors bore names that be-

O

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

gan with the prefi x bi-, which stood for coefficients 7- or 10- in the 260-day count. Seven, as chapter 4 confirms, was an important Mesoamerican number that recurred in Zapotec origin narratives and cosmological arrangements, and hence ancestor names with bi- are interpreted here as bearing 7as their most likely coefficient. This document’s calendrical conventions, which date back to the sixth century BCE, belong to the oldest writing system documented in the Americas, a precondition that allowed Zapotecs to embrace alphabetic writing with ease by the late sixteenth century. Nonetheless, the 1595 will unveiled an orientation toward colonial Christianity and literacy that may be called elite epistemological skepticism. Besides alphabetic literacy, don Bartolomé emphasized few signs of assimilation. The only Spanish loan he used was testigo, witness, and this document was not a testamento, but quichi tia, “paper of the lineages,” and the term huesog quitzi, “He/she who makes the paper stand up,” was used instead of the Spanish word escribano, notary. This chapter examines the nexus between written genres in Northern Zapotec, literacy practices, and political organization. It also summarizes the structure of AGI México 882, the archival unit that contains confessions and ritual texts, and analyzes the provenance of all 102 manuals and four songbooks. As used here, “Northern Zapotec” refers to written forms of Colonial Northern Zapotec, which encompassed several languages spoken in colonial times. In Villa Alta, Indigenous people who spoke Northern Zapotec variants embraced three self-adscription categories that subdivided them by regional origin, and the labels used for these categories were borrowed into Spanish and deployed by colonial officials: bene xhon, or “Caxonos,” in southern Villa Alta; bene xidza, or “Nexitzo,” in the west; and bene xan, or “Bixanos,” in the east (see map). In very broad terms, these regional distinctions correspond to three of four Northern Zapotec clusters proposed by Smith-Stark on the basis of isoglosses—respectively, Caxonos, Rincón, and Choapan—with Sierra Juárez, or serrano, as a fourth, separate cluster geographically adjacent to Nexitzo Zapotec.1 The colonial labels Caxonos, Nexitzo, and Bixanos will be used in this work: while they map out territorial rather than precise linguistic distinctions, the use of these terms may have reinforced speakers’ ideas about regionally based sociolinguistic identities.

or t ho gr a ph y, m a in a ffi x e s, a nd us age in col oni a l nor t her n z a p o t ec va r i a n t s The choices made by the Dominican author Pedro de Feria in a 1567 Doctrina helped codify Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography. As Feria acknowledged in his work’s preface, this imprint was based on an earlier and no longer extant 47

re thinking z ap otec time

table 3.1. Estimated International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) values of Colonial Northern Zapotec orthography Consonants /p/

/t/ /t j/ /t͡s/

/b/

/d/ /s/ /z/ /n/ /nj/ /l/

/t:/

/tʃ, tʃ:/

/k/

/ɳ/ /d:/ /ʂ/ , x /ʐ/ , xh /n:/

/dʒ/ , ll /g/ /ʃ/ , sh /ʒ/ , chh

/χ/, /ʁ/ syllablefinal

/ʔ/

/l:/ /j/

/w/

Vowels /a, ə/ /e, i/ /i, j/ /i, i:/ /o, u/ /o, u, w/





Sources: Archivo Histórico Judicial de Oaxaca; Pacheco 1687; Reyes 1704; Ricardo Ambrosio, personal communication 2008–2020. The current Lachirioag orthography for sibilants other than s, z, ch appears in italics.

catechism by Bernardo de Albuquerque, bishop of Oaxaca between 1561 and 1579, and thus the edition of this work must be credited to both Dominicans.2 The Feria-Albuquerque orthographic preferences were amplified by Juan de Córdova in his 1578 Vocabulario. As noted by Smith-Stark, while Córdova employed accent signs to mark a syllable’s primary stress, he did not transcribe Valley Zapotec tones. Northern Zapotec speakers were aware that their orthography did not transcribe tonal differences in a systematic way. Thus, a later copy of don Bartolomé de Santiago’s will, dated to 1560, states that an inheritor will receive cayo quina cajas, “five boxes.” Here, quina and caja both denoted “box,” as opposed to quina/quiña, “field,” as the difference in tone between these two terms was not transcribed.3 As table 3.1 shows, Northern Zapotec writing specialists adopted a somewhat modified version of the Córdova orthography for Valley Zapotec, as described by Smith-Stark.4 The machine Zapotecs baptized with the neologism pallà quìba tocaa yye làni quìchi, “metal mold that puts signs into paper,” produced several impor-

48

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

tant imprints.5 Valley Zapotec works included the Feria-Albuquerque 1567 Doctrina, Córdova’s 1578 Arte and Vocabulario, Agüero’s 1666 Miscelaneo espiritval, and Leonardo Levanto’s 1766 Catechismo. Northern Zapotec works were few: the 1696 manuscript Northern Zapotec–Spanish phrasebook Bvcabulario de la lengua castellana y zapoteca nexitza, “Vocabulary of the Castilian and Nexitzo Zapotec languages,” by Juan Martín from Lalopa, and two imprints, Francisco Pacheco de Silva’s 1687 Doctrina and a 1704 Valley– Northern Zapotec comparative grammar by Gaspar de los Reyes. In his Arte, Reyes deployed descriptive categories drawn from Latin grammars and adopted in Nebrija’s 1492 Gramática—derivative (possessive) and relative pronouns, comparatives, superlatives, prepositions, conjunctions, and numerals—but emphasized the diversity of affi xes by calling free ones pronombres primitiuos por si solos, and bound pronouns primitiuos en composisión. Reyes described tense using a Latinized model, and drew data from Córdova’s grammar and dictionary. In spite of the shoehorning of Northern Zapotec tense, mode and aspect markers, and verbal morphology into Latin categories, Reyes recorded various features recognizable from the vantage point of contemporary descriptions. He refers to the statives na-, n-, and ya- as prefi xes for adjectives, and used the categories presente for habitual, pretérito for completive, and futuro for potential, all “indicative,” in four different conjugaciones, or verb classes. Reyes also placed the verbal markers zaa- and hua- in the “perfect past” category, described imperative forms and adverbs, and gave multiple examples of his four verbal classes. An isogloss separated the Zapotec spoken in the central valleys and in the Caxonos region from the Nexitzo and Bixanos variants. Caxonos and Valley speakers used /tʃ/ where Nexitzo and Bixanos speakers used /t͡s/, a distinction shown in the spelling of common words such as ticha/titza, “word,” or cha/tza, “day.” But just as sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish orthography allowed a variety of spellings, Northern Zapotec orthography was diverse, and it often followed speakers’ awareness of sound variation. For instance, the word for “town,” usually realized as /ketʃe/, /jetʃe/, /jet͡se/, appeared as queche, yeche, yetze, yechi, ieche, lleche, and, rarely, quetze. Furthermore, many functional categories—such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, numerals—in Colonial Northern Zapotec occasionally feature a stemfinal . This feature, which is observed throughout all written genres, has its origin in what Terry Kaufman called a “typologically odd” phenomenon: the presence of a stem-final *k in Proto-Zapotecan languages. In written Colonial Northern Zapotec, stem-final transcribes a sound that is realized as /χ/ or /ʁ/ in modern variants. It often appears in word-final position, as in gala-g, “twenty,” also written gala, but it also surfaces in any stem-final posi-

49

re thinking z ap otec time

tion, as in the term logchela, “spouse,” also spelled lochela, while Valley Zapotec has lechela.6 Colonial Northern Zapotec texts reflect a language register oriented toward formal speech, as suggested by the repetition of rhetorical formulae and simple couplets, discussed below. A frequently used stylistic device, found in many Caxonos Zapotec texts and across all genres, was the addition of an intrusive /i/, written i or y, which usually appeared at the beginning of a word. This device was omnipresent, and it has been retained in all my transcriptions, with a period marking the word boundary where i/y attached, as in y.cha, “day.” Reyes’s grammar recorded a compelling explanation: it was a particle used freely for stylistic purposes: They even place before nouns this Y, because with it, they embellish sentences [periodos],7 and no general rule can be given on this matter. They say Y.zonilo vachi y.chinaalo? “Have you already worked?” Pay attention to the Y not only in the verb, but also in that i.chynalo. Only Caxonos [people] have this usage, as they thus embellish their sentences.8

Besides formal registers, these texts also conveyed colloquial speech, and prefigure some of the features observable in contemporary Northern Zapotec languages. An important line of evidence is the attestation of a set of third-person pronouns. Contemporary languages have four third-person pronouns: for instance, Zoogocho Zapotec employs -e’ for formal address, -be’ for the informal, -ba’ for animals, and -en or -n for inanimates.9 There are multiple examples of the first three forms in colonial Northern Zapotec texts: unmarked third-person -e, a -bi used to indicate family ties between two or more referents, and -ba for animals. Attestations of the pronoun for animals occur in Reyes’s grammar (zechaga-ba, “[the animal] is growing tired”) and in Martín’s phrasebook (goloho-ba silla, “place a saddle on [the horse]”).10 However, the pronoun for inanimates is weakly attested in colonial texts. For instance, a 1681 document from Tabaa refers to the town’s communal building as yoho lagui lichi-en Rey, “the community house, the house of the king.”11 Manual 53 referred to the arrival of the date 1-Snake at House of Earth as ni bechina lani-n yeche leo, “Here, the feast of Earth arrives.” Northern Zapotec writers used -e as the unmarked choice for the thirdperson pronoun. The third-person-pronoun -bi occurs when testators refer to family members, and denoted kinship links rather than informality. A later copy of the 1610 will of don Miguel Contreras Latzageag of Reagui mentioned his son-in-law tzaga xine quiropa-bi, “along with two sons of his,” and in 1621, Juan de Velasco ordered his seven sons to contribute toward a Mass for his soul by stating, yogo xijnia niga quixag-bi to pesu que misa, “all of my children here, they will pay one peso for Mass.”12 In 1677, as he spoke of his only 50

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

table 3.2. Select affixes in Colonial Valley Zapotec and Colonial Northern Zapotec Colonial Valley Zapotec

Colonial Northern Zapotec

Habitual (HAB)

t(i)-

t(i)- ~ r- ~ ra- ~ re- ~ ri- ~ ch-

Potential (POT)

c-/qu/g- ~ que- ~ qui- ~ y- ~ Ø

c-/qu/g- ~ ga- ~ gue/que- ~ gui/qui- ~ y- ~ Ø

Completive (CMP)

b/p- ~ bi/pi- ~ be/pe- ~ c/g- ~ co/go-

b- ~ bi- ~ be- ~ c/g- ~ co/go-

Completive 2 (CMP2)

ci-

ci/zi- ~ zaa- ~ ze- ~ zo-

Counterfactual (COF)

n(iy))-

?

Perfect (PRF)

hua- ~ hue- ~ oa-

ba- ~ hua-

Resultative (RES)

ci(y)-

?

Stative (STA)

n(a(y))- ~ Ø

n- ~ na- ~ ni- ~ Ø

Progressive (PR)

ca-

not attested

Progressive movement (PRM)

z(i)-

z(e)- ~ zi- ~ c(e)- ~ ci-

Possibilitative (PSB)

za- ~ zohu(e)-

zaa- ~ zoe- ~ zoo-

Causative (C)

-o-

-o-

Restorative (RES)

-e(y)-

-e(y)-

Frequentative (FRQ)

ci(y)- ~ -ce(y)(Smith-Stark 2008, 392)

-ye(y)-

Repetitive (REP)

-ci(y)- ~ -ce(y)-

-ci- ~ -ce-

Emphatic (E)

-ti ~ -te, ca

-ti ~ -te, ca

Other Affixes

Emphasis on completion (EC) Demonstrative (DEM)

-ti ~ -te -tij

-ti ~ -te(e)

Source: Archivo Histórico Judicial de Oaxaca; Feria 1567; Córdova 1578a; Pacheco 1687; Reyes 1704; Smith-Stark 2008; Broadwell 2015.

son, Felipe Bautista stated, toci xinia nigaa gocachi-bi neda, “this one, my only son, he will bury me”; Pedro Sánchez’s 1741 will defined the land bequeathed to his son Nicolás by recording a boundary that chaga Pedro Sanches bichi-bi, “meets up with Pedro Sánches, his (Nicolás’s) brother”; and Juana María’s 1760 testament noted that xinia Matheo sij-bi gachag rela, “my son Matheo, he will receive one-half of the roof tiles.”13 The kinship-based -bi appears across a range of documents in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.14 Table 3.2 presents a selection of Colonial Northern Zapotec (CNZ) verbal affi xes, and compares them to Colonial Valley Zapotec (CVZ) affi xes previously analyzed by Smith-Stark and Broadwell.15 These affi xes reflect both several overlaps and important differences. While Córdova’s CVZ habitual affi x was t(i)-, CNZ retained this affi x and also deployed other forms with initial r-, 51

re thinking z ap otec time

and Caxonos communities began a shift to the contemporary ch-. CVZ had a second completive ci-,16 with several CNZ variations identified by Reyes,17 and both CVZ and CNZ have several shapes for the possibilitative.18 The affi x z(i)-, which Smith-Stark identified as progressive movement marker in CVZ,19 had four different shapes in wide use in CNZ. CVZ had hua- and oa- as its perfect affi x. In contrast, in CNZ texts the perfect affi x, which appears as both affi x and free morpheme, is primarily ba-, and hua- occurs less frequently.20 While Smith-Stark distinguishes between repetitive and restorative and Broadwell analyzed the repetitive as -e(y)- in CVZ,21 Long and Butler, which I follow, distinguish between frequentative and repetitive in CNZ.22 Córdova’s 1578 CVZ grammar also identified several verbal suffi xes that were written as -ti or -te, and which modified the semantics of verbs and nouns in several ways. First, -ti/-te is used as an emphatic, as illustrated by Córdova’s example, t-ala-ya, “I arrive,” versus t-ala-ti, “to be arriving, in the process of arriving.”23 This emphatic sense also recurs in Lachirioag Zapotec -chhi and Yatzachi Zapotec -di, which has the adverbial meaning of “well, very,” and also “much.”24 Second, I propose that -ti/-te is an emphatic suffi x that stresses completion (EC). In CNZ texts, this suffi x stresses that the verb’s action was fully carried out, as in be-china-te chaga Pedro Baotista, “it arrived to meet with [the lands of ] Pedro Bautista.” Moreover, Reyes identified the use of this suffi x as “plusquamperfect past” in the expression ba-ti.25 This sense of completion is preserved in Lachirioag Zapotec -te.26 In addition to the emphatic -ti/-te, Córdova also refers to the CVZ negation suffi x -ti, as in ya co-xihui-ti-lo, “you shall never sin,” and to a -ti with a comparative sense, when used with adjectives.27 Furthermore, -tij is used as a demonstrative in the Feria-Albuquerque Doctrina, and it also appears as -ti or -te in Northern Zapotec songs.28 Lastly, in his 1687 catechism, Pacheco de Silva described the use of the third-person pronoun -no to designate women. He observed that this pronoun referred to Mary in various prayers, and warned his readers, “wherever you find this -no as a postposition, it denotes and refers only to a woman, i.e., Xinaano, her mother; Xocino, her father; Lotzeelano, her spouse.”29 An early attestation of this pronoun appears in a 1614 will drawn up for María de la Cruz of Yatzona, where she states, rohuisilaya nicola que Juan perez rolana-no que sozi neto, “I give a gift to the wife of Juan Perez; she takes an inheritance from our father.”30 Pacheco de Silva was correct to attribute the use of this pronoun to Nexitzo Zapotec communities, as the documentary record shows it was used primarily in Nexitzo towns, such as Juquila, Lachichina, Temascalapa, Teotlasco, Tepanzacualco, Yaee, Yagayo, Yagneri, and Yatzona, with Bixanos Yetzelalag as an exception. No such pronoun is attested for CVZ, but it is retained in Rincón and Lachixio Zapotec.31

52

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

p ol i t ic a l s t a t us, fa mily a rchi v ing, a nd a nc e s t r y in nor t her n z a p o t ec w il l s The first Spanish conquerors and friars who arrived in Villa Alta would have been surprised by Northern Zapotec’s unanticipated uses of the alphabetic system they brought: some literate daykeepers added statements to their manuals that noted the arrival of Spaniards as part of a sacred history tied not to Christian time but to Zapotec calendrics. Before his death in 1524, the Mercedarian friar Bartolomé de Olmedo was the first missionary who entered the Rincón Zapoteco and Mixe territory, perhaps as part of an early incursion led by Rodrigo Rangel. In 1526, Diego de Figueroa established the first permanent Spanish settlement in the region, San Ildefonso Villa Alta, and appointed its first cabildo (city council), which preceded the rapacious administration of the province’s first alcalde mayor, Luis de Berrio, in 1529–1531.32 The dates of these first spiritual and military encounters were preserved in three calendrical booklets. Manual 42 refers to the first event as bie yola bida titza que dios, “On the Year 9-Wind, the word of God came,” and the second, as lani caladela yolao coca nila ye lachi huici bida bene espanior, “On the feasts of 4-Knot and 5-Monkey, there was a war33 in Lachi Huici/San Ildefonso; the Spanish people came.” Similar annotations recur in Manual 89, with a variant in Manual 90: lani caladela cuca nila yetze lachi huici bita b[e]n[e] spalmol, “On the feast of 4-Knot, around here34 in the town of Lachi Huici/San Ildefonso, the Spanish people came.”35 The 9-Wind year, equivalent to 1524 and early 1525, confirms the date of Olmedo’s entrance, and was part of a phrase that resembles statements about Christianity’s arrival in Nahua primordial titles.36 Paradoxically, conquest began on an otherwise propitious day, 4-Knot (see table 5.6). As Manuals 42 and 89 do not specify a year, two referents emerge. The first one, May 24, 1526, would correspond to Figueroa’s victorious military incursion. The second, February 8, 1527, falls sixteen days ahead of January 23, 1527, Saint Ildephonsus’s feast, which is also the canonical date for the foundation of San Ildefonso.37 Notarial practices, initiated by San Ildefonso’s early alcaldes mayores and cabildos, were eventually adopted by Indigenous cabildos. Some early records from San Ildefonso provide a glimpse at the record-keeping routines that influenced Zapotec alphabetic records. With roots in an earlier 1555 settlement, the town of Analco was established in the late 1560s by the descendants of Nahua-speaking soldiers who participated in the Spanish conquest of Villa Alta. Figure 3.1 provides an example from the Analco Papers, records drafted by alcaldes mayores at the request of the authorities of Analco from the late sixteenth century onward, now preserved at San Ildefonso’s parish archives.38 This August 1564 document records a successful petition led by Analco al-

53

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 3.1. Analco petition, 1564. APVA, Analco Papers, 1564–1576, 1v. Image courtesy of APVA, 2008. Photograph by David Tavárez.

calde don Juan de Velasco to have alcalde mayor Juan de Salazar grant a yearly stipend to Analco’s cabildo, as their duties prevented them from cultivating their lands.39 As many other Native communities in colonial Spanish America, Northern Zapotec yeche (towns) were governed by Native cabildos. These councils included a cacique or gobernador—a descendant of a local noble lineage—as well as two alcaldes and several regidores, and included minor offices such as those of alguacil (constable), fiscal (officer in charge of compliance with church and civil directives), tesorero (treasurer), and topil (low-ranking officer). Other offices were also highly distinctive. From the late seventeenth century onward, they included jueces (judges) and mayores (elders), two offices infrequently attested elsewhere.40 Northern Zapotec councils possessed a modular view on juridical and political competence. They adopted titles drawn from preconquest usage to emphasize both collective governance and loyalty to the Crown. As a collective, officers called themselves goque xuana or goque xua, “rulers, lords,” and

54

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

justicias (judges), and usually reserved the couplet goque xuana for the most prominent Spanish offices—those of viceroy and alcalde mayor—and for the bishop of Oaxaca.41 The most frequent appellation for town councils paired the Zapotec term yoo lahui, “communal house” (literally, “house in the middle”), with two terms borrowed from Spanish nomenclature: lichi Rey, “house of the king,” and Audiencia.42 The latter term claimed a parallel between Zapotec communal houses and the most powerful civil tribunal in the colony, the Audiencia in Mexico City, sometimes called yoo lahui xene, “the great communal house,” but officials rarely referred in documents to the communal house as a cabildo. In a striking example of the description of Spanish political might through Zapotec terms, a 1774 document regarding a directive about the election of fiscales de doctrina referred to the Audiencia in Mexico City as yoo lahui xene, “the great communal house,” and to the viceroy as Goquie xana rao Marques Cruillas Virrey leni Gov[ernad]or leni Capitan lao guido gavila bene goca lao España cobi nigaa naca Siguita, “Our ruler lord Marquis of Cruillas, Viceroy and Governor and Captain of the entire Underworld, the person who was in New Spain, here at Toward the Reed Mat,” a phrase that referred to New Spain— and, indeed, all of Earth—as guido gavila, “the entire underworld, or lower world.” Mexico City was “Toward the Reed Mat,” named after a preconquest metaphor for legitimate governance.43 Other expressions that referred to space and time by deploying terms for cosmological realms were also used in Colonial Valley Zapotec texts. For instance, the Feria-Albuquerque Doctrina used layoo colaça tete, “the very old Earth,” as a metaphor that meant en los tiempos passados, “in ancient times.” 44 It would not be accurate to portray the yoo lahui as a harmonious corporate structure that monolithically allied with or resisted the political and economic interests of the alcalde mayor. As memorably depicted by Thomas Calvo in his microhistory of Yatzona and neighboring communities, Northern Zapotec elites were often at odds with each other, and competed for two important resources in the region: access to land, and cattle. A corpus of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century wills preserved in AHJO provides a vantage point on three important processes in Northern Zapotec communities: archival and legal practices that linked land rights to lineages through the deployment of colonial legal categories; the copying of older wills that were preserved by some individuals in personal archives; and the survival and usage of calendrical and traditional names. Northern Zapotec wills allowed testators to trace their lineage through time, bequeath land plots to chosen heirs, declare and account for debts and funerary rites, and provide an inventory of plots, usually designated by Zapotec toponyms. As in other colonial wills, the careful elicitation of landmarks

55

re thinking z ap otec time

table 3.3. Heirs of Bartolomé de Chávez I Tia Lapag Bartolomé de Chávez I Tia Lapag = María Guiolala (2-Night) | | | | Gerónimo de Chávez Pea Quiçoba I (1589–1649) = ? Bartolomé de Chávez II Re Yagquelao Cecilia Guecee / \ ? = Juan Gonsalo “son and grandson” Bartolomé Lopes | | | | | Martín Lopes = Catalina María Gerónimo de Chávez II Lorenzo de Chávez = ? Nicolás Gonsalo | ? | | | | ? Isabel María = Pasqual de Chávez Bartolomé de Chávez = María Magdalena | | (litigant) Juan Luis (litigant) Nicolasa María (litigant) Source: Archivo Histórico Judicial de Oaxaca.

recorded land boundaries. Wills rarely referred to yoo comun, “communal lands.” Testators knew that it was a distinct possibility that disputes would arise among descendants, so they often stipulated that testaments could not be contested, and listed penalties for litigious heirs. Thus, Juana María of Yalálag left in her 1760 will stern warnings for her inheritors: chibalaa godilaa bara xa y.cha bata yela gonij y.china quie Justicias cue quie rôo beeo lichi yibaa lanij gohe tiopa dosen Azotes lani cueaghe quie pena gayoho p[eso]s, “if they began to fight on any day, any night, the justices will do their work and part: one month in jail, and they will be given two dozen lashes, and their penalty of five pesos will be extracted.” 45 Tia Lapag’s will, one of the earliest extant Northern Zapotec manuscripts (plate 2), provides an essential point of reference for the development of the will as a genre, and attests the strength of private archiving practices in family groups. In June 1746, the heirs of Gerónimo de Chávez II of Zoogocho began a dispute over twelve land parcels. In July 1749, after an investigation, the alcalde mayor ordered the equal distribution of the parcels’ value, sixtythree pesos, among three claimants: Chávez’s grand-nephew Juan Luis; his nephew’s widow María Magdalena; and his grand-niece Nicolasa María (table 3.3). Due to adjustments, only Juan Luis received the full allocation, but the proceedings outlined membership in an elite lineage at Zoogocho that went back to Bilapag (7-Rain) Laguiag. Gerónimo de Chávez, the second of that name and recently deceased in 1746, was one of four siblings whose father was Juan Gonsalo. Gonsalo was one of the sons and the heir of Gerónimo de Chávez Pea Quiçoba (Squirrel 13-Soaproot), who was born circa 1589, and drafted his will in 1649.46 Quiçoba was the child of Bartolomé de Chávez I

56

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

Tia Lapag (4/8/11-Rain) and María Guiolala (2-Night). In his will, Tia Lapag, dead circa 1595, named himself as the ninth direct male descendant of the portentous lineage founder 7-Rain Laguiag. These legendary nine generations are discussed in chapter 6. As part of the 1746–49 litigations, three of Tia Lapag’s self-proclaimed heirs, Juan Luis, Nicolasa María, and María Magdalena, submitted Tia Lapag’s 1595 and Quiçoba’s 1649 testaments. This document (plate 2) might never have been preserved had it not been deployed as legal proof a century and a half later, as it recorded eight land parcels, plus three more in a later addition. The document’s orthography employed spellings that converged with those in Córdova’s Valley Zapotec dictionary (see table 3.1), as the habitual was to, not ro, and the completive pi, not bi.47 Everyone in the document, save for the notary, was designated by calendrical names; Tia Lapag’s other offspring were Bartolomé de Chávez II Re Yagquelao (Deer 1-Eye) and Cecilia Guecee (13-Reed), and witnesses were Pedro Perez Tia Lala (4/8/11-Night), Bartolomé López Queçelao (13-Monkey/ Crow/Face), Bartolomé López Yalachi (5/9-Jaguar/Lizard), Domingo Hernández Lao (8-Face), Juan López Quecetzina (13-Deer), and Thomás López Tia Laa (4/8/11-Wind/8/11-Reed). On the reverse, a 1598 attestation by alcalde mayor Agustín Salas Orozco directed Juan Laa to stop invading Tia Lapag’s lands, as they belonged to his widow Guiolala and two of her children. Guiolala and her heirs archived and treasured this 1595 document as an exalted piece of their lineage’s history: the obverse was a declaration of lineages and land, and the reverse the alcalde mayor’s certification of those claims. Various Northern Zapotec testaments that bear dates in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries were copied or drafted later in the seventeenth century. It is difficult to ascertain whether a later copy faithfully reproduces an original that is no longer extant, or merely imitates known features from early wills. A vivid example of this conundrum emerges from the interpretation of another Zoogocho testament written for don Pablo Sánchez, which shares some commonalities with Tia Lapag’s 1595 document.48 This will’s hand displays stylistic features that transparently belong to the seventeenth century, such as a “g” divided into two separate segments. However, it bears the date of March 25, 1582. It was allegedly drafted for don Pablo by don Gerónimo Flores, the same notary who authored the 1595 will, who again identifies himself not as escribano, but as hueçoag guichi. This text, which lists eleven land parcels, identifies fourteen male ancestors or landowners by their calendrical names.49 The most prominent among them are the Zoogocho ancestor Bayo Lopa, the Solaga ancestor Juan Martín Balalachila, and don Pablo’s own father, don Pedro Sánchez Tio Belagneza (Puma 7-Water).50 Bilagniza, 7-Water, was a calendrical name associated with other founding ancestors.51

57

re thinking z ap otec time

Nevertheless, while don Pablo’s will lists four of the same officeholders that appear in the 1595 testament, these men’s calendrical names are not listed, but their position is, which is the exact opposite of the manner in which these notables are listed in the 1595 document.52 Moreover, don Pablo’s will does not mention the wealthy 1595 testator don Bartolomé de Chávez; instead, it repeatedly cites a don Gerónimo de Chávez, who is also identified as Zoogocho’s gobernador. Additionally, this will’s preamble lists fully the three persons of the Holy Trinity, a feature most often found in Northern Zapotec wills from the early seventeenth century onward. Don Pablo’s will is not inaccurate; for instance, it names the land parcel Lache Dia Beag, “Plain Where There Is a Well,” which is also cited in a 1648 Yatzachi will drafted for Agustín García, and which persists as a toponym today.53 Nevertheless, it is unclear whether the rather punctual overlaps between don Pablo’s testament and the 1595 will derive from original features, or were inserted so that a latter work would resemble a sixteenth-century document. While the hand, paper, terminology, and orthography of Tia Lapag’s will strongly support a 1595 production date, several other wills bear highly suspect early dates, and attest the enterprising spirit of elites regarding their lineages’ history. A battle of wills in Yagayo helps illustrate a competition, in terms of both land claims and lineage histories made to order, between rival lineages. In June 1690, don Juan de los Ángeles registered a petition at Mexico City’s Audiencia claiming that Lachi Roa Zeetao, a land plot he inherited from his mother, María Pérez, had been invaded by don Miguel de Santiago II of Yagayo. Hence, Villa Alta’s alcalde mayor Román de Nogales defended Ángeles’s land rights. Ángeles’s approach was aggressive. In a September 1692 memoria, town officials supervised an agreement to have Ángeles relinquish claims to lands owned by two of his sisters. But this matter led to a heightened conflict as Santiago II’s son, don Miguel de Santiago III, again entered the disputed plot. In response, in February 1704 Ángeles secured a decision from alcalde mayor Ribera y Cotes favoring him. Ángeles also produced a testament by his great-grandfather, Miguel Hernández, which bequeathed all property to a daughter, Magdalena Pérez. However, the document (fig. 3.2) was dated on December 22, “161,” and signed by a priest named “Cer Gody,” who recorded a Mass sung on December 8, “161,” all strong suggestions that this document was manufactured by Ángeles. But Zapotec elites had a different perspective on what constituted legal proof. Santiago III promptly argued that the testament was a false one in Ángeles’s own hand, and questioned why a testament drafted on December  22 would list a Mass sung for the testator two weeks earlier. Not satisfied with this argument, Santiago III delivered a documentary response in five testaments that trumpeted his lineage in Yagayo and went well beyond

58

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

figure 3.2. Testaments with nonstandard dates: “161,” attributed to Miguel Hernández, AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 11r (above); “15037,” attributed to don Juan de Santiago, AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 16r (below). Reproduced by permission from AHJO. Photographs by Idelette Domínguez.

Ángeles’s fabrication. The first will, dated August 16, “15037” (fig. 3.2), proclaimed the bequests of his great-great-grandfather, don Juan de Santiago Thio Binela. The second will, written on paper produced locally, was putatively drafted for his great-grandfather don Bartolomé de Santiago and dated May 20, 1560, but featured a seventeenth-century hand and was a copy, or a seventeenth-century invention. The third testament, dated June 1630, emphasized the holdings of his grandfather don Miguel de Santiago I, as well as his marriage to the xonaxi doña María López, daughter of the coque of Tanetze, don Domingo López. In this will, Santiago III, maybe as a riposte to Ángeles, included a clause documenting a Mass for Santiago I purportedly written by a priest called “Godoy.” The fourth will, from 1680, was drafted for Santiago III’s father, don Miguel de Santiago II, who apparently was provident enough to make a second, shorter will in October 1698, which still bequeathed all possessions to Santiago III. Not content with certifying his lineage through wills, Santiago III also un-

59

re thinking z ap otec time

covered Miguel Hernández’s “original” testament, dated December 22, 1610, allegedly preserved by the husband of one of Ángeles’s relatives. The alcalde mayor embraced a decision more skeptical than Solomonic. He declared the Hernández testament presented by Ángeles legitimate due to the doubtful clause, not in spite of it, but found that the right of Santiago III to the contested plot was proven by the five testaments he presented. He also invited Ángeles to spend, if he wished, the substantial sum of fifteen pesos on further consultations with an Audiencia lawyer.54 Other testaments were preserved in draft form in private hands. For instance, there exists a short undated draft and a long draft, dated 1663, of Domingo Mexía’s will, along with Nahuatl-language orders from alcalde mayor Antonio de Guraya Lezama in favor of Mexía’s daughter. Both wills and the orders were deployed in court by Mexía’s descendants during a 1689–1691 land dispute.55 In the end, however, the preservation and copying of Zapotec testaments should not be assessed along a positivist binary that would categorize colonial Indigenous wills as fully legitimate only when the alleged date of production matched the date when a particular document was drafted. Testators’ families kept early and later copies of testaments in their hands, and some testaments were recopied. They were also edited to reflect the interests and perspectives of one or more generations of a testator’s descendants.

a nim a l l ine age, c a l endr ic a l , a nd per s ona l na mes in se v en t een t h- c en t u r y d o c u men t s While caution must be used when dating Northern Zapotec wills bearing dates before 1630, they provide an important perspective on cultural practices relevant to the use of the mantic count: the deployment of Zapotec calendrical names. The traditional naming pattern used in elite colonial Zapotec genealogies is well known: if one name is used, it is often a calendrical name. If several names are employed, they may include a calendrical name, personal name, and birth order.56 Titles like coque (ruler), xonaxi (lady), pichana (master), and xua(na) (lord) were also deployed. However, a significant number of elite males also bore another designation that has not been discussed in detail previously: an animal lineage name. During a 1666 idolatry trial in Lachirioag, don Diego Martín testified that ritual specialist Gerónimo López bestowed animal names on young children. The names for boys included Tie (Deer); Tio (Mountain Lion or Puma); Beag (Squirrel); and Bayo (Wild Boar). Those for girls included Saa and Xoni.57 The two latter terms match the terms for daughters by birth order in Córdova’s

60

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

dictionary: zàa (first), xóni (second), nijo (third), làxi (fourth), zèe (fifth). However, Córdova’s designations for sons in birth order, also used as terms for fingers—yòbi (first), tíni (second), tèxi (third), páyo, xàyo (fourth), yèe, pìyèe (fifth)—do not match the Northern Zapotec male names don Diego revealed, with the sole exception of Bayo—Wild Boar, as per don Diego, or “fourth son” in Córdova.58 Furthermore, the animal names don Diego mentioned form a special set, since they differ from regular designations for those animals in contemporary Yatzachi Zapotec, which has biachez (squirrel),59 while Valley Zapotec has pichina (deer), péche piàa (mountain lion or puma), and péhue táni/quixi (wild boar). Don Diego’s revelation sheds light on a distinctive trait of the reported names of an important subset of male elites in wills and other documents. Four of these names, which always precede a person’s calendrical name, were written as Tiee/Tij/Re/Ri (Deer), Tio (Puma), Bea/Baa (Squirrel), and Bayo (Wild Boar) lineages. The meaning of a fifth term, Tia/Raha, is unknown. A salient use of these animal names occurs in the seventeenth-century copy of don Pablo Sánchez’s 1582 testament, which, as shown above, proudly reported that don Pablo’s father was called don Pedro Sánchez Tio Belagneza (Puma 7-Water), and also named the Zoogocho ancestor Bayo Lopa (Wild Boar 8/11-Dew).60 Usually, males bear animal lineage names in wills, with at least one exception: a 1674 will identifies a daughter of the ancestor don Juan Martín Bilagniza as María Magdalena Tio Galag, Puma 4-Reed.61 An echo of this practice was retained until the 1920s, as suggested by the custom at Mitla of naming newborns after mountain lions, cats, or sandpipers.62 A review of the use of traditional Zapotec names in seventeenth- century wills yields three observations. First, the use of traditional names was sporadic, and a handful of wills from a few locations account for the largest number of individuals mentioned in wills by their traditional names. The calendrical names of seventeen individuals, eight of them bearing an animal lineage, appear in Tia Lapag’s 1595 will and related documentation; García’s aforementioned 1648 testament contains three animal lineage and eight calendrical names; and ten calendrical and nine animal lineage names are cited in the 1674 testament of Joseph Sánchez from Yatzachi.63 Second, the majority of testators in this sample included very few or no individuals bearing traditional names, thus suggesting that such appellations were infrequently shared in documents that could be read by non-Zapotec officials. Third, several later copies of early testaments, with putative dates ranging from “11537” to 1682, do contain traditional names in larger numbers. Indeed, the will of don Juan de Santiago Thio Binela of Yagayo has seven animal lineage and three calendrical names; that of don Bartolomé de Santiago, dated

61

re thinking z ap otec time

1560, has six animal lineage and six calendrical names; and a later copy of a testament dated 1682 from don Cristóbal de Velasco from Yatzachi bears four animal lineage and nine calendrical names.64 It is not known whether copyists deployed traditional names in greater numbers, or if those names were present in earlier versions of these wills. All in all, then, notaries and testators did not systematically report traditional names in seventeenth-century wills. This reserve stood in contrast with the intense production of calendrical manuals in the late seventeenth century.

r he t or ic a l s t ruc t u r e s, me t a phor s, a nd c ou pl e t s in t he z a p o t ec s ongs Mesoamerican polities frequently stressed a connection between exalted rhetoric and authority. This linkage appeared in rulership terms: in Nahuatl, a paramount ruler was a “speaker,” or tlahtoani, and in Valley Zapotec, a “king” was huetoco ticha pea tao, literally, “establisher of great words and commands.”65 Exalted Mesoamerican rhetoric featured the strategic use of difrasismos, a term embraced by Ángel María Garibay, Miguel León-Portilla, and their students, which refers to paired nouns or expressions in couplets that may convey a broader meaning. Another device in the rhetorical toolkit was the deployment of phrases with syntactic or semantic parallels in alternation with phrases without parallels or couplets. The paragraphs below explore rhetorical devices, metaphors, and couplets in the Northern Zapotec ritual songs, or dij dola, “the songs, the chants.” This analysis is framed as a comparison with similar elements in the Nahua Cantares Mexicanos, a Valley Zapotec Christian text, and Northern Zapotec wills. This strategy is in evidence in one of the most celebrated and scrutinized songs in the Cantares corpus, Chalcacihuacuicatl, “Song of the Women of Chalco.” As told by Chimalpahin, this composition, originally written by Chalca composer Quiyauhtzin Cuauhquiyauhcatzintli, was sung for a victorious Mexica tlahtoani, Axayacatl, by a group of performers and nobles from Chalco Amaquemeca in 1479. Axayacatl so liked this song, and its interpretation by Quecholcohuatzin, that he asked for this composition and retained its Chalca interpreter as court musician. As noted by several scholars, this song both acknowledges Axayacatl’s military exploits and taunts him in explicit ways, as the singers are defeated Chalca warriors who assume the identity of Chalca women to sarcastically question Axayacatl’s manhood.66 This song’s alternation of parallel and nonparallel phrases is evident in stanza 5:

62

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

“c h a l c a wom a n ’s s ong,” s t a n z a 5 Ahya tleh nocue Ahya tleh nohuipil My skirt is nothing; my blouse is nothing nicihuatzintli yehhua ya I am a little woman, that very person. nican quimanacoh Here they come to offer

yectli ye incuic their good songs.

nican quimanacoh Here they come to offer

chimalli xochitl the shield, the flower.

quenmach tontlaca Could you really be a man? yeh niChalcacihuatl But I am a woman from Chalco nayocuan I am Ayocuan.67 ohuiya

Here, the singer belittles herself by deploying a difrasismo that denotes “womanhood”—the skirt, the blouse—and claiming that she is just “a little woman.” After announcing through a parallel phrase that the singers have come to offer their songs, the singer questions the masculinity of an implied addressee, who is Axayacatl, and ends on a purportedly discordant note. Through another parallel phrase, she identifies herself both as a Chalca woman, and, paradoxically, as Ayocuan, or Huehue Ayocuan (1411–1465), the renowned ruler of Amaquemecan Itztlacozauhcan. A similar predilection for pairs of phrases with salient syntactic or semantic parallels resurfaced in Zapotec catechesis. In 1666, the Dominican vicar of Zaachila, Cristóbal de Agüero, published a majestic collection of prayers, exemplary narratives, and miraculous accounts about the Rosary and the lives of saints and martyrs. In his introduction, Agüero made a novel argument: that Christ’s word was, in fact, ticha Zaachila, “the word of” the preconquest Zapotec state of Zaachila, whose holdings, lineages, and influence were well known in colonial times.68

63

re thinking z ap otec time

agü ero, mis c el a n e o e spir i t va l , a 2 v Aca laati cica naca ticha golla, It69 is not like the old word, ticha collaza the word from ancient times ni noocha which is covered, nolliiee shrouded70

yoola with earth guixila nacani with plants.

aca nabiixi It is not wrapped up,

nareela, nor tied;

aca nanaaze it is not trapped,71

nagaana, nor difficult.72

aca naccoxaaba naca ticha quee His word is not shrouded in a costume. yaca xinni No, children,

yaziilootito, do not be harmed,73 yacozaacato do not be accursed74

Cannaxe ticha zaa, There is only the Zapotec word,

ticha zaachilla, the Zaachila word

cannaa ticha naaoo the only word that is anointed,

nagoochi, smooth

canaa nataa the only one that is delicate,

nayoolle, proclaimed,

cannaxe ticha nallahui nacani the only word that is in the middle, 64

cica rij ticha cani. in such a way by that word any more.

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

ni zooaaca quinnijchahui quiraato one which is possible75 for all of us to keep well.76 zaa niguiiola, zaa gonnaala zaa Pirooze pigaanala, It goes to the men, to the women, to the youth and young men; zaa pinni huiinila it goes to little children;77 zaa ni huayaaca golla gooxoni, it goes to those of marriageable age,78 to the old, the elderly; zaabeeca zeechaacuee benni it certainly goes to other people. ni cachee cachee xiaa xia naca xtichani, Its word [Zaachila’s] is very different79 and distinct,80 lazigaa nayaaga, it is very thick, lazigaa narooba, it is very strong. natiipa naca xtijtichani, Its word is firm,

hualiica yògo it is all very straight [true], xennepe quiraa all of it is very large.

ni zooaaca quiennichahuini It is possible to keep it well,

ticha the word, yye the sign,

caa lanni quiichi riini niiaxteni hualijtete zee quiraani placed on this paper, because all of it is very straight [true]. cica rabi rinij yobi benni Indios ni zaa loo Xquehuizaachiillatoo This is what the honorable Indian people who go to our palace of Zaachila declare and say. 65

re thinking z ap otec time

This formidable libana, composed by a Dominican and anonymous collaborators, echoes the pattern set in the example above from the Cantares regarding parallel expressions: there are multiple examples of pairs of verbal phrases that are syntactically or semantically parallel. But Agüero’s enthusiasm for these couplets exceeds that of the Chalca composer. Most of the phrases in Agüero’s introduction can be divided into two parts, and each part contains a pair of parallel expressions. For instance, Agüero denounces the Zapotec “old word,” given in praise of preconquest deities, as “covered, shrouded, with earth, with plants.” In contrast, “the Zapotec word, the Zaachila word” is the only word that is “anointed, smooth.” Agüero also deploys various metaphors. Some are based on paired nouns: “earth, plants” conveys “sweepings.” Others employ phrases that convey a meaning in indirect ways: thus, “shrouded in a costume” stands for “parable,”81 and ticha nallahui, “the word in the middle,” can be understood either as “the word of a community” or as “the universal word.”82 Indeed, by stacking couplets in a fugue of Baroque excess not dissimilar from the work of Spanish poet Luis de Góngora, Agüero may have attempted to out-Zapotec the eloquent ritual specialists who lurked in the shadows of Zapotec urban society. As Bierhorst and others have noted, the compositions in the Cantares, although attributed to composers both obscure and legendary, came to be transcribed in the late sixteenth century through several layers of mediation that included Christian Nahua scholars and friars or ecclesiastics involved in the transcription of the Cantares text. Similarly, even if Agüero attempted to mimic preconquest Zapotec rhetoric in his Miscelaneo, he did so based on his assistants’ recollections, his own experience as preacher and speaker, and his own connection to Zaachila, the “head and court” of the Zapotec “nation,” where inhabitants spoke a variant understood throughout the central valleys of Oaxaca.83 The catechetical Zapotec corpus comes from sources edited by Dominican and ecclesiastic authors. Hence, the exact nature and deployment of colonial Zapotec rhetoric will be muddled if it comes from sources that reflect in a highly mediated manner the work of Zapotec rhetoricians.84 Zapotec formal discourse and Agüero’s rhetorical reinventions had an important device in common. While Agüero used simple couplets, such as ticha yye, “words, signs,” referring to the words in his Miscelaneo, some commonly used couplets in Northern Zapotec texts include the following:

66

Couplet

Literal gloss

Context

bene si bene yochi/ yachi

Poor person, miserable person

Used before listing bequests in wills

xico xini

Dogs, children

All household members

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

yeche lachi

Town, valley

Town lands

bea xila

Property, gift

Bequest or property

bequichi belana yoo

They seized, they took land

Land seizures by ancestors

ticha bea

Word, command

Law, God’s commandments

guichi huee

Disease, illness

Serious illness reported in a will

In contrast to Agüero’s emphasis on paired expressions, the Villa Alta songs, composed for an Indigenous audience, depict the preferences of Northern Zapotec intellectuals unmediated by European editors. These songs deployed syntactic and semantic parallelism in ways that differ from Agüero’s work and the patterns in the Nahua Cantares. First, these songs build parallel structures not by pairing short verbal phrases, but by repeating complex phrases: 10 0 -3:1 çoo yobi yaca xeni yati Here are the honorable white ceiba trees,

yaiy teyee yaiy, the grandfathers;

doo lepii lao yobi yaca xeni yati The cord will be tied on the honorable white ceiba trees,

yaiy yaiy,

teyee the grandfathers;

doo liçi lao lachi yobi yaca xeni yati yai The cord will be lifted over the hearts, the honorable white ceiba trees, yaiy,

While a similar syntactic framing is preserved in all three statements, each phrase starts with a new element, and marks a progression in terms of length and complexity. These three parallel phrases echo a Mesoamerican metaphor that depicts elders and ancestors as majestic tall trees, as the Florentine Codex does when it calls elder rulers in vevei puchotl, avevetl, “large ceibas and cypresses.”85 Zapotec songs also deployed complex phrases that were exact copies of each other, except for one single change, or a spelling change. Some modifications were rooted in pronoun usage: 10 0 -3:8 chag quela yaci quixi biye que-bij. [1-Caiman] goes to the entrance of the wildlands in his time count. 67

teyee the grandfathers.

re thinking z ap otec time

chag quela yaci quixi biye-he. [1-Caiman] goes to the entrance of the wildlands in his time count.

These two phrases are the same in every respect, except that a single difference is projected onto the paradigmatic axis of Zapotec grammar. While the first phrase uses the third-person pronoun -bi, which denoted family ties among referents, the second pronoun is -e, the unmarked third-person pronoun. As practiced by speakers of Zapotec, Mixtec, and Nahuatl, pre-Columbian writing systems sometimes used pairs of words that sounded alike to convey meaning. These near-homophones could be immediately recognized by speakers of these languages, but were not necessarily salient for friars and ecclesiastic authors. Since Zapotec languages are tonal, there exist a large number of nouns and verbs that are near-homophones—they were pronounced similarly, but differed in terms of tones, vowel length, or fortis versus lenis consonants. Ecclesiastics and friars often denounced the intricacy of colonial Mesoamerican ritual discourse. As he documented the ritual genre known as nahualtocaitl, “Nahual Names,” in the early seventeenth century, Hernando Ruiz de Alarcón decried its obtuseness, for this genre indeed consisted of “disguised names,” as he accurately termed it. But such criticism obscured the knowledge he lacked about Nahua cosmology; for instance, he thought the maize deity Centeotl was ce teotl, “a god.”86 Similarly, as Agüero denounced malevolent specialists as benni cogooba rinni, “blood suckers,” he decried Zapotec ritual speech as nabiixi nareela . . . nanaaze nagana, “wrapped up, tied . . . covered with mud, difficult.”87 Indeed, in the passage cited above, Agüero targeted the apparent obtuseness of ritual speech and championed the clarity of Zapotec Christian discourse. While Dominican authors did not deploy near-homonyms for rhetorical effect, daykeepers did so with relish, as evidenced by a refrain repeated often in Songbook 100: 10 0 -1:11 bene eche zoo naha huatee lao xa pe yaa . . . The people of the town are now in public before the father, the young spirit . . . bene eche zoo naala huatee lao xa pe yaha. The people of the town are celebrating in public the father, the spirit, in the plaza.88

68

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

The second phrase repeats the first one verbatim, except for two elements: naha, “now,” morphs into naala, “[they are] celebrating,” and yaa, “fresh, young,” becomes yaha, “plaza.” Another example is: 10 0 -1:3 yalag caa cheche dao: The copal of the Nine Great Angry Ones; yalaag caa beeçaa dao the Nine Great Clouds will open up, yalaag caa queehue eze dao the Nine Great Palaces of Great Eci will open up.

This tripartite statement pairs the burning of yalag, copal, for the nine upper levels of the cosmos with a prediction that these levels yalaag, “will open up.” Another important example played with the near-homophony of queelaa, “custom,” and quelaa, “lake”: 10 0 -1:5 oçaa xiycaa çaa queelaa lao quelaa tene beechij tene queelaa lao quelaa tenee The bundle left, it left for First Custom, Blood Lake, Blood Jaguar, First Custom, Blood Lake.

Near-homophones are one of the most frequently used rhetorical devices in the Zapotec songs, as when la çaa coque yagchila, “so Ruler 1-Caiman goes,” becomes laza coque yagchila, “the turn of Ruler 1-Caiman” (100-3:9). Nearhomophones could also test the abilities of singers and audiences. Thus, 1019:1 refers to hue yazag ga niza dohua yazaa, “the illness, the long leaves of the nine waters, the entrance, the furrow,” which contrasts yazag, “long leaves,” with yazaa, “furrow.”

t he agi mé x ic o 8 82 m a n ua l s: au t hor s a nd or igins This chapter’s final section presents evidence regarding authorship and place of origin for the entire Villa Alta corpus. The 102 calendrical manuals were designed to be highly portable and to sustain repeated use. Each manual was composed of two or more fascicles of European paper bound with thread. After they were cut and bound, many manuals had a page size approximately 15–16 centimeters in height and 10–11 centimeters long. While watermarks

69

re thinking z ap otec time

are difficult to observe due to folio size, Manual 94 from Yagneri bears a wellknown watermark: three circles with a crown on top and a cross inscribed in the top circle. This emblem is found in seventeenth- and eighteenth- century Italian paper stock with an ample distribution in Spain and its colonies.89 Most manuals exhibit grease marks, fraying, and other signs of constant use on their outer edges. Some booklets are in poor shape: thus, Manual 98, folded into quarters, is extremely deteriorated and frayed. The legajo—or bound archival unit—AGI México 882 holds confessions presented by officials and specialists before Bishop Maldonado’s representatives in 1704 and 1705 and assorted proceedings, along with manuals and songbooks. The legajo’s current structure is not systematic: sometimes a town’s confession is directly preceded or followed by the manuals its authorities surrendered, but this ordering principle cannot be taken for granted. To provide an estimate of the town of origin for the manuals, two criteria were used: salient distinctions between written Caxonos and non-Caxonos Zapotec variants, and the eighteenth-century pagination, clearly visible in the majority of the legajo’s folios. The confessions indicate which Zapotec, Mixe, and Chinantec communities gave up “instruments of idolatry,” but the number of manuals each town surrendered is not always stated, and sometimes confessants indicate that their texts were turned in before their declaration. My analysis notes unambiguous reports of papeles, “papers,” or cuadernos, “booklets,” explicitly listed as surrendered. Thus, table 3.4 shows that thirty-seven communities surrendered 105 manuals and five songbooks, according to confessions. Sixty-eight manuals and two songbooks came from twenty-three Nexitzo towns, while eight Bixanos communities contributed twenty-four manuals, and six Caxonos localities surrendered fifteen manuals and two songbooks, with a third one from Yatee now apparently lost. Not all texts reported in confessions are preserved in México 882. This legajo contains four songbooks and 102 separate manuals, each assigned a number between 1 and 99 in the twentieth century. In three cases, the same number was given twice, yielding Manuals 47-1 and 47-2, 66-1 and 66-2, and 85-1 and 85-2, while Manual 56 was split up and archived as two booklets. In total, two manuals and the Yatee songbook, all listed in the confessions, are missing from México 882. As discussed earlier, an important ch/tz isogloss separates colonial Caxonos from non-Caxonos variants, and this distinction may be used to propose places of origin for some manuals. Certain diagnostic words are widely attested, such as Caxonos ticha, “word,” and cha, “day,” which contrast with non-Caxonos (Nexitzo and Bixanos) titza and tza. Most texts bear word attestations that allow them to be classified on either side of this isogloss. A few

70

table 3.4. Manuals surrendered, according to collective confessions Ethnolinguistic selfadscription Towns

Manuals and songbooks

Authors or owners of manuals

Caxonos

Caxonos/ San Mateo

2

Joseph Hernandes, Fabián Vásquez

Lachirioag

3, 2 songbooks

don Juan Martín (from Juan Martín, Solaga); Joseph Alonso; Matheo García (from Gerónimo Viloria, Yatee); Fernando Lopes (Songbook 100); Pedro Gonzalo (Songbook 101)

Yalalag

2

Nicolás Martín (taught by Sebastián Bautista); Melchor Martín

Yatee

3, 1 lost songbook

302v: Geronimo Manuel de Viloria (1 communal, 1 bought from Joseph de Selis, Lachitaa), Nicolás Espinosa

Yojovi

2

Luis Garcia, Nicolás Sánchez

Zoogocho

3

Juan Bautista (from Joseph Luis, Tabehua); Joseph de Selis (from Juan Martín, don Juan Bautista’s apprentice); don Pedro Mendoza

SUBTOTAL

6 towns

15 manuals, 3 songbooks

16 authors/owners

Bixanos

Comaltepec/ Yachialag

3

Joseph Martín, Nicolás Cabrera, Domingo Gonzalo

Lachixoba

1

Francisco Tarifa

Malinaltepec

4

Juan Matías; Bernardino Cruz (from Joseph Hernández); Pedro de Aquino; Lorenzo Sanchez

Reagui

6

don Juan Marcos, don Marcial de Velasco, Juan Gerónimo, Reymundo Barón, Cristóbal Hernandes

Xagalasi

1

Juan Mendoza and Baltasar Hernández

Camotlan/ Santiago

3

Miguel Gutiérrez, Juan de la Cruz, Juan Pasqual

Yetzelalag

3

Francisco Morales, Pedro Morales, Juan Alavez

Yovego

3

Miguel Contreras, Miguel Mendoza, Juan Pacheco

SUBTOTAL

8 towns

24 manuals

24 authors/owners

Nexitzo

Cacalotepec

3

Juan Marcial, Sebastián Hernandes (bought from Gerónimo López, Yavichi); Juan Pablo (from López or Juan Hernández)

Juquila/ San Juan

7

Nicolás Geronimo, Nicolás Santiago, Juan Domingo, Juan Pascual, Juan Mendoza I , II, and III; Pedro Lopes I and II

Lachichina

1 surrendered

Nicolás Ruis (bought from Gerónimo López, 3 reales, ca. 1698); Francisco Hernandes (transcription, López’s manual)

Lachixila

3

Juan de Bargas, Agustín Peres, Francisco Mendoza (continued)

table 3.4. (continued) Ethnolinguistic selfadscription Towns

Manuals and songbooks

Authors or owners of manuals

Lahoya

1

Joseph Mendez (from Baltasar Santiago, Teotlasco)

Lalopa

8

Pedro Martín Yagniza; 1 manual shared by don Andrés, don Pascual, don Francisco and don Nicolás Martín; 1 manual shared by don Francisco, don Joseph de la Cruz; Miguel Mendoza; Nicolás Bautista; Nicolás de Ojeda; Juan Guzmán; Juan Martín

Roayaga

6

Brothers Juan Bautista and Pedro Bautista; Juan Gutiérrez; Domingo Morales; Domingo Pacheco; Juan Sánchez

Talea

1

Juan Bautista, Gabriel Hernandes

Tanetze

2

Pedro Martín, Juan Francisco

Temascalapa

1

Domingo Velasco

Teotlasco

2

Juan Santiago, Nicolás Bautista (from Santiago)

Tiltepec

4

Miguel Hernández Latza, Juan de Luna, Juan Velasco, Miguel Aragón

Xosa

3

Juan López, Nicolás Gómez, Juan Méndez

Yaee

3

Juan de Mendoza, Juan de Santiago, Gabriel de Yllescas, apprentices don Ygnacio de Yllescas, Nicolás Tarifa

Yagayo

4

Martín Lopes, Gabriel Santiago, Juan de los Ángeles, Joseph Velasco (from Francisco Morales)

Yagneri

3

Juan de Santiago, Balthasar Martín, Juan Sánchez and father

Yalahui

2 songbooks

Juan Martín and father (Songbooks 102–103)

Yatoni

4

Francisco Vargas, Joseph Martín, Nicolás Hernández, don Juan Balthasar

Yatzona

3

don Juan Vargas, don Gaspar Vargas, Juan Ximénez

Yavichi

1

Gabriel López

Yaxila/ Yagila

3

Gabriel Pablo, Juan Santiago, Andrés Gonzalo’s father (from Juan Martín, Lalopa)

Yotao

2

Nicolás Martín, Sebastián Hernández

Zoogochi

1

Domingo Morales (from Juan de Santiago, Teotlaxco), Gaspar de la Cruz

SUBTOTAL

23 towns

66 manuals, 2 songbooks

80 authors/owners

TOTAL

37 towns

105 manuals, 5 songbooks

120 authors/owners

Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

contain terms frequently used in non-Caxonos towns, such as leo for laayo, “Earth.” Only one text, Manual 55, cannot be easily placed. Because manuals circulated across ethnolinguistic regions, Manuals 11, 41, and 56 use both Caxonos and non-Caxonos spellings. The same isogloss also supports the attribution of Songbooks 102 and 103 to San Juan Yalahui.90 Explicit internal evidence—either a note added by authorities, or the author’s name or a draft text with the community’s name bound within a manual—allows for the unambiguous association of seventeen booklets— Manuals 1–3, 5, 6, 23, 29, 41, 72, 81, 85-2, and 94–99—with towns or authors. While various manuals are copies of each other, one case stands out. There is a group of eight non-Caxonos texts with multiple similarities in terms of hand, formatting, or content: Manuals 45, 46, 48, 52, 71, and 77 were drafted by the same hand, and Manuals 50 and 68 are copies of one of these manuals. As noted in a previous publication, the best candidate for the authorship of this group is the most prolific daykeeper identified by church authorities, Gabriel López, from the Nexitzo yeche of Yavichi. The confessions attribute him the authorship of four manuals: three sold to Sebastián Hernándes and Juan Marcial of Cacalotepec and Nicolás Ruis of Lachichina, and one he owned.91 Twenty-five manuals and all four songbooks can be assigned an origin based on internal evidence. The placement of texts next to confessions in México 882 may provide evidence regarding the origin of the remaining seventyseven manuals, but such a hypothesis must be formulated carefully. Besides placement, there is an independent line of evidence as to manual origin: the eighteenth-century pagination. Table 3.5 confirms that original pagination may be used to sort confessions and ritual texts into three groups. There is a first section, referred to as original pagination A and numbered 1–593, which contains 578 folios; a second section, pagination B, numbered 1–587; and a third section, which comprises twelve manuals not bearing old pagination. Paginations A and B do not overlap and are largely consistent, while modern pagination features a noncorrected overlap after 1367r. Table 3.5 presents a proposal for the towns of origin of seventy-seven manuals without internal evidence regarding their provenance.92 The proposal’s main assumption is that ecclesiastic authorities placed many, but not all, manual groups right before or after their town of origin’s confessions. The number of manuals attributed to each community is listed in parentheses in table 3.5. The Caxonos manuals, interspersed as they are throughout the corpus, posed a challenge, and thus Yatee and Zoogocho were placed in a single group, as four manuals tentatively assigned to them, 47-2, 53, 54, and 57, have a similar organization, and two of those, 53 and 54, are copies of each other. Three other manuals, 42, 89, and 90, contain the same phrases about Christianity’s arrival, as discussed earlier. Their placement suggests

73

table 3.5. Structure of AGI México 882 by pagination, authorship, and towns of origin Manual number

Zapotec variant

Manuals by group

Town (documented)

Town of origin (by placement)

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B)

Songbook 100

Cax

Lachirioag/Betaza

2

Cax

Lachirioag (2/3)

3

Cax

Lachirioag (3/3)

Songbook 101

Cax

Lachirioag

4

Cax

5

N-Cax

5–6–62–66-1 group

Yatzona (1/3)

6

N-Cax

5–6–62–66-1 group

Yatzona (2/3)

7

N-Cax

Temascalapa/Talea (1/2)

8

Cax

Yatee/Zoogocho (1/6)

9

Cax

Yatee/Zoogocho (2/6)

10

N-Cax

Temascalapa/Talea (2/2)

11

N-Cax/Cax

Roayaga (1/6)

12

N-Cax

Roayaga (2/6)

13

N-Cax

Roayaga (3/6)

14

Cax

14–15 group

Yalalag/Yojovi/S Mateo Cax (2/6)

15

Cax

14–15 group

Yalalag/Yojovi/S Mateo Cax (3/6)

16

N-Cax

Yalalag/Yojovi/S Mateo Cax (1/6)

Roayaga (4/6)

Author/owner (documented)

Confessions and proceedings

Modern pagination

Original pagination

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B) Cax: Lachirioag (3 manuals, 2 songbooks)

154r–157v

A: 1–4

Nex: Talea (1), Cax: Lachirioag (3)

178r–184v

A: 20–22

Fernando Lopes/Pedro Vargas, 202v

185r–202v

A: 29–46

Joseph Alonso, 207v

206r–216v

A: 47–54

Matheo Garcia/Gerónimo Viloria, 226v

217r–226v

A: 55–63

227r–236v

A: 64–73

237r–257v

A: 74–94

258r–265v

A: 95–102

266r–280v

A: 104–118

281Ar–295v

A: 119–132

296r–323v

A: 133–160

324r–331v

A: 161–167

332r–341v

A: 168–177

342r–352v

A: 178–188

353r–361v

A: 189–197

362r–372Av

A: 198–201

372Br–373v

A: 208–209

374r–385v

A: 210–221

386r–393v

A: 222–229

394r–403v

A: 230–239

404r–414v

A: 240–250

415r–422v

A: 251–258

423r–427v

A: 259–263

428r–440v

A: 264–277

Pedro Gonzalo, 184r Nex: Yatzona (3), Cax: Zoogocho (2), Yatee (3), Laxopa, Zochila, Yahuio, Zoochina, Yatzachi, Solaga, Tabehua, Yohueche, Yaglina, Guiloxi, Betaza, Yaa

Ximénez cover; Gaspar Bargas, 255r Ximénez cover; Juan Bargas, 292v Specialists; Nex:Tagui

Nex: Temascalapa (1), Tagui, Cax:Zochila

Nex: Roayaga (6)

Nex: Roayaga (6), Yalahui (2 songbooks); Bix: Camotlan (3), Yaxoni

(continued)

table 3.5. (continued) Manual number

Zapotec variant

Manuals by group

Town (documented)

Town of origin (by placement)

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B) 17

N-Cax

Camotlan (1/3)

18

N-Cax

Camotlan (2/3)

19

N-Cax

Camotlan (3/3)

20

N-Cax

Yetzelalag (1/3)

21

N-Cax

Yetzelalag (2/3)

22

N-Cax

Yetzelalag (3/3)

23

N-Cax

24

N-Cax

24–25–26 group

Reagui (1/6)

25

N-Cax

24–25–26 group

Reagui (2/6)

26

N-Cax

24–25–26 group

Reagui (3/6)

27

N-Cax

Reagui (4/6)

28

N-Cax

Yovego (1/3)

Yatzona (3/3)

29

N-Cax

30

N-Cax

Yovego (2/3), memoria Yovego (3/3)

31

N-Cax

Lachixila (1/3)

32

N-Cax

Lachixila (2/3)

33

N-Cax

Lachixila (3/3)

34

N-Cax

34–36 group

Songbook 102

N-Cax

Yalahui

35

N-Cax

36

N-Cax

34–36 group

Songbook 103

N-Cax

Yalahui

37

N-Cax

Reagui (5/6)

Roayaga (5/6) Reagui (6/6)

Roayaga (6/6)

Author/owner (documented)

Confessions and proceedings

Modern pagination

Original pagination

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B)

Bix: Yetzelalag (3)

Bix: Reagui (6) Yatzona text cover; Juan Bargas, 528v

Bix: Xagalazi (1), Yovego (3)

Nex: Lachixila (3)

441r–452v

A: 278–289

453r–466v

A: 290–302

467r–481v

A: 303–315

482r–484v

A: 316–318

485r–492v

A: 319–326

493r–499v

A: 329–334

500r–510v

A: 335–346

511r–515v

A: 347–351

515Br–528v

A: 352–364

529r–536v

A: 365–372

537r–550v

A: 373–384

551r–557v

A: 386–392

558r–568v

A: 393–402

569r–575v

A: 403–409

576r–583v

A: 410–417

584r–599v

A: 419–432

600r–612v

A: 433–445

613r–616v

A: 446–449

617r–630v

A: 450–463

631r–639v

A: 464–471

640r–649v

A: 472–479

Cax: S Miguel, S Matheo (1), S Pedro, S Pablo, S Francisco, other proceedings

Juan Martín, 430r

Juan Martín, 430r Nex: Teotlasco (2), Bix: Comaltepec (3)

A: 480–485

656r–663v

A: 482–485/ 486–489

664r–665v

A: 490–491

666r–673v

A: 492–495, 498

674r–686v

A: 494–498/ 499–503

687r–693v

A: 504–510

694r–699v

A: 505–513

700r–709v

A: 514–523 (jumbled) (continued)

table 3.5. (continued) Manual number

Zapotec variant

Manuals by group

Town (documented)

Town of origin (by placement)

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B)

38

N-Cax

Comaltepec/Yachialag (1/3)

39

N-Cax

Comaltepec/Yachialag (2/3)

42

N-Cax

43

N-Cax

Comaltepec/Yachialag (3/3)

44

N-Cax

Lachixoba (1/1)

45

N-Cax

45–46–48–50–52– 68–71–77 group

Cacalotepec (1/3)

46

N-Cax

45–46–48–50–52– 68–71–77 group

Cacalotepec (2/3)

47-1

Cax

47-2

Cax

47-2–53–54–57 group

Yatee/Zoogocho (3/6)

48

N-Cax

45–46–48–50–52– 68–71–77 group

Cacalotepec (3/3)

49

N-Cax

53

Cax

47-2–53–54–57 group

Yatee/Zoogocho (4/6)

54

Cax

47-2–53–54–57 group

Yatee/Zoogocho (5/6)

56-part a

Cax/N-Cax

56-part b

Cax/N-Cax

57

Cax

42–89–90 group

Zoogochi (1/1)

Yalalag/Yojovi /S Mateo Cax (4/6)

Yagayo (1/4)

Yotao (1/2) Yotao (2/2) 47-2–53–54–57 group

Yatee/Zoogocho (6/6)

Author/owner (documented)

Confessions and proceedings

Modern pagination

Original pagination

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B) Nex: Yaxila (3); Bix: Lachixoba (1), Latani; Cax: Yalalag (1), Chinantec towns, other proceedings

710r–766v

A: 524–578, misnumbered 524–593

Bix: Malinaltepeque (4), Yaveo, Yahuive, Lealao, Mixe towns, other proceedings

901r–926v

B:1–26

927r–934v

B:23–30 (028–34 crossed out)

935r–945v

B: 31–41

203r–205v

B: 42–44

Nex: Yatoni (4)

Nex: La Hoya (1)

Nex: La Hoya (1)

961r–972v

B: 60–71

973r–980v

B: 72–79

981r–982v

B: 80–81

983r–997v

B: 81–96

998r–1000v

B: 97–99

Gabriel López, Yavichi (1/6); to Marcial/Hernández

1001r–1012v

B: 100–111

Gabriel López (2/6); to Marcial/ Hernández

1013r–1023v

B: 112–121

1024r–1027v

B: 122–125

1028r–1029v

B: 123 (1f skipped)

1030r–1037v

B: 128–135

1038r–1049v

B: 136–147

1050r–1052v

B: 149–151

Nex: Cacalotepec (4)

Gabriel López (3/6), Yavichi, to Pablo Nex: Yotao (2) Juan de los Angeles, 1059v

Nex: Juquila (9)

1053r–1060v

B: 152–159

1088r–1099v

B: 173–184

1100r–1114v

B: 185–199

1128r–1134v

B: 206–212

1194 r–v

B: 206–212

1135r–1143v

B: 213–221

1144r–1147v

B: 222–225 (continued)

table 3.5. (continued) Manual number

Zapotec variant

Manuals by group

Town (documented)

Town of origin (by placement)

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B) 58

N-Cax

58–59 group

Tanetze (1/2)

59

N-Cax

58–59 group

Tanetze (2/2)

60

N-Cax

60–61 group

Lalopa (1/8)

61

N-Cax

60–61 group

Lalopa (2/8)

62

N-Cax

5–6–62–66-1 group: diagram

Lalopa (3/8)

63

N-Cax

Lalopa (4/8)

65

N-Cax

Lalopa (5/8)

66-1

N-Cax

66-2

N-Cax

Lalopa (7/8)

67

N-Cax

Lalopa (8/8)

68

N-Cax

69

N-Cax

Juquila (2/7)

70

N-Cax

Juquila (4/7)

71

N-Cax

72

N-Cax

73

N-Cax

Yaee (2/3)

74

N-Cax

Yaee (3/3)

75

N-Cax

Juquila (5/7)

76

N-Cax

Juquila (6/7)

77

N-Cax

78

N-Cax

5–6–62–66-1 group: diagram

Lalopa (6/8)

45–46–48–50–52– 68–71–77 group

Juquila (1/7)

45–46–48–50–52– 68–71–77 group

Juquila (3/7) Yaee/Rabeag (1/4)

45–46–48–50–52– 68–71–77 group

Yavichi (1/1) Juquila (7/7)

Author/owner (documented)

Confessions and proceedings

Modern pagination

Original pagination

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B)

Nex: Tanetze (2)

Nex: Lalopa (8)

Gabriel López (4/6)

1148r–1159v

B: 226–236 (1f skipped)

1160r–1169v

B: 237–246

1170r–1172v

B: 247–249

1173r–1179v

B: 250–256

1180r–1182v

B: 260–263

1183r–1193v

B: 264–273

1195r–1204v

B: 274–283

1219r–1223v

B: 292–296

1224r–1231r

B: 297–301

1232r–1240v

B: 302–313

1241r–1252v

B: 316–326

1253r–1256v

B: 327–330

1257r–1262v

B: 331–336

1263r–1269v

B: 334–336/ 337–340

1270r–1275v

B: 341–343 (jumbled)

1276r–1286v

B: 338–343/ 344–348

1287r–1291v

B: 349–351

1292r–1301v

B: 354–363

1302r–1309v

B: 364–371

Nex: Yaee (4)

1310r–1312v

B: 372–374

1313r–1317v

B: 375–379

Nex: Yavichi (1)

1318r–1319v

B: 380–381

1320r–1328v

B: 382–390

1329r–1338v

B: 391–400

Juan de Bargas, 1291v, 1310v

Gabriel López (5/6)

Nex: Yagayo (4)

1339r–1343v

B: 401–405

1344r–1349v

B: 406–411 (continued)

table 3.5. (continued) Manual number

Zapotec variant

Manuals by group

Town (documented)

Town of origin (by placement)

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B) 79

N-Cax

79–80 group

Yagayo (2/4)

80

N-Cax

79–80 group

Yagayo (3/4)

85-1

N-Cax

85-2

N-Cax

86

N-Cax

Tiltepec (3/4)

87

N-Cax

Tiltepec (4/4)

88

N-Cax

Yatoni (1/4)

89

N-Cax

42–89–90 group

Teotlasco (1/2)

90

N-Cax

42–89–90 group

Teotlasco (2/2)

91

N-Cax

Xosa (1/3)

92

N-Cax

Xosa (2/3)

93

N-Cax

Xosa (3/3)

94

N-Cax

Yagneri (1/3)

95

N-Cax

Yagneri (2/3)

96

N-Cax

Yagneri (3/3)

97

N-Cax

Yaxila (1/3)

Tiltepec (1/4)

Tiltepec/Yaza (2/4)

98

N-Cax

Yaxila (2/3)

99

N-Cax

Yaxila (3/3), Lalopa

Author/owner (documented)

Confessions and proceedings

Modern pagination

Original pagination

90 Manuals and 4 Songbooks (Eighteenth-Century Pagination A, B)

Nex: Lachichina (1) Miguel de Aragón, Yaza, 1429r

Nex: Tiltepeque (4)

1350r–1357v

B: 412–419

1358r–1363v

B: 420–425

(1405r–1417v)

B: 420–432 (430 for 420)

1364r–1366v

B: 426–428

(1418r–1422v)

B: 434–438

(1423r–1436v)

B: 440–452

(1436r–1444v)

B: 452, 453–460

1445r–1449v

B: 461–469

1450r–1453v

B: 461–469

(1454r–1455v)

B: 470–471

Nex: Zoogochi (2)

1456r–1458v

B: 472–478

Nex: Yagavila

1459r–1461v

B: 472–478

Nex: Tepanzacualco

Cax: S Domingo

1462r–1462v

B: 472–478

(1463r–1477v)

B: 477–490

(1478r–1491v)

B: 493–504 (backwards)

(1492r–1497v)

B: 508–513

(1498r–1503v)

B: 514–519

(1504r–1511v)

B: 520–526

1512r–1515v

B: 528–531

Juan de Santiago, 1526r

(1516r–1527v)

B: 532–543

Juan Sanches and father, 1543v

(1528r–1540v)

B: 544–556 (backwards)

Baltasar Martín, 1542v, 1555v

(1541r–1545v)

B: 557–560 (backwards)

1542r–1544v

B: 561–563

Gabriel Pablo, 1559r

(1545r–1550v)

B: 564–568 (1f skipped)

Juan de Santiago, 1571v

(1551r–1556v)

B: 569–574

Juan Martín/Pedro Pacheco, 1572r

(1557r–1569v)

B: 575–587

Nex: Xosa (3)

Nex: Yagneri (3), Yabago

(continued)

re thinking z ap otec time

table 3.5. (continued) Manual number

Zapotec variant

Manuals by group

Town (documented)

Town of origin (by placement)

12 Manuals without Eighteenth-Century Pagination 1

Cax

40

Cax

Lachirioag (1/3)

41

N-Cax/Cax

50

N-Cax

51

N-Cax

52

N-Cax

55

?

Yatoni (3/4)

64

N-Cax

Malinaltepec (1/4)

81

N-Cax

82

Cax

Yalalag/Yojovi/S Mateo Cax (6/6)

83

N-Cax

Malinaltepec (3/4)

84

N-Cax

Malinaltepec (4/4)

Yalalag/Yojovi/S Mateo Cax (5/6) Lahoya (1/1); memoria Yae, 952v 45–46–48–50–52– 68–71–77 group

Lachichina (1/1) Yatoni (2/4)

45–46–48–50–52– 68–71–77 group

Yagayo (4/4)

Malinaltepec (2/4)

Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

that they came from Teotlasco or Zoogochi, which are only a few kilometers apart. Besides the López, Yatee/Zoogocho, and Teotlasco/Zoogochi groups, six other manual groupings can be proposed. Manuals 5 and 6 from Yatzona and 62 and 66-1 from Lalopa reproduce an important cosmological diagram, analyzed in chapter 4; Caxonos Manuals 14 and 15 are copies of each other; 84

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

Author/owner (documented)

Confessions and proceedings

Modern pagination

Original pagination

12 Manuals without Eighteenth-Century Pagination Don Juan Martín, 157r

158r–177v 946r–949v

Joseph Mendez, 998r

950r–960v

Copied from López by Hernandes

1061r–1070v 1071r–1077v

Gabriel López, Yavichi (6/6)

1078r–1087v 1115r–1127v 1205r–1218v

Juan Matias, 914r, 1367r

1367r–1376v (1367bisr– 1376bisv, 1377r–1379v) 158r–177v 946r–949v

Other Proceedings Viceroy on idolatry proceedings

1r–8r

C: 46–54

Third notebook, curate divisions

10r–19r

D: 1–9

Curate division testimonies

20r–153r

E: 1–140

Letters, alcalde mayor, Maldonado

767r–811v

F: 1–45

Tabaa and Mixe confessions

813r–900v

G: 1–88

Manuals 24, 25, and 26 from Reagui bear strong resemblances to each other, as do Manuals 58 and 59 from Tanetze and 60 and 61 from Lalopa. Lastly, Manuals 79 and 80 from Yagayo use a nonstandard order for the 260 feasts. Abilities related to literacy allowed writers and authors to navigate the colonial order. A salient case is Juan Martín of Lalopa, author of the aforementioned Northern Zapotec–Spanish phrasebook Bvcabulario, one of the 85

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 3.3. False covers for calendrical manuals. Hymn lyrics as cover for Manual 39 (left). Musical score as back cover for Manual 13 (right). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 935r, 403v.

few colonial Mesoamerican vocabularies composed autonomously by a Native writer. This manuscript, completed circa 1696, contains entries divided into more than one hundred separate categories.93 In 1704, Andrés Gonzalo of Yaxila surrendered a calendrical manual, Manual 99, which he said his father had received from Juan Martín. A notary observed that Juan Martín’s distinctive hand, apparently known because of the Vocabulary, was also responsible for Manual 99. Hence, the amateur lexicographer was also a clandestine expert on ancient beliefs. Some daykeepers also held a high social or political status, as did three Yatzona notables, whose ownership of manuals with cosmological diagrams is discussed in chapter 4. Some Zapotec church musicians and singers seamlessly moved between Christian musical performance and the composition or study of calendrical manuals. The Dominican order provided musical training to neophytes, and their efforts were welcomed by Zapotec musicians, as illustrated by the career of the celebrated Oaxaca cathedral choirmaster and composer Juan Mathías, and the Zapotec-language plainsong scores from San Bartolo Yautepec.94 A small number of church musicians are identified as manual keepers; for instance, the Lalopa confession noted that cantor Juan Martín owned a calendar. Remarkably, the corpus preserves three prominent examples of musical scores used as false covers to hide a manual’s calendrical contents from the

86

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

glances of Spaniards or outsiders. The cover of Manual 39 (fig. 3.3) from Comaltepec/Yachialag conceals calendrical annotations with a cover bearing two stanzas from Iam lucis orto sidere, a hymn for the office of Prime that was part of the Ambrosian Rite, which had spread from Italy to Iberia and elsewhere from the sixth century onward.95 Comaltepec/Yachialag residents seem to have been particularly resourceful: as discussed in chapter 6, they concealed a foundational narrative behind yet another musical score. A false cover at the end of Manual 13 from Roayaga (fig. 3.3) contains a score with notes about choral arrangements that contain treble voice parts (tiples), usually performed by prepubescent singers. Gregorian chants were classified into eight classes, according to their ending pitch.96 Manual 13’s arrangement, in a square-note chant transcription, depicts a ten-note melody that begins with an A note, and is explicitly identified as Tone 8: tiple xono ponto tzapi rao niga chia bazu gala niga chia tple [sic] risolao la, “Tone 8 treble; we go up here, there is a bass until there is a treble, it begins on A.” The note above identifies this memoria primero ton, “record of a Tone 1,” as a piece for a yeroba, funeral.97 Another false back cover, for Manual 89, does not deploy scores, but simply repeats the phrase dixit dominus domino meo, “The Lord said to my lord,” the incipit, opening line, for a composition based on Psalm 109:1.98

z a p o t ec di v ina t ion a s col oni a l au t hor i t y The manuals daykeepers composed represent a radical transformation of preconquest memory and recording practices. Pre-Columbian divination manuals deployed information through pictographic representations open to interpretation by speakers of various languages. In contrast, Northern Zapotec texts were alphabetic transcriptions that followed a recitation format: every single manual registered the 260 feasts or the fifty-two years, ordered in one or more columns, as in a European book, a fact that guided a ritual specialist from Malinaltepec to call his composition, Manual 81, an ancestral libro quichi, “book, paper.” As they transitioned from codices and orality to alphabetic manuals, daykeepers deployed innovative labels (table 3.6). Sixty-two manuals summarized their contents, and nineteen manuals stated they held “time counts,” “feasts,” or “words” of “the fathers and ancestors of us all” (xotao xoci reo). Authors used -reo, the inclusive first-person plural form that has an honorific sense and includes the person addressed, rather than the neutral, noninclusive -neto. A phrase with chinoa/chinohua recurs in almost one-third of the corpus.99 Eighteen manuals have it as bezoa tza chinohua lani, “the days were

87

table 3.6. Titles and labels for AGI México 882 manuals

Traditional rhetoric

Description

Manuals where phrase appears

The three hundred feasts: bezoa tza chinoa lani

10, 42–46, 48–50, 52, 58, 64, 68, 71, 74, 77, 88, 97

betza or bizaha chinoa lani betzea or beche chinoa lani

17, 23, 24, 35, 40, 76, 80, 99

8

8, 31, 32

3

Time count or Feasts or Words of the fathers and ancestors of us all

8, 17, 19, 23, 25, 31, 32, 43, 45, 46, 48, 52, 56, 58, 59, 67, 71, 77, 81, 99

20

rohua lani Entrances/Edges of the feasts

8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 23, 34–36, 76, 84, 99

13

Subtotal Categories and terms in Spanish

18

62 Tiempo que xotao xoci reo Time of the fathers and ancestors of us all

43, 44, 49, 58, 59, 88, 97

7

Memeria [sic] tiempo que xotao xoci reo Memory and time of the fathers and ancestors of us all

74

1

Probanza or probación:

8, 17, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 56

8

probanza que xotao xoci reo probanza of fathers and ancestors of us all

24

probanza/probación viejo (bieso, biexo) Old probanza

17, 31, 32, 56

probanza biyeexo Old/biyee of the ancestors probanza

25

titza bieJus Old words

49

Count (cuenta)

22

1

libro quichi tia queani xotao Book, paper for our ancestors

81

1

82

1

Calendar of the Indians (Calentario de los yntio) Subtotal Zapotec and Spanish descriptions

Total manuals

19 8, 17, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 43, 44, 49, 56, 58, 59, 74, 88, 97

16

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

poured in,100 the three hundred feasts,” while eleven manuals use the variant betza or bizaha chinohua lani, “the three hundred feasts reached their completion,”101 and three manuals stated, betzea or beche chinohua lani, “the three hundred feasts were prolonged.”102 These phrases may be reinterpretations of an archaic phrase for “260 days,” which is reconstructed as betioa tza chinoa lani, “the forty before three hundred [260] feasts.”103 In contrast, eighteen manuals deployed Spanish borrowings, as did Manual 82, which termed itself calentario de los yntio, “Calendar of the Indians.” Eight manuals did not use the traditional term biyee and borrowed instead tiempo, “time,” which also appeared in Manual 1. The shift was deliberate, as the borrowing tiempo is rare in colonial Northern Zapotec texts: it appears after the 1740s, and then only occasionally.104 The authors of eight manuals called the 260-feast count a probanza, or formal proof submitted to a Spanish court. Some writers combined probanza with bieJus, bieso, and biexo (in Manuals 17, 31, 32, 49). It is likely that this term stood for viejo, “old,” a term infrequently used by Zapotec notaries,105 and that it was not a variant of biyee xo, “biyee of the ancestors,” employed in Manuals 88 and 97.106 These incantatory probanzas dramatically diverged from other probanzas in colonial Spanish America. As María Elena Martínez observed, in New Spain Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza (in office 1535–1550) formalized a framework for conquerors and colonists to request favors from the king through probanzas de méritos y servicios, formal proof of merits and services, or informes, reports. Later, conquerors’ descendants used probanzas to seek royal pensions or other privileges.107 Probanzas regarding limpieza de sangre, purity of blood, were first handled by civil courts, but eventually the Mexican Inquisition issued these certifications.108 Descendants of Tlaxcalteca conquerors who fought alongside the Spanish and established new settlements employed probanzas to remind the Crown about their service.109 The submission of probanzas by Indigenous nobility to record services to the Crown was augmented after a 1697 royal decree that declared native nobles eligible for privileges granted to hidalgos, minor nobility. Zapotec nobles submitted such probanzas, as don Julián Carrasco of San Gabriel Etla did in 1734.110 As Manual 8 stated, lineages were also recorded in probanzas: laa y.dicha probança noxa racalachi qui neça ni y.dicha dia, “The words of the probanza. Who wants the offerings, the road, these words of the lineages?”111 Three manuals even presented creation narratives as probanzas: Manual 24 from Reagui, and Manual 31 (fig. 3.4), copied in Manual 32. The last two manuals were composed by the well-known specialist Juan de Vargas, by Agustín Pérez, or Francisco Mendoza.112 These accounts were placed after the 260-day count and its “four trees,” a reference to the four 65-day subdivisions:

89

re thinking z ap otec time

m a n ua l 24, 536r : nij betapa yaga biyee betza chinohua lani probanza que xozi xodao reho, nero cati cucua coyepi gobitza coge leo gota niça dao These are the four trees of the biyee, the three hundred feasts reached completion, the probanza of the fathers and grandfathers of us all. Initially, when the sun of the lord of Earth was established113 and went up, and the great waters lay down. m a n ua l 31, 630 r , l ac hi x il a : nigaa betapa yaga biyee betzea chinohua lani gue xotao xoci reho probaza biexo gati goca goxogui ga biyee cota niza tao cana coca goge gocila yetze laoo xo tiola xo cahui xo zila xo tze gati goca goyepi gobitza goge yetze laoo etta m a n ua l 32, 638 v, l ac hi x il a : nigaa bettapa yaga biyee betzea chinoa lani que xotao xoci reheo probaza biexo gati goca goxoqui ga biyee gota niza tao cana cana [sic] goca goque gozila yetze laoo xo tiola xo cahui xo tzila xo tze gati goca goyepi gobitza goqe yetze oo etta

figure 3.4. Creation narrative excerpt in Manual 31. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 630r.

90

nor thern z ap otec writing, liter ac y, and so cie t y

These are the four trees of the biyee. The three hundred feasts of the grandfathers and fathers of us all were crammed into the probanza viejo when there was the smoke from the nine time periods and the great waters lay down, when there was the lord creator of Earth. Force of the darkness of night (North) Force of the darkness of dawn (South) Force of the beginning (East) Force of the evening (West). When the sun of the Lord of Earth was there and went up. Et[ceter]a.114

These manuals deployed probanza as a talismanic word through which specialists invoked ancestral authority from every possible perspective—not only from ancestors, but also from a position of legal authority in a colonial world. But such wondrous petitions were meant for the ears of no Christian king, as they celebrated ancient deities and ancestors.

su mm a r y This chapter has reviewed some major aspects of Colonial Northern Zapotec variants as written. It reviewed literacy practices and the creation of individual archives to preserve and copy valuable wills, and examined the use of traditional names in the seventeenth century. It also compared Northern Zapotec rhetoric, as deployed in both sacred and mundane genres, to rhetorical usage in the Nahua Cantares and Valley Zapotec catechesis. Lastly, it analyzed the structure of the AGI México 882 archival unit, and examined the provenance of all manuals and songbooks in the corpus. This frame of reference—which places the writing of the Villa Alta corpus in the context of evolving literacy practices—provides a necessary introduction to a more recondite domain: that of Zapotec ideas and hypotheses about the shape of the universe, as encoded in the divinatory manuals, which are analyzed in detail in chapters 4 and 5.

91

chap ter four

The Shapes of the Universe Theories of Time and Space

he northern zapotec manuals condensed an encyclopedic amount of information about feasts, cosmological theories, cycles, deities, ancestors, offerings and protocols, and astronomical observations. This chapter summarizes the central components of important theories about the shape of time and space, the beginning of the universe, and the cycles of ritual obligations preserved in these sacred books. It begins with two distinct theories about the interdigitation of time and space: a well-known theory that aligned with the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, and a much less documented theory that can be approached primarily through the Zapotec corpus, although it exhibits clear parallels with sections of Codex Vaticanus B. The chapter then reviews the principal cycles in the corpus, including an important division into 65-day periods, and a five-position series that regimented offerings during a 52-year cycle that resembles comparable cycles in the Codex Borgia. After a review of cosmological landscapes, the chapter turns to intercardinal directions, which bear similarities to iconographic elements in the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, and to a sixteen-day cycle of ritual obligations divided by gender and age, which resonates with similar cy-

T

theories of time and space

cles in the Borgia and Cospi codices. This chapter ends with a close consideration of entwined cosmologies: a set of four quina, “fields,” tied to important creation events featuring serpent deities that were recorded iconographically in Codex Borgia 29–32, and narrated through singing and performance in the Zapotec songbooks. Despite their intricacy, Zapotec manuals welcomed their readers with brief explanations about feast days and their metaphorical epithets, which merged temporal and spatial domains. Each twenty-four hour period was both lani, “feast,” and tza, “day,” and three metaphors designated them: quiag, “mountains”; taa, “mats”; and tohua, “entrances,”1 for they opened onto cosmological regions and allowed for the passage of sacred beings. Thus, Manuals 13, 14, 15, and 17 indicate that, on the divinatory count’s Day 1, 1-Caiman, rezolao roa lani, “the entrances and feasts begin.” Manual 22 combined metaphors and pragmatic descriptions: oha lani gozio qiag xeee gapa reho cue[n]ta bicasareo gozi qiog gozibaa xibaba tzaa yagxoho roha biye acale yachila roha tzabi bezi,2 “The entrances, the feasts, the time periods, the eternal mountains, we will keep the cuenta, we celebrated. Receive the male strength, make good use3 of the count of days. 1-Earthquake is the entrance of the biye [time periods]; they will be presented.4 1-Caiman is the entrance of the days that were named.” Lastly, Manual 13 refers to the return of ancestors in its introductory phrase: ni naca xotao rao neya yagchiila tao chiixa bizaca rao ata zitabi nigaha quetze lao yoo, “Here is our ancestor, I will speak: Great 1-Caiman. When5 did we celebrate the dead? They are arriving here on Earth.”

spac e a nd t ime t o ge t her in nor t her n z a p o t ec a nd c en t r a l me x ic a n m a n ua l s The authors of divinatory texts in Postclassic Mesoamerica labored under a distinct challenge: how to best depict the 260-feast cycle and its deities, observances, and correlations with cosmological spaces. The depiction of time and space in Codex Fejérváry-Mayer 1 (plate 3), a late fifteenth-century divinatory book, was already recognized as a paragon of succinctness when Eduard Seler produced a landmark study of this work.6 This folio depicts a quincunx, four cardinal directions surrounding a center where the deity of time, Xiuhteuctli in Nahuatl, stands holding a spearthrower and spears. He is surrounded by four cardinal points, starting with East over his head; each point is associated with a color and with a pair of deities that flank a sacred tree crowned by a bird. Xiuhteuctli and his eight companions comprise a group often called the Nine Lords of the Night. Around and across space, time unfolds, as this diagram contains two sep-

93

re thinking z ap otec time

arate iterations of the 260-day count, which is referenced by the fi rst day sign in each trecena.7 The first pass, beginning with [1-]Caiman above Xiuhteuctli’s spearthrower, traces the edges of the cardinal points counterclockwise so that each direction is associated with three trecenas, and trecenas 4–5, 9–10, 14–15, and 19–20 mark the four intercardinal directions. In addition, the first days of trecenas 5, 10, 15, and 20—also the four Central Mexican year bearers—are depicted inside shields borne by descending birds in the four corners of Fejérváry-Mayer 1. The second pass follows a helicoidal path: beginning with [1-]Caiman, wedged between Northeast and North, the twenty trecenas circle in centrifugal and counterclockwise motions across the diagram, thus associating five trecenas with each intercardinal direction. Sacrificial blood frames the cosmos: each intercardinal point is marked by blood from the hand, leg, thorax, and head of a dismembered Tezcatlipoca. Manual 23 contains a diagram that distills crucial components of FejérváryMayer 1’s time and space continuum—henceforth, time–space. This drawing (fig. 4.1) illustrates what may be called, from a Zapotec cosmological perspective, Cosmological Theory A. This sketch, drawn as a quincunx, features four directions, each containing five straight lines, except for East on the top of the diagram, which bears six, a possible scribal error. If each line represents one trecena, then Manual 23’s diagram aligns in part with Fejérváry-Mayer 1, as each cardinal point would have been associated with five trecenas, rather than three. Unlike Fejérváry-Mayer 1, Manual 23 divides cosmological space into eight rectangular sections. Remarkably, Theory A and B, described below, were both recorded in three manuals from one community, Yatzona. Yatzona’s confession states that three specialists turned in three manuals—Juan de Bargas/Vargas, notable don Gaspar de Vargas, and escribano Juan Ximénez. Manual 23’s contents were hidden by a false back cover: a letter dated February 26, 1698, by Juan de Vargas, with the phrase, Niga lao Yetze S. Ju[an] Yazona Dn. f helipe de santiago gouernador, “Here at the yetze of San Juan Yatzona, don Felipe de Santiago, governor.”8 While the cover was drafted by Juan, Manual 23’s contents were in a different hand, suggesting that Juan owned, but did not compose, this manual. This cover refers to Santiago, a powerful and litigious Yatzona nobleman. In fact, the aforementioned don Gaspar de Vargas was Santiago’s brother.9 Don Gaspar was born in 1665, served as alcalde in 1689 and 1699 and as governor in 1694, and was a son of the cacique don Zipriano and grandson of the noble don Bartolomé Yolala.10 While Juan de Vargas owned Manual 23, Manual 5 may have been owned by don Gaspar, as his name is written on it,11 and Ximénez is associated with both Manuals 5 and 6 (see table 3.5). Ximénez shared the same last name with a family whose members were officials, notaries, and specialists: don Juan

94

theories of time and space

figure 4.1. Manual 23, Yatzona, illustrating Cosmological Theory A. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 527v.

Ximénez, governor in 1614; don Antonio Ximénez, notary in 1677 and don Gaspar’s brother; and the maestro Ángel Ximénez, dead by 1704.12 The distinctive hand of Juan Ximénez, Yatzona’s notary in the late 1680s, is found in the will he drafted for Gaspar Martín in 1689,13 and it links him to Manuals 5 and  6, as both bear false covers in Ximénez’s hand containing the Joyous Mysteries and Christian songs.14 However, as it was the case for Manual 23, the contents of Manuals 5 and 6 were drafted by the same hand, which did not belong to Ximénez or Juan. If, as the Yatzona confession notes, each specialist turned in one booklet, then Juan is the likely owner of Manual 23, and don Gaspar and Ximénez each owned either Manual 5 or Manual 6. While the Manual 23 theory hemmed in time–space together in a single plane, a different theory was recorded in Manuals 5 and 6—henceforth, Cosmological Theory  B. Theory  B was far more influential throughout the Northern Zapotec corpus than Manual 23’s Theory  A: two other diagrams nearly identical to those in Manuals 5 and 6 also appear in Lalopa’s Manuals 62 and 66-1. If the order in which specialists were listed in Lalopa’s con-

95

re thinking z ap otec time

fession matches the placement of Manuals 62 and 66-1, then 62 was shared by don Francisco and don Joseph de la Cruz, and 66-1 was owned by Nicolás de Ojeda.15 Manuals 5, 6, 62, and 66-1 depict an elaborate cosmological theory. Manual 6’s upper half shows four structures labeled as quina, “fields”; these celestial structures are discussed in detail later in this chapter. Its lower half depicts a cosmological structure with a central column possessing three tiers, each with five circles (plate 4). These three tiers appear with labels in Manual 11 from Roayaga. While non-Caxonos orthography is used throughout Manual 11, its author employed Caxonos orthography for these tiers: yoo yeba, “Sky House”; yoo yeche layo, “Earth16 House”; and yoo gabila, “Underworld House.”17 The labels refer to two cosmological realms, Sky and Underworld, deeply rooted in ancient beliefs. There is important archaeological and semasiographic evidence regarding the central place of Sky and Underworld in Classic period Zapotec cosmology. Monte Albán, the most important Classic period site in the Valley of Oaxaca, may have depicted a model of the cosmos with a Northern Platform associated with Sky and ruling lineages, and a Southern Platform linked to Underworld motifs.18 As discussed in chapter 6, semasiographic depictions of Sky and the sun appear in several Classic period monuments, and a nine-step staircase in Classic period Zapotec tombs has been interpreted as a direct reference to the nine levels between Earth and Underworld.19 In Manual 11, eight levels, represented by circles, separate Sky from Earth and Earth from Underworld, thus comprising nine levels above and nine below Earth (plate 4). Each of the three cosmological houses is represented as a quincunx, with four round elements surrounding a center. As befits a sacred text in a colonial society, seventeenth-century scribal practices interdigitate with ancient knowledge in this diagram. As figure 4.2 demonstrates, three elements—the center in the Earth House quincunx (above) and the upper left and lower right round items in the Underworld House quincunx (below)— are based on a rotunda capital D (left), while the bottom-left round item in the Underworld quincunx derives from a rotunda capital O (bottom). A small quincunx was drawn inside Underworld’s center, a D. These capitals appear in folios 10v (lo crio Dios) and 19r (LO q[ue] ay que) of the Feria-Albuquerque 1567 Doctrina, which circulated in Northern Zapotec communities.20 The type used by Pedro de Ocharte, who printed this Doctrina with the assistance of woodblocks inherited from his predecessors,21 closely matches Erhart Ratdolt’s 9:130G rotunda type, attested between 1486 and 1500 in Augsburg and Venice,22 and used in other Mexican sixteenth-century imprints. Only a trained scribe could have produced the clever adaptations of rotunda capitals deployed in the Manual 11 diagram, and Roayaga’s written confession provides evidence about this scribe’s identity. This confession, ar-

96

theories of time and space

figure 4.2. Feria’s rotunda D and O (left, unmodified image courtesy of the John Carter Brown Library) as sources for Manual 11: Earth (above) and Underworld (below). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 384v.

chived before and after Manuals 11–16, listed first in a group of six idolatry “teachers” the brothers Juan and Pedro Bautista, and Juan Bautista was listed as Roayaga’s escribano.23 Hence, Juan Bautista is the most likely author of Manual 11’s cosmological diagram, which reproduced ancient beliefs through colonial notarial practice. While most elements of Theory A appear in Fejérváry-Mayer  1, Zapotec daykeepers chose a different presentation strategy for Theory B. They chronicled the movement of days across the cosmos through annotations, and appended cosmological drawings. Manual 85-1 from Tiltepec, discussed in chapter  2, presented cosmological information elegantly, as it depicted one trecena per page, and recorded feast movement at each trecena’s beginning (see plate 1). This manual favored a concrete representation of cosmological houses: each trecena’s house is represented with a straw roof, like that of Zapotec houses. Book 85-1’s pattern of movement in time–space is made clear in annotations for each trecena: t r ec ena 1: yoho lleoo ree llanij yagchilla ricij laza gocioo i The feast of 1-Caiman is24 in Earth House; the first 65-days take a turn

97

re thinking z ap otec time

t r ec ena 2: yoho yeba riyeo lanij yaquechij Sky House gives away the feast 1-Jaguar t r ec ena 3: yoho leo reeyexog lanij yagchina Into Earth House falls25 the feast of 1-Deer t r ec ena 4: yoho gabila rijyexog lanii yaglao Into Underworld House falls the feast of 1-Face . . .

The importance of half-trecenas, six- or seven-day periods, has long been recognized. Seler noted that Codex Borgia 75–76 depicts lords of the halftrecenas.26 However, the Zapotec manuals associated half-trecena divisions with movement across cosmological houses.27 Hence, Manual 6 annotates Days 1 and 13 of each trecena as follows: t r ec ena 1, day 6: biroagti yoo lleo zeag yebaa It was fully taken28 from Earth House, it is going to Sky

t r ec ena 1, day 13: bichina quieba lani The feast arrived in the sky

t r ec ena 2, day 6: beroagti yoo yeba zeta leo It was fully taken from Sky House, it is coming to Earth

t r ec ena 2, day 13: bechina lao yoo niga It arrived here on Earth

t r ec ena 3, day 6: biroagti yoo leo ceag cabila It was fully taken from Earth House, it is going to Underworld . . .

t r ec ena 3, day 13: bexog cabila It fell into Underworld . . .

Other daykeepers were aware of similarities between half-trecenas and European weeks, as Manual 51 noted weekday correlations for Days 6 and 13. Cosmological Theory B distributed trecenas across the cosmos as follows: ten trecenas (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19) departed from Earth, five from Sky (2, 6, 10, 14, 18), and five from Underworld (4, 8, 12, 16, 20). Table 4.1 stresses two important features of Theory B. First, it appears in eighty-nine manuals, or 87.25 percent of the corpus. Second, most daykeepers also emphasized halftrecena divisions: fifty-five manuals annotated Day 6, and forty-four marked

98

theories of time and space

table 4.1. Feast movement across the cosmos according to Cosmological Theory B Manuals that use this system

Trecena division

Feasts bearing annotation

Feasts 1–6, 7–13

6 and 13

44

5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 42, 47-2, 51, 53, 57, 60, 61, 62, 63, 65, 66-1, 66-2, 67, 68, 70, 72, 76, 84, 90, 94, 99

1 and 6

5

29, 49, 54, 73, 89

1, 6, and 13

1

4

Only on 6

2

7, 62

Only on 1, line between 6 and 7

3

71, 77, 91

Only on 5

2

78, 95

Only on 1, line between 5 and 6

3

58, 59, 98

1 and 13, line between 5 and 6

1

74

5 and 13

Feasts 1–5, 6–13

AGI numeration

1

9

Only on Feast 1

24

1, 10, 11, 28, 33, 35, 38, 43, 44, 45, 46, 48, 50, 52, 64, 69, 75, 81, 85-1, 85-2, 86, 88, 92, 93

Only on Feast 13

3

16, 27, 41

No reference to feast movement

13

2, 3, 39, 40, 47-1, 55, 56, 79–80 (aberrant), 82, 83, 96, 97

Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

both Day 6 and the arrival of Day 13 in a cosmological house. On the other hand, twenty-four booklets, following the pre-Columbian convention of representing a trecena by depicting its first day, employed a trecena-initial notation. Although Cosmological Theory B was unique among Mesoamerican theories about the cosmos, an important precedent appeared in Codex Vaticanus 3773, or Vaticanus B. Pages 13–14 and 15–16 depict Days 1–32 in the 260-day count in counterclockwise order around two sacred houses. Previously, Seler noted that the house on the left—built of bones and circled by a centipede— had an owl inside and was topped by eyes signaling “nocturnal darkness,” and he thus called it “Dark-house of the Earth, the lower region.” On the right, a turkey presided over a house encircled by a snake; Seler called it “the

99

[13]-Death

[12]-Snake

[11]-Lizard

[1]-Deer

[10]-House

[9]-Wind

[6]-Rain

[5]-Flint

[7]-Flower

[8]-Caiman

[2]-Rabbit

[4]-Movement

[3]-Water

[4]-Dog

[5]-Monkey

[6]-Grass

[10]-Dog

[9]-Water

[8]-Rabbit

[7]-Deer

[11]-Monkey

[6]-Death [3]-House

[2]-Wind

[4]-Lizard

[1]-Caiman

[12]-Grass

[13]-Reed

[5]-Snake

[1]-Jaguar

[2]-Eagle

[3]-Vulture

figure 4.3. Codex Vaticanus B 13–14. Vat.Ind.3773, © 2021 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Reproduced by permission from BAV, with all rights reserved.

theories of time and space

Cloud-house of Heaven, the upper region,” and noted how feast days moved between houses.29 Seler’s identification of a lower and an upper house is based on a convincing iconographic interpretation. The Zapotec manuals support a reading of these two diagrams that goes well beyond his proposals. Figure 4.3 shows Vaticanus B 13–14, with the diagram rotated ninety degrees so that the lower house is not left, but below. The first four feasts, [1]-Caiman to [4]-Lizard, are inside Lower House; around it, the next twelve feasts follow, [5]-Snake to [3]-Vulture, completing a turn of Days 1–16 around Lower House. The diagram’s reader must then proceed to [4]-Movement (Day 17) at the foot of Upper House (see arrow), follow the four day signs inside it, [5]-Flint– [8]-Caiman, and then find the rest of the sequence around Upper House, [9]-Wind–[6]-Grass. Hence, this diagram links the fi rst thirty-two feasts with either Lower (Days 1–16) or Upper House (17–32). A sixteen-day cycle, as demonstrated below, was the main ordering principle for the Zapotec division of ritual labor by gender and age groups. Figure 4.4 shows Vaticanus B 15–16. As Seler noted, the feast progression begins with [1]-Caiman at the center and continues with [2]-Wind through [5]-Snake around the center, forming a quincunx. Then, the trecena’s remaining eight feasts, [6]-Death–[13]-Reed, follow a marked path from the center to Lower House. These eight feasts traverse space between upper and lower realms, so the eight resulting divisions, drawn as rectangles, could also be read as levels that descend into Lower House. The next five feasts, [1]-Jaguar– [5]-Flint, form a quincunx within Lower House, completing a sequence for the first eighteen feasts. So far, this time–space coincides with that of Cosmological Theory B, with one difference: while Vaticanus B 15–16 starts at the center and moves downward to Lower House, the Zapotec manuals move upward, from Earth to Sky. Unlike Vaticanus B 13–14 and the Zapotec manuals, Vaticanus  B 15–16 does not have a day flow that seamlessly connects upper and lower realms. The first eighteen feasts that move from the center to Lower House are not connected to the second feast sequence, which begins with day sign Reed, travels upward across eight levels to Upper House, and ends with a quincunx in Upper House, formed by days Flower (center), and Caiman, Wind, House, and Lizard (four directions). This sequence, a stumbling block since Seler’s time, may be explained by what is missing: exactly one trecena. To move from the last day in the first sequence, Day 18, or 5-Flint, in Lower House, to the next Reed feast, depicted on the first level in the direction of Upper House, one must leap over thirteen feasts: Days 19–31, or 6-Rain to 5-Monkey. This somersault lands on 6-Reed and progresses, as the diagram illustrates, until [5]-Lizard, or Day 44. There is further indication that this is

101

figure 4.4. Codex Vaticanus B 15–16 (left) and its interpretation by Seler (right). Vat.Ind.3773, © 2021 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Reproduced by permission from BAV, with all rights reserved. After Seler 1904, image in the public domain.

theories of time and space

the intended sequence: as is the case for Cosmological Theory B, each of the three quincunxes in Vaticanus B 14–15 begins with the first day of trecenas 1–3: [1]- Caiman in the center quincunx, [1]-Jaguar in the Lower House quincunx, and [1]-Flower in the Upper House quincunx. My interpretation maintains Seler’s principal contention that Vaticanus B depicts Lower and Upper houses, but reinterprets Lower House and the central quincunx in pages 15–16 as the counterparts of Underworld House and Earth House in the Zapotec manuals.30 While the similarities between these two time–space continua are structural, there are also conceptual differences. Even if Vaticanus B 15–16 and Manual 11 represent a three-tiered cosmos with three quincunxes separated by eight levels, the former has a fi xed order depicted by pictograms for each feast, and the latter specifies levels, but leaves the feast sequence open, so that feast movement may be specified, not by means of a diagram, but along the progression of the 260-day count.

z a p o t ec 65 -day per iods, y e a r s, c a r dina l dir ec t ions, a nd offer ings Central Mexican almanacs featured a division of the 260-day count into four 65-day periods, each consisting of five trecenas. This grouping is implicit in Fejérváry-Mayer 1, as it corresponds to each of the four pairs of cardinal and intercardinal directions. However, the 65-day divisions did not correspond to cardinal orientation in the manuals, but were independent divisions called cocio. In his 1578 Arte, Córdova embraced an equivalence between these periods and the nine European planets, for his informants said that “these four planets caused all things on Earth, and thus they regarded them as deities, and called them cocijos or pitäos, which meant ‘great ones,’ and they offered their sacrifices to them, and their blood.”31 Nonetheless, Northern Zapotec specialists did not emphasize cocio as sacred beings, but a slight majority named each cocio after its initial day, as Córdova noted. Forty-two manuals, or 41.1 percent of the corpus, registered cocio divisions on Days 66, 131, and 196. While sixteen manuals named them after each period’s initial day, 1-Caiman, 1-Death, 1-Monkey, and 1-Eye,32 Manuals 40, 94, and 98 simply used the term cocio. There were also important variations in cocio names; while fourteen manuals used First and Second Cocio He, First and Second Cocio Yaa,33 Manuals 39, 63, 78, and 96 labeled them First and Second Cocio Baa, First and Second Cocio Yaa. While Córdova glossed he as the interjection Hey! or a third-person possessive,34 the current understanding of e’e by Northern Zapotec speakers supports a gloss of Cocio He as Strong Cocio.35 The Baa/Yaa distinction articulates a contrast between two large, or warm, cocios, and two young, or fresh, ones, since ba’a 103

re thinking z ap otec time

table 4.2. Cardinal orientation and offering cycles for the fifty-two years

Four groups of 13 Zapotec years

Manuals 42, 89

Manuals 47-1, 49, 97

Manuals 90, 95

Manual 82

Cardinal Orientation

Manuals 18, 42, 45, 46, 48, 52, 62, 66-2, 71, 75, 85-2, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 98 Main Offering Cycle

Variations

a) bilaa/bilao (10-Reed): tortillas; b) yolaba (2/3-Rabbit): tender maize; c) yolobia (9-Soaproot): animal or orchard item

a) bilaa b) yolaba c) yochina

Years 1–13: 1-Earthquake to 13-Earthquake

East

Years 14–26: 1-Wind to 13-Wind

North

Earth

West

West

a) yolaa (9-Wind): tender maize; b) yochina (9-Deer): animal or orchard item; c) bilopa (7-Dew): tortillas

a) yolaa b) yagchina c) bilopa

Years 27–39: 1-Deer to 13-Deer

West

West

Earth

North

a) yolaa (2-Wind): tortillas or tender maize; b) yolaa (9-Wind): animal, tortillas or tender maize; c) bilala (7-Night): tortillas

a) yolaa b) yochina c) bilala

Years 40–52: 1-Soaproot to 13-Soaproot

North and South (and Earth, in Manual 89)

North and South

North and South

South

a) yochina (9-Deer): tender maize; b) bilaa (7-Wind): tortillas; c) yolaba (2/3-Rabbit): animal

a) yochina b) bilala;

East

East

East

a) bilaa b) yolaba c) yagchina

a) yochina b) bilaba

Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

could mean “good,” “large,” or “smooth,” and ba, “warm season.”36 Manual 16 chose the latter, as a strategically placed drawing depicted a sun to convey Cocio Baa’s warmth. Besides feasts, manuals also recorded the names of the fifty-two yza, or 365-day Zapotec years. These years divided into four biyee, periods, each with thirteen years. Fifty-four manuals listed the four-year periods: Years

104

theories of time and space

1–13 (1-Earthquake–13-Earthquake), 14–26 (1-Wind–13-Wind), 27–39 (1-Deer– 13-Deer), and 40–52 (1-Soaproot–13-Soaproot).37 Each of the thirteen-year periods had a different cardinal orientation and different offering cycles. Cardinal directions in Theory A (Fejérváry-Mayer 1, Manual 23) changed every 65 days during the 260-feast cycle. There also exists a cycle based in the fourposition series, discussed in chapter 2, and below, which reflects the directional trees and their trecenas in the codices Borgia 49–52 and Vaticanus B 17–18: however, in Fejérváry-Mayer 1, this cycle, a spiral, is wedged between intercardinal and cardinal points, and it does not begin with the East, but between Northeast and North. There is, in fact, an important distinction between changes in cardinality in Theory  A, and Zapotec Theory  B: while there are changes in cardinality every sixty-five days in the former, in the latter, cardinality changed at the comparatively glacial pace of every thirteen 365-day years. Six manuals listed five directions, or cila (East), tolla (North), chehe or xee (West), cahui (South), and yetze/yeche leo (Earth), while two manuals referred only to four directions. The first year period was often associated with East, and the last with South and/or North, but the orientation of the two intermediate periods varied (table 4.2). Only Manual 42 fully aligned with cardinal orientations in Theory A: East, North, West, and South, as in Fejérváry-Mayer 1, and, as Seler argued, in the Codex Borgia and Codex Cospi, with East, North, Center, West, and South in Borgia 15–17 and 26.38 While only eight booklets recorded year cardinality in full, twenty manuals listed an offering cycle that changed every thirteen years. This cycle was complex, yet its gifts modest: yeta, “tortillas”; beag, “animal sacrifice”; yela/ quela, “tender maize”;39 and leea, “orchard, enclosure,” here a reference to cultigens. The offering cycle went through eighteen iterations every thirteen years. More importantly, it followed a carefully laid pattern. The date for each offering represented one of three points in the count, a, b and c. This cycle, while nestled within the count, recapitulated its length independently from it, as the spacing of days in between each date yielded exactly 260 days: y e a r s 1–13: a) Day 153 (10-Reed) + 135 days = b) Day 28 (2-Rabbit) + 124 days = c) Day 152 (9-Soaproot) + 1 day = 260 days on Day 153 y e a r s 14 –26: a) Day 22 (9-Wind) + 65 days = b) Day 87 (9-Deer) + 131 days = c) Day 218 (10-Dew) + 64 days = 260 days on Day 22

105

re thinking z ap otec time

y e a r s 27–39: a) Day 2 (2-Wind) + 20 days = b) Day 22 (9-Wind) + 141 days = c) Day 163 (7-Night) + 99 days = 260 days on Day 2 y e a r s 4 0 – 52: a) Day 87 (9-Deer) + 115 days = b) Day 202 (7-Wind) + 86 days = c) Day 28 (2-Rabbit) + 59 days = 260 days on Day 87

Manuals 47-1, 49, and 55 called for a year-period offering cycle with a different timing from the one above, as it focused on nine adjacent feast dates. Since these three manuals highlighted one trecena every 260 days, both this cycle and the previous one had comparable periodicities, as they were completed eighteen times over thirteen years. However, the nine-feast cycle in these three manuals called for offerings on Days 5 to 13 in four important trecenas, as listed in Manual 49 (table 4.3). In Years 1–13, offerings were made on trecena 12, which started on 1-Lizard; in Years 14–26, they occurred on trecena 17, which began on 1-Water; in Years 27–39, they were given on trecena 2, beginning on 1-Jaguar; and in Years 40– 52, they unfolded during trecena 7, which started on 1-Rain. The sequence was yela, “maize,” or yela dao, “mature maize plants,” 40 for Days 5–8; lea, “orchard [produce],” on Day 9; and yeta, “tortillas,” for Days 10–13, thus forming an array with one symmetrical axis: four plants, one produce item, and four tortilla offerings. This cycle, then, passed through trecenas 2, 7, 12, and 17 every fifty-two years. As noted in chapter 2, this sequence belongs to the fiveposition series, and it also coincides with the Set IV sequence of possible year bearers. These iterations thus provide an important illustration of how Zapotec daykeepers used one set out of the five that exist in the five-position series. Indeed, these series are emphasized in Borgia 31, 39, and 40. A total of five day-sign sequences may be formed by taking any of the twenty day signs and moving five positions forward in the day-sign order. As discussed in chapter 2, these five sequences yield all sets of year bearers, including those in Zapotec and Nahua calendars. Moreover, this five-position series highlights a structural relation between day signs and 260-day cycles. Any sequence of four day signs spaced five positions apart will also be spaced five trecenas apart in the order of trecenas, if each sign stands for a trecena’s first day. Borgia 31 and 39 highlight the Wind–Deer–Grass–Movement sequence: Days 2, 17, 12, and 17, which begin trecenas 18, 3, 8, and 13, and which may have been known to the Borgia’s authors as the Zapotec year bearers. In Borgia 31, they frame an upper scene where a goddess gives birth; in Borgia 39, 106

theories of time and space

table 4.3. Main offering cycle for the fifty-two years Years 1–13

Years 14–26

Years 27–39

Years 40–52

Years 1–13

5-Rabbit 6-Water 7-Knot 8-Monkey

5-Reed 6-Jaguar 7-Cornfield 8-Crow

5-Dew 6-Rain 7-Face 8-Caiman

5-Night 6-Lizard 7-Snake 8-Death

5-Rabbit . . .

9-Soaproot

9-Earthquake

9-Wind

9-Deer

10-Reed 11-Jaguar 12-Cornfield 13-Crow Trecena 12

10-Dew 11-Rain 12-Face 13-Caiman Trecena 17

10-Night 11-Lizard 12-Snake 13-Death Trecena 2

10-Rabbit 11-Water 12-Knot 13-Monkey Trecena 7

Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

these signs preside over the descent of two deities into Underworld in a scene also featuring two groups of six female figures and six deities. In Borgia 40, several sets of day signs on the left accompany the sacrifice of a solar deity in a realm of darkness, performed by nine sacrificers who personify the central deities in Borgia 39.41 The Borgia 40 series begin with the set emphasized in the depiction of the creation of the twenty day signs in Borgia 30: Caiman–Death–Monkey–Vulture, also day signs 1–6–11–16, and first days of trecenas 1, 6, 11, and 16. Allowing for intervals and changes, the Borgia 40 series continues with the Wind–Deer–Grass–Movement sequence first encountered in Borgia 31 and 39; then come the Central Mexican year bearers Rabbit–Reed–Flint– House, or day signs 8–13–18–3 and trecenas 20, 5, 10, and 15. The last legible series in Borgia 40 begins with Jaguar, which may indicate Jaguar–Rain– Lizard–Water, or day signs 14–19–4–9. This sequence frames the lower scene depicting a birth-giving goddess in Borgia 31, and Seler interpreted this and the other sign sequence in Borgia 31 as a trecena sequence.42 If he was correct, the Jaguar–Rain–Lizard–Water sequence in the lower half of Borgia 31 depicts trecenas 2, 7, 12, 17, which are, as shown above, exactly the four trecenas Zapotec manuals used for offerings tied to the 52-year cycle. In the end, the Zapotec manuals provide a highly specific reading proposal for the sequence of signs on the left portion of Borgia 39, some now illegible. As argued above, the five-position sequence of day signs 4–9–14– 19/trecenas 2–7–12–17 organized an important offering protocol that recurred once every 260 days. As depicted in twenty Zapotec manuals, this five-position sequence also completed a full cycle every fifty-two years. The 107

re thinking z ap otec time

confirmed meaning of one five-position series as a Zapotec offering cycle, also depicted in Borgia 31 and 39, suggests that these and the other four Borgia sequences could have been deployed to organize protocols through which celebrants commemorated the primordial events depicted in the Borgia and other pre-Columbian mantic books.

in t erc a r dina l dir ec t ions in t he z a p o t ec m a n ua l s a nd code x fejérvá r y-m ay er 1 Most manuals in the corpus assign each day in the 260-day calendar to one of four “places,” or lata(g) in Northern Zapotec. Fifty-eight manuals, 56.8 percent of the corpus, list all four places, beginning with Day 1: Day 1, First Place: variation 1 variation 2 variation 3 variation 4

lata xilla lata yaxi/yasi lata xi lata caxi lata si

Place of Sharpness (27 manuals) Place of Nothing (16 manuals) Place of the Corner (10 manuals) Yellow Place (4 manuals) Poor Place (3 manuals)

Day 2, Second Place

lata çobi

Place of Harvest

Day 3, Third Place variation

lata tzaba/chaba lata gobilayee

Place of Weaving (47 manuals) Place of the Disturber (11 manuals)

Day 4, Fourth Place

lata niti

Place of Cane

. . . and back to First Place

All of these sites are described as “places,” except that Manual 21 called the third place gobilaye golag, “The disturber was born,” and the fourth q[ue]hueg niti, “Palace of Cane.” At first glance, this division into four places brings to mind the four cosmological trees that stand on each cardinal direction, as well as its related four-position series, as documented in Borgia 49–52 and Vaticanus B 17–18. However, there are two reasons, one structural and the other semantic, that call for a different interpretation. First, while this cycle of four places begins anew every four days, the directional tree cycle restarts every four trecenas. Second, while “Place of Sharpness” may seem to echo one of the thorny trees that stand on the North and South in the Borgia, the Zapotec labels for these places have a much closer fit with the iconography of Fejérváry-Mayer 1, as demonstrated below. 108

theories of time and space

In fact, the names for the second and third Zapotec places are relatively transparent. Çobi, part of the name of maize deity Cozobi, refers to harvest and maize abundance.43 There was a clear split in the naming pattern for the third place. The majority of booklets, forty-seven manuals,44 employed tzaba (non-Caxonos) or chaba (Caxonos), both cognates of the Colonial Valley Zapotec verb taaba, “to weave.” 45 Only eleven manuals46 deployed gobilayee, “Disturber,” a deity epithet discussed in chapter 5. Those who did also named the first place yaxi. The fourth place was niti, which I propose is a Northern Zapotec term cognate with Valley Zapotec nijte or nite, a term for reeds or woody bamboos (Bambuseae) native to Mesoamerica, both called cañas in Spanish. The distinction between pre- and post-Columbian varieties was recorded by Córdova, who glosses “pine tree” as nijte yàga, “cane tree,” and níte zéhea as “unripe maize cane,” and distinguishes between ñupi nijte hualàche, “native-grown maize cane syrup,” and the sugarcane brought from Europe, ñupi nijte castilla, “Castille cane syrup,” also called nite, “sweet cane.” 47 This term may have been reanalyzed by daykeepers as niti, “be lost, spent, or destroyed.” 48 No solid consensus on the first place’s name emerged, but most manuals employed xila or xilla. This term could mean “sharpness,” “gift,” “cotton,” or “feather”; as shown below, the most accurate interpretation is the first one. Two other designations for this place, which shared the syllable xi with xi-lla, were yaxi, “nothing,” 49 and xi, “corner,”50 while other daykeepers employed caxi, “yellow,”51 or si, “poor.”52 Spatially, the assignment of four places to every four contiguous days in the divinatory count suggests a different sort of movement: helicoidal. As noted above, Fejérváry-Mayer  1 depicts one turn of the 260-day count as a spiral unfolding in centrifugal motion across the four intercardinal directions. Hence it is not surprising to find a direct reference to the helicoidal movement of feasts above Earth in Songbook 100. Its second stanza affirms, laniy bijye yeyooco pe lao yoho yoo la i.yecana quehue ece dao, “The feasts, the time periods: The spirits will coil over the House of Earth; then, they will encircle in flight53 the palaces of Great Eci.” The four-place cycle could not have indicated the main cardinal directions. First, the terms for cardinal points tola (North), cahui (South), cila (East), and chee/xee (West) are unrelated to these four places.54 Moreover, Theory B linked cardinal directions to year groups, rather than to days or trecenas. Furthermore, Córdova defined late, a term corresponding to Northern Zapotec lata or latag, as “space or middle between two things or places,” and “middle between two places on opposite ends.”55 Therefore, the four lata refer to four “places in between”: the intercardinal points. The practice of linking each day with one intercardinal point echoed the importance of these directions and their links to sacrifice in ancient Zapotec 109

re thinking z ap otec time

society. Tomb 104 at Monte Albán contains two glyphs placed in each intercardinal direction. The first one, a diagonal band, generally refers to space.56 The second depicts blood, which denotes sacrifice, in alignment with Tezcatlipoca’s dismembered body over the intercardinal points in FejérváryMayer  1. Moreover, the representation of intercardinal points in FejérváryMayer 1 has an astonishing semantic correspondence with the names of the four-place cycle in the Zapotec manuals, even if there is a discrepancy in order. Figure 4.5, which pairs the four Zapotec places with those intercardinal directions, demonstrates these correspondences. On the Southwest (lower right), a spiny plant with a snake tail topped by a flower pictogram was described as xillàa, a term Córdova defined as “sharpness”; “sharp edges like these ones, sharpness”; and “liveliness, sharpness, or activity of all things.”57 On the Southeast (upper right), a maize plant with large corncobs was named in Zapotec çobi, “harvest.” Then there follows a discrepancy in place order. While the Zapotec sequence has lata tzaba, “Place of Weaving,” the weaving is not depicted in the third intercardinal space in Fejérváry-Mayer 1, but in the fourth, Northwest, which depicts a yellow liana or other climbing plant weaving itself over a white tree or plant atop which a bird roosts. As depicted here, this liana’s climbing pattern resembles the voluble-stem mechanism deployed by several liana species native to southern Mexico: Machaerium floribundum (Fabaceae), Forsteronia acouci, Marsdenia sp. (Apocynaceae), and Odontocarya mexicana (Menispermaceae).58 The Zapotec fourth and last place, Place of Cane, Northeast, corresponds to the third intercardinal loop in Codex Fejérváry-Mayer  1. A close inspection of this drawing reveals a plant with two culms that rise straight up and are topped by curled leaves: in other words, bamboo stems, or niti, “canes.” Perched on a reflexed seeding leaf blade, a bird eats a small, round fruit, which matches in shape and color Olmeca reflexa’s immature fruit. This species, the only fruit-bearing bamboo species native to Mesoamerica, produces round, yellow fruits that have a diameter of two centimeters before they ripen fully.59 As figure 4.5 shows, the Olmeca reflexa (Poaceae) stem, reflexed blade, fruits, and curled top leaves bear a striking resemblance to the plant depicted on the Northeast in Fejérváry-Mayer 1, and the artist also highlighted in red Olmeca reflexa’s thick, pachymorph rhizomes. Moreover, in FejérváryMayer  1, the two plants at the center of Northeast and Northwest, Place of Cane and Place of Weaving in Zapotec, are depicted as wondrous regions: unlike the other intercardinal directions, they are white. In the end, the four-place circuit recorded in a majority of the manuals was based on a Postclassic theory about intercardinal directions, and sorted every day in the count into four noncontiguous groups of sixty-five days.

110

Olmeca refl exa (Place of Cane)

Machaerium fl oribundum (Place of Weaving)

Fruit

Top leaves

Reflexed blade

Liana stem

figure 4.5. The Zapotec four-place cycle and intercardinal directions in Codex Fejérváry-Mayer 1. World Museum, National Museums Liverpool/Bridgeman Images. Olmeca reflexa images courtesy of Eduardo Ruiz-Sánchez. Machaerium floribundum image courtesy of Francisco Rendón Sandoval. lata niti Place of Cane (Olmeca refl exa with fruit)

lata çobi Place of Harvest (corn plant)

lata tzaba Place of Weaving (liana)

lata xilla Place of Sharpness (spiny plant)

re thinking z ap otec time

c o smic geo gr a phie s a nd s ac r ed l a b or in t he z a p o t ec m a n ua l s Northern Zapotec time and space were interdigitated: each feast traveled upward or downward from one cosmological house to another, following a spiral pattern that aligned with each of the four intercardinal directions on each passing day. As it moved, each feast also traversed a dense cosmic geography that mirrored the rugged landscape of the Sierra Norte. Daykeepers envisioned these features as rocks, trees, mountains, and rivers encountered through various day cycles. These cycles, along with a sixteen-day ritual labor sequence, are summarized in table 4.4. An important element was quiag xee, “perennial, or eternal, rock,” and some of these rocks buttressed the cosmological houses. Manual 11 depicted the quincunx in each cosmological house as five circles, and some manuals refer to the feasts aligned with these circles as “perennial rocks”: Manual  2 describes the places associated with the first four days as “perennial rocks,” and Manuals 63 and 76 use this label to designate each trecena’s first day. Eighteen manuals agreed that these rocks were located in approximately seven-day intervals. A similar phrase, leto la quiag, “next to the rock,” also recurred every seven days in Manuals 37, 47-2, 53, 54, and 57. Other diagrams also emphasize the relationship between large rocks in the cosmos and a seven-day cycle. Manual 94 reproduces the cosmological diagram with three houses and eight levels, and also depicts seven-day cycles as mountains located near Earth House and Underworld House (fig.  4.6). A comparable arrangement is described in Manual 53. This diagram, also copied by the author of Manual 54 (1113v), names four bidinag, precipices, counted from 1-Caiman onward. Each precipice also corresponds to a sevenday period marked by circles, and each is named: “River Plain,” “River’s Edge,” “Large Precipice and Plain,” and “Great Field.” Manual 53 states that precipices are counted from 1-Caiman onward, but Manual 94 does not specify a beginning. A few manuals—1 and 16 systematically, and 11, 12, and 15 less so—named their seven-day cycle Great Lexee, the name of the “god of thieves,” according to Sola specialist Diego Luis, who listed him seventh in his thirteen-deity list.60 As discussed earlier, Fejérváry-Mayer 1 depicted two paths followed by trecenas: one path looped around the four cosmological trees, each presiding over a cardinal direction, and the second path spiraled across intercardinal points in between trees. Some daykeepers emphasized the association between cosmological trees and cardinality. Manuals 19, 24, 25, 31, 32, 37, 82, and 85-1 introduced four groups of fifty-two years, each of which had a different cardinal orientation, as nij betapa yaga biyee, “these are the four trees of

112

theories of time and space

table 4.4. Major cycles in the manuals related to cosmic geography and ritual labor Cycle

Variations

Manuals

quiag xee Perennial Rock

7-day cycle

3, 4, 7, 16, 35, 37

Some 7th days, variable

13, 22, 23, 24, 28, 30, 41, 42, 63, 76, 81, 84, 94

Some 9th and 7th days, variable

2, 34, 35, 36

8-day cycle

37

Variable

53, 54

7-day cycle

4

Some 7th days

2, 34, 36, 53, 54

6-day cycle, variable

35, 37, 47-2, 53, 54, 57

leta yaga Adjacent to the trees

9-day cycle

61

leto la quiag Next to/between rocks

7-day cycle

37, 47-2, 53, 54, 57

Some 8th days

34, 36

yego yaci lanin A feast will enter the river

20-day cycle and multiples

53, 54

a) leta yaga

On 6-day cycle

37

b) leto la quiag

On 7-day cycle, variable

34, 36, 81

c) quiag xee

7-day cycle and multiples

13, 84

a) leta yaga

7-day cycle

53, 54 (sometimes followed by quiag xee, yego)

b) leto la quiag

6-day cycle

47-2, 53, 54, 57

Lexee dao, lixee dao, xee dao Great Lexee/Lixee

7-day cycle

1, 16

7 days and variable

11, 12, 15

Lezaa or lesaha In transit

9-day cycle

17, 22

lezaa nala In transit, up in the air

Variable

34, 36

Leta tzi nala Adjacent to the ten

Days 41, 56, 75, 79

16, 34, 36

Days 75, 79

84

Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

the biyee,” thus assigning each cosmological tree and direction to a thirteenyear period. The trees in Table 4.4 had no cardinality, and no consensus existed on the exact location of these trees in time–space. According to six manuals in the corpus, feast days were leta yaga, “adjacent, stuck to, a tree,” about every

113

re thinking z ap otec time

Manual 94, 1526r Yagchila zoholao quibabaa On 1-Caiman, one begins to count yoho yebaa Sky House yoho leho Earth House [Two mountain-shaped 7-day cycles] yoho gabilla Underworld House

Manual 53, 1099r bidinag quixi dao Precipice of the Great Wilderness bidinag la lachij Large Precipice, Plain bidinag diohua yego River’s Edge Precipice bidinag Lachi yego River Plain Precipice yagchila zola chepila ibaua xua bidinag On 1-Caiman, one begins going up and counting the Lords of the Precipices

figure 4.6. Cosmological landscapes: mountains, precipices, and trees. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1099r, 1527r, 1550r.

seven days, while six other manuals associated this position with a six-day cycle, and one with a nine-day count. Several manuals recorded feast movements as an intersection with three, or two, cosmological features near each other. Manuals 13, 34, 36, 37, 81, and 84 stated that the first day in this pattern was leta yaga, “adjacent to a tree,” while the second one was leto la quiag, “next to rocks,” and the third day reached a quiag xee, “perennial rock.” This cycle recurred every seven or six days, with variations. In contrast, Manuals 47-2, 53, 54, and 57 charted a pattern that focused on the first two elements—cosmological trees and rocks. Only Manuals 53 and 54 referred to a twenty-day cycle on which feasts “entered” a cosmological river. Lastly, only

114

theories of time and space

Manual 94, 1527r

xoha . . . lord

yagaa tree

xoha bedao yaga Lords and deities of the trees ya yag yeghuiah Reed, Tree 1-Soaproot

yaga yaha yaga bichi Tree of Yaha Tree of Bichi

Manual 97, 1550r

ya yoza bedao ya yeg yçobia ya yaa Plump or Mulberry Reed of the Reed Reed of the Deity Flower of Yaa 13-Soaproot

figure 4.6. (continued)

Manuals 17, 22, 34, and 36 referred to a feast labeled lezaa, “later, in transit,” and two of them linked this position with a nine-day cycle.61 In contrast to their presence in other diagrams, cosmological trees are depicted only in Manuals 97 and 94, with the latter incomplete (fig. 4.6). Both drawings depict nine-level structures as eight levels rising up from a quincunx-shaped base. In addition, Manual 94 depicts small branching trees surrounded by circles above the ninth level. Manual 94 calls these structures xoha bedao yaga, “Lords and deities of the trees,” and names them as ya yag, “Reed, Tree”; yeghuiah, “1-Soaproot”;62 yaga yaha, “Tree of Yaha”; and yaga bichi, “Tree of Bichi.” Manual 97 labels them as different sorts of reeds, however: ya yoza bedao, “Plump (or Mulberry)63 Reed of the Deity”; ya yeg yçobia, “Reed of the Flower 13-Soaproot”; ya yaa, “Reed of Yaa”; and ya bichi, “Reed of Bichi.”64 While Yaa could be glossed as “young,” and Bichi as “brother(s),” these two labels clearly indicate that the Manual 97 and 94 tree diagrams are linked with two of the four cocio divisions, each encompassing sixty-five days:

115

ya bichi Reed of Bichi

re thinking z ap otec time

Cocio Yaa (Day 130 in Manuals 8, 10, 68, 76, 78, 80, and 99) and Cocio Bichi (Day 195, and also 65, in Manual 81). Manual 94’s unusually spelled yeghuia, 1-Soaproot, corresponds to Day 92, and Manual 97’s ya yeg yeçobia refers to Day 52, 13-Soaproot, which is also the calendrical name of a sacred being that Manual 76 linked with the birth of the time count, as discussed in the next chapter. In addition to these labels, Manual 97 is the only book in the corpus that links these four trees with four quina, or cosmological fields, as depicted in figure 4.10, and as shown below: Manual 94

Manual 97: trees (fig. 4.6)

Manual 97: fields (fig. 4.10)

Tree 1

Reed, Tree

Plump/Mulberry Reed of the Deity

Sharpness (5-Soaproot, Day 252)

Tree 2

1-Soaproot (Day 92)

Reed of the Flower 13-Soaproot (Day 52)

Burial (5-Snake, Day 5)

Tree 3

Tree of Yaha (Day 130)

Reed of Yaa (Day 130)

Sucklings (5-Dew, Day 18)

Tree 4

Tree of Bichi (Day 195)

Reed of Bichi (Day 195)

Blood (5-Monkey, Day 31)

Hence, while the presence of these four trees in Manuals 94 and 97 suggests a parallel with the well-known four directional trees depicted in the codices Borgia, Fejérváry Mayer, and Vaticanus B, the associations between these trees and divisions in the 260-count are not systematic. As discussed in chapter 2, choosing a five-position series to divide the count yields 65-day divisions, and a four-position series, used for the directional trees, results in 52-day groups. While two of the trees in Manuals 94 and 97, Yaa and Bichi, align perfectly with 65-day cocio divisions, the other two trees are inconsistent, and only the second tree in Manual 97 has a possible association with the 52-day divisions linked to directional trees. Moreover, Manual 97 associates these four trees with four cosmological fields that are distinct from the directional trees, as demonstrated below. Were these sequences of mountains, rivers, and trees fi xed features in the cosmos, or do they reflect divisions in the time count? The diagrams and annotations suggest a split between these two possibilities. Manual 94 shows two “mountains” as two immobile seven-day cycles next to Earth and Underworld, with the first day corresponding to a “perennial rock” at the moun-

116

theories of time and space

tain’s base, and the fourth day as its summit (fi g. 4.6). But Manual 53 defines the precipices as a cycle. Given arithmetic relations, a seven-day cycle would land on “perennial rocks” or “precipices” at predictable intervals during the first six trecenas—on each cosmological house, and on levels 2 and 6 above, and level 4 below, Earth House. The authors of Manual 13 from Roayaga and Manual 84 from Malinaltepec addressed this conundrum creatively. Both manuals stated that the 260-feast count was “adjacent to a tree” on the first day of most trecenas, which corresponded to the quincunx’s center in each cosmological house. Since intervals between first days could not be multiples of seven, they readjusted their reckoning so that the tree–rock–perennial rock cycle occurred every six or seven days.

t he si x t een-day c yc l e of r i t ua l obl ig a t ions The complex array of cycles described so far outline the structure and geography of Zapotec time–space. Other cycles governed ritual labor and petitions, and situated exchanges between humans and sacred beings. Various protocols, which included self-sacrifice, were practiced in strict age-group ordering in ancient Zapotec society. A prominent example comes from the Danzantes slabs on and near Building L, at the southwest corner of Monte Albán’s main plaza. Urcid’s reconstruction of the original placement of these slabs—each of which depicts a celebrant with a name glyph engaged in selfsacrifice—proposed an age-group array, with elder participants at the top and younger ones on the bottom.65 Dominicans were also aware of the salience of age ranking among Zapotecs. As discussed in chapter 3, Agüero claimed in his 1666 Miscelaneo espiritval that “the Zaachila word,” his clever label for Christian teachings, was for everyone in society, as this word “goes to the men, to the women, to the youth, and young men; it goes to little children; it goes to those of marriageable age, to the old, the elderly.”66 Regarding age, thirty-seven manuals provided a simple directive: the 260 feasts divided into yba gola, “old period,” or yba yaa, “young period.” Twentyseven manuals embraced a ten-day cycle whose first five days were “old,” and the latter five, “young.” Manuals 1, 2, 53, and 54 also indicated another cycle that ran concurrently with gola and yaa: yba chi, “Period of Times.”67 As Manual 2 noted, this cycle began on Days 86, 131, 176, and 221, and lasted thirtyfive, forty-five, or ninety days. Manual 11 made an exceptional adjustment to the length of old and young periods: it allocated five to the former and four to the latter, and this nine-day sequence was added to a seven-day period called xua gachi quiag, “Lords of Seven Mountains” (fig. 4.7). The manuals also described cycles of cycles—iterations of ritual obliga-

117

re thinking z ap otec time

Manual 11, 384r xilepi naola Rope twist of women

yba gola yba yah Old period Young period

[8 circles]

[5 circles]

xilepi biquio Rope twist of men

xua gachi quiag Lords of Seven Mountains

[8 circles]

[7 circles]

[4 circles]

Manual 53, 1098r [4 circles] xiticha niola que reho Words of our women [4 circles] xiticha reho biquio Words from us, the men [4 circles] xiticha niola rabani Words of the unmarried women [4 circles] xiticha reho biquio rabani Words from us, the unmarried men yagchila zolao ibaua chepila On 1-Caiman, one begins to count going up

figure 4.7. The sixteen-day ritual labor cycle in Manuals 11, 53, 94, and 97. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 384r, 1098r, 1099r, 1527r, 1549v.

tions modular in nature that encompassed the entire society. Chief among them was a cycle of sixteen days, which orchestrated petitions and ritual obligations by age and gender. As figure 4.3 showed, Codex Vaticanus B 13–14 depicts the association of the first thirty-two feasts in the 260-day count with two cosmological houses: sixteen with Lower House, and sixteen with Upper House. The significance of this pattern was recorded through instructions in Manuals 53–54, 11, and 37, which stipulated a sixteen-day ritual obligation cycle. As figure 4.7 shows, Manual 53 recorded a sixteen-day cycle as circles counted forward from 1-Caiman, which were devoted to the “words” of Zapotec society, divided into four sectors: four days each for biquio rabani, “unmarried men”; niola rabani, “unmarried women”; biquio, “men”; and niola,

118

theories of time and space

Manual 97, 1549v la vicana young men [4 circles]

la pietze dried maize [4 circles]

xoba pini gola old maize seeds [4 circles]

xoba pite maize boils [4 circles]

xoa lapi yachila çolao guibaba On 1-Caiman, the Lords of the Rope Turn begin to be counted Manual 94, 1527r gabi quet Tortillas will return

[4 circles]

cabi cana It will return then

[4 circles]

xobaa bini galag Maize seeds will be born

[4 circles]

xobaa bitece Maize was eaten up once

[4 circles]

figure 4.7. (continued)

“women.” This diagram recurred almost verbatim in Manual 54. Manual 97 also records a cycle of four groups of four days, indicated by circles, which belongs to xoa lapi, “Lords of the Rope Turn.” This illustration presents the same gender and age groups outlined above through the deft use of maizecycle metaphors. From left to right, one finds la vicana, “young men,” and young, unmarried women described as la pietze, “dried maize kernels [for seeding],”68 then come the adults, also ordered by gender: males as xoba pini gola, “old maize seeds,” and females as xoba pite, “maize boils, bloated maize grains.”69 In a similar vein, Manual 94 tied a sixteen-day cycle to maize and tortillas, ending with xobaa bitece, “maize was eaten up once.”70 Manual 1 also recorded these intervals: on Day  4, xiquiya noze theo biquio, “men give for the debts they owe”; on Day 8, naca sicha nola, “there is the feast of women’s heat”; and on Day 16, naca xilebi nola, “there is a rope turn for women.” Manual 11 contributed a crucial equivalence between this sixteen-day protocol and two other important cycles. A rectangle divided into four quarters presents a clear explanation (fig. 4.7). The top left quadrant referred to an eight-day cycle, depicted as eight circles in two rows, as xilepi naola, “a turn of the rope for women,” while the lower left quadrant labeled another eight-

119

Manual 53, 1099r lichi gobana tanij Mountain of the Stolen House

[quincunx]

la quixi tanij then, mountain covered with vegetation la quixi tanij then, mountain covered with vegetation la quixi tanij then, mountain covered with vegetation la quixi tanij then, mountain covered with vegetation la quixi tanij then, mountain covered with vegetation lichi reho tanij Mountain of Our House

[3 circles] [3 circles] [3 circles] [3 circles] [3 circles] [quincunx]

yagchila zolao chepila ibaua xua yoho gobana On 1-Caiman, one begins going up and counting the Lords of the Stolen House Manual 37, 707r yeçopia 13 nicaha pitaco copitza [Year] 13-Soaproot; here, the sun was eaten [eclipse depiction] [eight circles] nicola Women [eight circles] piquio Men nicaha pita gopisbo

Here, the bishop came;

nica coço huee yecho Here, there was a blister illness.

Manual 37, 708r

[cosmos with three houses]

Yela Lao [deity of illness] [three rows [eclipse of seven depiction] circles]

[three rows of seven circles]

yactzila çolao It begins on 1-Caiman

theories of time and space

day cycle as xilepi biquio, “a turn of the rope for men.” As a verb, -lipi/-lepi also designated obligations that “bound” humans to feasts.71 Hence, these “turns of the rope” referred to self-sacrifice acts, such as fasting and avoidance of sexual intercourse. Manual 11’s arrangement, while ordered by gender and not age, matched the cycle of sixteen “words” mandated by Manuals 53 and 54. Manual 11 also posited an equivalence between ritual obligations and two other circuits. The diagram’s upper right quadrant cited the five days of yba gola, Old Period, and the four days of yba yaa, Young Period, and suggested an equivalence—imperfect, in arithmetic terms—between these nine days and the eight days for women’s self-sacrifice. In the lower right quadrant, circles depicted a seven-day cycle, xua gachi quiag, “Lords of Seven Mountains,” and this nine- and seven-day sum yielded a sixteenth-day cycle. Manual 52 cites the sixteen-day cycle in a diagram labeled xoa yela yoi, “lords of the payment,” which contains sixteen dots in rows of four.72 In addition, Manual 53 depicts a seven-day cycle called xua yoho gobana, “Lords of the Stolen House” (fig. 4.8), which resembles the precipice and perennial-rock cycles discussed above. This cycle begins on 1-Caiman, and departs from a quincunx called lichi reho tanij, “Mountain of Our House,” moves through fifteen circles distributed over five levels, each labeled as quixi tani, “mountain covered with vegetation,”73 and arrives at lichi gobana tanij, “Mountain of the Stolen House.” Another Manual 37 drawing (fig. 4.8, 707r) has four rows with four circles each; the upper eight are labeled nicola, “women,” and the lower eight, piquio, “men.”74 Beyond cycle records, a note in Manual 37 for Year 13-Soaproot states, “Here, the sun was eaten,” an eclipse forecast illustrated with an image of a sun whose lower half was consumed. Since year names recur every fifty-two years, it is unclear whether this note records a 1606 or 1658 eclipse, or a prediction for 1710.75 A second annotation stated that, on Year 5-Soaproot (yolofia), or 1702, “Here, the bishop came; here, there was a blister illness.” Indeed, Bishop Maldonado conducted his first Villa Alta visit in 1702, and Tiltepec had a smallpox outbreak in 1698. The eclipse image recurs in Manual 37 (fig. 4.8, 708r) as the third item in a seven-circle row connecting 1-Caiman and a deity of illness, Yela Lao. These circles are flanked by two arrays of twenty-one circles, which go upward from an array of four or five circles, a number resembling Manual 11’s “young” and “old” period split. In sum, Manuals 11, 37, and 53–54 demonstrate the importance of two par-

figure 4.8. ( facing page) Seven-day cycles, offerings by gender, and eclipses. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 707r, 708r, 1099r.

121

re thinking z ap otec time

allel sixteen-day cycles: one organized ritual labor by gender, and the other obligations by age, and included petitions to the Lords of Seven Mountains. The “turns of the rope” referred to sexual abstinence and fasting. As noted by Alcina Franch, twenty-seven collective confessions revealed that specialists instructed men to “abstain from” intercourse with their wives for several days: three days in twelve towns, seven days in eight towns, with the rest prescribing nine, five, or thirteen days. Other obligations included fasting, and bathing in rivers or yaa, sweat baths, for a variable day number.76 While confessions provided scant information about these fasts, three- and seven-day abstinence periods were easily contained within the four- or eight-day periods reserved for men in this sixteen-day cycle. In addition, Manual 1 meticulously recorded a separate sixteen-day cycle that divided the count into four alternating blocks defined by expectations about the destinataries of offerings and the lavishness of such gifts (see appendix). From 1-Caiman onward, on the first four days one would behe [y]eche, “give77 to the town(s)”; the next four days, one would behe [y]ehui, “give to the palace(s)”; the next four, one would behe ganij, “give gratis” or “in vain,” without expecting an outcome;78 and on the final four days one would just behe ysxi, “give a little.”79 Hence, in close parallel to Vaticanus B 13–14, Manual 1 apportioned ritual obligations to the earthly realm of Lower House, or the “town,” and a celestial one, Upper House, or the deities’ “palaces.” Manual 1 also mandated that, on some feasts, one had to give deities caga, “everything one has,”80 thus allowing celebrants to plan carefully in terms of the value of things given to sacred beings. The sixteen-day cycle provides a possible explanation for an opaque cycle in the Codex Borgia and Codex Cospi. As noted by Seler and Nowotny, single black footprints mark a cycle beginning and ending on Day 4, 4-Lizard, in Borgia 1–8.81 From 4-Lizard onward, footprints delimit nine 9-day cycles (81 days) followed by seven 7-day cycles (49 days). On Day 134, these two cycles begin again, and the last 7-day cycle begins on 10-Earthquake and ends on 4-Lizard at the start of the next count. Separately, each 9- or 7-day circuit matches Manual 11’s nine-day Old Period/Young Period cycle, and the seven-day Lords of Seven Mountains cycle. Since these two cycles anchored observances by gender and age, it is plausible that the Borgia/Cospi cycles are also related to ritual obligations, and that the distinction between nine and seven may relate to age or gender groupings.82 There is further indication that Zapotec specialists employed the Borgia/Cospi 81-day (9 × 9) period. If that cycle is counted forward from 1-Caiman, rather than from 4-Lizard, it ends right before Day 82, which was celebrated as tza chinoa, “Eternal Day,” in eleven manuals: 5, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32, 89, and 99.83

122

theories of time and space

en t w ined cosmo g onie s: four fiel ds of cr e a t ion in code x borgi a 2 9 –32 a nd t he z a p o t ec m a n ua l s For Northern Zapotec daykeepers, the upper cosmos did not end with Sky, the ninth realm above Earth. Four portentous quina, “fields,” are revealed in a cosmological theory portrayed in Manuals 5, 6, 62, and 66-1, and described through notes in Manuals 42, 94, and 97. Again, one may look for parallels between these four fields and the aforementioned directional trees in the codices Fejérváry-Mayer, Borgia, and Vaticanus B. However, these four Zapotec fields bear a strong resemblance not to a cycle internal to the 260-day count, but to a cosmogonic narrative that is famously depicted in Codex Borgia 29, 30, 31, and 32 (plates 5 and 6). The creators of the Borgia and Zapotec specialists did not necessarily share the same cosmogonic narratives. As entwined cosmogonies, the connections outlined below derive from comparable but distinct interpretations of cosmological theories known to elite daykeepers in Puebla-Tlaxcala, northern Mixtec regions, and Northern Zapotec communities a century before the Spanish conquest. Such confluences would not have been novel, as shown by analyses of hybrid pictographic programs in the Late Classic murals of Cacaxtla.84 The Puebla-Tlaxcala region is one of the best candidates for the place of origin of the codices in the Borgia Group.85 Moreover, this region is the likely place of manufacture for the richly decorated effigies, ritual protocol tools, and musical instruments that the Dominicans Domingo de Betanzos and Juan de Córdova, and perhaps others, brought to Italy during transatlantic crossings in the 1530s and 1560s.86 The Borgia 29–32 scenes are among the most scrutinized in Mesoamerican codices, and have generated several interpretations. Eduard Seler understood them as scenes related to the Venus cycle and its divinatory properties, and Karl Nowotny focused on the identification of deities and protocols. Anthony Aveni examined pages that may have been used as Venus almanacs; Victoria Bricker explored possible concordances between Borgia date sequences and important events during Venus cycles; Elizabeth Boone proposed a cosmogonic interpretation focusing on the birth of the time count, and other creation events; Susan Milbrath interpreted Borgia 29–46 as depictions related to the eighteen ceremonies in the Central Mexican year; and Maarten Jansen and Aurora Pérez Jiménez interpreted these scenes as depicting visions and sacrifice in a specific site, perhaps Cholula.87 Regardless of whether the Borgia 29–32 scenes depict important creation events or ceremonies linked to particular periods, they have several iconographic traits in common. These four scenes are staged in rectangular spaces

123

re thinking z ap otec time

with a single entrance and egress. The enclosures in Borgia 29, 30, and 31 are formed by four-sided, or “quadrilateral” goddesses: a female deity bearing sacrificial banners in 29 and 31, and another female deity with a body of intertwined bones in 30.88 In contrast, flint knife rows delimit Borgia 32’s enclosure. All these enclosures, while not fully-fledged sky bands, are profusely decorated with circular signs—Seler’s “nocturnal eyes” from Vaticanus B 13– 14.89 These motifs also appear to represent stars in the Borbonicus, Borgia, Fejérváry-Mayer, Laud, and Vienna codices.90 On each page, sacred entities surround paramount events taking place at each enclosure’s center (plates 5 and 6). Borgia 29 depicts a black circle with a censer or bowl overflowing with dark matter, and studded with nocturnal eyes; from this mass emerge five serpents and a skeletal entity connected by white cords to two six-legged creatures. Six serpents below and two above the central circle complete a group of thirteen serpents, each of which releases an anthropomorphic figure, and all thirteen serpents and figures bear wind deity attributes. Anders, Jansen and Reyes García suggested that Borgia 29 embodies the Nahua couplet yohualli ehecatl, “Night, Wind,” glossed as “invisible and intangible” in Book 6 of the Florentine Codex.91 At each corner of Borgia 30, day signs 1 (Caiman), 6 (Death), 11 (Monkey), and 16 (Eagle) are pierced by a personage bearing a tree or plant on its back, with the other sixteen day signs depicted in sequence. At the center, two serpents issue wind entities from their mouths within a red circle resembling a pool of blood. The red circle is surrounded by thirty-two outward-projecting red bars: sixteen of them bear night eyes, and sixteen of them are bare. This arrangement suggests that the bare bars represent days, and the bars with nocturnal eyes, nights, as a similar iconographic arrangement depicts the emergence of twenty days and nights in Codex Vienna 52.92 Moreover, this two-times-sixteen cycle of bars, read as days and nights, echoes the arrangement of two sets of sixteen day signs around Lower House and Upper House in Vaticanus B 13–14, and the sixteen-day ritual obligation cycles in Zapotec manuals. Borgia 31 is divided into two enclosures (plate 6). In the upper one, two black, skeletal figures born from a large female deity are surrounded by four other similar figures, each of which is bathed or tended to by other supernaturals. The lower scene features a black, skeletal entity emerging in a blood gush from a female deity, also surrounded by other skeletal figures washed or cared for by attendants. Lastly, a central space in Borgia 32 presents a narrative of sacrifice by means of flint blades through the depiction of five naked males from a sacred entity with flint knives on its knees, elbows, and neck. This scene is surrounded by eight flint-lined compartments, each occupied by a warrior holding two severed heads. Borgia 32’s focus on flint sacrifice is

124

theories of time and space

echoed by an expression discussed in chapter 7, queza li, “the straight flint,” which signals belief or devotion, as in the phrase queza li betao, “belief in the deities.” There is a strong resemblance between the scenes in Borgia 29–32 and the depiction and labels of four cosmological fields in the Zapotec booklets. Manuals 5 and 6 from Yatzona, copies of each other, and Manuals 62 and 66-1 from Lalopa, also copies of each other, all depict four fields above the three-tiered cosmos of Underworld, Earth, and Sky with labels and characterizations that suggest an awareness of the cosmogonic theory depicted in Borgia 29–32. The labels and diagrams in these four manuscripts have minor divergences, but they are in agreement with the depiction in Manual 66-1. Figure 4.9 presents the depiction of spaces beyond Sky in Manuals 11 and 66-1. Manual 11 displays xua leto chi yaba, “the lords next to the edge93 of Sky.” This diagram displays ninety-one lords, each one represented by a circle, arrayed in thirteen rows in ascending order. This grouping is slightly misaligned, with fourteen pairs of circles in two columns. Manuals 66-1 and 6 employ the same convention, with circles representing sacred beings or spaces, and add another one: groups of short lines are labeled biyee, “time periods.” Hence, a set number of “lords” (circles) or periods (lines) are depicted inside each of four cosmological fields, which are called, from the upper right and in clockwise order, Quiña Cachi, “Field of the Burial”;94 Quiña [R]ene, “Blood Field,” with a correction noted below; Quiña Tachi, “Field of Sucklings”;95 and Quiña Xila, “Field of Sharpness” (fig. 4.9). These fields reflected a Northern Zapotec perspective on the creation acts in Borgia 29–32. Burial Field and its thirteen periods refer to the central scene and birth of thirteen wind spirits in Borgia 29. Instead of focusing on Borgia 29’s night and wind elements, Zapotec daykeepers may have read the dark space from which the skeletal deity and wind entities emerge as a place of burial. Both Burial Field and Blood Field are surrounded by curly or straight lines forming a rectangle, which resemble the quadrilateral deities that frame the Borgia scenes. Field of Sucklings is a Zapotec designation that echoes Borgia 31, which emphasizes birth-giving by two mother goddesses and also depicts divine attendants bathing, nurturing, and tending to a group of newborn skull-headed entities. Finally, Field of Sharpness focuses on the most important attribute of the flint sacrificial knife, which is depicted as a deity in Borgia 32 in a scene in which multiple flint knife palisades frame a birthing scene and the depiction of warriors with severed heads. Unlike the first two fields, however, Field of Sucklings and Field of Sharpness are not framed by borders, and each contains a set of thirteen lords, depicted as circles. Therefore, not only are there strong semantic parallels between Zapotec field names and the most prominent iconography in each Borgia scene,

125

Manual 11, 385r

xua leto chi yaba The lords next to the edge of Sky

Manual 66-1, 1229r quiña cachi Field of the Burial

quiña xene [in lieu of tene] [Blood] Field

[13 lines; 1 on border] biyee time periods

[16 lines] biyee time periods

quiña xila Field of Sharpness [13 circles]

quiña tachi Field of Sucklings [13 circles]

[13 circles]

[10 lines] biyee time periods

[Sky: 5 circles] | [7 levels; sic] | [Earth: 5 circles] | [8 levels] | | [Underworld: 5 circles]

[13 circles]

[13 lines] biyee time periods

figure 4.9. Cosmological fields above Sky in Manuals 11 and 66-1. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 385r, 1229r.

theories of time and space

but these fields’ clockwise order also matches the progression of cosmogonic events in Borgia 29–32.

ac t s of c r e a t ion: bl o od l a k e in t he z a p o t ec s ongs a nd c ode x b orgi a 30 The creation acts in Codex Borgia 30 and the Zapotec manuals exhibit further parallels. Both sources depict an act of creation in a circumscribed space—painted red in Borgia 30, and known as Blood Lake and Blood Field in Zapotec—in which divine serpents give birth to other sacred beings. At the center of Borgia 30’s red circular pool (plate 5), two black wind entities carrying copal bags emerge from the mouth of two intertwined wind serpents; outside the red circle, two other serpents also release two wind beings from their mouths. Book 100, the Vargas-Lopes songbook from Lachirioag (see appendix), also provides a detailed narrative of the emergence of sacred beings from the mouth of a creator serpent, Bela Xila Laxoo, Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake,96 who emerges from Blood Lake, a legendary Northern Zapotec place of origin.97 The first stanza in Song 1 summarizes acts of creation that will be reenacted: 10 0 -1:1 colag yça cocha tia The years were born, the lineages were birthed.

This terse statement belies the momentous events that follow. After an invocation of deities and ancestors, Song 100-2, stanzas 9–13 recapitulate acts of creation at Blood Lake.98 This narrative begins with the tremors and initial flowing of waters that precede the creator serpent’s birth: 10 0 -2: 9 cayniy cachi qui Long ago, the seven offerings. cayniy cachi quita Long ago, the seven reed mats. quiinibi xoo yo binibi quela tene The earthquake will shake the land; Blood Lake shook. colag bela xila laxoo quela tene Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake was born at Blood Lake . . . 127

re thinking z ap otec time

calag quela b[e]t[a]o cobiy beeco titag niza dao The new deities will be born in the lake, the turtles. The sea flows. colag bela laxoo b[e]t[a]o Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity, was born. coca quela coyeag tia It was the begetting of lineages.

In the next stanza, 4-Earthquake is born and swims in Blood Lake. He is addressed as a tree of creation who guards a primeval palace atop a mountain, and the entire account is attributed to writings that descended from House of Sky: 10 0 -2:10 goyaaci quicag coyaaci y.lao bela xila laxoo quela tene . . . Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake dipped the head, dipped the face into Blood Lake . . . yag xohua toa quiag quehue lao quichi yaba The tree, the lord at the base of the Mountain of First Palace of the papers from Sky.

This momentous reference signals to celebrants that the celestial palaces and regions invoked through song were depicted in codices similar to the Borgia, referenced here as “the papers from Sky.” The connections between cosmogonic narratives and authoritative texts are repeatedly emphasized. Hence, Song 100-2:8 asserts, queza chag xoa toa quiag quehue lao quichi yaba, “The cured tobacco goes to the lord at the base of the Mountain of First Palace of the papers from Sky.” Beyond Precolumbian or colonial codices, Song 1003:8 stresses the authority of ancient writing inscribed in the cosmos itself by stating, in three parallel phrases, gozaa coque yeagchila zoa beyog zobibi pichine quixi, “Ruler 1-Caiman left; he is here now. It was written, it can be incised; it was engraved in the wildlands.” The following stanza memorializes the birth of Feathered Serpent 4Earthquake as a two-day festival on Days 17 (4-Earthquake) and 18 (5-Dew). The first feast yields a birth name, and the second, 5-Dew, is one of four dates with a 5- coefficient linked to the four cosmological fields, as shown below. 10 0 -2:11 bezaaca bezaca lani laxo yolopa ni This feast of 4-Earthquake and 5-Dew arrived, it arrived.

128

theories of time and space

coteche cone bela xila laxoo quela tene Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake was carried and sown into Blood Lake.

The next stanza describes in a couplet the emergence of nine sacred beings from Feathered Serpent’s mouth: 10 0 -2:12 gotee cobechi Cobechi passed by; coca chahui y.lao dohua bela xila laxoo quela tene . . . it was good at the mouth of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake of Blood Lake . . . gotee cobechi Cobechi passed by; coca ga chahui y.lao toa bela xila laxoo b[e]t[a]o there were nine good ones at the mouth of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity.

These nine entities are not mentioned again until Songbook 100, Song 4, stanza 2 (hereafter, 100-4:2), which calls them gaa bela pa tao, “Nine Serpent Princes,” and associates them with another cosmological landmark, Yehui Quia Tini, “Mountain Slope Palace.” Lastly, the next stanza identifies the first date in a series, each with a 5- coefficient. Stanza 11 (above) had identified the second date in the series as 5-Dew, Day 5, and Stanza 13 identifies the first one as 5-Soaproot, Day 252: 10 0 -2:13 leaa yolobia leaa yolobia At the enclosure of 5-Soaproot, at the enclosure of 5-Soaproot: bene quitog y.sichiy bene chila coyaaci xilaachiy the people who would come down long ago. The diviner deposited his heart.

Besides 4-Earthquake, the Zapotec songs identify two other divine serpents: Bela Yati Yagcueo, White Serpent 1-Soaproot, nurturer of Ruler 1-Caiman (Songbook 100-4:5), and Serpent Iguana (101-13:1), whose palace is associated with queche bechina yace che, “the town of Black Deer of the West” (100-10:1).99 Hence, the Zapotec place of origin Blood Lake, situated in the cosmologi-

129

re thinking z ap otec time

cal region of Blood Field, has in common with Borgia 30 a creation narrative that emphasizes the emergence of divine beings from the mouth of creator serpents at a primeval pool of blood. There is another precise iconographic parallel between the Zapotec texts and Borgia 30. In Manual 66-1 (fig. 4.9), Blood Field contains sixteen lines ordered into four groups. These lines echo the two sets of bars surrounding the red circle in Borgia 30, which may denote the cycle of sixteen days and sixteen nights of ritual penance, as indicated in Vaticanus B and the Zapotec manuals.

t he four cosmol o gic a l fiel ds in t he z a p o t ec cor p us While the names of cosmological fields recalled important creation events, their contents embody a particular theory about time and divine beings. The arrangement of two fields containing periods and two fields sheltering divine lords above Sky House is mirrored below, as there are two sets of thirteen lords on the right and left immediately above Earth House, and also two sets of time periods between Earth House and Underworld House. These four other groupings, which serve as a counterpart to the four fields above Sky, do not bear any labels. In Manuals 62 and 66-1, copies of each other, the distribution of lords as circles is even: Field of Sucklings and Field of Sharpness have thirteen lords each, as do the two groupings above Earth. In contrast, time periods are not distributed uniformly: Field of the Burial has thirteen, Blood Field sixteen, the left group below Earth ten, and the right group thirteen. In the end, however, there are fifty-two periods, which stand for the 52-year cycle, and fiftytwo lords. Manuals 5 and 6, copies of each other and otherwise identical to 62 and 66-1, depart slightly from this pattern: while they also have fifty-two lords, they have a total of sixty-five periods, which matches not years, but the 65-day cocios in the mantic count. Manuals 42 from Zoogochi and 97 from Yaxila coincide with the first group in terms of the names for three fields—Cachi, Dachi or Tachi, and Xila, but list the fourth one as Rene or Renee, “Blood” (fig. 4.10). This evidence strongly suggests that, when Manuals 5, 6, 62, and 66-1 were copied, rene was mistakenly transcribed as xene, “large.” However, Manuals 42 and 97 represent the four fields in a manner that diverges from Manuals 5, 6, 62, and 66-1: the fields are quincunxes rather than enclosures; their order changes slightly; and each field has eight circles marking the xoa guina, “lords of the fields,” for a total of thirty-two lords. While Manuals 42, 97, and 94 do not explicitly record the location of the four fields, they state that each field and its lord begins to be counted

130

theories of time and space

Manual 42, 972v [4 circles]

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

gu[i]na xila quina cachi qui [sic] dachi quiña rene Field of Field of the Field of Field of Sharpness Burial Sucklings Blood [4 circles]

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

iyolobia tzolao guibaba xohe guiña On 5-Soaproot [Day 252], one begins to count the fields of the lords

Manual 97, 1550r [4 circles]

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

guina xila Field of Sharpness

qui[na] cachi Field of the Burial

guina tachi Field of Sucklings

guina rene Field of Blood

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

[4 circles]

yolobia çolao guibab xoa guina On 5-Soaproot [Day 252], one begins to count the lords of the fields

figure 4.10. Cosmological fields in Manuals 42 and 97. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 972v, 1550r.

on Day  252, 5-Soaproot, starting with Field of Sharpness.100 In Manual 94 (fig. 4.11), Juan de Santiago arranged the four fields into four periods. Field of Sharpness is linked to 5-Soaproot, Day 252; Field of the Burial to 5-Snake, Day 5; Field of Sucklings to 5-Dew, Day 18; and Field of Blood to 5-Monkey, Day 31—a progression also mentioned in Songbook 100.101 Each date is spaced thirteen feasts apart; thus, in agreement with Manuals 5, 6, 62, and 66-1, this sequence would assign thirteen lords to each of the four fields, with each lord corresponding to one feast. However, Santiago did not assign thirteen circles evenly; while he reached the required total of fifty-two lords, he assigned fourteen circles each to Sharpness and Sucklings Fields, and twelve circles each to Burial and Blood Fields.102 The fact that each feast linked to a cosmological field has a coefficient of five poses an interesting parallel with the macuiltonaleque, male companions, of the Central Mexican deity Macuilxochitl, 5-Flower. As Nowotny noted, the scene depicting the five directions in BNF Mexicain 20 depicts Macuilxochitl

131

re thinking z ap otec time

surrounded by his macuiltonaleque. Their names come from the fifth feast in trecenas 4–8–12–16–20, which correspond to the four-position series and 52-day periods linked to the South in the Borgia, Vaticanus B, and FejérváryMayer: 5-Lizard (Day 44), 5-Vulture (Day 96), 5-Rabbit (Day 148), the deity 5-Flower (Day 200), and 5-Grass (Day 252). This pattern contrasts with the dates for the four Zapotec fields, which employ the fifth day in trecenas 20, 1, 2, and 3, as shown in figure 4.11. In turn, the Zapotec five-coefficient dates differ from the macuiltonaleque in Borgia 49–52, which correspond to trecenas 5–10–15–20, which are Set III in the five-position series, and divide the count into 65-day groups. These macuiltonaleque are 5-Movement (Day 57) of the East; 5-Wind (Day 122) of the North; 5-Deer (Day 187) of the West; and 5-Grass (Day 252) of the South. Therefore, these choices reflect three different traditions: while BNF Mexicain 20 employs a four-position series of five dates, and Borgia a five-position sequence of four dates, the Zapotec corpus uses a simple progression of four consecutive trecenas. However, all three sacred counts share an important overlap: the redoubtable feast of 5-Grass/ Soaproot, celebrated on Day 252. Beyond eclipse observations, Northern Zapotec manuals rarely recorded stars and constellations visible through horizon-based astronomy. Unlike their counterparts in the Puebla-Tlaxcala region, they did not track the cycle of Venus.103 Santiago’s representation of the four fields in Manual 94 is an exception, as the circles that depict divine lords in each field may depict renderings of constellations visible in Oaxaca at the close of the seventeenth century. A note allows for the dating of Manual 94. As discussed in chapter 2, this booklet begins with a Gregorian correlation for the last five days of Year 4-Soaproot (February 26–March 2, 1663). It is thus likely that Santiago copied Manual 94 from an older text composed circa 1663. A reconstruction of the night sky over Yagneri (latitude 17.4191° N, longitude 96.3552° W) on February 26, 1663, 10  p.m., helps narrow possibilities in terms of visible star clusters that may have inspired the drawings in Manual 94 (fig. 4.11). An ancient Zapotec constellation pointed Manual 94 in a particular direction. In early modern Europe, Ursa Major was “Saint Peter’s Boat,” since it was thought to resemble the apostle’s fishing vessel. Córdova noted that the “seven stars they call the boat of Saint Peter” were named pigàana càche— “the young men seven”—in Valley Zapotec.104 Càche, “seven,” is a near homophone of cachi, “burial,” and thus Manual 94 merged an observation of Ursa Major with knowledge about Quina Cachi, “Field of the Burial.” Indeed, the twelve-circle drawing for this field resembles Ursa Major’s seven main stars, plus other stars in this cluster. While little is known about colonial Zapotec constellations, the following tentative correspondences are based on visible patterns that gave rise to early modern European constellations. The Field

132

yolobia [5-Soaproot: Day 252]

yoseee [5-Snake: Day 5]

[14 dots]

[12 dots]

quina xila Field of Sharpness

quin gachij Field of the Burial

yolopa [5-Dew: Day 18]

yoolaao [5-Monkey: Day 31]

[14 dots]

[12 dots]

qui[n]a tachi Field of Sucklings

quina renee Blood Field

xo nete li quinag Ancestors of the straight cane; the field [9 dots]

figure 4.11. Cosmological fields in Manual 94 (top) and chart of the night sky over Yagneri on February 26, 1663, 10 PM (bottom). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1526v. © Sky & Telescope 2020. Used with permission.

re thinking z ap otec time

of Sucklings pattern resembles the “dipper” section of Ursa Minor, accompanied by nearby stars. Manual 94 named a fifth cosmological field, unattested elsewhere, as “Field of Ancestors of the Straight Cane,” and the caneshaped pattern of eight circles, with an unattached ninth one, may represent the eight stars of Lynx and a star in Leo Minor. The triangular shape in Field of Blood resembles Auriga or Perseus, and the three-pronged shape in Field of Sharpness might echo Gemini, or even Canis Major. In any case, in Manual 94, the specialist Juan de Santiago attempted to reconcile cosmological theories with his empirical observation of nocturnal skies. Beyond these fields, Manuals 42, 85-1, 94, and 97 recorded the existence of four other important cosmological structures, denominated cee, cehe, or tze (fig. 4.12). Córdova glosses this term as “seat,” “site,” or “footprint,” the latter being that “of an ancient town, house, old road, or path.”105 It should not be confused with zehe, “to be/to have.”106 Unlike the four named upper fields or the unnamed lower fields in Manuals 5, 6, 62, and 66-1, they do not contain lords or time periods, and their location is not recorded. Manual 94 depicts them as nineteen circles vaguely resembling constellations, and elsewhere they appear as quincunxes. There is a partial consensus on their names. Manuals 42, 85-1, 94, and 97 agree that two of them are Cee Tachi, “Seat of the Sucklings,” and Cee Tao, “Great Seat.” A third one is Çee Yetze, “Seat of the Town,” in Manuals 94 and 97, or Cee Llanàa, “Seat of the Words,” and Sehe Lana Tze, “Seat of the Words of the Days,” in 85-1 and 94. The fourth seat is tze yehia, “Seat of Adjoining Mountains,” in Manuals 42 and 97;107 leaa huichi, “Mexica Enclosure,” in Manual 85-1;108 and “Guilt,” in 94. Only Manual 85-1 places them temporally by suggesting they are counted in two simultaneous groups (Sucklings and Malevolent Enclosure; Great and Word) after 1- Caiman. Given their resemblance to the four cosmological fields—these seats form a group of four, are shown as quincunxes, and overlap in their use of the name Tachi, “Sucklings”—daykeepers might have regarded them as ancient “seats” that evoked earlier creations or periods. Lastly, two manuals recorded a twenty-day count divided into one nineday and one eleven-day segment, both of which ran concurrently. Manual 85-1 recorded the count of “The Lords of Nine Fields” with eight circles, and a parallel count of “The Lords of Eleven Fields” with eleven circles (fig. 4.12). Manual 97, not depicted, began a count of lords on Day 9, 9-Water, by stating niga biye yati, “here is the white time count,” and added nine black circles, and this count ran parallel to another labeled niga biye bani, “here is the time count of life,” with eleven white circles. As further confirmation that daykeepers supported multiple cosmological theories, Manuals 70, 72, and 37 recorded alternative cosmological theories (fig. 4.13). While Manual 37 retained Theory B’s houses and levels, it placed

134

Manual 94, 1526v [19 circles] sehe cehe ttola sehe queeese quee There is the seat of the guilt; the seat of the town; of tachi sehe lana tzehua the sucklings; the seat of the words of the days, already.

Manual 42, 972v tz[e] dachi Seat of Suckling

tze dao Great Seat

tze tee Seat of Ashes

tze yehia Seat of Adjoining Mountains

Manual 97, 1549v çee dachi Seat of Suckling

çee dao Great Seat

çee yetze çee yeha Seat of Seat of the Town Adjoining Mountains

Manual 85-1, 1415v nij çollao quibaba [10 circles between xohua llanij two rhombi] Here, one begins counting the lords of the feasts yagchilla leo—cee tachi—leaa huichi 1-Caiman of Earth—Seat of Sucklings— Mexica Enclosure yagchilla—cee tao cee llanàa 1-Caiman—Great Seat, Seat of the Word xohua taa [quincunx] lords of the mats quallanà 6-Death quieaza xohua gayoo [quincunx] The Lords Five will be fi xed in position yeta llaho first tortillas xohua gaha quinee [9 circles] The Lords of Nine Fields xohua chineag quinee [11 circles] The Lords of Eleven Fields

figure 4.12. Cosmological seats in Manuals 94, 42, 97, and 85-1. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 972v, 1415v, 1526v, 1549v.

Manual 70, 1275r y.ba golaa Old period

lata niti Place of Cane

quina xola Field of Shadows/Rest bini galag Seeds will be born

quina ba que bene goti quibidao Good Field of dead people who will be deities

Manual 72, 1288v quina xola Field of Shadows

quina ba Good Field

[3 circles]

[3 circles]

[13-circle column] [5 circles]

[5 circles]

[5 circles] quina ba quina xla [sic] Good Field Field of Shadows [5 lines]

Manual 37, 709v yoo quicag queche

Head of Town House

yechi queba ca 6

Town of Sky Nine 6 [instead of 9]

pichi cuina deo

The censers; they themselves give

yo leo beci qug

House of Earth; the mountain received

cuina deo cha

They themselves give, the days

yoo ci teo 5

The house(s) will receive; one gives 5

pichi cuina deo

The censers; they themselves give

yoo sa quechi

House [where] the lancet will go

cotopa bezaa

Second boundary

yeche yeba ca

Town of Sky Nine

yoo zoo sa quechi 5

A house is [where] the lancets 5 will go

theories of time and space

figure 4.13. Alternative cosmological theories in Manuals 37, 70, and 72. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1275r, 1288v.

pichi, “censers,” one level above and one below Earth, and labeled the second level under Earth and Underworld as houses where sa quechi, “the lancet109 will go,” a reference to self-sacrifice. Manual 70, from Juquila, proposed an upper quincunx from which two nine-circle branches departed. Below, two quincunxes are surrounded by a thirteen-circle circuit. Above, five spaces are arranged as a group of five with Quina Xola, “Field of Shadows”110 at the center, and labels attested elsewhere, “Old Period” and “Place of Canes,” appear on the sides. Rabeag’s Manual 72, whose cruciform shape Dominicans might have found blasphemous, proposed a structure with a thirteen-circle column with two small branches above, and a circuit of three five-circle branches and a five-line base. Some elements in these alternative theories recur: the quincunx principle organizes spaces above the Manual 70 diagram, and four fields surround Manual 72’s cosmos. Additionally, Juan de Vargas, Manual 72’s author, referred to ancestor worship. He spoke of quina ba que bene goti quibidao, “Good Field of dead people who will be deities [bidao],” in which the verb -bidao has a meaning comparable to that of the Nahuatl verb -teot, as used in Book 10 of the Florentine Codex: Ic quitoque in vevetque, in aqujn oonmjc oteut. . . . Cequjntin qujnmjxiptlatique tonatiuh, cequjintin metztli, “Thus, the ancient ones said: those who died, became deities [oteut]. . . . Some represented the Sun; others, the Moon.”111

su mm a r y This chapter has presented a full review of the structure of the cosmos and principal cycles in the México 882 corpus, according to daykeepers’ diagrams and annotations. The chapter began with an exposition of Cosmological Theory B, which linked the 260-day count with cosmological places in a threetiered cosmos with nine levels above and below House of Earth. Theory B, which also appeared in Codex Vaticanus B 15–16, was contrasted with Theory A, depicted in Codex Fejérváry-Mayer 1 and other sources. The chapter also outlined crucial similarities between Fejérváry-Mayer 1 and the manuals: both refer to the four intercardinal directions through semantically convergent semasiographic and linguistic representations of four intercardinal “places”: Sharpness, Harvest, Weaving, and Cane. Then, the Zapotec years’ cardinal orientations were examined, along with yearly offer-

137

re thinking z ap otec time

ings in 260-day intervals. The chapter also reviewed the manuals’ main and subsidiary cycles, including a detailed cosmological geography, and a sixteenday cycle, similar to one depicted in Codex Vaticanus B, which sorted offerings by age and gender. Finally, this chapter documented important convergences in cosmogonic sequences illustrated in Codex Borgia 29–32, and referenced in four cosmological quina, “fields,” located above Sky and the three-tiered model: Fields of Sharpness, Burial, Sucklings, and Blood. The acts of creation that unfolded in Blood Lake and Field of Blood included the emergence of sacred beings from a creator serpent’s mouth, an event that bears strong parallels with the creation narrative illustrated in Borgia 30. Besides these fields, the existence of four cee, ancient seats, was documented, along with alternative cosmological models. While this chapter surveyed the structure of the cosmos, the next one examines the deities and ancestors who inhabited it.

138

chapter five

Deities, Sacred Beings, and Their Feasts ostclassic divinatory books such as the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, the Codex Borgia, and the Codex Cospi portrayed the sacred beings who presided over each of the 260 feasts as organized into two sequences, one with thirteen deities, and another with nine, commonly called “Lords of the Day” and “Lords of the Night.” Zapotec daykeepers could have followed that lead by transposing the days and their numens positionally: one day, one deity. Instead, influenced by their understanding of how alphabetic writing sorted itself into books, they chose another approach: brief cosmogonic texts at the start or end of manuals; instructions regarding observances; and selective annotations on certain feasts, sometimes in dense layers. This chapter surveys colonial Zapotec deities, addresses their worship in cycle-renewing feasts at the end and beginning of the divinatory count, documents parallels with Borgia 25 and 26 regarding these protocols, and examines the festivities throughout the count, along with the close-knit instructions for the count’s beginning.

P

re thinking z ap otec time

z a p o t ec dei t ie s in t he se v en t een t h c en t u r y Zapotec deities, like other divine beings, had multiple co-essences,1 which will be defined here as co-beings. Deities bore a primary name, often opaque, so they were frequently introduced with the title of betao (pitào, pitòo in Colonial Valley Zapotec), which might have derived from the noun bee and the adjective tao.2 In Zapotec ritual discourse, sacred beings were characterized as bee, which means both “air, wind,” in all Zapotecan languages, but also “spirit,”3 while tao means “great, sacred, large.” Songbooks 100 and 101 frequently referred to some of these beings as bee, “spirits.” Other epithets used for them included lachi, “hearts”; yag, “trees”; yag xeni, “ceibas”; xana or xoa, “lords”; and coque, “rulers.” Table 5.1 presents correspondences among documented Zapotec sacred beings, based in part on a thirteen-deity list disclosed by the specialist Diego Luis from the Soltec community of Sola de Vega to Gonzalo de Balsalobre on two occasions: as Spanish-language descriptions in 1635, and as Zapotec names in 1654. The list includes Thomas Smith-Stark’s pioneering analysis of deity names in Córdova’s dictionary.4 These data are compared with Northern Zapotec deities. Colonial daykeepers occasionally reported access to pictographic texts depicting deities. For instance, Joseph Domínguez of Yaa noted that his father had told him to preserve “a suede-like piece of leather where the gods of our grandparents, worshiped in ancient times, were depicted.”5 The parallels between Zapotec and Central Mexican pantheons in terms of a rain deity (Cocijo, Tlaloc), a maize deity (Gozobi, Centeotl), a solar deity (Cobicha, Tonatiuh), and an Underworld deity (Becelao, Mictlanteuctli) are well attested.6 Table 5.1 also summarizes novel evidence regarding Zapotec deities worshiped in colonial times. Zapotecs did not worship a deity of creation, destruction, sorcery, and wisdom that is an exact paragon of Tezcatlipoca, although Eci, Huechaa, 1-Jaguar, and Lexee Dao may incorporate some attributes Tezcatlipoca possessed elsewhere in Mesoamerica. A group of deities was venerated across Soltec, and also Northern, Southern, and Valley Zapotec communities: the ubiquitous Deity Thirteen; Huichana, the female deity of rivers and fertility; Betao Eci or Hueci, counterpart of the Valley Zapotec omen and divination deity Pèeci or Pijzi;7 and Coxana/Cosana/ Cozàana, a creator deity whose very name meant “begetter, procreator,” or “womb.”8 Some of these deities presided over specific spaces: Book 100, Song 5:1 noted that Huichana resided in Quiag Lao, First Mountain, and Yego Dee, Ash River. Several Zapotec deities previously unknown, or poorly documented, are introduced here. Chief among them is Cobechi, a deity whose name was

140

table 5.1. Northern, Southern, and Valley Zapotec betao, “deities,” in colonial sources Northern Zapotec corpus

Diego Luis: Zapotec deity names (1654); glosses (1635)

Ni Xee Tao Lopa Creator 11-Dew Cobechi Maker, artisan Betao Eci or Hueci Deity of divination

Córdova 1578 dictionary (Smith-Stark 1999)

Nahua counterparts

Coquì xee coquì cìlla Lord of creation and dawn Ni xèe ni cíllani Beginning of all things Leraa Huisi Deity of diviners

Pijzi, Pèeci, Pijze “deity of omens”

Tezcatlipoca

Yagquechi Huicila 1-Jaguar, Diviner

Cipactonal

Yolina 2-Field, 1-Jaguar’s companion

Ohxomoco

Bilachila 7-Caiman of Underworld, associated with the time count Quiolaoo/Yolao 2-Face, 7-Caiman’s younger brother Bela Xila Laxoo Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake Betao Huachaa or Huechaa Deity associated with the night Yagquee Xo Cila 1-Reed, Ancestor of the East

Quetzalcoatl

Bala Yao Hueda Bala Yao, Flayer

Itztli

Betao quichino Deity Thirteen Ichino betao The Thirteen Deities

1. Lira Quitzino “god of all thirteen gods”

Piyè tào, piyè xòo “Creator of everything, without beginning”

Cobicha Sun

2. Licuicha Niyoa Deity of hunting

Pitòo copijcha Sun

3. Coquee Laa Deity of riches

Pitào quille pitào yàge Deity of riches and merchants

Tonatiuh

(continued)

re thinking z ap otec time

table 5.1. (continued) Northern Zapotec corpus

Diego Luis: Zapotec deity names (1654); glosses (1635)

Córdova 1578 dictionary (Smith-Stark 1999)

Nahua counterparts

(Xonaxi) Gozobi Tao (Lady) Great Gozobi

4. Loçucui “deity of maize and all sustenance”

Pitào cozòbi Deity of harvests

Centeotl

Becelao Tao Lord of Underworld

5. Leraa Huila or Coquie Cabila “god of the dead who are in hell”

Pitào pezèelào Underworld deity

Mictlanteuctli

Huichana Tao Great Huichana

6. Nohuichana Deity of rivers, fish, and pregnant women

Pitào huichàana Deity of infants and fertility

Chalchihuitl Icue

Lexee Dao Great Lexee

7. Lexee Deity of thieves and sorcerers

Yela Lao Deity of illness

8. Nonachi Deity of illness

Gocio Deity of rain

9. Loçio Deity of thunder

Cocijo Deity of rain and thunder

Tlaloc

10. Xonatzi Huilia Deity of illnesses and death; Leera Huila’s wife Coxana Creator deity, child of Cobechi

11. Cosana Ancestors’ deity, associated with water

Pitào Cozàana Deity of animals and hunting; Cozàana tào Creator deity

12. Leraa queche Deity of medicine Betao Huehe Deity of illness

13. Lira cuee Deity of medicine

Sources: Córdova 1578a; Archivo General de Indias, México 882; Archivo General de la Nación, Inquisición 473-I, 571, 573; Weitlaner and De Cicco 1961; Smith-Stark 1999.

formed with the agentive co- and the verb -pèeche, glossed as “artisan, master of a particular art.”9 The identification of this verb is confirmed by a Manual 1 note that, as substitute for Cobechi, employs Huabechi, an adverb that meant doing something “artificially, carefully, elegantly.”10 Cobechi has a semantic correspondence with the name of Tz’aqol B’itol, the K’iche’ Maya “Maker, Modeler” featured prominently in the Popol Vuh.11 Another important deity is Huechaa, also written Huachaa, a name that may literally mean “Exchanger,” and which Córdova glosses as “soul . . . that appears at night”; “spirit that goes about at night”; “vision that appears at night.”12 A counterpart to the Soltec

142

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

healer deity Lira Cuee, and perhaps also to the illness deity Nonachi, was a deity that ruled over sickness and health, Betao Huee, “Deity of Illness.”13 Among these deities, Northern Zapotecs placed particular emphasis on the worship of a deity triad, which would have caused consternation to Dominicans attempting to explain the Christian Trinity, had they been aware of its existence. Mesoamerican deities were sometimes placed in groups of three, as illustrated by the Late Classic deity triad at the Maya site of Palenque.14 The Zapotec triad was presented as a hierarchy above other deities. According to a revealing text appended to Manual 12 from Roayaga, this triad included Great Huichana, Deity Thirteen, and Deity Cobechi: [Hand 1]: Catti naca y.tticha tao que huichana dao Goque nixee lani bedao ychijnoo bettao qui yahui y.yela lao lichi Gobechi dao Then, there are the great words of Great Huichana, Lord Creator, and Deity Thirteen, the ancient offering,15 the first custom, the house of Great Cobechi. [Hand 2]: bedaheci bene xehe bene xigaa [. . . ] gobilayee guetzaa [b]edao guichijno bedao govechi yaggueechi tao gabila.16 They arrived once: the permanent people, the people of the bundle,17 . . . the Disturber Huechaa,18 Deity Thirteen, Deity Cobechi, Great 1-Jaguar of the Underworld.

Book 100 emphasizes the importance of this triad’s first two deities. As discussed in chapter 6, Huichana is introduced in Song 2:1 as “the tree that guards the mountain at the entrance of the middle of Sky.” This stanza also introduces another creator deity, Coxana, as xini betao cobeechi, “the child of Deity Cobechi,” and stanza 2 then records Great Cobechi’s title and calendrical name as Nixee Lopa, Creator 11-Dew. Coxana may thus be the personal name of the third entity cited in Manual 12, Deity Thirteen. Book 100 calls Huichana, Cobechi, and Coxana “the people who made the truth, the great creation.” Deity Huechaa’s oddly punctual label of “Disturber” should be understood as a reference to his role as primeval ritual petitioner, for current Northern Zapotec specialists interpret this petitioning by a bene walla as “disturbing” sacred beings, and even gloss walla as “disrupter” or “troublemaker.”19 Lastly, Song 100-3:9 introduces 1-Caiman, an important founding ancestor, who is also Cobechi’s son: 10 0 -3: 9 bio za coque yagchila xini nixe tao quiha gaa quia cachi 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator of Mountain Nine, Mountain Seven, was placed [on the road]; he goes.

143

re thinking z ap otec time

In addition, this verse presents Cobechi as creator of Mountain Nine, Mountain Seven, two places of origin which, along with the similarly named Cave Nine, Cave Seven, are named in several foundational accounts discussed in chapter 6. There exists substantial evidence regarding the veneration of a legendary couple designated by the calendrical names 1-Jaguar and 2-Field who had been commemorated since the Classic period in central Oaxaca, and whose worship continued in colonial Northern Zapotec towns. Joyce Marcus and Kent Flannery observed that the names of a noble couple, Lord 1-Jaguar and a personage they called Lady 2-Flower, appear on paired ceramic vases found in the same archaeological contexts, and proposed that these names referred to the founders of a ruling Monte Albán dynasty, as they also recur in this site’s funerary urns (fig. 5.1). These names, which recur from San José Mogote to Ejutla and thus across the Oaxaca Central Valleys, would be comparable to the storied Mixtec royal couple Lord 1-Deer and Lady 1-Deer. Urcid further noted that the day name borne by 1-Jaguar’s companion is 2-Maize (2-Field for colonial-period Zapotecs), and that these consecutive day names indeed designated a “primordial couple.”20 Residents of the Central Valleys in Classic times may have thus worshiped 1-Jaguar and 2-Field as a founding couple. However, Northern Zapotec sacred texts clearly identify 1-Jaguar as a deity associated with the origins of the 260day count. As stated in Manual 12 above, 1-Jaguar “of Underworld” was mentioned in the same breath as Huichana, Cobechi, and Deity Thirteen. Manual 44 also emphasizes an association between the “eternal days” and 1-Jaguar: niga bezo tza chinoa lani Yagechi Yezolao quibaua bije Yagxoo Yasa zo cila Here, the eternal days were placed, the feasts of 1-Jaguar. They will begin to be counted on the [year] period 1-Earthquake, which will be sown21 on the East. coropa io ieba yolina quiag xe goropa ni lani saieag gala yolina quiag xe ieba.22 The second one of House of Sky is 2-Field, the perennial rock. This second feast goes on, it will be celebrated: 2-Field, the perennial rock of Sky.

This annotation makes clear the temporal and cosmological associations between 1-Jaguar and 2-Field: 1-Jaguar, as owner of the 260 feasts, rules over Day 14, the time when the count reaches the center of Sky House’s quincunx. The next day belongs to 2-Field, a second location that is a “perennial rock” in Sky House. The link between Jaguar and Cornfield was emphasized by two festivities: Song 11:3 in Book 101 mentions the arrival of an ancestor as a mottled turtle on “the feast of 6-Jaguar and 7-Field,” Days 214–215, and Song 3:9 in Book 100 refers to the feast of 13-Jaguar and 1-Field, Days 234–235. More144

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

figure 5.1. Paired vases bearing the names 1-Jaguar (left) and 2-Field (right). Ex–Museo Frissell 8007–8008 (top), and 4151a–b (bottom). Photographs by Javier Urcid; reproduced with permission.

over, Song 100-4 (10) stresses that the “mats,” the 260 feasts, were inherited from 1-Jaguar: y.yog y.lao chia becuana bechi tao y.taa, “The first writings sit there. Great Jaguar has handed down the mats.” Given their close association with the divinatory count, 1-Jaguar and 2-Field are the Zapotec counterparts of the first diviner couple, known to the Nahuas as Cipactonal and his wife, Ohxomoco, whose attributes as elderly day counters are depicted in various sources, including the Florentine Codex (fig. 5.2), and the Codex Borbonicus. The corpus includes one representation of 1-Jaguar, in Manual 37, which bears strong iconographic similarities with representations of Cipactonal as a maize-casting diviner.23 As figure 5.2 shows, in Manual 37, a divine being (on the left) whose body or cloak is divided into seven sections appears next to an array of seventeen circles, divided into rows of four and one, as if they had been cast into the air; these would represent 1-Jaguar’s maize grains for divination. The square that encloses him is quixi yacquechi tao huitzila, “the wildlands of 1-Jaguar the Great, the Diviner,” an annotation which Manual 2 echoed by designating Day 14, 1-Jaguar, as leto quiag que b[eta]o huichila, “next to the moun145

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 5.2. (top) 1-Jaguar in Manual 37. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 708r. (bottom) Cipactonal and Ohxomoco. Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Ms. Med. Palat. 218, 246v. By permission from MiBACT. Any subsequent reproduction by any means is forbidden.

tain of Deity Diviner.” Manual 37, however, does not explicitly pair 1-Jaguar with 2-Field. Instead, as 1-Jaguar’s companions, the artist drew a depiction of two sacred beings associated with Huichana. To the right of 1-Jaguar in figure 5.2, a rectangle encloses two faceless figures who bear the number “7” on their bodies, and this number echoes the seven lines on 1-Jaguar’s torso. These two unnamed beings are located in quixi huiichana, “the wildlands of Huichana.” As argued in chapter 3, the number seven was associated with ancestors, as many of them bore “7” as their calendrical name’s coefficient. The link between this number and ancestors was further stressed in a diagram entitled quixi y.tia, “Wilderness of Lineages,” in Manual 37, which depicted seven concentric circles divided by seven lines.24 A possible identification for 1-Jaguar’s companion(s) is made in a unique

146

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

cosmogonic statement placed after the 52-year list in Manual 76.25 This account, which defined obligations that bound Zapotecs to their deities and calendar, focuses on 7-Caiman of Underworld, an entity associated with the beginning of the count, and it also highlights the roles of Serpent 4-Earthquake, 1-Earthquake, 13-Soaproot, and 8-Snake: Nij betapa Biyee Zoo Roha nitao no leag Here are the four time periods. The entrances stand here, the largest ones,26 they of the enclosures. [Hand 1]: Dahaa eagc bilachila reho cabila quijtapa biyee. Naa toto daha [Hand 2]: eça yacgee zee Yebaa zoonao tzaa, zoonao Yela The mats, the flowers of our 7-Caiman from Underworld: the four time periods. Now, one by one, the mats. The cured tobacco27 of 1-Reed [Quetzalcoatl] is in the Sky. It accompanies28 the day, it accompanies the night. Nij Naca ditzaa benij quiYaa quichino. b[e]t[a]o huexia gona golag yela golatzaa goxoha xigoco b[e]t[a]o These are the words that the thirteen deities made in the reed field. The agreement29 about offerings30 was born in antiquity; it lay31 on the seat of the deities. benij chita tao Yoolana nee tze bee goq[ue] bila laxo lotee Yeçebia la Yeça: beo çee lea tao: 5-Death made the sacred bones near32 the seat of Spirit Ruler Serpent 4-Earthquake. The very roots: 13-Soaproot, called Flint; Moon 8-Snake; the Great Enclosures. gohui thine Yacgxoo benee belabaa biyee roa lanii Beçetag tzahui golequi tzahui Yetze lao Yoo ditza dia.33 The exchange, the debt34 of 1-Earthquake. People, count the periods, the entrances, the feasts. The words of the lineages arrived well, were placed well on Earth.

As this statement comes after the 52-year count, it is clear that what the Juquila authors designate metaphorically as “mats” and “flowers” are the periods in the year count. These “mats,” to be enumerated “one by one,” originated with 1-Reed (as discussed below, Quetzalcoatl) and Bilachila, 7- Caiman, an Underworld numen. There is strong evidence that Bilachila, an ambivalent calendrical name, must be read as 7-Caiman and not 10-Caiman. Sixteen days separate 10-Earthquake, Day 257, from 7-Caiman, Day 241. This interval thus coincides with the all-important 16-day cycle employed by Zapotecs to

147

re thinking z ap otec time

organize collective ritual labor.35 Moreover, Song 4:1 of Book 100 designates the intervals between two important feasts as quia bilachila quia bilaxoo cila, “Mountain of 7-Caiman, Mountain of 10-Earthquake of dawn.” Thus, according to Manual 76, 7-Caiman of Underworld is associated with the origin of the time periods. Song 8 of the Gonzalo songbook reveals the name of another important entity, 2-Face, who is 7-Caiman’s “younger brother”: 101- 8: 2 lanij quiolaoo golag bayo bilachila On the feast of 2-Face, the younger brother of 7-Caiman was born.

A third personage, 9-Caiman, is mentioned briefly in the next song, Song 9, which is devoted to goxono hui xene, “eight large illnesses.” After four spirit lords begin a journey, 9-Caiman is identified as one of them, an ancestor or “father” who has lost the way: 101- 9:1 tonaaza i.da bene yoho i.neza bezaa tapa be xohuana The dead scattered. The people are on the road: the cloud of the four spirits and lords. yochila bexoocica beniti laa i.neza Father 9-Caiman lost the name of the road.

While the corpus reveals no further details regarding 7-Caiman, 2-Face, and 9-Caiman, there was an important narrative in Postclassic Mesoamerica that focused on sacred beings who bear these calendrical names. In their reconstruction of genealogical accounts depicted in Building A at Cacaxtla, Urcid and Domínguez examine a lineage representing the “House of Earth” that lists the ruler and hail caster 7-Lizard as apical ancestor, followed by 2-Face in the second generation, and then by 9-Lizard, a diviner and sacrificer, in the third generation.36 Since in Cacaxtla the Lizard sign is equivalent to Caiman in the Zapotec 20-day sign system, it follows that both Cacaxtla and the Zapotec corpus stress the importance of 7-Caiman, 2-Face, and 9-Caiman as sacred beings. While there are notable differences, as the Zapotec 7-Caiman is associated with Underworld and his Cacaxtla counterpart with Earth, the recurrence of the three names in both traditions suggests that collective memories about these three sacred beings were rooted in Postclassic origin narratives in Central Mesoamerica. In particular, 2-Face was memorialized as a founding ancestor, as depicted in the Comaltepec/ Yachialag narrative that will be examined in chapter 6. 148

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

After 7-Caiman, Manual 76 turns to a cardinal tool in Mesoamerican ritual technology, lime-cured tobacco: queza or yeza in Zapotec, piciyetl in Nahuatl. Cured tobacco is identified as perpetual companion to the day count and the property of 1-Reed, the name under which Northern Zapotecs venerated the creator deity Quetzalcoatl. The next sentence reveals that the time periods were the very “words” the thirteen deities composed in a primeval space associated with foundational events in Mesoamerica: a reed field.37 Some of the principal sacred beings recur in other documents: as seen in the previous chapter, one of the cosmological trees in Manual 97 is associated with 13-Soaproot, and the lunar entity 8-Snake was propitiated in the ritual songs. This account also emphasizes the importance of Spirit Ruler Serpent 4-Earthquake, the creator serpent from Blood Lake whose actions echo the cosmogonic narrative in Borgia 30, as shown in chapter 4. In sum, the song corpus and Manuals 12, 37, and 76 emphasize three groups of sacred beings linked by lineage or as female–male couples. First in importance were quiyona, “The Three Ones,” the triad composed by male creator Cobechi, female creator and fertility deity Huichana, and Cobechi’s son Coxana. Then came the diviner couple 1-Jaguar and 2-Cornfield, equivalent to the Nahua couple Cipactonal and Ohxomoco. Finally, 7-Caiman represented an Underworld lineage associated with the divinatory count’s origin, which also included 7-Caiman’s younger brother, 2-Face, and possibly another ancestor, 9-Caiman.

t he me x ic a 1-r eed: a z a p o t ec qu e t z a l coa t l What happened to deities whose remembrance faded under colonial rule? This question may be addressed through an examination of Central Mexican deities Quetzalcoatl and Itztli or Itztapaltotec, whom colonial Zapotecs knew as 1-Reed, and Stone Shadow Flayer. In contrast with numerous references to Quetzalcoatl as “Feathered Serpent” in Central Mexico, Northern Zapotecs used that title for the creator serpent 4-Earthquake, as discussed above, and instead called Quetzalcoatl by his calendrical name, Yagque, 1-Reed. Quetzalcoatl-Yagque must not be confused with Yagquee, 1-Wind, the father of 7-Jaguar/Lizard, a divine bigana, or young attendant, who served as messenger between humans and deities. By referring to the creation of the “sacred bones” by 5-Death, Manual 76 depicts a Zapotec variant of a notable creation account that featured Quetzalcoatl in other Mesoamerican narratives. According to the Nahua Leyenda de los Soles, Quetzalcoatl went to Underworld to seize ancient bones from Mictlanteuctli, lord of the dead; after obtaining them, he and other deities performed a blood sacrifice over the ground bones to create the dough from 149

re thinking z ap otec time

which humankind would be made.38 Manual 76, however, diverges from this narrative, as it does not mention Quetzalcoatl and attributes the creation of “sacred bones” to 5-Death. This association is repeated in Song 100-11:3, which calls this divine being yalaan no beti be chita tao, “5-Death, he who endured, spirit of the sacred bones,” and credits 5-Death with the invention of burned offerings by stating, yalaana yalaana la xini yalana betao no godo bao dao, “5-Death, 5-Death, then, the child of 5-Death, the deity, he who brought the sacred burnt thing.” As for Zapotec songs, the first mention of Quetzalcoatl occurs in Song 100-5: 10 0 -5:6 zala pani yagque i.za cene xicue It is possible to light up the beam of 1-Reed; it goes diligently to one part [of a group].

The immediate context for the lighting of 1-Reed’s flame is given in the following verse: copeça na cotona be xeni cachi, “indeed, the messenger of the large and precious spirits awaited.” This messenger uses the flame as a signal to summon the ancestors back to Earth, but more mundanely, this verse refers to the burning of copal for the returning grandfathers. Another mention of Quetzalcoatl’s flame occurs in the Gonzalo songbook: 101-2:13 godee leyac leyac gueti beti yacque The torch passed by outside, outside: 1-Reed lasted.

Here, 1-Reed’s torch has a different meaning. As discussed in chapter  6, Song  2 summons tutelary entities who come bearing gifts of bead strings and leaves. The arrival of ancestor turtles is imminent, and the celebrants predict the arrival of 1-Reed, addressed and propitiated in Song 12. From a broader perspective, Quetzalcoatl’s light or torch in these two verses reminds celebrants of the cosmogonic role he played as fire bearer. As Borgia 46 shows, Quetzalcoatl, bedecked in a priest’s black body paint, entered the enclosure where a New Fire ceremony would take place, set himself in flames inside a boiling pot, and then drilled the new flame on the body of Xiuhteuctli, an action echoed by 9-Wind, the Mixtec denomination for Quetzalcoatl, in Codex Vienna 32.39 Zapotec specialists were acutely aware of the status of 1-Reed, who, even as a powerful creator deity, sacrificer, and priest, remained a foreigner. The acknowledgment of Quetzalcoatl’s origin is made transparently, in a passage

150

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

in Song 100-6 that also salutes 1-Reed’s Mixtec counterpart and the Mixtec solar deity: 10 0 - 6:4 Zochag lachi betao The hearts, the deities can be born; gochag lachi xohuana the hearts, the lords, were born. bitoog cohuichibi yagque xo cila He came down, their Mexica: 1-Reed, the ancestor of the East. bachiba noo yobi xohuana cocio bilala yaglana They were already up above, they who are honorable lords of the periods, 7-Night and 1-Death. bachiba noo yobi xohua betao que yolaa yaglana They were already up above, they who are Mixtec lords and deities of 9-Wind [Quetzalcoatl] and 1-Death [Sun].

This stanza confirms 1-Reed’s identity as a deity associated with MexicoTenochtitlan. Since he is called cohuichi, “Mexica,” and “ancestor of the East,” this 1-Reed must be Quetzalcoatl, although one associated with the Mexica state and not with the preconquest pilgrimage site of Cholula. The next two verses deploy two near-homophones as sacred rhetoric. The first one, written yobi, refers to the “honorable” or “Mixtec” lords 7-Night and 1-Death. The second one, also written yobi, is ambiguous: it appears to be a variant of yohui, “Mixtec,” as it is followed by the Mixtec names of two important deities, or it may repeat the term “honorable.”40 The first deity named is Quetzalcoatl, identified by his Mixtec calendrical name, 9-Wind. The second is the solar deity 1-Death, or Iya Camaa in Mixtec.41 The next reference addresses Quetzalcoatl’s role as priest and sacrificer. Song 9:1 of the Vargas-Lopes book reveals two linkages between time and cosmological realms. The first one locates 6-Face and 7-Caiman, days 240– 241: ba quiag lao zo lachi yego dee, “First Mountain is already there: the heart of Ash River.” Yego Dee, Ash River, resembles the name for the West among the Mixtecs, Yaa Yuta, River of Ashes.42 In the Zapotec songs, Ash River, also called Yego Xia, River of Fate, is the location by the First Palace where lichi betao, “the houses of the deities,” are located, an assertion repeated in 100-5:1 and 5:2. Its name forms a pair with Yaa Tee Golaza, Ash Hill of Ancient Times, as

151

re thinking z ap otec time

it is called in 101-5:1, another location that is summoned to Earth as the place of residence of tee teye, “the ashes, the grandparents.” This is also the name of Yatee, a town near Lachirioag where these songs may have been performed. The second time–space correlation links the cycle-renewing feast of 10Knot to 11-Monkey, Days 10–11, with Quete Dao, Great Depth, where Quetzalcoatl’s house stands: 10 0 - 9:1 quijna laa quete dao chia lachi yego xia The field called Great Depth sits at the heart of River of Fate. lichi betao niga yagque yaci quitag xo huego goxicha be Here is the house of Black 1-Reed; the reed mat of the ancestor sacrificer and strong spirit.

The stanza locates three important cosmological sites before identifying Quetzalcoatl’s house. Quiag Lao, First Mountain, a location ruled by Huichana (see 100-5:1), is located next to Yego Dee, Ash River, also Yego Xia, River of Fate. The verses above note that a field named Quete Dao, Great Depth, is placed at the middle of River of Fate, and that 1-Reed’s house is located at Great Depth. This stanza also documents Quetzalcoatl’s bodily appearance. As depicted in Borgia 33’s temple scene and the New Fire’s lighting in Borgia 46, 1-Reed wears a priest’s black body paint. Furthermore, the above verses bestow on the Mexica Quetzalcoatl the title of xo huego, “ancestor sacrificer,” a denomination usually given to turtleshaped ancestors, as chapter 6 will demonstrate. Indeed, 1-Reed has a close affinity with Zapotec sacred beings, as Song 100-9 lists him as peer of the Caxonos tutelary entities 3-Reed and 11-Knot: 101- 9:3 gozaa lohui yagque.i yagniza yeeola eedela lag gaa queche You! Let blood out for 1-Reed, 1-Water, 3-Reed, and 11-Knot; the portions of the nine towns.

Thus, Zapotecs were instructed to perform blood sacrifice for their own deities, and also for the foreign Quetzalcoatl. These songs’ reverence for Quetzalcoatl derives from a deep understanding of 1-Reed’s role as priest and sacrificer. Thus, Song 101-12 states: 101-12:3 dicha goxonoe yagque ni gohui quela The word of the Eight, of this 1-Reed, the exchange, the custom; 152

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

beegalae xo yaeche yao yoo the dream of the ancestors, the temple of stone of Earth.

This phrase states that the custom and beegalae xo, “dream of the ancestors” (literally, “their dreams, of the ancestors”), not only belong to Caxonos Zapotecs, called goxono, “the Eight,” but are also Quetzalcoatl’s words as originator of priestly practices, as depicted in the Codex Borgia.

t he z a p o t ec i t z t l i Several sources suggest a link between Mictlanteuctli, Lord of Underworld, and the deities known as Itztli, Obsidian Blade, or Itztapaltotec, Our Lord the Flat Obsidian Stone.43 Itztli was depicted as an anthropomorphic obsidian blade in several almanacs, including Fejérváry-Mayer 1, where he appears with Piltzinteuctli on the East, and in Borbonicus 20. The Zapotec songs propitiate a deity who, like Itztli, is a sacrificial knife. His name did not include the term for obsidian, xche’e beljw, “star excrement,” 44 but features a compound that may metaphorically designate this stone: Bala Yao Hueda, “Stone Shadow Flayer.” This name derives from bala, Northern Zapotec equivalent of pallàa, “shadow”; yao, “stone, metal”; and the agentive noun hue-da, “flayer.” 45 Hence, the Zapotec obsidian deity’s name denotes flaying, as does the name of Central Mexican deity Xipe Totec, Our Lord, the Flayed One. Stone Shadow, like Xipe, is identified as a deceased deity in 101-8:3: ni godi hueda, “this dead Flayer.” Bala Yao Hueda is mentioned only as Songbook 101 discusses sacrifice. Stanza 2:3 asserts that three Caxonos Zapotec ancestors are growing “thin” due to lack of offerings, and suggests Bala Yao will execute sacrifices for them. Bala is mentioned again as he imbibes alcohol, but is not mobilized as sacrificer until stanza 3:1, as yoo bego, a house of turtle-shaped ancestors, approaches Earth. As sacrificer, baila yoho, “Bala is inside” this house. Two verses in 1013:1 and 3:6 clarify Stone Shadow’s identity and links to Underworld: 101-3:1 yoo bego i.niga za yoo i.yego This house of turtles goes to the house and river; baila yooho leni quiba huichaa chacha [Stone] Shadow is inside, and the knife of Huechaa will be untied: Bala yao hueda lai la betao yoo goti Stone Shadow Flayer is his name then, the deity of the House of the Dead . . . 153

re thinking z ap otec time

101-3:6 bee lachi dao bala yao hueda lai la bedao yoho quidi The spirit, the great heart, Stone Shadow Flayer is his name then, the deity of the House of Skins.

These two phrases depict Stone Shadow as the sacrificial knife of Huechaa, a nocturnal deity and specialist. The names Yoo Goti, House of the Dead, and Yoho Quidi, House of Skins, emphasize Stone Shadow’s status as Underworld deity associated with death and flaying.46 Stone Shadow’s abilities are further emphasized in Song 6, as he enters a palace in the guise of a nine-deity group: 101- 6:3 goyaci betao go bala i.bala i.beyato quehue betapa xohuana The deities, the Nine [Stone] Shadows, the Shadows, entered the Palace of Four Lords from both sides.

Lastly, stanza 7:2 serves as confirmation of Stone Shadow’s cardinal role as sacrificer, as he provides blood offerings as sustenance to deities: 101-7: 2 bala yohui quicha betao bala yohui quicha bexoci [Stone] Shadow will give riches to the deities; Shadow will give riches to the fathers.

dei t ies a nd c ycl e-r ene w ing fe a s t s in t he z a p o t ec b o ok s a nd c ode x b orgi a 2 5 –26 Chapter 4 analyzed several convergences between the manuals and the Codex Borgia regarding cosmogonic accounts, and also in terms of 16-day cycles. There also exist important parallels between Zapotec protocols that began on 10-Earthquake, Day 257, and the Codex Borgia. Borgia 25 depicts 10-Movement and the first sixteen days of the count, and Borgia 26 presents day signs in a pattern that focuses on Days 9–12, 9-Water to 12-Grass. This section explores patterns, dates, and deities associated with cycle-renewing observances at the end and beginning of the Zapotec count, and employs this evidence to propose a novel understanding of Borgia 25 and 26.47 The feast of 10-Movement, equivalent to 10-Earthquake in the Zapotec calendar, is emphasized in two well-known illustrations: Borgia 25 (fig. 5.3) and a version of Borgia 25 in Codex Vaticanus B 70. Both are unusual, as indi-

154

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

figure 5.3. Codex Borgia 25. After Loubat 1898, image in the public domain. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

vidual pages in almanacs infrequently showcase a single date. Nonetheless, both illustrations bear the same design: 10-Movement surrounded by four deities. The reading order is noteworthy: all twenty day signs appear, but in a highly unusual order. The artist placed 10-Movement, Day 257, at the center. One must circle around it in a counterclockwise direction to track the end of the 260-day count—[11]-Flint on the left row, [12]-Rain on the lower row, [13]-Flower on the right row, and [1]-Caiman on the upper row. One’s eyes must then move, counterclockwise, to the remaining three signs in each row, moving away from the center, and going down the left, lower, right, and upper rows until one lands on [13]-Reed atop the upper row. Lastly, one sprints from this sign to Days 14–16, [1]-Jaguar to [3]-Vulture, on the upper left corner. Seler held that these date patterns were tools for calculating Venus’s cycle, and that its four deities stood as Venus’s “guardians.” Several Central Mexi-

155

re thinking z ap otec time

can and Maya divinatory books depict date and number patterns to assist in the calculation of Venus’s synodal cycle, which lasts about 584 days; moreover, five Venus revolutions correspond to eight 365-day years. Seler proposed that Borgia 25 and Vaticanus B 70 depicted a version of the following calculation: if the first day of Venus’s first synodal cycle falls on a Caiman day, the first days of the second through fifth synodal cycles may fall on day signs four positions apart, and thus Caiman would be followed by the fifth (Snake), ninth (Water), thirteenth (Reed), and seventeenth (Movement) day signs as first synodal dates. However, Seler’s hypothesis does not account fully for the sign–deity associations in Borgia 25. While 10-Movement has pride of place, four red lines connect deities to signs. Xipe Totec is linked to [2]-Wind, Tlaloc to [5]-Snake, the deity of the East with the mouth assemblage to [9]-Water, and Mixcoatl with [11]-Monkey. Thus, Movement, Snake, and Water support Seler’s Venus hypothesis, but Wind and Monkey do not. Hence, Seler’s reading of Venus imagery in the Codex Borgia has been criticized. Karl Nowotny chose not to incorporate many of Seler’s interpretations in his work. Bruce Byland discounted Seler’s explanation, and analyzed Borgia 25 as depicting four deities and cardinal directions. Anders and his co-authors proposed that Borgia 25’s stress on 10-Movement highlighted its meaning as a day for solar worship and sacrifice, as this date fell twenty days before 4-Movement, the name of the solar deity in the latest creation. More recently, Ana Díaz Álvarez noted inconsistencies regarding some of Seler’s calculations of Venus cycles.48 Moving beyond Seler, Aveni and Bricker presented calculations that propose how Borgia 25 could have been used to find, or correct for, the first day in Venus’s synodal cycle. Aveni suggested that the focus on 10-Movement reflects a four-day correction, the interval between this date and 1-Caiman, analogous to one that amends Venus calculations in the Maya Codex Dresden.49 Bricker argued that Borgia 25 predicted the heliacal rise of Venus, and suggested that, beginning with a heliacal rise on July 17, 1382 (Gregorian), Day 13-Flower, the remaining signs corresponding to four successive heliacal rises could be found by searching Borgia 25’s four rows and upper-left compartment. Bricker also noted that this method was accurate until 1417, thus providing a potential date for Borgia’s production.50 On the other hand, Seler’s identification of Borgia 25’s four deities endured, with one exception (fig. 5.3). He argued they were, from lower left and counterclockwise, Xipe Totec (West), Tlaloc (South), a solar deity (East), and Mixcoatl (North). Except for Xipe, these deities carry spears and spear throwers: as is well known, deities in other codices explicitly linked to Venus are shown with spears.51 The third deity’s “mouth assemblage,” which includes a serpent, flints, and a knot, is in fact similar to assemblages worn by two

156

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

Mixtec lords: 4-Snake in the Codex Zouche-Nuttall, and the same personage joined by Lord 7-Snake in Codex Vienna.52 As discussed in chapter 6, two female Zapotec specialists in Noriega Stela 1 are also depicted wearing mouth assemblages, which in that case feature tied bands. The interpretation proposed below does not exclude the aforementioned analyses, as Borgia 25 might have implications for the calculation of Venus’s cycles. My reading departs from a simple premise: that the decision in Borgia 25 to highlight 10-Earthquake and link four deities with four day signs should be understood as a construct whose significance rests on the position of these signs in the count. Evidence from Zapotec manuals suggests that the depiction of deities, day sign sequence, and central emphasis on 10-Movement in Borgia 25 could be a reminder of important protocols carried out for deities as the mantic count ended and began again. This reading rests on four crucial components of Borgia 25: the central role played by 10-Movement; a cycle that begins on Day 257 (10-Movement) and ends with Day 16 in the next 260-day count (3-Vulture); a reference to four important deities; and an explicit link between important deities and crucial dates during the first trecena of the 260-day cycle. While 10-Movement dominates Borgia 25, and is part of the footprint cycle in Borgia 7, Northern Zapotecs performed an important ceremony on bilaxoo, 10-Earthquake. As discussed earlier in this chapter, on this day celebrants offered copal to Gohuecha, Day Giver—a reference to solar deity Cobicha—worshiped Quetzalcoatl as Yagquee (1-Reed), and cleared the way for a new 260-day count by singing, chinoa la noalanedo bio bichao, “the names eternal we secretly carry were placed [on the road], and grew.” The association of 10-Movement with renewal was linked explicitly to loss of energy and heat as the cycle came to an end. Several manuals used the verb -yala, “to cool down.”53 Manual 11 stated that on 10-Movement, ni tiyeyaglag dao lanii, “here, there is a great cooling down of the feasts,” while Manuals 12, 14 and 15 indicate that on 11-Dew, the following day, yeeyalag dao lani, “the feasts will have a great cooling down,” and Manual 57 noted, beyalag lani, “the feasts cooled down.” Such concerns fit well with recurrent preoccupations in Mesoamerica about maintaining the cosmological order when 365-day years and 52-year periods ended. 10-Movement was also the starting point of observances on behalf of several deities who had framed the cosmological order. As Gabriel Pablo of Yaxila wrote in Manual 97, bilaxo çola guibaba xoa beçi lea taa, “On 10-Earthquake, one begins to count the lords who named54 the enclosures and mats” (fig. 5.4). Here, Pablo referred to the very process of naming cosmological regions, or “enclosures,” and the 260 days, called “mats” in Manual 76. Manuals 53, 54, 94, and 97 directed specialists to propitiate deities in a

157

Manual 53, 1098r huichana gobechi dao Huichana, Great Gobechi

[7 circles: Day 16]

huacha b[i]t[a]o huacha benehati [5 circles: Day 9] Huachaa of children, Huachaa of the people bedao eci b[i]t[a]o bedao eci benehati [4 circles: Day 4] Deity Eci of children; Deity Eci of the people gobicha yaba becelao gabila [3 circles: Day 260] Gobicha of Sky, Becelao of Underworld bedao huehe ni llayee Sacred Deity Huehe

[1 circle: Day 257]

billaxoho zolao ybaua chepila On 10-Earthquake, one begins to count going up Manual 97, 1549v gachi tza beoni yetze neati In seven days, the towns of humankind emerged

[8 circles instead of 7: Day 17]

to tza bea cani betao [1 circle: Day 10] One day, the opportune time of the deity tochi biguinag guia yego [5 circles: Day 9] They answer, the mountains and rivers that were muzzled taa be xoah ttola Mat of spirits and lords of the guilt

[4 circles: Day 4]

gaini goxogo ta [3 circles: Day 260] The mats were given payment for free bilaxo çola guibaba xoa beçi lea taa On 10-Earthquake, one begins to count the lords who named the enclosures and mats Manual 94, 1527r gaynij goxoho taa The mats were strong in vain

[4 circles: Day 4]

tochij biquina yesa [4 circles: Day 8] He/she answers, he/she who was muzzled with flint to tzaha beyeni bedao One day that the deities made

[1 circle: Day 9]

gachii tzaaha bea yetse beneati [7 circles: Day 16] In seven days, the arrangement of the towns of humankind

figure 5.4. Deity sequence after 10-Movement. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1098r, 1527r, 1549v.

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

feast sequence that began on 10-Movement, as indicated by a progression of circles noting day intervals. These are ascending circle series: 1–3–4–5–7 from bottom to top in 53 and 54; 3–4–5–1–7 from left to right in 97; and 4–4– 1–7 from top to bottom in 94, which begins not on 10-Movement, but on 1-Caiman.55 In contrast to other diagrams, here these circles represent days, not divine lords. This fact is emphasized by annotations in Manuals 54 and 97 that designate one circle as to tza, “one day,” and seven as gachi tza, “seven days.” Moreover, the circles in Manuals 53 and 54 indicate that offerings are made on 4-Lizard to divination deity Eci, an instruction echoed by Manuals 13 and 37. In Manual 53, the count begins on 10-Earthquake with Bedao Huehe, Deity of Illness,56 and moves three days to 13-Reed, which belongs to sun deity Gobicha, Lord of Sky, and Becelao, Lord of Underworld. Four days later, on 4-Lizard, Eci was worshiped by children and adults. On 9-Water, Huechaa was propitiated by children and adults. Finally, seven days later, on Day 16, 3-Eye (3-Vulture in the Borgia), two creator deities were worshiped: Huichana and Cobechi.57 Manuals 97 and 94 describe offerings and landscapes, and have similar but not identical day intervals. While 97 follows a 3–4–5–1–7 pattern from left to right, 94 records 4–4–1–7 intervals top to bottom. Three days after 10-Movement, on 13-Reed, Manual 97 states that an offering will be given without expectation of benefit, as “the mats,” or days in the count, “were given payment for free.” Manual 94 places a variation of this observation on 1- Caiman as gaynij goxoho taa, “the mat was strong58 in vain.” Four days later, Manual 97’s protocol lands on 4-Lizard, a date corresponding to taa be xoah ttola, “the mat of spirits and lords of guilt.” Five days further, an extraordinary annotation in Manual 97 aligns deities and dates with Seler’s muzzled Eastern deity in Borgia 25. A phrase reveals that, on 9-Water, tochi biguinag guia yego, “they answer, the mountain and river that were muzzled.” Here, -guina- is a reflex of the Valley Zapotec verb -quiña-, glossed as “for me to put it across, to take it or have it . . . as a muzzle,” and “to carry a stick or bone in one’s mouth, like a dog.”59 A couplet used here, “mountain and river,” designates divine beings, for this couplet is still used by contemporary specialists, who call sacred beings bene yaa bene yego, “people of mountains, people of rivers.” It is astounding that the Manual 97 annotation coincides with [9]-Water, the date associated with the muzzled Eastern deity in Borgia 25, and also describes a sacred being who is muzzled. Another note on Manual 94 confi rms that other specialists also described a muzzled sacred being. In exact parallel to the main component in the Eastern deity’s mouth assemblage, this note indicates that an unnamed entity was muzzled with flint stones: tochij biquina yesa, “He/she answers, he/ she who was muzzled with flint,”60 although it places the event on 8-Rabbit.

159

re thinking z ap otec time

A day later, Manual 97 calls 10-Knot to tza bea cani betao, “one day, the opportune time61 of the deity,” while 94 labels 9-Water to tzaha beyeni bedao, “one day that deities made.” Finally, Manual 97 designates a seven-day period62 ending on Day 17, 4-Earthquake, as gachi tza beoni yetze neati, “in seven days, the towns of humankind emerged.”63 The corresponding statement in 97 partially concurs by stating that gachii tzaaha bea yetse beneati, “in seven days, the arrangement of the towns of humankind.”64 As noted previously, Manual 11 (see plate 4) deploys an ascending pattern of six circle rows, 1–2–3–4–5–7, that resembles the day patterns in Manuals 53 and 54. However, in Manual 11 this formation designates not days, but divine lords. A statement reads, xua laci yaba ledo yeche layoo, “the lords of a portion of Sky are next to Earth.” The note’s placement indicates that it refers to the twenty-two circles above, each of them a xua, “lord.” This array, divided into six tiers, lines up with the Earth House quincunx and with the first four levels above Earth.65 If one remembers that Zapotec time–space, as discussed in chapter  4, travels from House of Earth upward starting on Day  1 of the count, then it follows that the Manual 11 arrangement aligns lords with particular days at the beginning of the count: Rows 1 (one lord) and 2 (two lords) align with the House of Earth quincunx (Days 1–5); Row 3 (three lords) with Day 6, level 1 above Earth; Row 4 (four lords) with Day 7, level 2; Row 5 (five lords) with Day 8, level 3; and Row 6 (seven lords) with Day 9, level 4. Hence, like Manuals 53, 54, 94, and 97, Manual 11 links lords, albeit unnamed ones, with the count’s first days. The task of renewing the 260-day count as it began was arduous, as reflected by provisions made in eight manuals (table 5.2). Manual 85-1 described the progression of feast days at the cycle’s beginning as bechilla beza, “the boundary came down,”66 and betachi belani, “they were suckled and sustained.”67 A consensus emerges on certain deities and feasts. On 1-Caiman, Ruler 1-Caiman and the thirteen deities were celebrated; 2-Wind was for Huechaa; 4-Lizard was for Eci, and also for offerings from bene roni huina, “people who heal”;68 5-Snake belonged to Gozobi and Huechaa; 6-Death was for Golana, deity of hunger; 7-Deer went to Huichana and Cobechi; 9-Water was for Huichana and Cobechi; 11-Monkey was for People of Hill Slope and Huechaa; and 13-Reed belonged to Deity Thirteen, 1-Caiman, and Cobechi. Some annotations indicate that these deities y.ne, “are calling,”69 for offerings, along with gochate, “humid lands,”70 ponds regarded as sacred. Another circuit involving the first trecena’s day signs appeared in Borgia 26. Like Borgia 25, Borgia 26 is dominated by a square (fig. 5.5). In Borgia 26 this square, occupied by a skull and bones, is surrounded by the twenty day signs and four dead deities bundled like corpses, their eyes closed. Seler interpreted Borgia 25 and 26 in tandem: while 25 alluded to the guardians

160

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

figure 5.5. Codex Borgia 26. After Loubat 1898, image in the public domain. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

of Venus on the East, 26 referenced their counterparts on the West, shown as dead deities in allusion to Venus’s disappearance from the sky during its cycle. Seler interpreted the Borgia 26 deities, from the right and counterclockwise, as Chalchihuitl Icue on the East, Mixcoatl on the North, Xochipilli on the West, and a night deity on the South.71 The ordering of day signs in Borgia 26 is peculiar. Four signs are aligned with each side of the central square, and four more signs appear on each corner of the square. The reading order begins with signs 1–4 on the right cells and signs 5–8 on the top cells. Then, starting on the right corner, one circles counterclockwise to find [9]-Water, [10]-Dog, [11]-Monkey, and [12]-Grass. Finally, the sequence resumes with signs 13–16 on the left cells, and signs 17–20 on the lower cells. As in Borgia  25, Borgia 26 selects a subset of four day signs, and aligns them with four deities.

161

table 5.2. Sacred beings propitiated during the first trecena

Feast

Manual 1 Lachirioag (details in table 5.4)

1-Caiman

1-Soaproot

huacha quia . . . Huachaa Mountain. . .

2-Wind

4 lords. 1-Soaproot

huacha niattii Huachaa of the people

huetzaha betao huetzaha neathii 5 cantela rina Deity Huachaa. Huachaa of the people wants four candles

huachaa betao Deity Huachaa

3-Night

Dead lords. Huee gives

b[e]t[a]o see neati. . .y.ne gosobi y.ne Deity 8-Snake of the people. ? . . . is calling; Gozobi is calling.

yagtao quetze 1 responso Great Tree of the town, one prayer for the dead

huachaa neeti Huachaa of the people

betao eetzi 4 cantela Deity Eci, four candles

bedo eci Deity Eci

Manual 3, 218r–v Lachirioag

4-Lizard

Manual 13, 394r–v Roayaga

Manual 37, 709r Reagui ya ytzino b[e]t[a]o Hill of 13 Deities

5-Snake

Deity 13, Cobechi, 10-Face, 8/11Deer, Gozobi, Huachaa, Lord of Women

gosobbia gane Gozobi and ?-Soaproot will speak

huitza lani beniathii–5 cantela Feast of Huachaa of the people, 5 candles

bene ya tini People of Hill Slope

6-Death

Golana

xilapyesobi yne People of Hill Slope. 13-Soaproot is calling

huetzaha betao huetzaha beneatii 7 cantela Deity Huachaa, Huachaa of people. 7 candles

yactao catee Great Tree, up to here (see CO-214v, 333v)

10-Knot

11-Monkey

Dead lords

12-Soaproot

yagtao que ce yagta xotaodeho tao cadee yne Great Tree . . . , Great Tree of our ancestors, Great Tree up to here is speaking

nia queça The end of cured tobacco

13-Reed

bedao ychiino o gobechi Deity 13, Deity Gobechi

ata eci ata caa ya ytzino b[e]t[a]o Dead Eci, Dead 9, Hill of Deity 13

Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

Manual 47-2 Manual 37, 710r Reagui Yatee/Zoogocho

Manual 53, day count, Yatee/Zoogocho

Manual 54, day count, Manual 85-1 Yatee/Zoogocho Tiltepec

cochac yela yohui bet[ao] ezi ceyac cabi The payment was born. Deity Eci is going to Underworld

ni cue que yogote neha Here, a piece for all now

ni cue que naha Here, a piece now

quiya quichino betao Mountain of Deity 13

naba One requests

huacha b[e]t[a]o huacha neeti 9 13 Deity Huachaa, Huachaa of people. 9, 13

bidelaha bichonatij reho naca lanin We were overtaken and caught (CO-90v). Here is one of the feasts

bene yatini 5-11 People of Hill Slope: 5, 11

cue yeri gona que yela nabani A piece of a candle offering for life

ni cue yeri gona que yela nabani Here, a piece of a candle offering for life

ni cue que bedao eci yeri gona Here, a piece for Deity Eci, a candle offering

ni cue que bedao eci yeri gona Here, a piece for Deity Eci, a candle offering

ni cue que goque yagchila leni xonaxi hualachi Here, a piece for Ruler 1-Caiman and Lady from the town.

ni cue que goque yagchila Here, a piece for Ruler 1-Caiman

cobicha Becelao queza lahui 13 Cobicha, Becelao. cured tobacco of the community, 13

quiya quichino betao Mountain of Deity 13

nabani naaa Life, now

ni cue quie b[e]t[a] o eci Here, a piece for Deity Eci

naba One requests

naba One requests

re thinking z ap otec time

table 5.3. Pairings of day signs and deities in Codex Borgia 25 and 26, along with the Zapotec manuals

Feast

Codex Borgia 25

Codex Borgia 26

Manuals 1, 53, 54, 94, 97

Songbooks 100, 101

Other manuals

Day 257: 10-Movement/ Earthquake

Center

Deity Huehe (53, 54)

Song 11: Custom of 10-Earthquake (101)

Feasts “cool down” (11, 12, 14, 15, 57)

Day 2: 2-Wind

Xipe Totec

Four Lords will come down; 1-Soaproot (1)

Exchange of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit (100)

Huachaa (3, 13, 37)

Day 5: 5-Snake

Tlaloc

Deity 13, Cobechi, 10-Face, 8/11Deer, Gozobi, Huachaa (1); Field of the Burial (94)

Exchange of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit (100)

Gozobi, 1-Soaproot (3); Huachaa (13); People of Hill Slope (37)

Center

Golana (1)

Exchange of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit (100)

Golana (3); Payment was born (13, 37); Death (85-1)

Xochipilli and illness, NW direction

“Muzzled” (97) or “muzzled with flint” (94, 8-Rabbit); Huachaa (53, 54); 11-Water (1)

Feast of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey (100)

Huichana, Cobechi (13); Mountain of Deity 13 (37)

Night deity and illness, SW direction

Opportune time of the deity (97)

Feast of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey (100)

Stone Shadow (3); Huachaa (37)

Feast of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey (100)

People of Hill Slope (3, 37) 13-Soaproot (2); Huachaa (13)

Day 6: 6-Death

Day 9: 9-Water

Entity with knot and flint mouth assemblage

Day 10: 10-Dog/Knot Day 11: 11-Monkey

Day 12: 12-Grass/ Soaproot

Mixcoatl

Chalchihuitl Icue and illness, SE direction Mixcoatl and illness, NE direction

Cobicha, Becelao (37); Deity Eci (47-2, 53, 54)

In agreement with Seler’s proposal, the pairings would be [9]-Water and Xochipilli; [10]-Dog and the night deity; [11]-Monkey and Chalchihuitl Icue; and [12]-Grass and Mixcoatl. A comparison of the Zapotec first-trecena celebrations with the dates highlighted in Borgia 25 and 26 show noteworthy correspondences, as is evident in table 5.3. Manual  1 states that, on 2-Wind, the day associated with 166

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

the first of four deities in Borgia 25, “four lords will come in.” This manual then links 5-Snake, the date Borgia 25 associates to several Zapotec deities, including Gozobi. 9-Water is also linked to a muzzled entity in Borgia 25 and Manual 97, but Manual 94 is off by a day (8-Rabbit). Both Borgia 26 and Songbook 100 emphasize four consecutive feasts at the beginning of the count, and these two cycles differ only by one day. While Borgia 26 highlights [9]-Water, [10]-Dog, [11]-Monkey, and [12]-Grass on each corner of a square on its center, Songbook 100 provides a detailed offering sequence for the dates 8-Rabbit, 9-Water, 10-Dog, and 11-Monkey. In addition, both Borgia 26 and Manual 13 align a nocturnal deity with 11-Monkey. While the Borgia deity’s identity is uncertain, the Zapotec counterpart is the “night spirit” Huechaa. Lastly, next to sixteen circles, Manual 78 decrees, xoha lapi yologniça cola quibaba, “lords will go up on 9-Water: it was visible, one will count.” Besides the various deities counted from 10-Movement and 1-Caiman onward, Juan de Santiago of Yagneri, author of Manual 94, and the anonymous author of Manual 53 documented another important protocol: the counting of pairs of lords from 1-Caiman onward (fig. 5.6). Santiago registered two separate counts: ten xohoa bixehag, “lords who were supine,”72 counted along with ten other xohoa gosag, “lords who left”; while ten other pairs were xoha xia bee galibiy, “lords of fate, spirits that will be set in place.”73 Hence, four entities were acknowledged on each of the count’s first ten days, totaling forty lords.74 Manual 53, however, lists two sets of six lord pairs. The first six pairs were xana bataza yepila, “lords who are fi xed in position going up” 75 from 1- Caiman onward. The second six pairs, “people who quarreled over the debts,” were acknowledged as the count descended to Underworld, for these pairs were “fi xed in place going down.” Manual 53 also listed seven lords resembling the seven-lord cycle (see chapter 4), as both cycles started on 1- Caiman. This count was entitled xua xiquia, “lords of the debts,” and contained “lords who started first” and bene godilag xiquia chono xua, “people who quarreled over the debts, a few76 lords.”77 Lastly, Manual 97 indicated a compliance that began on 9-Water. The diagram instructed daykeepers to count from 9-Water onward eleven days, or “the time count of life,” along with another nine days called “the white time count.” The encyclopedic Manual 1 possesses the most complete set of annotations about the 260-feasts in the colonial Mesoamerican corpus (fig. 5.7). According to his November 18, 1704, confession, the Lachirioag nobleman don Juan Martín obtained Manual 1 circa 1702 from an unnamed deceased Solaga specialist. This man was probably Juan Martín the Elder, a renowned specialist already dead by 1704, according to Solaga’s confession.78 Table 5.4 lists Manual 1’s dense instructions for the count’s first eighteen days, placed in the cosmos. 167

Manual 94, 1525r [10-circle row]

[10-circle row]

xohoa bixehag Lords who were supine

xohoa gosag Lords who left

yagchila solao quibaba One begins to count on 1-Caiman

Manual 94, 1526v yagchila solao niga solao xoha xoha xia bee galibiy It begins on 1-Caiman. Lords begin here, lords of fate, spirits that will be set in place. [10-circle row]

[10-circle row]

Manual 53, 1099v [6-circle row] [6-circle row] que xana bataza yepila . . . Lords who are fi xed in position going up [quincunx] yagchila zolao chepila ibaua On 1-Caiman, one begins to go up and count . . . que bene godilag xiquia taza yetag lla . . . People who quarreled over the debts. They are fi xed in place going down [6-circle row] [6-circle row] xua xiquia Lords of the debts [3 circles] [1 circle] que bene godilag xiquia chono xua People who quarreled over the debts, a few lords [3 circles] que xana bazolao nero Lords who started first yagchila zolao chepila ibaua xua xiquia On 1-Caiman, one begins to go up and count the lords of the debts

figure 5.6. Pairs of six and ten lords counted from 1-Caiman onward. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1099v, 1525r, 1526v.

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

figure 5.7. Manual 1. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 160r.

m ajor c el ebr a t ions a nd augu r ie s in t he 26 0 -day c ou n t Betao Eci, a deity, like Tezcatlipoca, associated with divination, was worshiped frequently. Eci’s leading feast fell on Day 251, 4-Monkey, according to Manuals 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 31, and 32. On the other hand, Manuals 31, 32, 47-2, 53, 57, 70, and 85-1 recorded a complex schedule for Eci with intervals of 20, 24, and 52 days.79 For Day 17, 4-Earthquake, Manual 81 emphasized the antiquity of creator serpent 4-Earthquake by noting golagti huea laye, “the broken one, the sacred one, was born.”80 There was a consensus on some festivities. On 9-Caiman to 11-Night, Days 61–63, words “were born” and then left, and this feast was associated with the ancestor 9-Caiman, discussed in chapter 4. 4-Wind, Day 82, was the “eternal day,” and 6-Jaguar/7-Field, Days 214– 215, was devoted to ancestral “fathers, mothers.” Other observances are listed in table 5.5. Daykeepers designated propitious and unpropitious dates with several labels. Table 5.6 summarizes dates marked as significant in three or more 169

table 5.4. Instructions for Days 1–18 of the 260-day count in Manual 1 HOUSE OF EARTH 3-Night: Place of Weaving; old period; the dead lords; the tree will be going straight; it will be valuable; Huee gives. Tiempo sits here. The feasts reside, are placed on Earth. It is when seeds will be lost; illness. Holes will never be dug.

2-Wind: Place of Harvest; old period; give to the town(s); good things will come in; the roots of the ceiba of the deities; the four lords will come in; offering for 1-Soaproot; next to the mat of illness.

4-Lizard: Place of Cane; give to the town(s); one does not give everything one has for the ancestors; one will request; men give for the debts they owe.

1-Caiman: Poor Place; old period; Great Lexee; give to the town(s); next to where the ceiba stands; next to a piece of an offering for 1-Soaproot; everyone has received excessively; make someone fight.

LEVEL 1

6-Death: Place of Harvest; give to the palaces everything one has for Golana; everything one has for the river that goes next to the mat, next to one; young period.

LEVEL 2

7-Deer: Place of Weaving; do not give everything to the palaces; young period; the lord of women sits here. Now, present the vow to Deity [of illness] Huee.

LEVEL 3

8-Rabbit: Place of Cane; Great Lexee; next to where the tree stands; next to a section of Reed Field; not everything one has for the jewel; give to the palaces; tiempo arrived here. The heat of women is here, the feast; their ten will be spent; people give vows, there is an accounting of vows; the small trees and large trees give. All these feasts are placed on the road; young period.

5-Snake: Poor Place; give to the palaces; old period; everything one has for Deity Thirteen, for Deity Cobechi; everything one has for 10-Face, 8/11-Deer, for Gozobi. The vow of Deity Huechaa, Huechaa of the people, will enter. Here sits the lord of women.

table 5.4. (continued)

LEVEL 4

9-Water: The turn of the young period; the Defender 11-Water is here now; the period’s entrance; give gratis; the heat begins; men give.

LEVEL 5

10-Knot: Place of Harvest; young period; give gratis; the feasts will be carried and chased away.

LEVEL 6

11-Monkey: Place of Weaving; old period; give gratis; the dead lords; there are not, there will not be trees at all.

LEVEL 7

12-Soaproot: Place of Cane; give gratis; there will not be, there will not be offerings, and give gratis; old period.

LEVEL 8

13-Reed: Poor Place; old period; Sky; give a little; there will not be a piece of candle.

[15] 2-Field: Place of Weaving; Great Lexee; give a little; there will not be a piece of the offering; old period.

[14] 1-Jaguar: Place of Harvest; next to the West, next to fields; old period; give a little; do not fight; don’t.

[16] 3-Crow: Place of Cane; young period; give a little; all the feasts reside here, are placed here; there is an accounting of offerings; one gives ten hanks of hair; the feasts will lose their way; there is a rope turn for the women.

[17] 4-Earthquake: Poor Place; the town gave; young period; the ancestors are here, they are dead; here, a piece of candle of the church.

HOUSE OF SKY Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

[18] 5-Dew: Place of Harvest; young period; give to the town(s); everything one has for all; they will receive excessively, they will come out; the heat of men is here.

table 5.5. Main festivities for Days 18–260 Feast day and observance

Manual

Days 17–18, 4-Earthquake/5-Dew: Birth of Feathered Snake 4-Earthquake

Songbook 100

Day 20, 7-Face: Ya Bee: “Spirit Hill”

25, 31, 32, 60; 76 (Day 21)

Day 53, 1-Reed: Gozobi, Deity Thirteen, Gobechi, 1-Caiman, 10-Face, 8/11-Deer

1

Day 60, 8-Face, Ruler 8-Face

35, 36, 84

Day 61, 9-Caiman: ni golag ditza, “The words were born here”

17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 32, 99

Day 62, 10-Wind: quela gozag, “Departure”

35, 36

Day 63, 11-Night: saa titza, “The words leave”

18, 19, 25, 30, 32

Day 68, 3-Rabbit: nij colaba gona betao, “Count the offerings of the deities here”

5, 19, 25, 30, 31, 32

Day 73, 8-Reed: ni quina lao eto gaca/goca, “Here is the fi rst field that will be/that was”

17, 18, 23, 25, 30, 31, 32, 89, 99

Days 73–76, Feast of 8-Reed to 11-Eye

Songbook 100

Day 82, 4-Wind: tza chinoa, “Eternal day”

17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32, 99; 30, 89 (Day 81)

Day 121, 4-Caiman: ni sa titza, “Here, the words leave”

30, 31, 32

Day 152, 9-Soaproot: Gozobi

5, 18, 19, 25, 30

Day 152, 9-Soaproot: ni yela gozag yela gona, “Here, the departure, the offering”

31, 32

Day 172, 3-Soaproot: yela gona betao, Offering of the deity

5, 18, 25, 30

Day 193, 11-Reed, ni cue yeri gona que gozobi yagtao, “A piece of candle, offerings for Gozobi and Great Tree”

53, 54

Day 207, 12-Deer: tia gola, “Old lineages”

13, 36, 84

Day 208, 13-Rabbit: aca naca tia, “There are no lineages”

13, 34, 36, 84

Day 214, 6-Jaguar: xoci xina ni, “Here, fathers and mothers”

17, 23, 99

Day 215, 7-Field: xoci xina, Fathers and mothers

25, 42, 89

Days 214–215, Feast of 6-Jaguar and 7-Field

Songbook 101

Day 219, 11-Rain: roa ditza, “The entrance of the words”

34, 36, 84

Days 240–241, Feast of 6-Face and 7-Caiman

Songbook 100

Day 248, 1-Rabbit: tiçolao dati lani, “The feasts begin to die”

1

table 5.6. Propitious and unpropitious dates in the AGI México 882 corpus Days 1–260 Feasts

chahui/chahuite Good/very good

yela nabani Life

tipa quela goti Strength Death

Not good

94

tipate Unwell

2

2-Wind

1, 32

3

3-Night

60

53, 54, 60

57

5

5-Snake

53, 70

53, 54

6

6-Death

7

7-Deer

8

8-Rabbit

8, 17, 24, 25, 26, 78, 89, 99

10

10-Knot

42, 89

11

11-Monkey

8, 17, 42, 70, 89, 99

13

13-Reed

15

2-Field

16

3-Crow

53, 57

47-2

17

4-Earthquake

54, 57

47-2, 53

28

2-Rabbit

17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 89, 99; (78)

29

3-Water

18, 89; (20, 25, 26); (24, 30)

30

4-Knot

18, 27; (20, 25, 26)

37

11-Earthquake

19, 25, 76

47

8-Deer

5, 30

76

48

9-Rabbit

17, 23, 32, 42, 89, 99

94

51

12-Monkey

42, 89

76, 94

53

1-Reed

70, 76, 78

53, 54

54

2-Jaguar

17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 70, 89, 99; (78)

53

55

3-Field

(20, 78)

60

76

68

3-Rabbit

20, 24, 26

54

76

69

4-Water

76, 78

79

1-Rain

25

53, 54

76

76

53, 57

47-2 76

47-2, 53, 54, 57

84 54 53, 54

76 53, 54, 94

94

53, 54, 57

76

54

57 54 18

47-2

18, 25

18, 25, 31, 32

(continued)

table 5.6. (continued) Days 1–260 Feasts

chahui/chahuite Good/very good

yela nabani Life

tipa quela goti Strength Death

83

5-Night

13, 36, 84

86

8-Death

94

88

10-Rabbit

19, 23, 25, 26, 31, 32, 78

99

8-Rain

31, 32

104

13-Lizard

18, 27, 31

108

4-Rabbit

25, 31, 32

112

8-Soaproot

8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 31, 32, 42

117

13-Earthquake

8, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32, 67, 89, 99

125

8-Snake

128

11-Rabbit

8, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 78, 89, 99

131

1-Monkey

18, 42, 89

132

2-Soaproot

17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 99

134

4-Jaguar

135

5-Field

145

2-Snake

148

5-Rabbit

152

9-Soaproot

157

1-Earthquake

158

2-Dew

19, 25, 53

159

3-Rain

(19, 25)

Not good

76 13, 34, 84

76

13, 34, 36, 84

32 53, 54

5, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 30

31, 32

42, 89 23, 25, 27, 29, 30, 42, 78, 89, 99 5, 18, 25, 30 8, 17, 20, 23, 24, 89 5, 8, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 78, 99 53, 54 76

tipate Unwell

table 5.6. (continued) Days 1–260 Feasts

chahui/chahuite Good/very good

yela nabani Life

tipa quela goti Strength Death

168

12-Rabbit

53

5, 8, 17, 18, 19, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 42, 89, 94, 99

172

3-Soaproot

19, 20, 24, 25, 26

32

183

1-Night

20, 30

76

185

3-Snake

53, 76

197

2-Earthquake

89

209

1-Water

5, 19, 20, 21, 25, 31, 32

210

2-Knot

19, 25, 30, 76; (20, 21)

211

3-Monkey

8, 17, 31, 32, 90, 99

228

7-Rabbit

19, 24, 25, 26

229

8-Water

8, 17, 23, 42, 78, 89, 99; (19, 24, 25, 26)

230

9-Knot

20, 21, 31, 32, 42, 89; (19, 24, 25, 26); (23, 78)

231

10-Monkey

42, 89; (23, 78)

235

1-Field

237

3-Earthquake

241

7-Caiman

252

5-Soaproot

53

Not good

tipate Unwell

18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32 5, 8, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 99

76

5, 18, 19, 20, 24, 30, 31, 32, 76, 99 5, 30, 76

18, 25 13, 36, 84

5, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 42, 89, 99

Dates marked as significant in four or more manuals appear in bold. Propitious dates are marked with dark shading, and unpropitious dates with light shading. Crossed-out numbers indicate manuals in which annotations were written and then crossed out.

re thinking z ap otec time

manuals, with dark shading signaling felicitous dates and light shading infelicitous ones. Fortunate dates sometimes came in sequences labeled “these two [or three] are good,” and this table places those series in parentheses. There was near-consensus as to feasts and signs—such as Rabbit and Soaproot—that were chahui, “good,” or chahuite, “very good.” These included four Soaproot dates (Days 132, 152, 172, 252) and eight Rabbit feasts (Days 8, 28, 48, 88, 128 by acclamation; Days 68, 108, 228 marked in fewer manuals). Two Rabbit dates anchored a sequence—8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey, and Days 28–30, 2-Rabbit to 4-Knot, and three other propitious sequences stood out: Days 53–54, 1-Reed to 2-Jaguar; 209–211, 1-Water to 3-Monkey; and 229–231, 8-Water to 10-Monkey. In contrast, Earthquake and Snake were less felicitous, as three Earthquake dates (Days 117, 157, 197) brought quela goti, “death,” along with two Snake feasts (2-Snake, 3-Snake), two Soaproot and Rabbit dates (8-Soaproot, 12-Rabbit), and 1-Field. A few manuals associated yela nabani, “life,” with the birth dates of the co-creator of the time count, 7-Caiman; lunar entity 8-Snake; and sacrificer 8-Death. Only four booklets—Manuals 47-2, 53, 54, 57—made prognostications about days bearing tipa, “strength, force,”81 or tipate, used by testators to signal they were unwell.82 Indeed, Manuals 53, 54, and 57 marked many dates that brought “strength” or “life,” while 47-2 did the same for “being unwell,” and 76 for “death.” An outlier was Manual 94, which provided astoundingly specific predictions. For instance, it noted that xisana xihochie gati, “nephews and brothers-in-law will die” on 6-Dew (Day 58), and that 7-Jaguar (Day 254) was also deadly for nephews.

su mm a r y This chapter surveyed the names, attributes, and veneration of colonial Northern Zapotec deities and sacred beings, and reviewed how their worship attached to festival cycles in the 260-day count. It began with a comparison of Southern, Valley, and Northern Zapotec deities, and highlighted the role of a creator triad, Cobechi, Huichana, and Coxana. It then examined a concise theogony regarding ritual protocols and the divinatory cycle. This section then turned to the Zapotec incarnations of two Central Mexican deities, Quetzalcoatl and Itztli. A second section explored Zapotec deities propitiated during a cyclerenewing festival that began on Day 257, and extended through the first trecena of the next 260-day cycle. It highlighted some convergences between Zapotec cycle-renewing observances in Days 2–8 and Days 8–11 of the mantic count in Borgia 26, and the associations between four deities and four day

176

deitie s, sacred beings, and their fe a s t s

signs in Borgia 25—Xipe and [2]-Wind, Tlaloc and [5]-Snake, a deity of the East and [9]-Water, and Mixcoatl and [11]-Monkey—and focused on the parallel between Zapotec deities “muzzled with flint” on 9-Water and the flint mouth assemblage of the Eastern deity in Borgia 25. The chapter closed with a review of paired lord cycles, instructions for the count’s beginning, and a survey of important festivities and propitious dates. Chapter 6 turns to the manifold techniques celebrants deployed to summon their ancestors back to Earth.

177

chapter six

Singing the Ancestors Back to Earth he summoning of ancestors was, as Zapotec songs put it, goto huene, “one arduous task,” but these efforts also were the centerpiece of ritual labor. This chapter surveys the context, techniques, and visions involved in ancestor worship through a consideration of the political authority that emanated from the divinatory count; lineage accounts and sacred history in various genres; the bringing forth of 1-Caiman and other ancestors; and the extraordinary continuity in exchange protocols and visions of ancestors as turtle, jaguar, and serpent entities, reflected both in ancient Zapotec semasiography and in seventeenthcentury songs.

T

fou n da t iona l na r r a t i v e s a nd s ac r ed his t or ie s Northern Zapotec testaments and genealogies recorded an impressive amount of information about elite lineages, foundational narratives, and sacred histories. As chapter 3 indicates, one of the most important early wills was drafted by don Bartolomé de Chávez I Tia Lapag in 1595. In this document, he identi-

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

fied himself as the ninth direct descendant of the legendary ancestor Bilapag (7-Rain) Laguiag, and documented his lineage as follows: Generation 1 Generation 2 Generation 3 Generation 4 Generation 5 Generation 6 Generation 7 Generation 8 Generation 9

Pilapag (7-Rain) Pelachina (7-Deer) Yolosoo (2/3/9-Snake) Bilaa (7-Reed/Wind) Lagqueche Binechi (12-Lizard/Jaguar); and his brother, Tiylaa Taquela Yala (3/11-Wind; 9-Reed) don Juan Lachila (4/11-Caiman) don Bartolomé de Chávez Tia Lapag (4/8/11-Rain)

Tia Lapag claimed a position as heir in a nine-generation line of patrilineal descent that began with 7-Rain Laguiag. This list survived in a revised version of this will that, in spite of bearing a 1595 date, must be dated to the mid-seventeenth century based on the notarial hand.1 Only one change was made: in this will’s copy the second generation included not only Pelachina but also the renowned ancestor Bilatela (7-Knot) and Cualapag (6-Rain). The will’s focus on nine generations was not incidental, as this choice echoes the presentation of a nine-generation lineage recorded on the side of a Classic period slab depicting an ancestor worship protocol, MNA-6-6059. Both MNA-6-6059, analyzed below, and don Bartolomé’s will provide a perspective on Zapotec genealogies from the vantage point of elite individuals. However, other wills and probanzas were collectively authored, and the perspective on foundational acts shifts. Rather than projecting a genealogy into deep time, they record the names of a group of peers—sometimes seven, sometimes nine or eleven—who perform important feats, become the founders of communities, and receive Christian baptism. Four salient Northern Zapotec examples of foundational accounts appear in table 6.1. The first one is the mid-colonial document Memoria de Juquila.2 The second is the eighteenth-century Probanza de Yelabichi, submitted in 1756 to support land claims made by Yetzelalag on behalf of Yelabichi, which it absorbed, and against Yaxoni.3 The third is a 1789 will from Solaga, first transcribed by Julio de la Fuente.4 The fourth includes the names of seventeen of twenty-nine elites and elite couples listed in the Tabaa Lienzo  1.5 In spite of divergences, some ancestors are mentioned across several documents. 11-Deer Eight appears in the Yelabichi and Tabaa texts. 7-Water is mentioned as a Caxonos ancestor, and the same person or a namesake is ancestor of the Nexitzo town of Talea, as per the Juquila and Yelabichi documents. Given multiple claims about ancestral foundations, and the fact that a

179

table 6.1. Founding ancestors in four Northern Zapotec documents

Order

Tabaa Lienzo 1 (MNA-35-114)

Memoria de Juquila

Probanza de Yelabichi

1789 Solaga will

1

Melchor Peres Rehenela

Captain Lachila Dao (Great 4/11-Caiman)

Bilapag (7-Rain) Laguiag Xo Bego (Ancestor Turtle)

Bilao (10-Face) and Yeagcualopa

2

Juan Nalao (4/8Monkey/11-Face)

Bilatela (7-Knot), Leag (Rincón) grandfather

Bela Xila Yalaxila Yaxila

Yeaglao (1-Face) Baodao and Lapag (4/8/11-Rain)

3

Juan Rosehe/ Beoxila Bilasehe (7-Snake), Yetzegoa ancestor

Nalao (4/8Monkey/11-Face), Acayucan grandfather

Biladela Dao (Great 7-Knot)

Bialoniza and Lagxo (4-Earthquake)

4

don Melchor Martín Biguini Xila, governor, Yetzegoa ancestor

Belana (10-Death)

don Juan de Velasco Tiadela (8/11-Knot), Tabaa grandfather

Biguini Guiag Xila and Cuachina (6-Deer)

5

don Francisco Ginario, Yoxobi ancestor

Gachi Lagniza (Seven 4/8/11Water)

don Juan Martín Balachila

Zechi and Belachila (7-Caiman)

6

don Pedro Sanche Yalaa, Talea governor

Lao Lana (8/11Death), Mexica grandfather

don Bartolomé Martín Tio Lana

Besia Dao (Great Eagle) Yeagela and Yegtela (1-Knot)

7

Domingo Bilagniza (7-Water), Talea ancestor

Bilagniza (7Water), Caxonos grandfather

don Bartolomé Martín Yaalao (5/8-Eye) Lachixoza

Nelao (4/8-Eye/11Face) Besia Dao (Great Eagle) and Bezela

8

Juan Biha, Yaghina and Yadoni ancestor

Gaetile Gaechi

Holeniza and Yololana (2/5/9-Death)

9

Bilachina, Totolinga and Yacuini ancestor

Sobeag

Dio Laha and Beaghela

10

Bilagniza (7Water), Candoqui Mixe grandfather

Yolobia (2/5/9Soaproot) and Tabezo

11

Lachina Xono (11Deer Eight), Caxonos grandfather

Xono Beolala and Lagniza Dao (Great 4/8/11-Water)

12

Bechi Tao (Great Jaguar)

13

[blank]

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

table 6.1. (continued)

Order

Memoria de Juquila

Probanza de Yelabichi

1789 Solaga will

Tabaa Lienzo 1 (MNA-35-114)

14

Yagchila (1-Caiman) and Bixeag Lachi

15

Tiene Lachina Xono (11-Deer Eight), and Lazehe

16

Lapag (4/8/11-Rain) and Hualopa

17

Bichitog [Iguana] Calachi and Cualachi (6-Jaguar/Lizard)

single name could be shared by several ancestors, it is tempting to categorize these narratives as either “historical” or “mythical.” I propose here another approach: a continuum that oscillates between lineage histories and sacred histories. Colonial Zapotecs wrote testaments, memorias, and probanzas to record the names of ancestors, their order in a lineage, and a narrative about town foundations—all part of a lineage-based account. But accounts of creation recorded primarily in ritual songs, calendars, and also in probanzas and genealogies addressed a sacred history: an authoritative narrative that tied lineages to cosmological observances. This perspective sharpens a distinction between the roles ancestors played in various accounts. Thus, the celebrated 7-Rain Laguiag is listed as the apical ancestor in the two versions of the Tia Lapag will, and is also listed first in the Solaga will. Several lineages also claimed to have received bequests from Laguiag. A 1624 will drawn by Gregorio Flores of Zoogocho referred to lands given by dia quie xotahuaa, “the lineage of my grandfather,” who was 7-Rain Laguiag. In his 1648 will, Agustín García of Yatzachi identified his grandmother María 6-Rabbit as Laguiag’s daughter.6 7-Rain is not mentioned in the Betaza and Lachirioag ritual songs, probably because he was identified as a Zoogocho ancestor. The renown of ancestors could change over time. As discussed below, the ritual songs addressed 7-Knot as a mediator between celebrants and deities. But he was also an important ancestor listed in the Yelabichi and Solaga documents, and in the 1649 version of Tia Lapag’s will. However, 7-Knot was not listed in the original 1595 testament of Tia Lapag, and it is thus possible that his reputation as ancestor developed during the seventeenth century. More-

181

re thinking z ap otec time

over, 10-Face, a Yatee ancestor, was worshiped in the ritual songs as Be Bilao Bia, Spirit 10-Face Puma. A 10-Face was also mentioned at the beginning of the genealogy in Tabaa Lienzo 1, and his name was cited in the 1789 Solaga will. Nonetheless, 10-Face is not mentioned in the Primordial Title of Yatee, which presents a foundation narrative and focuses on Yatee ancestors: don Francisco Yalao, and don Juan Martín Baadella.7 Likewise, neither Yalao nor Baadella are mentioned in the ritual songs, as they were regarded as crucial actors in lineage accounts, and not in sacred histories. Whether an ancestor was presented as prominent in lineage or sacred histories depended on the intentions of the accounts’ writers, and some portrayals combined elements from both genres. In several documents from Zoogocho, ancestors were presented as founders for two reasons: since they had arrived from a higher realm, and because they had conquered lands that were bequeathed to their successors. A seventeenth-century copy of Bartolomé de Santiago’s will, dated 1560, refers to the first reason as it identified fathers and grandfathers as bene bexog quiha, “people who descended from the high place.”8 Moreover, a seventeenth-century revision of Tia Lapag’s 1595 testament embraced both reasons as it narrated the arrival of 7-Rain Laguiag from a “high place,” and stressed that “he seized, he took,” bequichij belanae, the lands where Zoogocho was established: cati naca toto tia golag xoçia xotahuaa netiote naca belapag Laquiag bequichij belanae yoo beçaa bexoge bichine quia çiaa çahanetio bene yeag yechi lachi xaggochoho cati nij naca toto y.tia When each lineage existed, my fathers and grandfathers were born at the very beginning. There was Bilapag Laguiag; he seized, he took the lands, the boundary markers. They descended, they arrived from the high place for the first time already,9 the people who would go into the town and valley of Zoogocho, when each of the lineages existed.10

7-Rain’s land seizures were presented as forceful appropriation, as belanae could also mean “he stole.”11 The verbs bequichij belanae, either used together as a couplet or separately, as in the Quiaviní Genealogy discussed below, are a powerful reminder that the notion of military conquest was by no means absent from early colonial Zapotec society. Indeed, Gerónimo de Chávez used a similar phrase in his 1649 will, which listed land parcels that, he stated, “my father and grandfather seized and took.”12 Other testators linked this primordial allotment of lands to the arrival of Christianity. Thus, the seventeenth-century copy of don Pablo Sánchez’s

182

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

1582 will emphasized that a particular land plot was seized by an unbaptized Zoogocho ancestor: gochaa golaçate cati aca na guijta yela lij ielatiaçag niça baotisma quê xana téo dios betao belana bayo lopa xotao neto beçaa to i.lao guijate He was born in very ancient times, when indeed the truth, the raising13 of the water of baptism of our lord God the deity, had not arrived. Wild Boar 8/11-Dew, our ancestor, took the boundary at the top of the hill.

Don Pablo, however, was careful to distinguish this capture of land by a nonChristian ancestor from the methods employed by his father, a Christian convert whose lands were only “seized and taken” in symbolic terms, as they had been duly purchased: gotixogghee yogo cuee ioo latag bichinaa niga belane çija zanedio Catti gozagghe niça baottismo goxij laae D[o]n Pe[dr]o Sanchez tio belagneza gonaaq gottixogghee y.laohua neda naca xijnie D[o]n pablo S[an]chez catti naçila y.tootoo cuee ioo latag nigaa bequichi belane He paid14 for all the land parcels and places; he arrived here, he already took them first. When the water of baptism was raised above him, he took his name, don Pedro Sánchez Puma 7-Water. He said that he paid for them in front of me, his son, don Pablo Sánchez, when each of the land parcels were named, the places here that he seized and took.

endu r ing s ac r ed his t or ie s: t he y ac hi a l ag pa per of t he ro o t s An exceptional document, structured as a simulacrum of a testament, was called by its authors logquechi, “Paper of the Roots/Origins,” a term also found in Córdova’s neologism for a chronicler, peni co-lóo-quíchi ticha tija, “person who makes the paper of the roots, the words of lineages.”15 This text, surrendered with the manuals and archived as AGI Estampas 219, refers to the founders of Yachialag, the Bixanos Zapotec name of Comal Hill

183

re thinking z ap otec time

(Comaltepec, in Nahuatl).16 As the two hands in this logquechi differ from those in Comaltepec Manuals 38, 39, and 43, it appears that it was not drafted by the Comaltepec daykeepers who surrendered manuals. This conclusion is supported by the fact that, in their confession, these officials did not mention the sites listed in the Yachialag chronicle. Instead, their avowal focused on other sites, and described offerings for Xonaxi Cualapag, Lady 6-Rain, in exchange for good harvests.17 Moreover, this logquechi’s authors write final -a in various words as -an (nacan, bilopan, quelan).18 Yachialag’s Paper of Roots contains several layers, displayed only when the document was fully unfolded (plate 7). On one side, the lower-right section contains a musical score positioned to serve as false cover when the document was folded into quarters. The reverse side of the score depicts the ancestor Ruler 2-Face as a young man in fashionable Spanish dress, with long hair, a necklace, and a cape, and labeled thenê: quezan yohollao dao natoo, “On the reverse side:19 The good thing,20 our Great 2-Face.” Yohollao and Yolao, the spellings for this ancestor’s name in this document, could also mean 2/5-Monkey/Face/Crow. However, only one name is written yohollao, yolao, and quiolaoo in most manuals: 2-Face. Hence, this Paper of Roots emphasizes the importance of 2-Face as legendary ancestor. As chapter  5 has shown, 2-Face was the younger brother of 7-Caiman of Underworld, an entity associated with the emergence of the divinatory count. When this document is folded in half, the Paper of the Roots is revealed on the reverse of both score and portrait: a gi e s t a mpa s 219r [Hand 1] nigaha nacaa destameto pie xoho canaha gorrehe xodao natoo yagìloho cobitzaha Here is the will, the strong time count, when our ancestor lived, 1-Monkey/ Crow Sun. zaneroho pichina bilopan bene lao First came 7-Dew, the first person [or 12-Monkey/Crow/Face]; quiropaa bichihe canaa aca niechina coque The second ones, his brothers, do not serve as rulers. coropa ni bichinaa Benee baghelao baelao rabeog These second ones came, the persons Baghelao, Baelao, and Rabeog.

184

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

coyona nihi quichinaa the latzij thio lobia gaxonaa These third ones would come: Deer 4/8/11-Jaguar/Lizard, Puma 4/ 11-Soaproot, Gaxonaa. gozaha llea xo chillan They went to the Enclosure of Ancestor Diviner. yogo natoo pichina zanero premero aca yoe coquee correhe natoo All of us came first, primero. There was no ruler when we lived. cati nihi titzaa rinaha dibeo lao purbançe Then these words are spoken, are given as probanza. Bathij rehe natoo tzaghe thehee belog: lo llea bechij thona We already live together. We live in Cave of the Root, Enclosure of the Jaguar, one says. quiag: coque yolao quelan The mountain of Ruler 2-Face, the custom. [names listed as signatures]: beaha quicichij the latzi Squirrel 13-Lizard Deer 4/8/11-Jaguar

Baghelao Baghelao

yolobia neaha 5/9-Soaproot Neaha

tho lobia Puma 4/11-Soaproot

Baghelaho Baelao

gaxonaa Gaxonaa

rabeogho Rabeog

[Hand 2] yoo queani cuina xodao natoo lao too dia zij natoo goca: hua queanij The land of our very own ancestors of one lineage, we will receive [it]; it was already theirs. aca noo quinae queania la No one will say: “It is mine,” then; bijzitan logquechij natoo it was called21 our Paper of the Roots.

185

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 6.1. (left) The Comaltepec/ Yachialag Map, late seventeenth century. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. Estampas 219v. (right) Lienzo de San Juan Comaltepec, ca. 1819. Image © Burkhard Brinker/ Viola König 1984; reproduced with permission.

nacan Benij pichina nigaha yachialag They are the people who arrived here in Yachialag, gato nacahe cati rina ditza quea xotao natoo just as22 it is when my words about our ancestors are said.

Neither a ritual song nor a testament, this text straddles sacred and lineage histories. Five of eight ancestors whose foundational history this logquechi recounts in the third person later become the texts’ very signatories: three “second ones,” Baghelao, Baelao, Rabeog; and three “third ones,” Deer 4/8/11-Jaguar/Lizard, Puma 4/11-Soaproot, and Gaxonaa. Two important ancestors remain distant, as they are not presented in order of arrival, nor are they signatories. The most prominent one, portrayed in this document, is the aforementioned 2-Face, renowned in other localities and mentioned in Song-

186

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

figure 6.1. (continued)

book 101. The second is Yagìlao Cobitzaha, 1-Monkey/Crow Sun, whose name also marks a site in the Yachialag Map, which will be discussed shortly. The logquechi claimed, however, that the “first person” to arrive in Yachialag was 7-Dew. Like 2-Face, this important ancestor was venerated elsewhere, and propitiated in Songbook 101. Song 1:8 indicates that he led nine ancestors into a sacred place: go bilequi bilequi bilopa gaa naaiyoca quia ya, “the Nine were placed. 7-Dew placed the Nine inside Mountain of Reeds.” Song 101-2:2 confirms that 7-Dew cared for two tutelary Lachirioag entities: bezo quia bilopa gana bene eche yeeola eedela, “7-Dew placed on the mountain only the people of the town, 3-Reed and 11-Knot.” The Yachialag Map takes up the entire folio on the reverse side of the score, portrait, and logquechi (fig. 6.1). It contains a narrative of origin, as signaled by a prominent annotation: biye xoho zaneron Premero lao yoxi tao gabilan llea taha yahui tzaa, “The strong time count, the first one, at Great Sands

187

re thinking z ap otec time

table 6.2. Sacred sites in the Comaltepec/Yachialag Map (AGI Estampas 219v) latzag hechee yag _____________ tzanthij ____________________ a piichinae ________________ latane yan xitza tao ya bee yan bechij Latani yo zanque yan tonihi yan yoho q[ue]la tao Tzanthij Rock Deer Hill Hechee Hillock Wind Hill Jaguar Hill Great Hill of Solar Heat High/Long Hill House Hill Za[n]que House yachialag Great Maize Plant/Lake

yago helan nizan chibihi Snake River Flat Waters

San Juan Comaltepec belog pesa Boundary Cave

[MOON] chi yan quiag lalaha golaae: niga golan quitapanhe Here are the hills and rocks of all the old ones: here, the Four were seen.

[EAST]

lachi Valley yachi yag Seven[?] Rocks sayeda yahehalag lachi lutzo Sayeda Yahehalag Sharp-Pointed Valley

[SUN] yagiloo cobitza _______ ya bichitog __________ yahachaha __ yan beelan yan yayoxij Sun 1-Face Iguana Hill Yahachaha Star Hill, Sand Hill lachi begoci Begoci Valley

Reaqui yach Reaqui Yach

santa maria Saint Mary [Yahuive]

conrrehe ___________ quela rrenee ___________ya ezan llea dao __________ Mamatan mietoc quia huixij zan quixihi Flint Hill, Great Enclosure biye xoho zaneron Premero She/he/they resided belo gachi lao yoxi tao gabilan [at] Blue Mountain yan tao llea taha yahui tzaa yan catzij Where they stayed first (in Mixe). Blood Lake The strong time count, the first one, Towards the Wildlands at Great Sands of Underworld. Cave Seven Enclosures, ancient mats, days Great Hill Precious Hill

of Underworld. The enclosures, the ancient mats, the days” (table 6.2). As Comaltepec/Yachialag was located near Chinantequilla, Totontepec, and other Mixe communities, the map’s authors signaled to potential Mixe readers that their work was an origin narrative by stating Mamatan mietoc, a version of the phrase (jö)ma matany mutök, “where they stayed first” or “where the first ones stayed.”23

188

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

Another note under the moon icon indicates that this map situates sacred sites: chi yan quiag lalaha golaae: niga golan quitapanhe, “Here are the hills and rocks of all the old ones: here, the Four were seen.”24 On the southwest, the map places five important sites. Besides Great Hill and Precious Hill, the texts mentions Blood Lake, memorialized in Songbooks 100 and 101, and Cave Seven, which recurs along with Cave Nine in a late colonial document, the Quiaviní Genealogy, which will be discussed at the end of this chapter. This map also refers to several places recorded in the aforementioned Probanza de Yelabichi, which merged an origin narrative with the conquest of Tenochtitlan from the vantage point of eighteenth-century Bixanos Zapotec communities: raca gobechi ditza niga yaggahua yela rene niga saguita The words exist, were crafted, here at the First Count25 of Blood Lake, here at Mexico City [Toward-the-Reed-Mat].26 goca si chite gati bida bene gastila laa cortez There was much poverty and misfortune when the Spanish person called Cortés came. bida xie guia yeche niga saguita He came to seize this mountain and town of Mexico City.27

As the Probanza de Yelabichi recounted how Zapotec, Mixe, and Chinantec ancestors settled Villa Alta, Ya Xitza Tao, Sacred Xitza Hill,28 was identified as the place where the ancestor 11-Deer Eight was burned. Ya Xitza Tao, the ancient name of Santa Catarina Ixtepejí in the Zapotec Rincón region, appears on the northwest corner of the Yachialag Map—in the direction of the Rincón—and was also depicted in the Memoria de Juquila as a site where Spaniards and Zapotecs first met.29 Moreover, the aforementioned ancestor Yagìlao Cobitzaha and two sites in the Yachialag Map—Lachi Lutzo (SharpPointed30 Valley), and Yan Tonihi (High/Long31 Hill)—resurface in the Yelabichi document as “don Diego” Yagylao, Lachi Yetzo, and Guiaa Radoni.32 An important toponym in the Yachialag Map, Yahachaha, refers to a cultural hero tied to a narrative of resistance. According to oral accounts recorded by the renowned writer Javier Castellanos, Yacha’a was a local resident prosecuted by colonial authorities as a suspected sorcerer. To avoid being captured, he lit a large bonfire and sacrificed himself by leaping into it. The Yachialag Map placed Yahachaha near San Bartolomé Lachixova, and indeed Lachixova is thought to be the place of origin for the inhabitants of Castellanos’s hometown in the Caxonos region, Yojovi.33 The Yachialag Map has important similarities with an 1819 map known as

189

re thinking z ap otec time

Lienzo de San Juan Comaltepec, located by Viola König.34 Both maps depict Comaltepec nestled at the confluence of the Comaltepec River and its tributaries, place glosses in a rectangular frame, and employ, like other maps, sun and moon icons to mark East and West (fig. 6.1). In a nod to narratives about founding ancestors, the Lienzo depicts fifteen warrior groups in variable numbers along its perimeter. The Lienzo echoes Songbook 100’s creation narrative by mentioning Bichitog and labeling a warrior group Beala Xila Laxoo Quela Rene, Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake of Blood Lake. But the Lienzo also diverges from the Yachialag Map. First, it introduces rulers not previously mentioned, such as Yolana (5-Death) and Yaolau (11-Monkey). The Lienzo’s perspective was rotated 180 degrees, as Quia Xitza Dao appears southeast, not northwest. In the end, the scene at the Lienzo’s center combines narratives from the Yachialag Map and the Probanza de Yelabichi. It names Yachialag’s 1-Monkey Crow Sun as Yagallao Gueba Gobitza, 1-Monkey/Crow Sky Sun, and depicts a European personage, conde marques, Count Marquess, echoing Hernán Cortés’s title of Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca. Nonetheless, the Lienzo transformed Yelabichi’s bloody battle into an apparently amicable encounter between Cortés and 1-Monkey/Crow.

t he z a p o t ec s ongb o ok s 10 0 a nd 101: per for m a nc e, s t ruc t u r e, m ajor t heme s The most detailed ancestor worship protocols in colonial Mesoamerica appear in two songbooks owned by Lachirioag residents, Books 100 and 101 in the México 882 corpus (plate 8). They were surrendered to ecclesiastical judge Aragón y Alcántara along with Manual 1 (see the appendix). On November 19, 1704, Pedro Gonzalo surrendered “a notebook with eight folios, which he said was for teponaztli songs,”35 a description matching Book 101. An annotation in Book 100 states, “from Fernando Lopes of Lachirioag, who bought it from Pedro Vargas of Betaza.” Lopes did surrender a manuscript on November 19, but did not describe it as a songbook; instead, he stated that “it contained the days to impose the Gentile names, and it contains eighteen folios.” Puzzlingly, while Book 100 does have eighteen folios, it is certainly not a calendrical manual. Some of its songs refer to Ya Tee or Ash Hill “of ancient times,” and praise Bilao, 10-Face, a founding ancestor of Lachirioag’s neighbor to the southwest, San Francisco Yatee. The question of provenance widens as one considers that Gerónimo Manuel de Viloria of Yatee is on record as having surrendered a book “where the song they sing with the drum and the nicachi is written.”36 However, none of the four extant songbooks— Books 100, 101, 102, and 103—were annotated with Viloria’s name after they were surrendered. 190

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

figure 6.2. Signatures of specialists from Yatee, Betaza, and other towns. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 319r.

The possibility that Book 100, which emphasizes Yatee and its ancestors, was turned in by Viloria and mislabeled as belonging to Lopes cannot be fully discounted. However, an important line of evidence confirms that Book 100 came from Lopes via Vargas. In November 1704, Viloria signed his confession (eighth line from bottom, fig. 6.2). A comparison of Viloria’s hand with the Book 100 hand suggests that Viloria did not compose this manuscript. As ecclesiastic officials followed meticulous procedures in 1704–1705, it is thus plausible that Book 100 was indeed written by Pedro de Vargas and acquired by Lopes, and that its contents reflect knowledge about ancestors and sites worshiped both in Yatee and in Lachirioag. Moreover, the signature 191

re thinking z ap otec time

of Vargas’s son, Fabián de Vargas, appears near Viloria’s. This hand has traits in common with the Book 100 hand, but it is not a perfect match. This is not a surprising development, if Fabián developed his writing abilities under his father’s supervision. Henceforth, I refer to Book 100 as the Vargas-Lopes songbook, while Book 101 is identified as the Gonzalo songbook (plate 8). The ritual songs in Books 100 and 101 are named as dij, “songs,” dola, “chants,” or through a couplet featuring both terms, in 100-9:5 and 101-6:2, 8:3, 13:2. Another term used is xichi, “songs,” or xichi quitoela, “the songs 400,” meaning “the endless songs,” in 101-1:3, 2:1, and 6:3. They are called naba, “sweet songs” (100-7:3), or bila, “incantations” (101-6:2), while the Yalahui Christian songs in Books 102 and 103 are libana, “elegant speech.” These songs have three cardinal features in common with the Nahua cuicatl, “songs,” in the sixteenth-century Cantares Mexicanos manuscript. For the Nahua Cantares, these features have been discussed extensively by John Bierhorst, Frances Karttunen and James Lockhart, Miguel León-Portilla, and others, but the Zapotec songs have received little attention.37 While there is consensus on the structure, performance cues, and narratives included in the Cantares and in a later manuscript, Romances de los Señores de la Nueva España, these songs contain poorly documented terms, and inspired debates and multiple translation attempts.38 Songbooks 102 and 103, which deployed this song genre in praise of Christian entities, are addressed in chapter 7. The compositions in these Zapotec and Nahua song genres were performed to the beat of a two-tone slit-tongue drum (nicachi in Zapotec, teponaztli in Nahuatl). The songs divide into small units, comparable to stanzas, whose boundaries were marked by sung syllables or by combining syllables and words. Stanza structure conforms to one important principle: while length is variable, the first phrase in a new stanza often introduces a new topic. These initial statements are followed by refrains that may recur in later stanzas. Both the Nahua Cantares and Zapotec songbooks 102 and 103 transcribe drum percussion patterns through a combination of the syllables such as to, co, ti, qui, and ton. In contrast, the dij dola in Books 100 and 101 do not carry those notations, but contain instructions for belao, the specialists who performed them. Some Zapotec drums displayed important calendrical dates. Figure 6.3 shows two miniature ceramic drums from the Ex–Frissell Museum, Mitla, dated 600–900  CE, with provenance attributed to San Lorenzo Cacaotepec.39 The one in the upper part of the drawing, a nicachi drum, bears the date 8-Rabbit, which may refer to the aforementioned festival of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey. The one in the lower part, a standing drum, has the date 4-Wind/ Lightning. Northern Zapotec songs emphasize two musical instruments: the nicachi drums, and a long bone with sharp notches. Córdova described this

192

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

figure 6.3. Miniature ceramic drums. (above) Nicachi drum with date 8-Rabbit. (below) Drum with date 4-Wind/Lightning. Ex–Frissell Museum, Mitla, 600–900 CE. Drawing by Elbis Domínguez and Javier Urcid; reproduced with permission.

scraped ideophone, called quègo xìlla, “Sharp River,” as a “bone they used to play during dances in ancient times,” and a number of specimens of this ancient instrument have been recovered from archaeological contexts.40 Although the songs do not provide instructions for how or when this ideophone would be played, a verse in 100-6:6 announces its usage by stating, yeyeag chita yego xila nigadee, “the bone, the Sharp River, will return here.” In Mesoamerican sacred narratives, places of origin, ritual protocols and gifts, and offering arrays were often associated with specific numbers and exhibited with arithmetic precision.41 It is important, however, to avoid facile extrapolations of the meanings of Mesoamerican numbers. Zapotec sacred discourse was rooted in the deployment of the numbers seven, nine, and thirteen, among others. The Nahua place of origin was Chicomoztoc, “At the Seven Caves,” and was echoed in the Popol Vuh as Seven Caves, Seven Canyons, as shown by Dennis Tedlock. In contrast, Zapotec primordial places were named by a couplet featuring two numbers: Quiha Gaa Quia Cachi, “Mountain Nine, Mountain Seven,” in the ninth stanza of Song 100-3, and

193

re thinking z ap otec time

Bille Gaa Billehe Gache, “Cave Nine, Cave Seven” in the Quiaviní Genealogy. These numbers recur as coefficients for ancestors’ calendrical names (seven), and in the number of generations in some Classic-period texts and colonial testaments (nine). The term for “thirteen,” chijño, was an appellation for Quichijño Betao, “Deity Thirteen.” Moreover, “thirteen” was also closely associated, as documented in Córdova’s dictionary, with the notion of infinitude (tijaquichiñoa, “to be infinite”; tija chijño yza guela, “forever”; tija chiño “all the centuries”);42 with great wisdom and reason (tochijñoláoa, “to be very wise”; pèni làchi quichijño, literally, “person of hearts thirteen,” glossed as “great wise man”);43 with completeness (pèo quichijño, “full moon”);44 and with great power, including that of the Christian god.45 Following these principles, the songs in the Vargas-Lopes and Gonzalo collections were ordered as systematic discursive arrays. The writer(s) transposed the carefully curated sets of offerings of Mesoamerican ritual into the domain of an oral performance. Unlike the somewhat variable stanza length and number found in the Cantares Mexicanos, the number of stanzas in Zapotec songs echoed meaningful numbers—3, 4, 5, 7, 9, or 13. Each songbook contains thirteen songs, thus signaling both completion and wisdom. Stanzas were counted like pieces of land in a will, or tribute payments in a list, as each begins with the item mark √. Two internal references in Book 100 confirm table 6.3’s stanza count. Song 4, stanza 11, begins with the self-referential statement “the eleventh one,” and Song 6, stanza 7 starts with “the seventh face; the seventh one will return; the seventh great word.” Stanzas frequently end with the formula abichi ton, “one of several [song units] will end.” While each songbook contains thirteen songs, the purpose of these performances varied considerably. The Vargas-Lopes songbook can be divided into two celebrations that mark the beginning of the 260-day count and the year cycle. The first half, Songs 1–6, recapitulate the creation of time and the emergence of ancestors, and align with the cycle of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit (seven days) and 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey (four days). This second cycle is close in timing to 9-Water to 12-Grass, the four-day sequence linked to the four dead deities in Borgia 26 (see chapter 5). After a cacao-offering protocol that starts in Song 6, this songbook’s second half addresses protocols for a new Zapotec year: Songs 7–9 address its first 20-day period, Maguey, and Songs 10– 13, which contain four Turtle Dances, align with the end of the previous year. The linkage between the Turtle Dances and the year’s end can be ascertained because Song 11 places the celebration on 8-Reed to 11-Crow. These dates, Days 73–76, coincided with the last four days of a Year 11-Soaproot on December 21–24, 1682. Both the new year, 12-Earthquake, and its first 20-day period, Toohuà/Maguey, began on December 25. Indeed, the Vargas-Lopes songbook was an archive of celebrations between 1680 and 1695, as two other

194

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

dates in the 52-year cycle were recorded. Song 2 refers to “the time count, the words: [year] 9-Wind, [day] 8-Earthquake,” or July 31, 1680.46 Song 4 mentions the feasts of “13-Monkey and 1-Soaproot on Year 11-Earthquake,” or April 18– 19, 1695. The Gonzalo songbook, in contrast, focused on protocols for the start and culmination of the 260-day count. It begins, in Songs 1–3, with visions of ancestors who come down from the sky to give their descendants jewel strings, with Song 2 devoted to the handing down of jewels on 7-Deer, or Day 7, and Song 3 to the first glimpse of an assembly of ancestor turtles: the House of the Turtle Cloud. Song 4 is a protocol that focuses on “the bat from ancient times,” which refers to the association of bats and maize cultivation rituals in ancient Zapotec society.47 Song  5 “places” the sacred grandfathers in Lachirioag, and Songs 6–7 call these protocols “the first custom” of Zapotecs. Song  8 addresses the lunar entity 8-Snake; Song  9 envisions illnesses personified as eight “young brothers”; and Song 10 concludes that the previous ritual actions “were fruitful.” Finally, Songs 11–13 depict a performance for Day 257, 10-Earthquake, in order to “renew” the mantic count. Lastly, Song 5 refers to Year 13-Earthquake, Day 13-Rabbit, or May 31, 1671.

g ohu i a nd qu e y a : t he e xc h a nge s be t w een h u m a ns a nd s ac r ed beings Three Zapotec terms designated reciprocity between humans and deities: quela yohui, “the payment”; gohui, “exchange”; and queya, “equal exchange.” Quela yohui is derived from the verb -yóhui-, “to pay a debt, or for what one receives,” and quela nayòhui is glossed as “passive payment.”48 According to Manuals 13 and 37, this agreement was born on two dates in the count-renewing cycle: 6-Death and 8-Rabbit. Manual 76 deploys a comparable phrase to designate obligations with the deities: huexia gona, “agreement about offerings.” Gohui often designates the presentation of a particular item as an offering. It contains the verb -yóohui-, “to be paid,” and was glossed as “buyer,” 49 but contemporary Northern Zapotec speakers interpret gohui as “it was exchanged, it was paid.”50 As attested in twenty-eight instances in the Lachirioag songs, gohui indicated the yehue, “noble,” gifts for sacred beings of cacao, alcoholic beverages, animal fat, maize, and parrot feathers. Gohui also designates offerings for two important ceremonies: the cyclerenewing ceremonies beginning on 10-Earthquake, and those that mark the beginning of the year on its first period, Maguey. In contrast, queya denoted the act of presenting valuable offerings to sacred beings in exchange for favors comparable in value. Queya was translated as “to make equal in purchase

195

table 6.3. Structure and themes of the songs in Books 100 and 101 Vargas-Lopes Songbook (100) Song

Themes

Places

Offering

1 13 stanzas

Sun offerings; celebration is “in public”; introduces Mexica spirits, 3-Reed and 11-Knot

Great West, Front and Blood Lakes; Reed, Great Cloud, and Blood Palaces

Copal, tobacco, tortillas

2 13 stanzas

Offerings for hole in the hill: Creation; arrival of the Three: Huichana, Cobechi, Coxana. Serpent 4-Earthquake born at Blood Lake

Mountains in Underworld and Sky; Underworld enclosures; Blood Lake

Pacas, alcohol, water, cacao, maize

3 9 stanzas

Grandfathers as ceibas; birth of time; 1-Caiman born as mottled serpent and fed

Twin Underworld enclosures, Mountains Nine and Seven, Snake Hill, Ash Mountain

Heart sacrifice, copal

4 13 stanzas

Bixeag Lachi at Blood Lake; 8-Caiman and 11-Water born from Serpent 1-Soaproot and Lady Keeper of Sign; 10-Face Puma is fed; 7-Knot is born

Great Prickly Pear Field, Sprouting Tree, Blood Lake, Town of 3600 Grandfathers, Deer Mountain, Mountain Slope Palace

Maize grains, corn ears, blood, water, squash, heart sacrifice

5 9 stanzas

7-Knot as Huichana’s collector; never lose custom; light of 1-Reed [Quetzalcoatl]; Biquini Xila at Blood Mountain Palace; Great Leaf of Bela Xila

Great Depth Field, First Mountain of River of Ashes, River of Fate

Copal, alcohol

6 9 stanzas

The cacao exchange begins: Blood for 10-Face Puma; cacao for the Clouds; Mexica 1-Reed; Mixtec 9-Wind and 1-Death; Great Becelao rejoices

Ash Hill; Deer Mountain

Cacao; scraped idiophone

7 7 stanzas

Maguey begins: Great Eagle returns; Great Jaguar is rotten and gaunt; 7-Knot goes to Palace of Elders

Multicolored Field, Good Field

Cacao, alcohol, animal strangled and charred

8 5 stanzas

Excessive sacrifice; 8-Snake cares for 10-Face, who is bloody; Liobaa (Mitla) people

First Mountain, heart of River of Ashes, Great Depth, heart of River of Fate

Uncooked maize offering, maize grains, animal fat

9 5 stanzas

Cacao exchange ends; Maguey House arrives for Gozobi and Mountain Slope people; Turtle Dance

Prickly Pear House, Field of Gozobi and 5-Soaproot

10 3 stanzas

First Turtle: Grandparents at the temple; Lord Iguana’s Palace; demand sacrificer; Stone Cloud, 9 Stone Gocios

Town of Black Deer of the West

Green corn ear, beans

Gonzalo Songbook (101) Song

Themes

Places

Offering

1 9 stanzas

Dream of Stone Lords; introduces 3-Reed and 11-Knot, Zapotec snake on the West, 10-Face, 7-Dew

Reed Mountain

2 13 stanzas

Exchange of jewels: 1-Rabbit, 3-Reed, 13-Jaguar, Bala Yao Flayer grew thin. Descent of jewels, bead string, and large leaves from Reed Field 13 Spirit

Nine-foundation town; Yabe; multicolored reed fields

3 6 stanzas

House of the Turtle Cloud: Huachaa’s knife untied: Bala Yao Flayer, deity of House of Dead

4 5 stanzas

The bat from ancient times came down: Nine seeds of 8-Snake for the four entrances; animal that eats corn ears; blue bat

Mountain of 400 Wise Ones

5 9 stanzas

They were placed on their hill; the grandfathers are seated: 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar at Hill of the West; Biquini Xila, Great Eagle. Parrot plumage at House of the Sun

House of Feather Serpent, Enclosure Before Dawn

6 4 stanzas

The first custom: Singer scrapes the mat of the custom, composes incantations; old payment stained with blood

Blood

7 4 stanzas

The custom of the people of suffering; mountain of deities; Huachaa; 5-Soaproot Field; Maguey Field

Maize

8 3 stanzas

The diviner’s moon is here: Eldest sister born; diviner’s moon; reed mat of Moon Lord 8-Snake; Lord of Sky, 3-Reed; Deity 13

Parrot plumage

9 3 stanzas

Eight large illnesses: Eight young brothers grabbed; bloodletting for 1-Reed, 1-Water, 3-Reed, and 11-Knot

Great Huao Mountain

Young maize plant, tobacco, beans, cacao

10 3 stanzas

It was fruitful: Nine straight holes were fruitful; House of 1-Caiman arrives; it clouded over, as Cocijo is enraged

Zapotec tombs, river of 7-Jaguar

green cacao, animal sacrifice, beans

Animal sacrifice, blood, maize

Exchange called Animal of the Lords: Biquini Xila [turkey]; beans

(continued)

re thinking z ap otec time

table 6.3. (continued) Vargas-Lopes Songbook (100) Song

Themes

Places

Offering

11 3 stanzas

Second Turtle: Grandfather of First Lake, Cobechi; Lord of Hunger answers; 7-Face whitens his stone

Fate Mountain, Deer Town

Copal, bloody maize

12 5 stanzas

Third Turtle: Bezelao, Lady 1-Soaproot, women’s creation; birth of Ladies Gozobi and 5-Soaproot; 7-Jaguar and 1-Field; maize for lame jaguar Gobechi of ancient Zapotecs

Yabe [Soa]

Short maize plant

13 1 stanza

Fourth Turtle: 7-Lizard is sad; maguey drink; leaf in the mouth of the strong one

Copal

Source: Archivo General de Indias, México 882.

or price,” and as “value, price,” and also as “marketplace, fair.”51 Hence, queya designates exchanges that foreground a reciprocity arrangement with deities at important times and places, such as the festival of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit, or highly valuable gifts, such as roasted animal hearts or avian sacrifice. The opening statement of Song 1 in the Vargas-Lopes book illustrates an intricate procedure for introducing gifts and divine entities. A powerful introduction promises y.ba y.neza, “the good things, the paths”: offerings burned as expressions of gratitude: 10 0 -1:1 quichohuici y.ba y.nesa quito i.ci quita coci naha The gratitude will be charred right away. The reed mats [260 feasts] and time periods will receive everything now.

The next stanza then states, nicaha çolao cola quine tao, “Here, the sacred worthiness begins and was visible.” This phrase introduces a cardinal concept in Mesoamerican devotions: that humans must perform acts of gratitude to earn the favors of divine beings. This duty, similar to the Nahuatl notion of tlamacehualiztli, “being worthy of something,” is quine tao, “the sacred meriting,” derived from the verb -quiñe, “to merit, deserve.”52 As Song 1

198

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

Gonzalo Songbook (101) Song

Themes

Places

11 3 stanzas

The exchange, the custom of 10-Earthquake: Deity’s bloodletting; 5-Death, spirit of sacred bones, is at Blood Lake; Mottled turtle in the sky

Blood Lake

12 3 stanzas

The spell and the bright song ended: 1-Wind and his child, 7-Jaguar; eternal names [260 days] placed [on the road] and renewed; Blood Lake cares for Bilao Niza; the great payment returns

Blood Lake

13 3 stanzas

Mountain of maize; bowl of the exchange in the care of Serpent Chitog; the Three and the Sun

Mountain of Maize

Offering

announces, acts of gratitude will be performed “in public at the plaza,” in an exchange in which Cobicha, the Sun, gives favors in exchange for human quehe, promises or vows, and lana, words of worship. Then, first offerings are given, beginning in stanza 4 with queeza, cured tobacco, which clears the way for an exchange with First Custom, Blood Lake, and Blood Jaguar, will receive as an offer xiycaa, a bundle. It is then, on stanza  6, that the singers make an astounding revelation about ancestral spirits that will descend from the sky: cochaa ga yaga coto yaga bee queag n-alag queche quia lahui quebaa, “The nine trees were born: the first trees, the spirits of the mountain, are being born in the Town of the High Place in the middle of Sky.” This stanza also introduces a crucial term that will become a recurrent motif in most refrains, and which refers to ancestors and grandfathers: deeye, also written teeye. Throughout Songbooks 100 and 101 singers constantly remind celebrants that chia teeye, “the grandfathers sit” (up high),53 for they will receive offerings yae, “in their hills,” and thus “are present.” I translate this term as “grandfather” rather than “ancestor,” due to its appearance in two couplets in the 1684 testament of Juan Martín of Yatzona: yo que xotao neto que deiye, “the lands of our grandfather, of deiye,” which the translator glossed as “our grandfather,” and su dei sutao neto “our ancestors, grand-

199

re thinking z ap otec time

fathers, ancestors,” glossed as “our fathers and grandfathers.” Since Zapotec couplets pair terms bearing semantic parallels, “grandfather” has the best fit with this attestation.54 A plausible but less likely reading is teiye, “seventh son,” which has a narrower scope. However, even this gloss may be understood as referring to ancestors, as this rank of seventh would refer metaphorically to founding ancestors whose calendrical name bears 7- as a coefficient.55 After the impending arrival of ancestors is proclaimed, important entities are acknowledged, like the Mexica spirit in stanza 9: 10 0 -1: 9 Bee yobi cozo huichiy Bene yoo zope lao An honorable spirit was present, a Mexica: a person who has two faces. beexo huehue zoo nala huatee lao The huehue [Nahuatl: elder] came out; he is celebrated in public.

The song cites this Mexica deity through the word huehue, “elder,” an unsurprising turn, as Nahuatl was used as lingua franca in colonial Oaxaca.56 The term refers to Huehueteotl, the Old Deity, venerated in Teotihuacan and elsewhere in Mesoamerica as an elder fire deity with hunched back and wrinkled face who often carried a fire container on his back.57 Like other deities whose intentions were difficult to divine, Huehueteotl possessed “two faces.”58 The next stanza describes the origin and appearance of two Caxonos tutelar ancestors, 3-Reed and 11-Knot: 10 0 -1:10 yoho pee dao yoho quelao queche bechiyna There are great spirits here; there are the first ones from Town of Deer, xohuaa quehue teni yoola eetela yi.yoci the lords of Blood Palace: 3-Reed and 11-Knot, the long-horned deer.

These ancestors also bear the title of Huilag, Disrupters, given to divine ritual specialists. Song 101-1:5 clarifies that these two beings are, in fact, brothers: guaxoctee dicha ninaatee bichi goxicha be ola eetela, “The hoary words of the brothers and strong ones, Spirits 3-Reed and 11-Knot, have fully come out.” Their importance is further emphasized in 101-9:3, which asks celebrants to perform blood sacrifice in their honor, and that of Quetzalcoatl. These two “brothers” who rule over Blood Palace, along with 10-Face, are the ancestors called in several documents bene gopa yeche, “the people who guard the town.”

200

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

10-Face and 3-Reed and 11-Knot, who rule over Blood Palace, are all described as possessing the shape of two separate co-beings. The first one is a deer, as the “brothers” are described in 101-1:1 and 1:10, as yoci, “long-horned deer,” while a couplet in 100-1:6 refers to hui xiyoce bilaoo, quij xiyoce bilao, “The illness of the long-horned deer, 10-Face; the offerings of the long-horned deer, 10-Face.” Furthermore, 101-5:2 refers to an assembly of lords as “the nine deer.” The second co-being is a puma, or mountain lion. 10-Face is frequently called Bee Bilao Bia, “Spirit 10-Face Puma,” and this appellation recurs seventeen times in eleven stanzas, but only in the Vargas-Lopes songbook.59 On the other hand, 3-Reed and 11-Knot are described with two different adjectives that denote a tan or yellow coloring, which Córdova glossed as leonado, “lion colored,” in Spanish. In 100-1:8, 3-Reed and 11-Knot appear as yyocaci, “lioncolored,”60 and in 100-9:5, there is a reference to xilaya bene quiag quio deoo, “the chant of the people of Mountain of Lion-Colored Males.”61 The appearance of these ancestor’s co-beings is referenced in the name of their residence, Queche Bechina, Town of Deer (see 100-11:2). A similarly named location, Queag Bichina, Deer Mountain, is also identified as the place where betao, “deities,” reside and receive blood sacrifices (see 100-2:1, 4:8, 6:4, and 6:7). Deer Mountain was regarded by Zapotecs and Mixtecs as a location where sacred beings dwelled. As recorded by Burgoa, the Dominican missionary Benito Hernández discovered and burned the swaddled bodies of Mixtec rulers, which had been preserved along with valuable offerings near Chalcatongo, inside a cave atop a hill called Cumbre de Cervatillos, Summit of Little Deer.62 However, Zapotecs invoked Town of Deer and Deer Mountain not as the resting place of lineage founders, but as the residence of creator deities. In the next song, a sacrifice of bitiag (Cuniculus paca, lowland pacas) is instructed to be made to the youngest member of the Zapotec deity triad. The stanza reveals that the “eldest child” is Coxana, son of Cobechi: 10 0 -2:1 bea coti chag b[e]t[a]o queag bichina ci xini cola . . . The dead animals are going to the deities of Deer Mountain. The eldest child will receive them . . . coxana xini betao cobeechi Coxana, son of the deity Cobechi.

As noted in chapter 5, the Northern Zapotec creator triad was Cobechi, Huichana, and Coxana. The songs introduce them as two generations. First comes Coxana as child, and then the song acknowledges Huichana, the para-

201

re thinking z ap otec time

mount deity of fertility, river waters, and fish, envisioned here as a tree of sustenance, and as a cosmological tree that supports Sky: 10 0 -2: 2 huichana dao yag quetag y.lao quiag tao cabila Great Huichana: the tree of sustenance on the Great Mountain of Underworld . . . huichana tao yag bileni quiag toa lahui yaba Great Huichana: the tree that guards the mountain at the entrance of the middle of Sky.

Finally, Cobechi, the main creator deity, is introduced as a being that stands guard at one of the four cosmological fields discussed in chapter  5. While the field’s name is not specified, it is described as a “reed field” adjacent to the First Palace in Sky: 10 0 -2:3 nixee lopa cozoo toa quiyag quehue lao The Creator 11-Dew stood at the entrance of the reed field of the First Palace . . . calag lopa nixe lachi lanicij laba yalao cobechi dao 11-Dew, the Creator, the heart, will be celebrated only on the feast of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey of Great Cobechi.

Here, Cobechi’s calendrical name, 11-Dew, is announced, as he is linked with the cycle-renewing festival of 8-Rabbit–11-Monkey. The song then turns to the journeys of 1-Caiman.

r eenac t ing s ac r ed his t or y : t he a p o t heo sis of 1- c a im a n In the middle of Song 3, in stanza 100-3:5, the singers make a portentous prediction: Ruler 1-Caiman, son of Cobechi, the creator, will be born (galag). The next stanza announces that 1-Caiman was born (golag) at the beginning of the time count: 10 0 -3:6 colag coque yagchila xini lopa nixee be yi Ruler 1-Caiman was born, the son of 11-Dew: the Creator, the spirit, the fire.

202

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

bezaca bezaca cixa biye yagxo lani yagchila ni Has this year 1-Earthquake and feast of 1-Caiman arrived?

As in the scene depicting the birth of the time count in Borgia 30, this stanza addresses the beginning of the sacred count. A split couplet commemorates the alignment of two foundational dates: 1-Caiman as first day in the divinatory count, and 1-Earthquake as the first of fifty-two years. This stanza recreates a sacred history that focuses on the emergence of time and human lineages, rather than on specific exploits by 1-Caiman as an ancestor. The seventeenth century provided four opportunities to commemorate 1- Caiman’s birth on 1-Earthquake, 1-Caiman. Two of these dates fell on June 29, 1607, and March 15, 1608. The other two came on June 16, 1659, and March  2, 1660. Given the alignment of the 260- and 365-day counts, the most salient date for a celebration would have been the second date in each set, as it was the 365th, or last day, of Year 1-Earthquake. Since March 2, 1660, fell within the lifetime of Vargas and Lopes, this text may reflect a 1660 celebration. The next stanza states that 1-Caiman has been fed with maize and candles, and that he will journey from his birthplace in a field in Sky down to Underworld. It also specifies that 1-Caiman will receive tallow candles, as they were much less expensive than the wax candles used in Christian liturgy: 10 0 -3:7 ba noaca ba noaca goque yagchila quijti za i.xoba Ruler 1-Caiman already carries, already carries tallow candles and maize. ona gocee y.lao quiag toa gabila Say, “He was cast down onto the mountain at the entrance of Underworld.”

The following stanza indicates that 1-Caiman is envisioned as an Earth monster or caiman, as coxoe chita, “the scales were strong.” It also describes his arrival at two round enclosures, described as twin precincts that contain the time count and sacred words. The details in this stanza coincide exactly with the cosmological diagrams in Manuals 5, 6, 62, and 66-1. The bottom of the diagrams in Manual 6 (plate 4, left) and 66-1 (see fig. 4.9) shows, on either side of the column joining Earth to Underworld, the twin round enclosures full of time periods: 10 0 -3:8 cozaa goque yeagchila lea obi lea huita cabila Ruler 1-Caiman went to the round enclosures, the enclosures on the sides of Underworld.

203

re thinking z ap otec time

bichine lea chag lea cato nocha biyee lachii i.ticha tao . . . He arrived at the full enclosures, the twin enclosures that are mixed together with the time count, the hearts, and the sacred words . . .

After his travels to Underworld, 1-Caiman returns to Earth. Stanza 8 proclaims a momentous transformation that takes place on the feast of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey: 1-Caiman has metamorphosed into a powerful co-being, a serpent with jaguar spots: 10 0 -3:8 calag bitoto bela . . . He will be born as a jaguar-mottled serpent . . . nayetag xana yabaa bebij coque yagchila yag que yo He is descending; the lord from Sky has returned, Ruler 1-Caiman, tree of the land. bixoci xinae lopa nixe lachi His father and mother is 11-Dew: the Creator, the heart.

Jaguar-spotted serpents recur in various contexts in Mesoamerican pictography. Some important examples include the elongated mottled serpent with horns on the sides of the north portico mural in Cacaxtla’s Building A, and other jaguar-spotted serpents and hybrids in depictions from Teotihuacan and Palenque.63 Jaguar-mottled serpents also appeared in ancient Zapotec iconography. The upper section of figure 6.4 shows a yellow mottled jaguar-serpent entwined with a blue feathered serpent on the lintel of Tomb 125 at Monte Albán. The bottom presents a jaguar-headed serpent with spots, collected by Seller in Xoxocotlan, just south of Oaxaca City. After 1-Caiman’s transformation, on the feast of Days 234–245, 13-Jaguar and 1-Field, he is nurtured and travels to the mountain of 7-Night, located adjacent to House of Earth. This stanza, which closes Song 3, stresses 1- Caiman’s lineage as son of Cobechi, who is identified, as mentioned in chapter 4, as creator of the places of origin Mountain Nine and Mountain Seven. 10 0 -3: 9 bezaca bezaca cixa lani quezechi yagquina ni Has this feast of 13-Jaguar and 1-Field arrived? beonichahuili xoba coque yagchila xini lopa nixe be The maize nurtured Ruler 1-Caiman, son of 11-Dew: the Creator, the spirit.

204

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

figure 6.4. (above) Jaguar-mottled serpents. Tomb 125 lintel, Monte Albán. Drawing by Elbis Domínguez and Javier Urcid; reproduced with permission. (left) Serpent-jaguar sculpture from Xoxocotlan. © Photograph: Ethnologisches Museum der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 28356.

A new journey begins in Song 4. Stanza 1 opens with the two-day festival of Days 91–92, 13-Monkey to 1-Soaproot, on Year 11-Earthquake, April 18–19, 1695. This date also corresponded to Days 15 and 16 of the third period in the year, Tzegag. This was Year 37, and yearly offerings were tortillas on 2-Wind, animal or maize on 9-Wind, and tortillas on 7-Night, Day 163, exactly the feast, or “mountain,” that 1-Caiman visited in the previous stanza. The first stop on 1-Caiman’s new route is the sacred mountain of Lachag Bela, Small Hill of the Serpent. This location, not attested elsewhere in the Zapotec corpus, is the namesake of Coatepec, an important location noted in Nahua Postclassic pilgrimage accounts.64 10 0 - 4:1 bezacaci xia lani queçelao yagcoeo biye laxo The fate, the feast of 13-Monkey to 1-Soaproot arrived only on Year 11-Earthquake [April 18–19, 1695]. coça coque yagchila lachag bela quiag taa . . . Ruler 1-Caiman went to the Small Hill of the Serpent, the sacred mountain.

205

re thinking z ap otec time

The songs then announce two important dates. One is Day 241, the “mountain” of 7-Caiman, the deity who created the time count along with 1-Jaguar. The second one, separated from 7-Caiman by sixteen days, is the important “mountain” of Day 257, 10-Earthquake. The song then announces that 1-Caiman has taken his name at Quia Tee, Ash Mountain, and introduces deity Huechaa/Huachaa, called here again, as he was in Manual 12, Gobilaye Lao, “First Disturber”: calag quichina coque yagchila coxi la quia tee Ruler 1-Caiman will be born and will arrive. He took his name at Ash Mountain. nacana bela xila Feathered Serpent is smeared. nigaate huacha gobilaye lao Here is Huachaa, the First Disturber.

The following stanza introduces one of the nine “good ones,” or “serpents and noble ones” born from the mouth of Serpent 4-Earthquake: Bixeag Lachi, also known as Bixeag 6-Jaguar/Lizard (Calachi), a servant of Blood Lake: 10 0 - 4: 2 bechela quelalo bexeag lachi xila xo quela tene . . . Your lake was fruitful, Bixeag Lachi, gift of the ancestors of Blood Lake . . . quela cachi yehui quia tini gaa bela pa tao . . . Lake of the [Field of the] Burial, Palace of the Mountain Slope, Nine Serpents, Noble Ones.

The next stanza confirms that Bixeag Lachi is a child of the creator Serpent 4-Earthquake—and was thus born from his mouth at Blood Lake, as detailed in 2:12. Here, Bixeag Lachi appears merely as the servant of Blood Lake in 1004:2, and the songs do not mention this personage’s attributes or gender, or establish a link with Ruler 1-Caiman. On the other hand, Tabaa Lienzo 1 lists a ruling couple, Lord 1-Caiman and Lady Bixeag Lachi, whose names may memorialize these two sacred beings.65 Bixeag also appears in other visions: the Betaza specialist Simón de Santiago admitted that, after ingesting the hallucinogenic plant called cuana betao, he was able to speak with divine beings, and among them a “woman” called Bixea Guxio.66 However, the songs provide no evidence of any association between Bixeag Lachi and 1-Caiman.

206

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

Bixeag Lachi’s primary role is as proclaimer of yet another marvelous event that takes place at Blood Lake: 10 0 - 4:3 huachi naca huachi naca quela tene “There is a portent, there is a portent at Blood Lake,” cona bexeag lachi xini laxoo quela tene . . . said Bixeag Lachi, child of 4-Earthquake of Blood Lake . . .

This portent is the summoning of the cosmological trees at the cardinal directions, by means of the sacred bundle of Serpent 4-Earthquake. While most of the Zapotec corpus does not refer directly to the four directional trees lavishly depicted in Borgia 49–52 and Vaticanus B 17–18, the following three stanzas summon and salute three of the four trees: the jeweled tree in the East, the flowering tree in the North, and a “left-hand” tree that—mirroring the appellation of the Mexica deity Huitzilopochtli as “Left-Hand Hummingbird”—denotes the South: 10 0 - 4:3 tolaba xilolo yaca beca tao xigaa bela xila laxo betao . . . Your roots are read, Great Jewel Tree [East]: the bundle of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity . . . 10 0 - 4:4 bilaba xilolo yaga bega tao xigaa bela xila laxo betao . . . Your roots were counted, Great Sprouting Tree [West]: the bundle of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity . . . 10 0 - 4:5 belaba xilolo yaga beiga tao xigaa bela xila laxoo betao . . . Your roots were read, Great Left-Hand Tree [South]: the bundle of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity . . .

Notably, the Zapotec singers leave this series incomplete by omitting the tree of the North. Instead, they name a second creator serpent, 1-Soaproot. This formidable being shares a calendrical name with the fifth 20-day period in the year. As shown in chapter 4, it also bears the same name as one of the cosmological trees depicted in Manual 94. Even if this serpent is a symbolic substitute for the fourth missing tree, it is rather distinct from the canonical thorny tree or cactus of the North.

207

re thinking z ap otec time

In any case, 1-Caiman’s journey through the cosmos concludes with the summoning of the 1-Soaproot white creator serpent to nurture this ancestor on its feast day, Day 92: 10 0 - 4:5 y.laa y.lalo bela yati yagcueo The name, your name, white serpent, is 1-Soaproot. conigaco coque yagchila xini nixee tao bene za . . . It will feed Ruler 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator of the Zapotec people. y.laalo bela yati yagcueo Your name, white serpent, is 1-Soaproot. conigaco coque yagchila xini nixee tao bene zao It will feed Ruler 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator of the black people. i.laa quia yecoo bene zij xoa xila yaha queza tao bene zao ni Then, the people of mountains and rivers will receive the maize, fresh gifts, and cured tobacco of these black people.

1-Caiman’s journey ends with a reference to reciprocity: just as 1-Soaproot feeds 1-Caiman, those created by 1-Caiman’s father will bestow maize, animal sacrifices, and tobacco on quia yecoo bene, “people from the mountains and rivers,” a phrase still echoed by contemporary Lachirioag specialists, who continue to use this term for their sacred beings. In the last two verses, “black people” is a pointed reference to the ancient Zapotec priests who painted their body black, as the divine officiant Quetzalcoatl did in Borgia 46.

11-wa t er , 10 -fac e p u m a , gr e a t e agl e, a nd 7-k no t a s fou n ding a nc e s t or s Besides 1-Caiman, Songbooks 100–101 also summoned several important ancestors. Four of them are emphasized in particular: 11-Water, 10-Face Puma, Great Eagle, and 7-Knot. The most prominent among them was an entity who bears the storied calendrical name of 11-Water. As recorded in the Mixtec codices ZoucheNuttall and Selden, in Postclassic central Oaxaca a ruler called 11-Water was

208

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

a prominent member of the powerful Xipe lineage, which ruled over Zaachila and Cuilapan and included both Zapotec and Mixtec nobles. Among 11-Water’s descendants were the Mixtec rulers 1-Caiman, not to be confused with his Zapotec namesake, and 4-Wind, as well as 6-Water, who is mentioned in the Valley Zapotec Map of Macuilxochitl.67 11-Water is mentioned in Manual 1, and three times in the Lachirioag songs. However, a reference in stanza  4 indicates that Northern Zapotecs viewed 11-Water as a powerful ancestor and “father,” and referred to him on an equal footing with the creator Cobechi. This phrase suggests that these songs memorialized the same 11-Water portrayed in the Selden and ZoucheNuttall codices as an important ancestor for Mixtecs and Zapotecs alike: 10 0 - 4:4 cona la xoza cobechij lagniza yati Say the name of my fathers: Cobechi, White 11-Water.

Besides 1-Caiman, 3-Wind, and 11-Knot, the most venerated ancestor in the songs is Bee Bilao Bia, Spirit 10-Face Puma. 10-Face was a Yatee ancestor also venerated in Lachirioag. A Bilao who might be this ancestor appears in the first cell of the Tabaa Lienzo 1. Spirit 10-Face’s link with Yatee is conclusively documented in the 1789 Solaga will, whose authors state, “We have a boundary with Bea Bilao of Yatte.”68 The very Bee Bilao referenced in this document is still linked to a particular sacred site located between Yatee and Lachirioag. According to the eightytwo-year-old Lachirioag specialist don Moisés González, a large rock that sits today on the side of the road that runs from Lachirioag to Yatee is called Yiaj Bilo, “Rock of Bilo” (fig. 6.5). Don Moisés immediately recognized Bilao as an “ancient” form of the contemporary name Bilo, even if he was unaware that Bilao was a calendrical name. Don Moisés also explained that this rock had been an ancestor, and mentioned that it was also known locally as Yiaj Che Da Gulhas, Rock of the Ancient Father(s).69 Spirit 10-Face appears prominently in the Vargas-Lopes protocol. Song 4, stanza 7 promises him a splendid blood sacrifice during the “equal exchange” that opens the 260-day count: 10 0 - 4:6 caog be Bilao Bia beyaj goxichaa The spirit 10-Face Puma will be bloody; the mushrooms, the strong ones. queya ij.yeolae laba The equal exchange of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit.

209

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 6.5. Don Moisés González and Ricardo Ambrosio, with Yiaj Bilo in the background. Lachirioag, October 2016. Photograph by David Tavárez.

Indeed, the songs embrace the public utterance of 10-Face Puma’s name in public as a signal that a revered ancestor was not forgotten: 10 0 - 4:11 zona lao bia zo nala huatee lao coxijcha “Puma Face” can be said: the strong one is celebrated in public.

Song 100-8:3 repeats that, just as Spirit 10-Face will be “bloody,” Mountain of Maize, quiag xoba, will be drenched in blood. This site’s name references the Mesoamerican notion of a sacred mountain that provides crops and sustenance.70 As a reflection of his status, Spirit 10-Face is fed first when the cacaoexchange ceremony begins in Song 6, and Song 8:1 places 10-Face in the care of the lunar deity 8-Snake. Thus, Spirit 10-Face Puma is given a central role in the Vargas-Lopes songbook. He is mentioned sixteen times, the festival of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey is in part celebrated in his honor, and his name recurs in this songbook’s last verse.

210

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

In contrast, the Gonzalo manual refers to an individual who, although also named 10-Face, is a different ancestor: he is Bilao Niza, 10-Face Water, and is listed as a Lachirioag ancestor in the Tabaa Primordial Title.71 The distinction between the two 10-Faces is confirmed in Song 1, as 10-Face Water has a different co-being from 10-Face Puma; rather than a feline, he is a longhorned deer: 101-1:6 hui xiyoce bilaoo The illness of the long-horned deer, 10-Face; quij xiyoce bilao the offerings of the long-horned deer, 10-Face.

Moreover, the songs celebrate an ancestor, Bicia Tao, Great Eagle, associated with Quiag Binij, Seed Mountain, a term that may refer both to the aforementioned Mountain of Maize, and to the town of Quiaviní: 10 0 - 6: 9 bexog que zo lopa doa nilaye yegquela The offerings came out; 11-Dew stands at the sacred entrance, 1-Night. beiyog deni xila bicia quiag binij Put blood in, the gift of the Eagle of Seed Mountain.

As will be discussed at the end of this chapter, a document known as the Quiaviní Genealogy, from the central Oaxaca Valleys, narrates a confrontation between the ancestors Lord 1-Caiman and a 1-Death Great Eagle. While Great Eagle is less prominent than 1-Caiman, his importance is stressed in Song  7. During this offering, Great Eagle is the first ancestor to be summoned at the beginning of Maguey, the year’s first period. He is called no lo, “he who is the root,” and is introduced through a recollection, zijchi naca yehue zoo queche bechina, “In ancient times, there was a palace that stood in Town of Deer”: 10 0 -7:1 ye yehue dao quehue zoo bicia dao The sign of the great palace: Great Eagle is in the palace. cebi nopa no lo bicia dao He is returning today, he who is the root, Great Eagle.

211

re thinking z ap otec time

bea yazag qui teni The command: long leaves, a blood offering.

Bilatela Tao, Great 7-Knot, was widely acknowledged as a founding ancestor, as he is mentioned in the 1649 copy of Tia Lapag’s will, the Yelabichi document, Tabaa Lienzo 1, and the 1789 Solaga testament. He appears briefly in the songs, but plays an important role as mediator. He is first mentioned in Song 100-1:13 as the recipient of nine maize seeds, an offering that “sits on the field of Lord Great 7-Knot.” In Song 100-4:8, after the song has recreated the birth of 1-Caiman, it is 7-Knot’s turn: the singers announce, zalag biyaca xoo dao galag biyaca bilatela tao, “the ancestors are able to be born strong; Great 7-Knot the Great will be born strong.” Then, at the start of Song 5, the role played by this ancestor is unveiled: 10 0 -5:1 bilatela tao bene coliza huichana quiag lao zo lachi yego xia Great 7-Knot, collector for Huichana of First Mountain, stands at the heart of River of Fate, lichi betao nica here [are] the houses of the deities.

Hence, 7-Knot moves here to convey offerings from Earth as coliza, or collector, for Huichana. He is mentioned once more. In 100-7:4, the singers announce that goguchi bexoci guliza yeyag bi cue lea yehue yaxog quichi yeba, “The seventh father, the collector: he will return a portion to the enclosure of the Palace of the Old Ones of the papers from Sky.” This statement clarifies how to read his calendrical name’s coefficient—he is “seventh,” not “tenth,” and thus 7-Knot.

c el ebr a t ing t he y agt ao: t he p ol i t ic s of t he cosmos in l achir ioag As recorded in a confession signed on November 18, 1704 (fig. 6.6), several officials and notables led by caciques don Juan Martín and don Nicolás de Santiago of the Caxonos Zapotec town of Lachirioag turned over to ecclesiastical judge Aragón y Alcántara one of their most sacred possessions: a round wooden box with a lid that held inside “the root, or tree trunk, of their genealogy,” which was safeguarded inside Ya Be Soa,72 “Wind/Spirit Hill Is Present Now,” a small cave on the side of a precipice, still regarded as a sa-

212

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

figure 6.6. Description of 1-Rabbit’s sacred bundle in the Lachirioag confession. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 156v.

cred place to this date. The judge ordered the box opened, and reported its contents were “four flint lancets, four small stone idols of various shapes, and some shiny stones they call guiag cachi, ‘precious stones.’” A second box, which “belonged to the same sacrifice,” yielded two bundles wrapped in yaga guichi, native paper made from tree bark. This box contained a small basket with two ears of maize tied to three precious stones with a yaga guichi ribbon; a small bundle wrapped in native paper that contained some peppers, a few seeds that seemed to be chia, and some beans and squash seeds, all of it wrapped in a thin piece of cloth along with some coal embers. A second bundle inside “a black rag” held several bunches of ocote leaves tied with more ocote leaves, two precious stones, some feathers, and a small caracol, or snail shell. There were other items corresponding to each of the barrios of

213

re thinking z ap otec time

Lachirioag. The bundles were stained with the blood of sacrificed roosters or domesticated fowl, gallos.73 Don Juan testified that the eldest member of each lineage held custody of an ancestral bundle, and asserted that the round box that Spanish eyes saw for the first time in 1704 had been obtained one hundred years earlier by his great-grandfather, don Cristóbal Martín Yaclaba (1-Rabbit), from the Caxonos town of Yatzachi, where it had been since the 1560s. Don Juan served his ancestors well; he was also a renowned specialist who bestowed calendrical names on children after consulting Manual 1, one of the most detailed manuals in the corpus. While don Juan owned this manual, its author was an elderly specialist from Solaga, Juan Martín, who died before 1704.74 We turn now to the connections between the momentous unveiling of the Lachirioag sacred bundle and the propitiation of foundational ancestors. The invocations in Songbook 101 connect specific sacred objects—such as “precious stones,” ears of corn, and leaves—and specific ancestors—such as don Cristóbal 1-Rabbit—with Classic and Postclassic representations of ancestors, the portrayal of ancestors as turtles and jaguars, and sacred exchanges between ancestors and elites. Sacred bundles were of cardinal importance. As noted in chapter 5, Manual 12 saluted the first Zapotec deities as bene xigaa, “people of the bundle.” A common appellation for ancestral bundles was yagtao, a term that combines yaga, “tree,” and tao, “sacred.”75 In his confession, don Juan referred to it as his descent’s “root or tree trunk.” As noted above, as 1-Caiman traveled through the cosmos, three stanzas referred to three directional trees, also depicted in the Borgia: yaca beca, the Jeweled Tree of the East, yaga bega, the Sprouting Tree of the West, and yaga beiga, the Left-Hand, or Southern, Tree. Each of these trees was linked to the bundle of the creator entity Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake. This bundle allowed specialists to perform a divination act, described as “counting” or “reading” the roots, or origins, of these cosmological trees. Moreover, Huichana was also identified as a cosmological tree that sustained the cosmos, and the songs designate two important ancestors, Great Eagle and 7-Knot, as no lo, “he, the root.” Ancient Zapotecs occasionally removed skull bones from their ancestors’ tombs and shaped them into heirloom objects deposited elsewhere, as evidenced by carved bones from Lambityeco, Yagul, and Zimatlán.76 The practice of using physical remains from ancestors’ heads continued in colonial times through the yagtao, “sacred tree” bundles, which often contained ancestral hair clippings. In a 1705 idolatry trial, Fabián de Vargas of Betaza, son of the author of Songbook 100, Pedro de Vargas, described this bundle as containing strips of tree bark paper tied with foliage from candelillo pine (Pinus maximinoi), molded in a head’s shape, and festooned with “beads,

214

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

feathers, and the hair of one’s father or grandfather.” 77 The same year, Thomás Gutiérrez Xijón, a Spanish teacher, uncovered inside Francisco Martín’s roof a yactaoo, or “head of his ancestors,” described as “a small parcel made of palm leaves, and inside, a stone idol more or less four fingers long, shaped as a face and with crossed arms, swaddled in cotton and feathers, with a bird’s wing and some white hairs.” 78 Vargas also confessed that a neighbor instructed him to offer turkeys and copal to a guiquiag yagtao, which the interpreter glossed as “head of the grandfather,” so that his chicken roost would multiply, and similar instructions about offerings to the “idol and head of one’s grandfather” were reported by Joseph Hernández of San Pablo Caxonos, and by Joseph Domínguez of Yaa, who inherited two bundles from his father.79 There are also references to leni, “arrays,”80 in the calendars. Thus, Manual 47-2 decreed the preparation of leni yagtao, “arrays for the Sacred Tree,” on 1-Caiman, and noted that the “words” of these arrays could be heard on 5-Snake and 7-Deer. Don Juan Martín’s 1704 revelation that his lineage’s yagtao had been brought by his great-grandfather allows us to contextualize the contentious politics that arose around the celebrations of his ancestors. Don Cristóbal Martín 1-Rabbit was said to have preserved his lineage’s sacred bundle for about four decades, or approximately between 1564 and 1604, when the yagtao was moved from his hometown of Yatzachi el Bajo to Lachirioag. Zapotec towns were riven with internal enmities, competed for resources with their neighbors, and periodically clashed with the alcalde mayor.81 The chapter now turns to the roots of important internecine divisions, which entangled with ancestral observances in a variety of ways. Traditional divination could be used as a tool to gain the upper hand in conflicts. For instance, in their collective confession before the bishop’s representative, Tagui officials disclosed an important connection between divination and conflict. During an intense struggle that led to the split of the town of Tagui, Pedro Martín ingested a hallucinogen—either cuana betao or another plant, bea zoo—in order to predict the dispute’s outcome. He then saw members of his kin group stay in the original Tagui lands, as the other faction left for another location. This revelation led Martín’s faction to persevere in their lawsuit until they achieved their objective.82 In other cases, specialists noted which days were more propitious for conducting a lawsuit. Juan de Santiago of Yagneri used the Spanish loanword pleto, “lawsuit,” to mark the most propitious dates for lawsuits: 4-Lizard, 11-Lizard, 8-Jaguar, 13-Rain, 1-Death, 1-Dew, 7-Earthquake, 8-Lizard, and 2-Night. For 1-Death, the prediction was rather specific: bene goni pleto taça çee, “people who made a lawsuit are stuck in place.”83 Communal protocols for ancestral worship were also a highly contested political terrain. As a prime exhibit, I previously analyzed a 1666 case in La-

215

re thinking z ap otec time

chirioag in which most of the town’s elites and many families confronted Antonio de Cabrera, the African slave of the Villa Alta’s encomendero, or royal grant holder, who accused Lachirioag residents of committing idolatry by engaging in acts that included a deer’s slaughtering, and nocturnal visits to Yaguisi, Lachirioag sacred mountain, now called Ya Huiz. Unanimously, all the accused rejected idolatry as a motivation, stated that the deer was divided for regular consumption, and raised the specter of several rapes Cabrera allegedly committed in their town. As a startling dénouement, alcalde mayor Villegas y Sandoval, who lacked testimony from crucial witnesses, was moved to absolve the accused from idolatry. This case provides a crucial example of how colonial idolatry was constructed as a set of reported behaviors in the courtroom. In addition, a full understanding of the Lachirioag songbooks and manuals provides an unprecedented opportunity to revisit this case and its meaning from the perspective of Zapotec cosmology. In 1665–1666, Lachirioag was riven by conflict between two branches of the Martín lineage. The elites accused of idolatry included one-half of the serving town council—an alcalde, an alguacil, a regidor—and also the town’s cacique, don Juan Martín the Elder, and his wife María Ana. Don Juan was the father of don Juan Martín, hereafter the Younger, who revealed the yagtao in 1704, and grandson of the Martín lineage ancestor, don Cristóbal 1-Rabbit. Among the arrested also was a relative of don Juan the Elder, the former catechetical instructor Gerónimo López, who collaborated with don Juan in the organization of collective ceremonies. Against this group stood another cacique, don Diego Martín, Gerónimo’s nephew and don Juan the Elder’s second cousin, who had asked Cabrera to spy on his neighbors. Don Diego and his ally, the cacique don Francisco Gutiérrez, were unpopular in Lachirioag because, as they first testified, both caciques denounced their neighbors for their “drunkenness.” But the local politics of the cosmos could be brutal. Just a day after don Diego gave his second testimony, Lachirioag and Zoogocho residents reported he was seen riding a horse on the road toward Oaxaca City, and there the cacique exits the archival record. Whether don Diego fled to save his life or was executed in secrecy by his enemies, the end result was similar, for without his testimony the accused were absolved and the Martín faction that opposed ancestral worship was suppressed. The Martín–Lopes alliance did survive into the following generation, as don Juan the Younger and Fernando Lopes, a relative of Gerónimo, came together in 1695 as part of a group who complained about a cattle theft by a Yatee resident.84 In 1704, Fernando Lopes would be the last owner of Songbook 100. April 18, the night Cabrera saw Lachirioag residents congregated around deer meat pots at Gregorio’s house, corresponded to 2-Jaguar. The preced-

216

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

ing celebrations, unseen by Cabrera, would have occurred the day before; as don Diego reported, these included the pouring of deer blood from a reed tube into a sacred site atop Yaguisi. The date was April 17, 1665, or 1-Reed, the feast of the “Mexica ancestor of the East,” or Quetzalcoatl. In addition, on this feast, according to Cosmological Theory B, the feasts arrived in House of Earth. Manual  1, owned by don Juan the Elder’s son, described the lavish offerings for 1-Reed as “everything one has for Gozobi; everything one has for Deity Thirteen, Deity Cobechi, for Ruler 1-Caiman, for 10-Face and 8/11-Deer.” Hence, the deer blood offerings don Juan the Elder orchestrated were meant to feed the three supreme deities Gozobi, Deity Thirteen, and Cobechi, alongside the ancestors 1-Caiman, 10-Face, and 8/11-Deer, on Quetzalcoatl’s day. But this was just the beginning of a seven-day ritual protocol, for Cabrera also reported that a week later, on April 24, 8-Face, he saw many of Lachirioag’s residents descending from Yaguisi early at night to feast on deer meat at Gregorio’s house. By then, Zapotec time–space rested on the feast of 8-Face. As noted in Manuals 35, 36, and 84, this was the feast of Coque Lao, Ruler 8-Face, whom Córdova listed as “protector of fowl.”85 Cabrera had indeed witnessed the tail end of two important festivals. Another one, timed for the seventh day of the count, or 7-Deer, remained in the shadows during that proceeding. As shown below, this date was linked with an intricate protocol that yielded visions of ancestors descending from Sky, and which involved the feeding of important ancestors who included don Juan the Elder’s very own grandfather, don Cristóbal 1-Rabbit.

singing t he a nc e s t or s b ac k in t o e a r t h: t he dr e a ms of t he l or ds of s t one This section examines the intricate correspondences between the representation of ancestors, elite rituals, and the exchange of offerings and gifts in Classic period Zapotec stone carvings, and detailed narratives about the summoning of ancestors in the Gonzalo songbook. These correspondences include the depiction of ancestors as shining turtles; their descent from the sky and primordial realms when summoned through ritual protocols; the gifting of jewels (bica) and strings of jewels (do bigaa) from ancestors to descendants; and the exchange of bundles of yaza, “long leaves” like those of banana trees or maize plants.86 While the meanings of these narratives cannot be expected to have remained static between the ninth and seventeenth centuries, various correspondences suggest that cosmological ideologies, ritual protocols, and the

217

re thinking z ap otec time

use of the divinatory calendar continued to focus for more than eight hundred years on the worship of ancestors and their propitiation. Moreover, celebrants followed an intricate protocol as they summoned visions during Days  2–8 of the 260-day count, the festival of 2-Wind to 8-Monkey. The first line in the Gonzalo songbook is cryptic, even by daykeeper standards. It begins with a short interjection, ai, followed by yaoo i.coya, “the stones turned white.” The term yati, “white, bright,” is frequently used as a descriptor in these songs. When applied to sacred beings, it may be glossed primarily as “white,” but also as “bright.”87 Thus, grandfathers are “white ceiba trees” (100-3:1); the first ancestors are called “white spirits, first spirits” (100-4:4) and “white relatives” (100-8:5); the creator serpent 1-Soaproot is white (100-4:5); and some ancestors manifested themselves as white longhorned deer (101-11:2). In the songs, sacred words could impart this wondrous shade onto objects. This belief explains some terse lines in the Vargas-Lopes songbook, which announces that, as a result of lanaca queche bechina lanaca quia xila, “the words of Town of Deer, the words of Mountain of Gifts,” bilalao goya xiyao, “7-Face made his stone white” (100-11:2). White hues borne by entities, plants, animals, or objects were signs of portent in ancient Mesoamerica. As noted above, two intercardinal directions in Fejérváry-Mayer 1 depict a white Olmeca reflexa bamboo and a white tree with a liana. As recorded by Chimalpahin in his Chronica Mexicana, Huitzilopochtli, the Mexica tutelar deity, revealed to his followers that they were to found Tenochtitlan in the place with “white cypresses . . . white willows . . . white reeds, the white sedges; and the white frogs, the white fish, the white snakes that lived in the water there,” as this location sheltered a nopal that grew from Copil’s heart, atop which they would find, as an omen, an eagle eating and sunning itself.88 This area also had crags and caves with “fiery waters,” where “the blue and yellow waters” intersected. Similarly portentous elements were reproduced on the verso of folio 16 of Historia Tolteca- Chichimeca, in a well-known representation of Coliuhquitepetl Icatcan, a sacred site associated with the place of origin known as Chicomoztoc. This illustration depicted white-colored toponyms called Iztactollin, White Cattails; Iztacacatl, White Reed; Iztachuexotl, White Willow; and Iztacaxalli, White Water Sand.89 These protocols use the term begala, “dream(s),” as a general description of the scenes and events that will be recreated through singing, music, and dancing. The Gonzalo songbook begins with a prelude about this dreaming: 101-1:1 ij.gocelepi beetao beegalae xohua yaoo chao Tie up the deities again: the dream of the assembled lords of stone.

218

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

yooce quij dao gaa yoo chao niti tao The long-horned deer, the great offerings, the nine houses assembled, the great spending.

The first phrase summarizes the protocol’s objective: through offerings and singing, celebrants must “tie up again” their deities, who will then return and grant favors. The verb -lepi- (-lípi- in Valley Zapotec), “to bind,” was deployed to describe the effects of xicàni, “acts of sorcery,” as in tilípixicania, “to be tied up by sorcery acts,” or tolípilàchia xicáni, “to tie up hearts by sorcery,” all performed by a còoxicani, “sorcerer.”90 The “dreams of the lords” were tied to ancestral authority, and evoked a time when Zapotecs depicted their lords in stone monuments. Throughout the Gonzalo songbook, visions are described as beegalae xo, “dreams of the ancestors.” Stanza 3 also adds that, through the singing of “the songs 400,” a metaphorical statement meaning “endless” songs, “hearts, spirits, and ladies” will appear in beegaalae xoguaa cichi, “the dream of my ancestors from long ago.” These “dreams of the ancestors” emerged from painstakingly executed obligations. As collective visions, they differed from claims made by specialists regarding their ability to turn into fireballs or animals.91 For instance, in the 1705 Xosa confession, Gabriel Belasco avowed he was a sorcerer, for since the age of ten he could fall asleep, turn into fire, and travel everywhere. Belasco added that a specialist instructed him to offer a bird sacrifice at a sacred pond as he asked the “lightning” who resided in that site to grant him the power to turn into fire, and journey anywhere. Belasco also confessed he had used his shape-shifting ability to enter an enemy’s house through a ventilation hole to steal a newborn son, whom Belasco then sacrificed. Pedro Pérez of Xosa reluctantly acknowledged that, during his visions, he flew to Oaxaca City, fought with Spaniards, and traveled to Spain, but only on a thoroughly Mesoamerican schedule of twenty- or forty-day intervals. Pérez carefully specified that his travels only occurred “in dreams,” thus placing shape-shifting in a terrain shared with collective ceremonies: that of beegala, dreams.92 In the Gonzalo songbook, stanza 1:2 acknowledges three important entities. The twenty day signs in the count appear as huacicha gala cina i.deyo. i.lichi huiyoo zope lao, “the twenty wise ones have stood up: the foundation of the house of the victor, Two-Face.” The tutelary beings 3-Reed and 11-Knot are introduced as gopa quiyac, “keepers of the Reed Fields,” and we are told that 8-Snake, a sacred being associated with the moon and with the time count, comes in as a serpent: guioc bela za i.lanibi gocio, “the Zapotec serpent will enter the time period of its feast.” Stanzas 4–6 then refer to an important exchange with the Sun, which takes place at the beginning of the year, on Maguey. These offerings are lav-

219

re thinking z ap otec time

ish, for it is said that “the vessels of the Defender have fully come out indeed, all of them,” and that “there will be the drunkenness of the Reed Field of the only Sky.” This drunkenness, an important part of the protocol for the celebrants, was achieved by drinking alcoholic beverages made by fermenting maguey. The songs list yocho nizoo (100-2:7, 100-4:8), or “maguey juice with the root, which they put inside so that it makes one drunk”; nizoo nizahui (100-5:5), “wine from roasted maguey”; and nizoo yati (101-1:6), a “white” beverage made with maguey juice “with the root inside.”93 As the song progresses, the impending arrivals are noted in stanza  7, which states that “these brothers and strong ones, Spirits 3-Reed and 11-Knot,” are drawing near. Two verses emphasize the importance of ritual labor. Stanza 1:8 states, xichinaa dola xichinaa tooya, “the labor of singing, the labor of dancing.” Then, stanza 2:3 announces, biyelac nachee be binoe xo nigaa belac quelequi gaa dohua, “Last night, the spirit came. He brought the ancestors here, the serpent will place the nine entrances.” The arrival of the ancestor serpent gives way to an important announcement about a noted Lachirioag ancestor: 101-2:3 belaci yaaclaba yeeola eceche bala yao hueda 1-Rabbit, 3-Reed, 13-Jaguar, and Stone Shadow the Flayer grew thin at House of Earth. bade neeche xaa bazo xini The mushrooms and seeds lie here already; the children are here already.

The first verse notes that 1-Rabbit, 3-Reed, 13-Jaguar, and Stone Shadow Flayer, the Zapotec equivalent of Itztli, have grown thin on Earth, and that they must be fed through offerings. 1-Rabbit, as noted above, is none other than don Cristóbal Martín Yaclaba, 1-Rabbit, great-grandfather of Lachirioag cacique don Juan Martín, and the ancestor who brought his lineage’s sacred bundle in 1604, where it continued to be worshiped until its surrender in 1704. The statement also links 1-Rabbit to the Flayer, and to the tutelary brother spirits 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar, mentioned in 101-2:4, 2:5, and 2:9 as “dead lords” and as spirits who nurture the fields. Their tutelage of the community required great care: thus, 101-5:1 orders that a “blue row” must be made for them across Hill of the West. The row’s color echoes that of blue roads that were traveled by Xolotl, Xochipilli, and other deities in Borgia 37– 38 and 39–40.94 Several important participants in the offering protocol are then unveiled: they are neeche, which, along with peya, were designations for mushroom species ingested in order to “see visions.” The last term, xini, “child/chil-

220

plate 1. The Tiltepec Year Count in Manual 85-1. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1405r.

p-1

plate 2. Testament of Bartolomé de Chávez I Tia Lapag. AHJO-VA Civil 196, L13-E6, 1v. Reproduced by permission from AHJO. Photograph by Idelette Domínguez. p-2

plate 3. Codex Fejérváry-Mayer 1. World Museum, National Museums Liverpool/Bridgeman Images.

p-3

plate 4. Cosmological Theory B in Manual 6 (top) and in Manual 11 (bottom). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 294r, 384v. p-4

plate 5. Codex Borgia 29–30. Borg.mess.1, © 2021 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Reproduced by permission from BAV, with all rights reserved. p-5

plate 6. Codex Borgia 31–32. Borg.mess.1, © 2021 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Reproduced by permission from BAV, with all rights reserved.

p-6

plate 7. Logquechi, Paper of the Roots, from Comaltepec/Yachialag, with portrait of Ruler 2-Face. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. Estampas 219r.

p-7

plate 8. First folios of the Vargas-Lopes songbook (100, top) and the Gonzalo songbook (101, bottom). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 185r, 227r. p-8

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

dren,” may refer to a mushroom species known as coo pà tào, “nine children,” or “nine noble ones.”95 Stanza 7:3 even provides the calendrical name for the beya mushrooms, Quiaglao, 1-Face. It also specifies that they should be taken on the “mat,” or feast day, of the ancestor from the Xipe lineage in Zaachila called 11-Water. The “seeds” apparently came from a plant with hallucinogenic properties called cuana betao, Deity Plant, in Zapotec, and ololiuhqui in Nahuatl (Turbina corymbosa, morning glory). Specialists ground cuana betao seeds, drank them in water, and interpreted the resulting visions. As noted previously, cuana betao was the main hallucinogen Northern Zapotec specialists ingested to forecast the future, along with other plants called cuana binia, cuana xonasi, and bea zoo, while Mixe specialists employed amuiguia.96 After this discussion of the ingestion of hallucinogens, stanza 2:8 predicted the arrival of a diviner and creator deity: gobeechi gobegua begua begua begua, “Cobechi, my diviner, my spirit, my spirit, my spirit.”

je w el s a nd l e av es from t he a nces t or s Several stone carvings from Oaxaca and Veracruz provide evidence that Classic period communities in Veracruz and in Central Oaxaca performed important ritual protocols that featured prominently the presentation of jewel strings, plants with large leaves, and copal pouches by descending figures to humans. As these scenes sometimes depict two or more generations involved in this exchange, Urcid proposed that these items epitomize the transfer across generations of some “property, privilege, title, or right.” He also noted multiple examples of figures bearing bead strings. Ancient Zapotec examples include MNA-6-6059 and Noriega Stela  1 (both discussed below); Slabs 12 and 13 from Zaachila; Monte Albán carved columns MA-VG-05 and MA-VG-06; Museo Frissell-Colección Leigh 12531; Museo Regional de Oaxaca 10.140376; and AMNH Slab 30-3.1211–12 and Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca 10-140376, both of unknown provenance. Examples from Classic period Veracruz include scenes from Maltrata (Orizaba), a painted mural in Las Higueras, and Columns 1 and 5 at the Building of the Columns in El Tajín. In addition, Slab 13 of Zaachila has a descending copal-bag bearer, and the burning of rubber balls is depicted in AMNH Slab 30-3.1211–12 and Museo Frissell-Colección Leigh 12537. Ancient Zapotec carvings of personages presenting long leaves include the aforementioned MNA6-6059 and Noriega Stela 1; Monte Albán Montículo III-1; Slab 1 from Matatlán; and a genealogical slab attributed to San Baltasar Chichicapam.97 Therefore, the depiction of figures bearing bead strings and plants with long leaves in both stone monuments and seventeenth-century ritual songs

221

re thinking z ap otec time

allows a direct connection to be posited between elite ancestor worship in the central valleys of Oaxaca as practiced in the Late Classic period—roughly 500–800 CE—and colonial Zapotec protocols. But this was also a process of recasting and rediscovery, and not simple repetition. The Classic period slab MNA-6-6059 depicts the propitiation of an apical ancestor in order to legitimize the transfer of power (fig. 6.7). It contains two registers, each with a couple. The lower one represents a couple in seated position: Lady 11-Monkey holding a bowl on the left, and Lord 8-Soaproot, who is singing or speaking, as indicated by a speech scroll. The couple in the upper register, Lady 3-Water (on the left) and Lord 6-Eye/Crow, receive the jewels from a sacred being that descends from the sky. While Lady 3-Water holds up an offering and sings or speaks, Lord 8-Soaproot holds a round object. Moreover, a plant with large leaves sits between the couple. As argued by Urcid, the list of calendrical names on the side of this monument would be a register encompassing nine generations, where Generation  1 is the apical ancestor 13-Knot (Glyph A), and Generation  9 is not the couple on the lower register, but that in the upper register, 3-Water and 6-Eye, who may have also commissioned this sculpture. The descending ancestor bearing jewels may be the apical ancestor 13-Knot, the first name in the ninegeneration register. As shown above, a nine-generation register as a complete record of a noble Zapotec genealogy is deployed both in this slab, and in the 1595 testament of don Bartolomé de Chávez. In an early study of this slab, Caso designated the jaw-shaped motif from which the ancestor descends as “Mouth of Sky.”98 A recent interpretation by Urcid proposes that this element, catalogued as Glyph U, represents the mouth of a macaw as an aspect of the sun deity. An independent line of evidence for the association of macaw pictorial motifs with Cobicha, the Zapotec sun deity, appears in the Gonzalo book. A verse in Song  5 describes a sky-borne vision witnessed by the assembled celebrants: it is the house of the Sun, which is visible through a dazzling display of lohueeyag,99 “parrot plumage”: 101-5: 9 que[c]he biyoci no goyeyag lohuéeyag tao chiba lichi goobicha.i The town saw they who came back: the great parrot plumage up above, the house of the Sun.

There were variations in the depiction of the “Mouth of Sky” motif; for instance, the one in AMNH Slab 30-3.1211–12 depicts large leaves on each side of Glyph U. The imagery singers described in the late seventeenth century has as its

222

figure 6.7. Zapotec monument MNA-6-6059, provenance unknown. Drawing by Elbis Domínguez and Javier Urcid; reproduced with permission.

re thinking z ap otec time

source collective memories of Classic Zapotec rituals, such as the one represented in MNA-6-6059. It comes into full view in Song 2, stanza 9:100 101-2: 9 goyeeyac goyeeyac goyeeyaac quiya laa quiya chene betao Come back, come back, come back, multicolored reed field, engraved reed field, deities! . . . bica beto bica chaga quea The jewels; the jewels came down near me. late yoni bianie ga bini yo lachiga The sweet place, the radiance of the nine seeds of the land, right now! beyaa bezaaha quela gonabi gogue Dance, go to the lake, make a request to the lords: ce[que] nichi yeola eceche aayoa 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar are being trapped; they are cared for, aayoa. cala biquio laa quiyac qui xila xa gochi ba The multicolored males were celebrated. The offering and gift will go to the father of the seventh period. yeyaclo xo bechi yeyac cha chi yeyac cilaa.i cilaa nij . . . Ancestor Jaguar, you will return; the day and period will return; this beginning, this beginning will return queche gaa qui deyo quitopa neto naa bichi belao za Town of nine offerings and foundations, we will come together now, brothers, Zapotec singers.

This is one of the most exacting visions of ancestors in the entire corpus. It begins by commanding the descent of deities from cosmological “reed fields” engraved like preconquest stone monuments, and which are laa, “multicolored” or, also, “beautiful.” The stanza then turns to a remarkable event: the handing down of an important item emphasized in MNA-66059 and other Classic Zapotec stone carvings: bica, “jewels,” which radiated brightness as the “nine seeds of the land.” The precious stones employed during this protocol may have been those contained in the bundle don Juan unveiled in 1704. Then, the identity of the ancestors who descended with the

224

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

jewels is revealed: they are 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar, the “lords who always nurture,” and the ones for whom this feast is made. The next stanza announces the receipt of wondrous gifts from ancestors. First, there is an agreement that the town will offer an animal’s lachi gogui, “roasted heart,” in queeya, or “equal exchange,” for the return of ancestors from Mountain Slope and for fresh water for the fields. This exchange secured the presence of a Strong One and the descent of his reed field: 101-2:10 gooxicha laoc quibij quechelo gui go-za.i The first Strong One will remain in your town; the offering left. bachi quiyae zoba There sat his reed field; it stands straight. ganna quiyae zo ciyeteec Only his reed field stands; it is being brought down.

The rest of the stanza focuses exactly on the two gifts that an ancestor brings down from Sky in the upper register of MNA-6-6059: do bigaa, a “string of jewels,” and yaza, “long leaves”: 101-2:10 ci do bigaa be guiya He/they will receive the string of jewels from the spirits of Reed Field, yaza be guiya chino the long leaves of the spirits of Reed Field Thirteen. ciya yoo yoo lea yaxoc I will receive the house that is inside the enclosure of the old ones. ganna ciya gogue da xico beeco chichi Only I will receive the dead rulers, the children of the shining turtles. belachina becogo zoo i.ye golaaza 7-Deer [Day 7], the seat where the sign of ancient times is located.

Stanza 10 further identifies the donors of jewels and long leaves, 3-Wind and 13-Jaguar, as “spirits of Reed Field Thirteen,” former rulers, and the children of the elder ancestors who will later appear as clouds of shimmering tur-

225

re thinking z ap otec time

tles. An elaborate protocol culminates in stanzas 9 and 10 with the proclamation of the descent of ancestral jewels—a rare gift mentioned only once elsewhere, in connection with a cosmological field (101-7:4). Having achieved its objectives, Song 2 ends with a glimpse of three other entities: Serpent Bichitog [Iguana], 10-Face, and the torch of 1-Reed, Quetzalcoatl (101-2:11, 2:13). Besides the jewel string, 3-Wind and 11-Jaguar also granted yaza, “long leaves.” They are the most cited gift presented to humans, as they recur fourteen times throughout the songs. An arrival of “great long leaves” and benog, “the tree shoot,” of Serpent 4-Earthquake is predicted (100-5:9); long leaves are mentioned as a present granted in exchange for blood sacrifice (100-7:1, 7:7); long leaves descend from Sky (100-7:2); at the culmination of the Turtle Dance, long leaves emerge from the “strong mouth” of Jaguar Cobechi (100-13:1); long leaves accompany visions of Great Eagle (100-7:1; 101-5:2, 5:3); a priest asks for long leaves in exchange for a sacrifice Blood Lake requested (101-5:6); and long leaves are associated with nine bodies of water (101-9:1). Since the focus of many of the songs is the nurturing of the fields, and as they are obtained from Cobechi, Great Eagle, 3-Wind, and others in exchange for blood sacrifices, the “long leaves of the custom” (101-5:2) seem to be tied to success in agriculture.101 Their importance as part of the protocol is emphasized in MNA-6-6059 (fig. 6.7), as they are depicted in relatively large scale, between 3-Water and 6-Eye in the upper register. The end of Song 2 identifies the site where worship takes place: the small cave that, according to the 1704 confession, held the bundle of 1-Rabbit’s lineage, and was called Ya Be, Spirit Hill. Maize, offerings bowls, and a bloodletter were deposited in this cave: 101-2:10 xoba cilaa.ij guiyahapa lachinaa ya be.i . . . The maize of the East will be kept in the care of Spirit Hill . . . 101-2:12 bijxa gaca to gueza to guezoc lachinaa ya be.i Which will be the one bloodletter, the one pot in the care of Spirit Hill?

Ya Be, also called Ya Be Soa, was one of more than a dozen sacred sites identified by the people of Lachirioag in 1704. A site with this name atop the sacred hill of Ya Huiz continues to be used for ritual protocols, as illustrated by offerings made in April 2008 by doña Aurelia Cano, a late renowned Lachirioag specialist who bore the title bene wenllin che yia yegu, “laborer of the mountains and rivers” (fig. 6.8).102 Most Northern Zapotec communities reported that they performed their observances at sacred sites like Ya Be, which

226

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

figure 6.8. The sacred mountain of Ya Huiz (top), and doña Aurelia Cano at Ya Be site (bottom). Lachirioag, April 2008. Photographs by David Tavárez.

existed atop mountains or near rivers, or as small ponds. Ya Be is the sacred site mentioned most frequently and prominently in the songs. The Gonzalo songbook addressed Ya Be as xiinaa, “Mother,” and regarded it as a conduit to the Zapotec triad (101-8:3). Ya Be was also called Nini, Eternal One, and described as dohua niza dao, “entrance to the great waters,” or as portal to a cosmological sea (101-10:3). This songbook ended with a confirmation of the return of deities, achieved through di lagna ya be, “the song, the words of Spirit Hill.” The Vargas-Lopes songbook began with an acknowledgment: coxaga ya be iy.telachilanaha coneto, “Spirit Hill, I believe in the words we have sown in good time” (100-2:5), and associated Ya Be with the Thirteen Deities, the ancestor 10-Face, and the triad (100-6:4).

227

re thinking z ap otec time

The songs also designated Ya Be as the equivalent, under Christian rule, of a preconquest temple: they called it Ya Be, yaeche yao yoo, “temple of stone of Earth” (101-5:2), and asserted that gocechina lahui beeg, “spirits whistled in the middle” of Ya Be. The association between sacred sites and preconquest stone effigies was still strong. Fabián Martín identified a site below Betaza called Ylao Naa Yeche, Before the Mother of the Town, containing “large engraved stones” before which townspeople asked for success in their marriages. The people of Tagui sought good harvests by propitiating Villaa, 7-Wind, a stone figure, and also venerated a stone engraving of Chila Ia Gobitsa, Diviner of Sun Mountain.103

t u r t l e - sh a ped s ac r ific er s a nd a il ing jagua r s: t he end of t he dr e a m of t he a nc e s t or s As noted above, there are about eighteen examples of jewel beads and long leaves as gifts depicted in ancient Zapotec or Classic Veracruz stone carvings. Two Zapotec monuments, MNA-6-6059 and Noriega Stela 1, depict both offerings; in addition, the latter work portrays a turtle-shaped sacrificer whose descent was also memorialized in colonial songs. Noriega Stela 1 has been interpreted as a series of events tied to the life cycle of a member of an important lineage. Several scholars agree that a major event represented here is the installation of a protagonist, 6-Owl, in high office—either as ruler or as priest.104 While there is also agreement on the identification of a turtle-shaped ancestor, the stela’s reading order (bottom to top, left to right), and the majority of the depicted calendrical names, a variety of interpretations exist regarding genealogical connections among the elite actors in this work. As Urcid noted in a detailed analysis of this monument, the stela, carved circa 700–900 CE, is divided into three registers (fig. 6.9). The lower register has a hill glyph, which designates a preconquest Zapotec polity, flanked by two masks with an upward-curling nose appendage. This appendage is worn by 2-Water in the middle, and reappears in a mask before 6-Owl in the top register, and on the mask worn by the turtle-shaped ancestor. The lower register also depicts a couple: on the left, 10-Water kneels forward as his spouse 9-Water points at the scene above from the right. In the left middle register, a female 2-Water performs a procedure on a young child. To the right, a male 2-Water holds a skull, and a child makes an offering before a female 8-Water. The top register provides the name of a young personage, 6-Owl, who may be the child depicted below, and who is a participant in an important protocol along with three other personages. On the left, 2-Soaproot faces 6-Owl, who sits before a mask. On the right stand a male 1-Snake and a female 9-Deer, and the latter holds in her hands a long-leaved 228

figure 6.9. Noriega Stela 1. Drawing by Elbis Domínguez and Javier Urcid; reproduced with permission.

re thinking z ap otec time

plant and a strand of bead-like motifs, which resemble the aforementioned long leaves and bead strings. Above this scene hovers 8-Death, a turtleshaped ancestor.105 Besides 9-Deer’s long leaves, there is evidence for the use of young trees in preconquest and Northern Zapotec ritual protocols. Urcid noted that a large plant with several leaders—perhaps a young tree—appears behind the female 2-Water on Noriega Stela 1, and a similar plant also occurs in the right jamb of Monte Albán’s Tomb 125. This image is echoed in several references to benog, “tree shoots,” and betoo, “saplings,” in the songs. Before the presentation of the cacao offering, stanza 100-5:9 confirms that yaza taoti quitag benog bela xila, “these great long leaves; the tree shoot of Feathered Serpent will descend.” Stanza 101-3:5 indicates that yaci betoo gochi hueixila la yahaxijni gocio, “the sapling will come down from the seventh donor then, the young one, the child of Cocijo.” The paramount ancestor depicted in Noriega Stela 1, according to Marcus and Urcid, is the turtle-shaped figure in the top register. In this work, 8-Death carries a flint knife, which denotes his role as sacrificer. Mixtec iconography includes depictions of a yaha yahui, a term translated as “lord necromancer” in Antonio de los Reyes’s 1593 Mixtec grammar, and which they render as “Eagle Fire-Serpent.” A yahui had the ability to transform into a ball of lightning, and his role as sacrificer is comparable to that of the Nahua Xiuhcoatl, Fire Serpent.106 Several Zapotec sacrificers analogous to the Xiuhcoatl and Yahui wore the “upturned nasal extension” that also appears on 8-Death mask and on the male 2-Water on Noriega Stela 1. Figure 6.10 depicts two other examples of prone figures wearing masks with upturned nasal appendages and identified as sacrificers: one comes from Monte Albán’s North Platform, and another from the back wall of Tomb 1 at Zaachila.107 The identification of the traits of ancestor sacrificers in ancient Zapotec iconography is complemented by descriptions of xo huego, “ancestor sacrificer,” in the songs. In Song 100-4, a couplet invokes Cobechi in his role as ancestor sacrificer and “great father,” an observation gleaned from “ancient papers”: 10 0 - 4: 9 beyaci quitag xo huego xoci tao b[e]t[a]o cobechij . . . The reed mat of the ancestor sacrificer, the sacred father, the deity Cobechi, came down . . . beyaci quitag xo huego xoci tao bene quela bene ba.i tao quichi yahui The reed mat of the ancestor sacrificer, the sacred father, the person of the custom, the person of abundance from the ancient papers came down. 230

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

figure 6.10. Ancestor sacrificers as turtles: NP-9a, Monte Albán (left); Tomb 1, Zaachila (right). Drawing by Elbis Domínguez and Javier Urcid; reproduced with permission.

Protocols allocated a substantial amount of ritual labor to securing the appearance of ancestors who descended in the shape of turtles, one of several possible co-beings. Each of the last four compositions in the Vargas-Lopes songbook, Songs 10–13, are part of a cycle called doyag la bego, “the dance called Turtle,” and each is named First, Second, Third, and Fourth Turtle. These songs are associated with Becelao, Lord of Underworld: the verses in Song 9 below credit these songs to the “writings of the lord of the round enclosures,” which are on either side of Underworld in Manual 66-1 (see fig. 4.9). The other verse also announces the arrival of ancestor turtles, accompanied by thunder and other sacred beings whose co-beings are large clouds: 10 0 - 9:5 xilaya eche nij gozobanij doyag doyag la bego The chants of this town: the dance, the dance called Turtle began; yog xoa lea ocui . . . the writings of the lord of the round enclosures . . . banene yehue quia tini zoo quinina beego It is already difficult at the Palace of the Mountain Slope; the turtles are there, their legs will get twisted. banexog yehue beza dao the Palace of the Great Clouds is already coming down.

After stanza 9, the Turtle Dance begins in earnest. Celebrants give copal to the nine houses of Quela Lao, First Custom, and the dance is presented as 231

re thinking z ap otec time

tribute to the nine enclosures of the palace of Serpent Lord Bichitog [Iguana]. Offerings of beans and of “black corncobs of the West” are given, and nine Cocijos are placed on the ground. Then, an order is issued to the celebrants: they must demand the appearance of an ancestor sacrificer: 10 0 -10 : 2 gune yag gonabij zo note zalapa hueigo Plant the tree(s); ask for someone here who is able to break things, a sacrificer.

The Second Turtle chant reports that three important events took place in the festival of 8-Reed to 11-Eye, Days 73–76: Gobena, deity of hunger, gave an answer regarding sustenance. A very old deity, betao gola gola, perhaps the aforementioned old fire deity, descended. As a sign that marvels will occur, stanza 11:2 announces the words of Town of Deer and Mountain of Gifts, and reports that bilalao goya xiyao, “7-Face made his stone white.” Song 11 closes with a reference to Quia Quiog, Male Mountain. As a gesture of gender complementarity, the third Turtle Dance in Song 12 begins with a couplet that celebrates yela le, “womanhood,” as a central component in the creation of lineages: 10 0 -12:1 pecelao dao xonaxi yagcueo bene beni yela le li xee tiaa Great Becelao, Lady 1-Soaproot: the persons who made the true womanhood, the creation of lineages.

This singular couplet focuses on the roles of the Lord of Underworld and the creator serpent Lady 1-Soaproot as creators of “true womanhood,” while another verse celebrates the Xonaxi, Ladies, Great Gozobi, and 5-Soaproot, revealing that Gozobi, the Zapotec maize deity, was addressed here as a female entity. In a moment of culmination, the “bright cloud” of Gozobi and 5-Soaproot stands in Underworld, and ancestors Great Eagle and 2-Reed arrive. The fourth Turtle Song (Song 13) contains only one stanza and simply confirms the protocol has ended. 7-Jaguar/Lizard, characterized in the songs as the deities’ bigaana, or young assistant, donalachi, “is sad,” and long leaves have emerged from the “strong mouth” of Cobechi. Songbook 100 ends with a paradoxical depiction of Cobechi. An earlier stanza lamented the appearance of Cobechi as Great Jaguar,108 who has grown emaciated: 10 0 -7:3 la yocho itegaa lao Rotten and gaunt is the face, then; 232

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

la yocho itegaa nia bechi tao rotten and gaunt is the foot, then, Great Jaguar; la yocho iteca nia bechi tao rotten and pockmarked is the foot, then, Great Jaguar.

Although a powerful creator, Cobechi must be worshiped and fed continuously. Stanza 12:5 depicts Cobechi as an ill jaguar who must be given lago, “sustenance,” through maize: 10 0 -12:5 dozag lago beche huee bene gola za The young maize plant, the sustenance of the ill jaguar of the ancient Zapotec people. dozag lohuela dao yati bechij The young maize plant, the great bright rays of the jaguar. dozag toa gobeche huee bene gola za bene za The young maize plant for the mouth of ailing Cobechi of the ancient Zapotec people and the Zapotec people.

The Gonzalo songbook records protocols for summoning turtle ancestors that have characteristics somewhat different from those in the VargasLopes collection. They come as a “turtle cloud,” and are also “mottled” like jaguars. After 3-Wind and 11-Knot, called “sons of the shining turtles,” gift bead strings and leaves to the celebrants, the arrival of a turtle cloud is predicted as Song 3 begins: 101-3:1 yoo huana begoo yohua i.yao House of Turtle Cloud, my house of stone; yoo huana begoo yoohua i.yao House of Turtle Cloud, my house of stone. huana huana chichij huana huana chilag bene quiyae Cloud, shining cloud; Cloud, cloud of the diviner, of the people of Reed Field . . . i.yoo huana begoo yohua i.yeo House of Turtle Cloud, my victorious house; 233

re thinking z ap otec time

yo huana begoo yohua i.yeoo House of Turtle Cloud, my victorious house. huana huana chichij huana huana chila bene quiyae Cloud, shining cloud; Cloud, cloud of the diviner, of the people of Reed Field.

This first stanza summarizes the major themes in the song. Echoing previous references to preconquest effigies as “stone lords,” the incoming cloud of turtles is described as a “house of stone” and, later, as a “victorious house.” The verses refer transparently to the main sacrifice given here, “pacas and birds.” Furthermore, rather than an “ancestor sacrificer” as overseer for this blood offering, the song announces the arrival of the deity Bala Yao Hueda, Stone Shadow, who is the flint knife of the nocturnal deity Huechaa, and himself a deity of Underworld, as discussed in chapter 5. Afterward, Song 4 records a ritual involving the propitiation of bats associated with the maize crop, and Song 5 announces that goche yae, “the hill [sacrificial site],” “was fi lled” with offerings. As the specialist Nicolás de Espina Arasena of Betaza noted in a 1704 trial, celebrants in communal ceremonies presented “feathers from macaws and from some birds they call viguini xila.”109 Song 5 focuses on this last offering, and terms this protocol “the equal exchange called Animal of the Lords,” and its centerpiece is Biquini xila, biquini lahuij, “Feathered bird, the bird of the community.” The time frame cited here suggests that the Gonzalo songbook was copied from an earlier text that was in use in the 1670s, as stanza 5:4 notes, gocaa biyee quecexo lanij quecelaba, “it was the year 13-Earthquake, feast of 13-Rabbit,” or May 31, 1671, which was Year 3, Day 208, in the sacred count. The vision of turtles, however, is not fully confirmed until Song 11, which records the protocol for a cycle-renewal celebration on 10-Earthquake, Day 257. The end of this song records the arrival of 5-Death, the deity who made humans from ancestral bones. The song then confirms that arrival of bidodo bego, “mottled turtles,” who arrive forty-two days before 10-Earthquake, on the festival of 6-Jaguar to 7-Field, Days 214–215: 101-11:3 bezaca cualachi bijlina The feast of 6-Jaguar and 7-Field arrived bidodo bego ni tete lahui queeba ii.xicha These turtles were mottled like jaguars; they are placed across the middle of the strong sky.

234

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

The verb -dodo/toto, glossed as “to be mottled, or like a tiger’s pelt,” recurs in various descriptions,110 as in bitoto becogo, “the jaguar-mottled throne.” These jaguar-mottled turtles also merge two important physical traits into a single co-being, as is the case for the transformation of 1-Caiman into a “jaguarmottled” serpent in 100-3:8. The jaguar-mottled turtles are summoned on 6-Jaguar to 7-Field, a feast devoted to Zapotec “fathers and mothers” in Manuals 17, 23, 25, 42, and 99. Due to their coefficient, two feasts, 7-Field and 7-Deer—when ancestors descended with bead strings—align with the second of eight levels above Earth. Hence, with these words singers reminded celebrants that mottled turtles arrived not because they traveled across space, but because time–space moved to the exact location where ancestors resided, two levels above Earth, as shown in Manual 11 (plate 4). It is at this point in Song 11 that the visions of mottled turtles exit from this song cycle.

r emember ing 1- c a im a n a nd gr e a t e agl e in t he qu i av iní gene a l o gy As noted above, the earliest datable documents that identify 1-Caiman and Great Eagle as ancestors are Songbooks 100 and 101, composed in the late seventeenth century. Both were also featured prominently in a late colonial document, the Quiaviní Genealogy (fig. 6.11), which provides a valuable perspective on the connections between lineage narratives and sacred histories.111 This Colonial Valley Zapotec text is closely associated with a town in Oaxaca’s central valleys, San Lucas Quiaviní. An earlier analysis and partial translation of the Quiaviní Genealogy made three useful observations. First, it stressed the importance of Cave Nine, Cave Seven, and Blood Lake as places of origin. Second, based on data from Tabaa Lienzo 1, and the Tabaa Genealogy, it suggested that 1-Caiman, 10-Face, and 7-Knot were memorialized as founders of three ruling lineages. Third, while this genealogy refers to three preconquest and three early colonial generations, it noted that this document was “clearly a copy” of an earlier document, perhaps drafted by the early seventeenth century.112 In any case, this text was unknown before the 1950s, when it was submitted to Oaxaca’s Agrarian Reform Archive. I propose here that the Quiaviní Genealogy was composed, at the earliest, in the late seventeenth century, and that it dates at least in part to the eighteenth century, since some of the hands used in the document closely align with the stylistic features of eighteenth-century hands.113 Moreover, its con-

235

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 6.11. 1-Caiman and Great Eagle in the Quiaviní Genealogy. Photograph by Óscar Falcón. AGA, RTBC exp. 5402, Legajo 1. Reproduced with permission from the Archivo General Agrario, with all rights reserved.

tents resemble those found in late colonial Zapotec narratives, and its ordering and focus, unlike those of earlier genealogies, are far from lineal. Beyond the uncertainties regarding its date of composition and descent lines, this genealogy provides a remarkable portrayal of 1-Caiman and Great Eagle as sacred ancestors and alleged lineage founders associated with Cave Nine, Cave Seven, and Blood Lake: Alaha tini bille gaa billehe gache g[ue]la tini zoo Here is Cave Nine, Cave Seven, Blood Lake coza pichana bejuanaya cogui guiechilla pa tao guiaa tua The master, my lord Ruler 1-Caiman, the prince, left Mountain Entrance.

236

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

cozaa bejuanaya baa cani bitieloho lebana My lord left when the libana [elegant speech] took root.114 Alaha tini coguie guiechilla pi tani xoba gueta late pilloviy Here is Ruler 1-Caiman, spirit of the Mountain of Maize and Tortillas, the place [where] they were shown.115

This brief account depicts Blood Lake and the caves in a pictorial style that owes little to preconquest Mesoamerican iconography. Moreover, unlike Songbooks 100–101, the text does not provide details about these sites’ role in the emergence of lineages, and instead links 1-Caiman with Mountain of Maize. The Quiaviní Genealogy is not a placid description of primeval origins, for it records the military victory of 1-Caiman. The next phrases introduce four lords under the command of Guielana Picia Tao, 1-Death Great Eagle, and describes a fateful encounter: Alaha tini tapa xovana xiteni cogui guielana picia tao Here are the four lords of Ruler 1-Death Great Eagle; nalaha xonag pacexii paçelana guielao guela peni guie they are called Xonag, 13-Snake, 13-Death, 1-Face,116 people of the mountain(s). guechagalaoni coq[ue] guiechilla bejuanatono pichinana guie cachi guie bini They encountered Ruler 1-Caiman, our lord, our deer of Precious Mountain, Seed Mountain.

As an echo of the aforementioned couplet bequichij belanae, “he seized, he took,” which memorialized the land conquests by 7-Rain Laguiag and other ancestors, this genealogy then reveals that 1-Caiman peguichini (“seized“) the mat and jaguar-spotted seat of rulership, and conquered Precious Mountain and Quiaviní, Seed Mountain: peguichini taha pecogo pitôto guiya zô lachinaha He seized the mat, the jaguar-spotted seat: “The reed field is under my care.” alaha tini pi chana quiechilla peni beguichi pe guia cachi guia pini Here is the spirit and master 1-Caiman, the person who seized the Spirits Precious Mountain, Seed Mountain. Alaha tini cogui quielana picia tao Here is Ruler 1-Death Great Eagle.

237

re thinking z ap otec time

While the vanquisher 1-Caiman is depicted at a larger scale than Great Eagle, both rulers sit on high-backed seats, a mark of rulership, and are surrounded by large trees, in reference to their status as senior ancestors.117 Indeed, these tree images echo a metaphor, yaga xeni, “ceiba tree,” which Songbook 100 bestowed on Great Eagle to signal his status as respected elder: 10 0 -12:3 bilahuaijbi queche bicia tao xoa yaga xeni They carried into town Great Eagle, the lord, the ceiba.

Nonetheless, the portrayal of 1-Caiman and Great Eagle in Songbooks 100– 101 differs greatly from the Quiaviní Genealogy. The former hails 1- Caiman as son of the creator deity Cobechi and does not link him to Great Eagle, while the latter lionizes his victory over 1-Death Great Eagle and his conquest of Quiaviní. Unlike the 1-Caiman depicted in Tabaa Lienzo 1, who married Bixeag Lachi, the 1-Caiman in this genealogy married two other noblewomen, Quiegueche (1-Jaguar/Lizard) and Quiegoyaha Pila (2/10-Wind/10-Reed). In the end, while various sources may refer to different ancestors who shared the name 1-Caiman, the 1-Caiman in Songbooks 100–101 was celebrated not simply as victor or lineage head, but as the origin of all Zapotec lineages at the beginning of the time count.

su mm a r y This chapter interrogated Northern Zapotec ancestor veneration in the context of colonial domination and internal political conflict. An initial analysis established daykeepers’ appropriation of colonial Spanish notarial and legal terminology to legitimize the authority that attached to ritual knowledge. The chapter also investigated how calendars and narratives of preconquest origin became colonial probanzas and memorias, and proposed a distinction between lineage narratives and sacred histories, based on a sampling of Northern Zapotec wills, probanzas, and lineage statements. The chapter’s second half presented the first translation of Zapotec Songbooks 100 and 101, which contain one of the most detailed sacred histories, and the lengthiest ritual protocol, recorded by Native authors in the colonial Americas. Following an outline of the structure of these songs, the next section detailed the principles behind exchanges between humans and sacred beings, and noted the initial stages of the protocol in Book 100. It then turned to this songbook’s central apotheosis: Ruler 1-Caiman’s birth, feeding, and journey from Sky to Underworld, and his transformation into a jaguar-

238

singing the ance s tor s b ack to e ar th

mottled serpent. It documented the roles of other ancestors, such as 11-Water from Zaachila; 10-Face Puma of Yatee; Great Eagle; 7-Knot; and 2-Face. The final section examined the politics of ancestor propitiation in Lachirioag, a town riven by conflicts over such observations in the late seventeenth century. After a consideration of Great Tree ancestral bundles, the chapter analyzed a cardinal protocol in Songbook 101 that brought back a bundle keeper’s great-grandfather, don Cristóbal 1-Rabbit, along with 3-Wind and 11Knot. In close parallel to ancestors depicted in ancient Zapotec monuments, these songs reenacted “dreams” of ancestors who descended to Earth bearing jewel strings and leaves. The chapter closed with a final look at turtle-shaped ancestor sacrificers, and a piercing tableau: the powerful creator Cobechi as an ailing, emaciated jaguar. The next chapter investigates how Northern Zapotecs nurtured their forgotten deities as they resisted Christian worship.

239

chapter se ven

Confronting Christianity Resistance, Adaptation, Reception

ould indigenous christian devotions, rather than idolatry, turn out to be the more subversive practice in colonial Oaxaca? The proliferation of calendrical manuals in thirty-seven villages implies that quietly praising Zapotec deities was not necessarily the most notable subversion in late seventeenthcentury Northern Oaxaca.1 As shown by the suppression of dissent in Lachirioag in 1666 and in San Francisco Caxonos in 1700, what was disquieting in the yeche were actions that threatened a carefully negotiated order, in which descendants of ancient lineages and officials sponsored collective rituals, but also secured public spaces for Christian devotions. But Christian songs were sung, Masses were held, and bodies were buried with Christian rites. Zapotec Christianity had various points of contact with popular devotions in colonial Mexico that centered on images and shrines located in churches, and that were also scattered in sacred spaces outside towns and villages.2 As this chapter argues, Northern Zapotec communities fully engaged in less orthodox Christian devotions, as did other populations in New Spain. However, they also generated a discourse about ancestral knowledge that was undergirded by epistemological skepticism about the very truths the Dominicans preached.

C

confr onting chris tianit y

This chapter outlines three ways in which Northern Zapotecs survived their immersion into Christianity. The first section examines overt antiChristian and anti-colonial strategies; the second investigates the absorption of Christian entities into Zapotec cosmology; and the third analyzes a selection of testament preambles that recorded final performances of Christian faith.

defi a nc e a nd a n t icol oni a l dis cou r se s Northern Zapotecs confronted Christian practices directly. Bishop Maldonado’s eradication campaign was ushered in by the revelation that José Flores, head of the confraternity of Saint Joseph in San Francisco Caxonos, had held an “idolatrous” ceremony during which deer were slaughtered at his home on September 14, 1700. Alerted by local residents don Juan Bautista and Jacinto de los Ángeles, the Dominican lexicographer Gaspar de los Reyes, his coreligionist Alonso de Vargas, and other Spaniards dispersed this celebration, and then avoided the escalation of a riot by surrendering the two informants, whom community members executed. After a lengthy investigation by Alcalde Mayor Juan de Mier del Tojo, fifteen riot leaders were executed, and the stage was set for Maldonado’s ambitious idolatry eradications.3 Flores’s celebration took place on 12-Death, four days after year period Gaha (Fruit) began, and ten days before the cycle-renewing 10-Earthquake celebrations. While there may have been other reasons for this feast, 12-Death came two days before the count’s last trecena, which begins on 1-Rabbit. On this date, according to Manual 1, tiçolao dati lani, “the feasts begin to die,” an instruction that suggests that Flores’s deer sacrifice was a cycle-renewing celebration. A puzzling detail that scandalized Spanish witnesses was that “on a table there were some images of saints placed face down, and on top of them some bowls filled with blood.” 4 The hiding of household images of saints was, in fact, an observation specialists recommended. Manual  1 mandated that, on 1-Face, Day 40, caga thona y.lohua yoho yo, “images inside the house are cast aside5 with all one’s strength.” This instruction was repeated for three more feasts: 1-Soaproot, Day 92; 10-Soaproot, Day 192; and a date that fell six days before Flores’s gathering, 6-Face, Day 240. Additionally, Manual 7 instructed its readers to goyaza retabolos, “seize the altarpieces,”6 on 5-Night, Day 83, a directive for the temporary removal of saints’ images from church spaces. These instructions account for the protocol Flores led, which suppressed, at least for one day, the most visible representations of Christianity in Zapotec households. If saints were briefly forgotten, ancient deities were remembered. Some 241

re thinking z ap otec time

verses in the songbooks lamented the fact that Zapotec divine beings had been chastised: 10 0 - 6:3 gotelachi betao gotelachi xohuana coque lahui be bilao bia The deities were forgotten. Spirit 10-Face Puma, lord and ruler of the community, was forgotten. 101-2:4 bilagaa i.yeyac quedao yeeola eceche The dead ones, 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar, were chased away and will return. 101-13:1 benede queche bedona yahui yahui These people of the town: the ancients, the ancients were banished.

These phrases focused on the oblivion into which Christianity consigned the Yatee ancestor 10-Face and the Caxonos tutelary entities 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar. Entwined with rejection and renewed remembrance was a set of affirmations that transparently defied Christian hegemony. The frequent use of the highly pointed phrase huatee lao in the songs epitomizes this act of resistance. This phrase is glossed in Reyes’s grammar with two Latin prepositions: palam, “manifestly,” “openly in the presence of,” and penes, “under the power of,” “in the possession of.”7 Hua-tee lao is composed from the perfect form of the verb -tee-, “to be taken out,” and the preposition lao, “before, in, on.”8 The Vargas-Lopes songbook deploys this phrase thirteen times to indicate that the acts described are taking place “manifestly”—that is, in public. Thus, Song 1 commands: 10 0 -1: 2 benee cohuaa nijy beçoo huatee lao i.yaa looiy Place these spirits in public at the plaza, you!

This command is followed by the statement cohua yee bene eche zoo naha huatee lao, “the spirits, the signs: People of the town, they now stand in public,” and by a refrain: 10 0 -1: 9 benehe eche zoo nala huatee lao The people of the town are celebrating in public.

242

confr onting chris tianit y

Other phrases implied that the renewed protocols took place, metaphorically, in the sacred stone buildings of precolonial times. Ya Be Soa, the principal site for worship atop Yaguisi Hill in Lachirioag, was termed yaeche yao yoo, “Temple of Stone of Earth” (101-5:2), and this designation recurred repeatedly as a reference to natural sites regarded as “temples” (101-5:3, 5:5, 5:7, 6:4, 12:3). Deities were called “people of the Temple of Stone” (101-5:4); and the visions of ancestors were beegalae chila yaeche yao yoo, “the dream of the diviner at the temple of stone of Earth” (101-5:6). Along with the manifest display of deities, the singer instructed celebrants to utter the names of deities Christians had forbidden. Thus, the phrase zona lao bia, “‘Puma Face’ can be said,” recurs six times in 101-4:11, and at the end of the Vargas-Lopes book. Another important name to be repeated and sung in public is the following refrain, which recurs seventeen times in Songs 1–5, with variations: 10 0 -2:11 cona la xoza cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. 10 0 -3:7 cona la xoza cobechi y.chiba cene que quijela li betao Say the name of my father Cobechi, if diligent regarding the belief in deities.

The last phrase compelled townspeople to utter Cobechi’s name if they were “diligent” about their beliefs. What did it mean for colonial Zapotecs to hold such principles? The act of sacrifice, central to ritual protocols, was deployed as a metonym that stood for the notion of belief. Songbook 100 described two dates, 7-Caiman and 10-Earthquake, on which quialag queza li betao, “the belief in deities will be celebrated” (100-4:1). This phrase used a metonym of preconquest origin, queza li, “the straight flint,” to denote devotion, which a celebrant enacted by performing self-sacrifice. Córdova claimed this metonym for Christian discourse, but ambivalently: while a Christian “saintly man” was còpa queza lij, “keeper of the straight flint,” a “great idolater” was huàgo quèza lij, “sacrificer of the straight flint.”9 The very notion of quela, glossed as “custom, manner, usage,” became a battleground for Christian and Zapotec devotions.10 Dominicans appropriated the term for a newfangled verb, ticijquèlalija, “to take the true custom,” as a neologism for “to have faith or believe” in the Christian god, and called the Ten Commandments quela tao teni dios, “the great custom of God.”11 “Custom” in the ancient sense surfaces frequently in the songs: deities are bene quela, “people of the custom”; celebrants concluded that bachilaa quela

243

re thinking z ap otec time

tao, “the great custom has been useful”; celebrations were called quela bilaxo, “the custom of 10-Earthquake”; and Song 6 in the Gonzalo songbook is entitled quela lao, “the first custom.” Custom is referenced thirty-five times in the songs, rendering it the most frequently cited concept. Song 5 struck a defiant tone as it called on celebrants to protect Zapotec custom: 10 0 -5:3 Aca bata yala béa ta xocilo gobilaye lao Never burn the decrees, the mats of your father, the First Disturber. Aca bata niti yog quela yog xila i.yog naba bate Never lose the writings of the custom, the writings of the gifts, the writings for requesting, never.

The first phrase reminded celebrants that the 260 feasts, called “mats” here, originated with the decrees of the nocturnal deity Huechaa as first specialist, or Disturber. The second instructed celebrants not to surrender their sacred writings. The Gonzalo book went further in terms of defining what “custom” entailed. As the various “dreams” of ancestors unfolded, the songs provided explanations about the protocols. After announcing the return of turtle-shaped ancestors, Song  3 emphasized the importance of offering maize grains drenched in blood: 101-3:6 chigaxa bini goni gao yoo binij Why will the seeds be bloodied in the Radiant House? chigaxa bini goni gohui Why will the seeds make an exchange?

Rather than providing a direct answer, the song reminded listeners about the obsidian flint deity Stone Shadow Flayer, lord of House of Skins, and then revealed that the sacrifice of pacas and birds would take place. Song 11 challenged its audience with a more ambitious question. After recapitulating the role of 5-Death as “spirit of sacred bones” involved in the creation of humans, singers asked: 101-11:3 bijxa quelabi xa What is the custom of the fathers? 244

lanij ti bao tao. . . The feasts, the songs, the sacred burned things . . .

confr onting chris tianit y

bixa quelabi xa nij What is the custom of these fathers?

bidodo bego ni tete lahui queba ii.xicha These turtles were mottled like jaguars; they are placed across the middle of the strong sky.

These answers presented a summation of what custom entailed—feasts, singing, burned offerings—and what it yielded: the return of ancestors as jaguarspotted turtles. Specialists also directed their audience to hold in deep regard their very own custom as “wretched people” who would be destitute without sacred beings. Song 7 also alluded to true knowledge about the cosmological landscape of mountains and rivers above Earth, invisible to Christians: 101-7:1 gonaa quelaa beneeati [y]achi goxee quela golaza Speak about the custom of the wretched people: it was created in ancient times. huelepi quia betao Strong is the mountain of deities;

huelici yego bexohuana very true is the river of lords.

Nonetheless, in the end, and in spite of the formidable amount of knowledge about cosmology and sacred narratives that was deployed in the songs, daykeepers were aware that the reconstitution of preconquest celebrations in a Christianized, colonial terrain was a difficult undertaking. Traditional knowledge eroded, and sacred beings had to share the gifts from humans with their Christian counterparts. As a refrain in Gonzalo’s songbook put it, these feasts were conducted, by necessity, gaya lacho, “in a mixed way”: 101-2:6 gaya lacho gaya i.citi In a mixed way, in another way, they will receive much; gala i.tee i.teye the ashes, the grandfathers will be celebrated.

Gonzalo’s choice of lacho as qualifier was remarkable, as this term denoted dubious parentage. Córdova glossed petóo làcho (literally, a làcho, “child,” or “shoot”) as “mestizo, child of different parents, like Spaniard man and Indian woman, or mule and steer.” A mule was petào làcho màni gònnà, while patào lacho was “bastard.”12 Lacho, like mestizo, was rooted in a biological metaphor, and its use in the songs was apologetic: grandfathers deserved

245

re thinking z ap otec time

gifts, even if customs had changed. The next two sections turn to another strategy for surviving Christianity: the refashioning of divinatory texts as colonial legal discourse, and the absorption of Christian entities into Zapotec custom.

h y br id sk ies: t he a b s or p t ion of c hr is t i a n en t i t ies in t o t he z a p o t ec cosmos In the last decade, an important debate regarding preconquest conceptions of the Mesoamerican cosmos and its structure has taken place. The default position, based on decades of scholarship, is that the notion of nine or more vertical levels above and below Earth is firmly rooted in preconquest cosmology.13 Other researchers have noted that the nine-layer Mesoamerican model could be indebted to a nine-level cosmological model found in the work of many early modern European authors.14 Yet some scholars noted the convergence over time of pre-Columbian and colonial cosmological understandings, while others provide a nuanced critique of the generalization of verticality for all Mesoamerican cosmological models.15 Since chapter 4 provided a thorough analysis of verticality in Zapotec time–space, this section assesses the impact of European cosmography on Zapotec cosmological models, with three caveats. First, European cosmological models were diverse, and the theory of nine celestial spheres was often superseded by discussions of other components of the cosmos. Second, European time technologies, including almanacs, were absorbed by Zapotec daykeepers in a manner that allowed them to insist in the primacy of their own cosmological theories. Lastly, Zapotec ideas about the cosmos were influenced by two distinct theories—Theory A, depicted in Codex FejérváryMayer 1, which does not emphasize vertical levels, and Theory B, which details a complex interdigitation of time and space across levels above and below Earth, including four fields. While most Northern Zapotec manuals embraced Theory B, there is little evidence that Theory B resulted from the European eleven-sphere model that arrived in Oaxaca in the mid-sixteenth century. From early antiquity onward, an important question was whether a geocentric celestial sphere theory could encompass all visible planets and stars. In Book 12, chapter 8 of his Metaphysics, Aristotle argued for the existence of thirty-three concentric spheres that tracked the movement of the seven planets, and an account of all planetary movements required an additional twentytwo counteracting spheres, for a grand total of fifty-five celestial spheres.16 The core for this model was a system of seven concentric spheres, each cor-

246

confr onting chris tianit y

figure 7.1. The eleven celestial spheres in Peter Apian, Cosmographicus Liber (1524), fol. 6. CC-0 License, Courtesy of the Smithsonian Libraries, https://library.si.edu /digital-library/book/cosmographicusl00apia.

responding to seven known planets—the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—a topic that recurs in works like Isidore of Seville’s De natura rerum.17 These cosmological models went well beyond the notion of nine celestial spheres. In fact, three superior celestial spheres, which were mobile, were thought to exist beyond the seven planets. There were debates about the movement and contents of the superior spheres; for instance, the ninthcentury astronomer Thabit ibn Qurra proposed a progressive and regressive movement of superior stars, or “trepidation.” Beyond these ten spheres lay a nobler realm, the empyrean heaven, whose mobile or immobile status was of-

247

re thinking z ap otec time

ten dissected. The Empyreum, as the noblest realm, was regarded as the domain of God and his angels. Taking his cue from Scripture (Psalms 67, 102, 113, and Deuteronomy 10), in the early seventeenth century the Jesuit scholar Bartholomeus Amicus argued that God and all blessed entities resided in the Empyrean sphere.18 In the end, then, early modern European cosmological notions were a complex set of layers that enclosed multiple models, and that often stressed the existence of eleven celestial spheres. Figure 7.1 shows the eleven-sphere celestial model—seven planets, three outer spheres, Empyrean Heaven—in Peter Apian’s influential Cosmographicus Liber. In New Spain, this model was studied not only by Indigenous but also by mestizo notables like don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, who sought parallels between Christian beliefs and those of his home altepetl of Tetzcoco. He argued that when his illustrious ancestor Nezahualcoyotl placed Tloque Nahuaque, Lord of the Near and the Nigh, atop “nine levels,” Nezahualcoyotl was indeed following Platonic and Christian teachings about celestial spheres.19 One of the more popular and dynamic vehicles through which knowledge of the celestial spheres was disseminated in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Spain was the almanac genre known as reportorio [or repertorio] de los tiempos,20 which listed human characteristics associated with zodiac signs, astrological observations, and moon phases. Some of these treatises included a version of the Apian diagram in figure 7.1, as was the case for Francisco Vicente de Tornamira’s 1585 Chronographia y repertorio de los tiempos, a lo moderno. Both Tornamira and Enrico Martínez, author of the first reportorio to be printed in the Americas (1606), provided a summary of the celestial sphere model. Martínez observed that, above the seven planetary spheres, there existed an eighth heaven that contained all “fi xed” star bodies and was characterized by “trepidation” movements.21 Above the eighth sphere resided two moving spheres: the ninth, Watery Sky or Crystal Sky, a reference that was traced to Psalm 148; and the first mobile, or tenth sphere. To these ten heavens, Tornamira added the Empyrean Heaven, an immobile sphere and “place of Saints,” and noted that, if one counted the four spheres corresponding to Earth’s four elements (earth, wind, fire, and water), the total number of spheres would be not nine or eleven, but fifteen.22 In his analysis of the 260-day Nahua count (tonalpohualli, discussed in chapter  2), Chimalpahin made the astounding assertion that it was called Reportorio de los Tiempos, and included a discussion of zodiac signs influenced by Martínez’s 1606 Reportorio. Chimalpahin’s bold interpretation of the tonalpohualli as reportorio was an apt corollary to the intense interest that moved Indigenous writers toward almanacs. A most prominent example of the fusion of Nahua and European timekeeping is the Codex Mexicanus, a

248

confr onting chris tianit y

sixteenth-century protean work that contains, besides pictographic annals and genealogies, moon phase tables, a calendar of saint’s days with Dominical letters, and diagrams linking zodiac signs to the human body.23 There also exists an eight-page Nahuatl manuscript entitled Reperdorio de los diempos, placed in a copy of Gante’s 1553 Nahuatl Doctrina christiana that bore the signature of a woman, María de los Ángeles. This work adapted into Nahuatl the contents of a reportorio, along with a Nahuatl dialogue.24 Another Nahua reader drew celestial spheres and made annotations in Nahuatl in a copy of Sahagún’s 1583 Psalmodia Christiana.25 Finally, a folio in the compilation of historical and genealogical documents known as Codex Cozcatzin contains annotations in Spanish regarding auguries associated with seven of the nine categories of comets.26 Central Mexican Indigenous writers had access to an influential work that circulated widely in Spain in original and revised editions: a Reportorio de los tiempos first published in 1492 in Zaragoza by Andrés de Li, a possible Jewish converso, Christian convert, who drew on the contents of Bernat de Granollach’s 1484–1485 Catalan-language Sumari d’astrologia, later translated into Spanish. Li’s Reportorio was reprinted in Seville in 1510 by Jacobo Cromberger, the father of Juan Cromberger, who in 1537 set up in Mexico City the first printing press in the Americas. Sancho de Salaya, a physician who held the chair of Astrology at the University of Salamanca, published a Repertorio nuevamente corregido that copied Li’s text with a few additions, and this popular work went through five editions, with new printings appearing in 1536, 1538, 1542, and 1546.27 Mexicain 381, a Nahuatl text bound in a seventeenth-century miscellaneous work, reinterpreted some sections that originated in Li’s Reportorio, but also included a variety of sources.28 The lengthiest Nahuatl translation and adaptation of a European reportorio is Amsterdam Tropenmuseum’s Manuscript 3523-2. This text is clearly a late colonial copy of an earlier work. While its first folios allude to Pope Gregory XIII’s calendrical reform, its hands attempt an imitation of sixteenth-century calligraphy and initials. A note dated 1758 identifies the manuscript’s owner as Felipe de Santiago, maestro of Tepetlatzin, a possible reference to Tepetla, a locality now in the state of Puebla.29 As Susan Spitler conclusively showed, many sections in the Tropenmuseum manuscript were adapted from Salaya’s Repertorio, and thus its Nahua authors adapted content originally published in Li’s Reportorio that was later slightly revised in Salaya’s publication.30 Northern Zapotec daykeepers were familiar with reportorios, but incorporated information from them only in correlation statements. In a note on the martyrdom of John the Baptist (August 29), the author of Manual 63 calls it la gulasion Sa[n] Jua[n], adapted from la degollacio[n] de sant Jua[n] bap-

249

re thinking z ap otec time

tista, which appears in Li’s 1510 Reportorio, but could have come from Salaya or another source based on Li.31 Other specialists refer to days of the week and list Dominical letters at the beginning of the count. The author of Manual  27 used Dominical letters accurately for the first sixty-nine feasts and paired the first thirty-six feasts with January 24 to March 1—in 1690, according to Book 81. Manual 51 indicated days of the week at the beginning and end of trecenas and used Dominical letters for the first twelve feasts. Nonetheless, Manual 85-2 used Dominical letters throughout the count, as did Manual 88, but neither manual provided correlations. Manual 63 referred to weekdays in its correlations, and Manual 85-1 deployed Dominical letters consistently, showcasing its author’s familiarity with the Zapotec year and European almanacs. In a singular move, Manual 53 recorded offerings for both Zapotec and Christian entities (table 7.1) through nine annotations, each paired with a quincunx. A similar set of nine quincunxes appears in Manual 37 (fig. 7.2, right). Since the diagram instructs readers to count from 1-Caiman going up, a plausible reading is that it represents offerings for the first nine days in the count, and that the quincunxes illustrate offering arrays. Here, Christian entities were co-opted into a Zapotec offering protocol. Day 1, usually devoted to 1-Caiman and Deity Thirteen, called for a quincunxshaped “candle offering” for the Eucharist. On Day 2, when 1-Soaproot and others called for gifts, Jesus Nazarene “requested” candles. Gozobi was celebrated on Day  3, and this manual aligned 4-Lizard with the center of the House of Earth quincunx, where humans reside. As in Manuals  1 and 13, 5-Snake belonged to Huechaa, but he shared his obligations as guardian with the town’s patron saints. 6-Death and 8-Rabbit were devoted to bifurcated observances: first the ancestors’ children and the angels, then the community’s children and the “angels of the sky.” These obligations were adjacent to 7-Deer, the feast when ancestors descended with jewel strings; thus, Manual 53 remarked that, on this date, ancestors “speak.” 9-Water is the only feast in this list reserved solely for Christianity: it belonged to God the Father and Mary, “the Great Lady.” But this hybrid scheme called for various compromises. As an echo of his position in the Empyreum, God the Father occupies the uppermost position on the folio. Nevertheless, mirroring deity pairs like Gobechi and Huichana, and in violation of orthodoxy, the Christian God was assigned Mary as his female companion. Daykeepers demoted God’s angels, usually found in the Empyreum, to serving as companions to ancestors and children. At first sight, this list apparently aligns with the nine levels of the Zapotec cosmos, and also with nine of the eleven celestial spheres described by Apian and many others. Nevertheless, any careful practitioner knew that this set

250

confr onting chris tianit y

table 7.1. Nine-tier diagram in Manual 53 with Christian and Zapotec sacred beings Days 1–9

Circles

Sacred entities, Manual 53 (AGI México 882, 1098v)

9-Water

5

xana cuina xina reho rine Dios xoci leni xonaxi dao Our very Lord and Mother speak: God the Father and the Great Lady

8-Rabbit

5

neha xini cuina reho rine leni Anges yaba rine Now, our own children speak, and the angels of the sky speak

7-Deer

5

tao cuina xotao cuina reho rinee Our very own ancestors speak

6-Death

5

neha xini xotao leni yogo Anges rine Now the sons and daughters of the ancestors and all the angels speak

5-Snake

5

santo gopa yeche leni goque huacha napa yeche rine The saint keeper of the town, and Lord Huachaa, who keeps the town, speak

4-Lizard

5

nehe niti nagachi nîga re reho It will be sown, it will be lost, it is buried. We reside here

3-Night

5

yag tao gozobi leni yag tao niti niga reho rine Great Tree of Gozobi and Great Tree of Loss speak to us here

2-Wind

5

Jesus nansareno yeri gona rinabae Jesus Nazarene. He requests a candle offering

1-Caiman

5

santissimo sacramento rinaba yeri gona The Holy Sacrament requests a candle offering

Notes

yagchila zolao chepi la ibaua As 1-Caiman begins, they will be counted going up

Day 1 is at the bottom of the list (1-Caiman).

of nine offerings did not correspond to the nine levels above Earth. Days 1–5 corresponded to the Earth quincunx, and thus 9-Water was aligned with the fourth level above Earth, not the ninth one, where House of Sky stood. Indeed, the prominence of the quincunxes on the left suggests that this diagram instructed celebrants to install an array of offerings that were placed incrementally during the count’s first nine days. Ritual actions sometimes linked church spaces to sacred sites: a feather that Mary’s image wore inside the Betaza church was claimed by a belao, who wore it while he played the drums and sang.32 Hence, it would not be a surprise if the candle array this list described existed in a church or household. This hybrid Zapotec cosmos is a reminder that a unified model encompassing all preconquest and colonial Mesoamerican cosmological models cannot be easily proposed. There is ample evidence for a multiplicity of Meso-

251

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 7.2. Lists of nine sacred beings and offering arrays in Manual 53 (left) and Manual 37 (right). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 1098v, 707v.

american cosmological models that cannot be reduced to a binary of vertical versus non-vertical. Some influential interpretations propose the notion of ascending levels that fold onto each other like a piece of clothing, or call for a related model that progresses horizontally in boustrophedonic fashion and also ascends vertically.33 Any reconstruction of pan-Mesoamerican models must depart from an acknowledgment that the available preconquest and early colonial sources are a small sample of an enormous original corpus of pictographic sources destroyed in the sixteenth century. Cosmological Theory B posited not only nine levels above and nine below Earth, but also four fields in Sky and four enclosures near Underworld. Chapters 4 and 5 showed that this paradigm shares important elements with cosmological models in the Vaticanus B, Fejérváry-Mayer, and Borgia codices. Chapter  6 demonstrated that both Classic period and colonial Zapotec elites believed their ancestors resided in abodes located in Sky. A reductio ad absurdum is in order: If the Northern Zapotec cosmos were based on a European model, then it follows that everything daykeepers recorded resulted

252

confr onting chris tianit y

from a radical act of reverse engineering that retrofitted into a nine-layer cosmos preexisting Mesoamerican theories about time and space, trecenas and half-trecenas, and quincunxes, along with cardinal and intercardinal points. In the end, the diversity of Mesoamerican cosmological models was remarkable. While Theory  B, in the manuals and Vaticanus  B, embraced a multilayered cosmos, Theory A in Fejérváry-Mayer 1 did not refer explicitly to such levels. The existence of both theories alongside each other suggests that, in recent debates regarding the pre-Columbian or colonial origins of the nine-tiered cosmos, both camps may be right. While some cosmological accounts aligned with a theory that emphasized four directions on a single plane, others emphasized vertical levels and a distinction among Sky, Earth, and Underworld.

d ominic a n c a t echesis a nd bodies hum a n a nd di v ine The 1567 Valley Zapotec catechism partially based on Bernardo de Albuquerque’s work and edited by Pedro de Feria became the first printed work to translate into an Amerindian language teachings from a devotional trend popular in sixteenth-century Spain, contemptu mundi, “contempt for the world.”34 Feria adapted a section from the Book of Prayer and Meditation, a 1559 work by Luis de Granada, a Dominican author renowned for his emphasis on contemplation. This passage comes from Granada’s Tuesday night meditation: “What is the human body but a dung heap covered with snow, which seems white on the outside but is full of filth within? Is there another dung heap as dirty as this one?”35 Feria faithfully rendered it for neophytes as follows: laani çica pela lati oachaba nàcani huahygo tillaani[.] Xixa naca pela lati? cani quixi nacani, cani q[ue]la [y]ocho nacani, “And thus, dirty and fetid is the body; it smells. What is the body but dung, but putrefaction?” The Feria-Albuquerque Doctrina also introduced pèla lati, a neologism which taught that the human body was a container for the anima, “soul,” a term Dominicans left untranslated. By itself, pèla referred to any kind of “flesh,”36 while làti meant “shell,” “husk,” “clothing.”37 But this novel designation was not adopted by all. Some Valley Zapotec testators deployed it, as did Juan Blas of San Antonino in his 1753 will, when he cited late gigachi xipelati-ya, “the place where my body will be buried.”38 But various Northern Zapotec testators did not embrace this neologism. Thus, while Juana María of Yalalag stated in her 1760 will that her sons should pay the priest three pesos so that gôocache nedaa lani gone miza quie Anima quiea, “he will bury me and say my mass, for my soul,” the will’s translator specified her that cuerpo, “body,” would be buried.39 Other Northern Zapotec testators avoided the

253

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 7.3. First folios of Christian Songbook 102 (left) and Songbook 103 (right). Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 664r, 687r.

Feria-Albuquerque neologism and simply used cuerpo, as did Vizente Mendoza of Yae in his 1768 will by stating, la gattjna Cuerpo quiea rinibea Yeganna lao Yoo, “I also order that my cuerpo is thrown onto the earth.” 40 The exchanges between Zapotecs and Dominicans regarding human and divine bodies took a remarkable turn in Villa Alta. Emulating the protocols for the return of ancestors in Songbooks 100 and 101, Songbooks 102 and 103 pursued the heterodox objective of summoning Christian entities back to Earth (fig. 7.3). The most likely origin of these songbooks is the Nexitzo town of Yalahui. This town was the only non-Caxonos Zapotec community that surrendered ritual songs, and Songbooks 102 and 103 are the only songs in the corpus that employ non-Caxonos orthography. Moreover, its 1704 confession noted that alcalde Miguel Martín had employed a booklet “containing teponaztli songs.” Songbooks 102 and 103, whose structure imitated that of nicachi songs in Songbooks 100 and 101, focused on Christian entities. They were transcribed by a single hand, and may reflect works composed earlier. Songbook 102 contains three songs, one about Christ’s sacrifice, another in praise of Mary, and

254

confr onting chris tianit y

a libana about Saint Francis. Songbook 103 contains twelve songs of varying lengths that address redemption, the passion of Christ, Mary’s joyful mysteries, and God the Father, the Magi, and John the Baptist. As chapter 3 showed, several false manual covers featured phrases from hymns and psalms (see fig. 3.3). The Yalahui compositions afford a closer look at Dominican–Zapotec musical collaborations, as they depict an audacious attempt to integrate lyrics from liturgical chants into nicachi songs. Nunc dimittis and Benedictus Dominus, which figured prominently among canticles prescribed by the Roman breviary, are cited in the Yalahui songs. Song 103-11, which narrates Christ’s birth, cites the Canticle of Simeon, Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace, “Now let your servant go in peace, oh Lord, in keeping with your word” (Luke 2:29–32): guelabiçaa xona tza no be gocilahe xini bedao The limit, lord, of the days: he who is a spirit liberated41 the son of the deity ni gonaha gopa bedao xene nagola san ximĕo The great keeper of the deity, old Saint Simeon, said this.42

Having been promised he would see the Messiah before his death, Simeon realized this vow had been fulfilled when the infant Jesus was brought to the temple of Jerusalem. In an idiosyncratic turn, the one liberated in this libana is not Simeon, but “the son of the deity,” Christ himself. A second canticle, Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel” (Luke 1:68–79), often sung during the office of Lauds, was adapted into Song 103-12: Zanha xohuani pautihista Saint John the Baptist:

hiya hue

xocilo laa sacahariya xinahelo laa Santa Yzabell Your father’s name is Zechariah, your mother’s name is Saint Isabel. loy sacaRiya profeta xina lij bizeguilo yala begoco altar You, Zechariah, prophet, true mother, you burned copal at the seat and altar. godinalo guela huezalachi lao dios You asked for mercy before God goneelo benedicdoto dominee deam içarahel guelahuebana di You said, “Benedictus dominus deus Israel,” the song of resurrection.43

255

re thinking z ap otec time

This canticle held special relevance for Yalahui, as in it Zechariah thanks God for the arrival of his son, John the Baptist, also the town’s patron saint. But Zapotec authors took catechetical liberties. First, Zechariah’s gender is modified, as he is called xina lij, “true mother.” Then, the Benedictus is described as guelahuebana di, “song of resurrection,” even though this song depicts Zechariah’s gratitude. Remarkably, in the manner of Zapotec priests, Zechariah burns copal. In further alignment with Zapotec protocols, these songs also demanded the return to Earth of Christ, Mary, and Saint Francis in the flesh. The libana in Songbooks 102–103 proposed an unprecedented equivalence between ancestors summoned through singing and dancing, and Saint Francis’s return. After celebrants danced a piece devoted to Christ’s passion, the song instructed them that Saint Francis would descend to Earth as human flesh: beya yoo cuee paxsione Dance on Earth the piece of the Passion; bedahae belah nahho Santo San Francisco The living body of Saint Francis has arrived.44

hiyahi yoho huaye

The use of belah nahho, “living body,” left no doubt that celebrants believed they could summon Saint Francis in human form.45 The Yalahui songs frequently used the expression gabij lao yo, “She/he/ they will return to Earth.” Thus, Song 102-2 called for Christ’s return: chiae yahui lani quebaa lao xina quela hue[ç]a lachij gabij lao yo e loy, “He sits at the palace in the sky with the Mother of Generous Giving. Oh, you shall return to Earth!” Such belief, familiar to worshipers who convened their ancestors, was now tied to Christian teachings: gola goona tzahui rao gabij lao yo Let us sing and recite well, “She/he/they will return to Earth” laui ditza quela huebana Roolui xoce lao becogo altar among the words of sacredness that the father teaches at the seat, the altar.46

With these performances, a hybrid form of Dominican catechesis in Northern Zapotec communities momentously receded from Feria and Albuquerque’s renunciation of human bodies and called for the return of Christian entities as earthly bodies.

256

confr onting chris tianit y

fina l ac t s: t he r ec ep t ion of c a t ec he sis in nor t her n z a p o t ec w il l s a nd confessions A 1676 letter to Pope Clement X from Oaxacan bishop Tomás de Monterroso epitomizes the dual Dominican approach of penance and catechesis in terms of Indigenous evangelization. In it, Monterroso requested permission to whip recidivist idolaters to the point of death, but also proposed prayers to the Virgin of Guadalupe to lead natives away from idolatry.47 In early eighteenthcentury Villa Alta, the largest Zapotec vicariate was San Ildefonso, with twenty-four towns, while Caxonos included eighteen, and Santiago Choapa twelve, and two other vicariates served Mixe towns.48 While Dominicans could not aspire to closely monitor communal celebrations in these communities, they embraced a carceral approach through two “perpetual prisons” for idolaters, one overseen by Bishop Isidro Sariñana in 1692–1696, and another established by Bishop Maldonado in 1704, which lasted until the 1750s.49 Consequently, many Zapotecs avoided direct confrontations with church and civil officials. Others, like the prominent interpreter and author don Patricio Antonio López, embraced Spanish letters.50 Notwithstanding their beliefs or engagement in ancestral devotions, it was customary for Northern Zapotecs to make a public, and decisive, final statement of Christian faith in their testaments. A mainstay in New Philology has been the analysis of wills in Mesoamerican languages. In particular, a formulaic introduction to the testament, the preamble, provides insights into how Mixtec, Nahua, and Maya native notaries and testators manifested their faith at life’s end.51 To draft a will, Indigenous testators assembled the town’s governor, alcaldes, regidores, and minor officials to witness a valedictorian declaration of faith, property inventory, and bequests, recorded by the town’s notary. Hence, these preambles represent the choices testators and notaries made regarding their understanding of Christian teachings. A model testament proposed by the Franciscan author Alonso de Molina for the benefit of Nahua testators had an ordered preamble: after an invocation of the Trinity came a supplication and a commendation of body and soul; sometimes, a profession of faith was included.52 Various examples from Northern Zapotec testaments dated between 1600 and 1795 demonstrate that these documents’ preambles diverged from those standards, as they focused primarily on the profession of faith. For instance, a will attributed to Bartolomé de Santiago of Yagayo, and postdated to 1560, made a lengthy profession of faith, including the Trinity.53 In contrast, two undated versions of the will of Domingo Mexía of Yatzona hurriedly state, “I believed in one God

257

re thinking z ap otec time

and three persons,” before turning to bequests.54 Length and preamble structure could vary, even for the same notary, suggesting that testator preferences played a role. For instance, two testaments by notary Pedro Martín of Yatzachi differed greatly: while Joseph Sanchez’s 1674 testament employed formulas regarding God’s decision to end one’s life and the Trinity,55 a later copy of a 1682 will attributed to this notary only invoked God’s will.56 Like other testators, Zapotec ones frequently inserted a formula along the lines of “truly no one will ever fight,” which admonished potentially litigious descendants from beyond the grave and threatened them with penalties.57 Testators and notaries, working in collaboration, carefully chose and curated the beliefs that confirmed their identity as Christians. Therefore, while Molina’s 1569 confessional manual exhorted believers to begin their wills by naming the Trinity,58 a slight majority of Northern Zapotec wills opened with the announcement that God was about to end the testator’s life, as did Gregorio Flores in 1624 by stating, diacalachi xana dieo Dios bedao yedo iela nabani, “Our Lord Dios, the deity, wishes to end my living.”59 As a bridge between this declaration and a declaration of the Trinity, testators frequently used the phrase neda nacaya christiano, “I am a Christian,” as did Felipe Bautista’s 1677 will.60 Whenever these statements opened a testament, they were then followed by the Trinity. The majority of wills explicitly mentioned toci Dios balij betao, “a single true Dios,” and the existence of three persons in the Trinity, but not all listed Christ and the Holy Spirit. After the Trinity came the main prayers in catechesis. Most Northern Zapotec testators placed first on this tier the Ten Commandments or the Fourteen Articles of the Faith. Such paramount placement of the Articles echoed the emphasis placed on them by the FeriaAlbuquerque Doctrina, which listed them first among the cayo quiquie ticha, “five capital words” of the catechism.61 Afterward, wills often cited the commandments of the Church, but a much smaller group turned to the sacraments. Notably, few testators reported having received the two sacraments meant to ease Christians into a good death: a last confession, and last rites. Marian devotions, particularly in connection with the fifteen Marian mysteries of the Rosary, a staple of public worship in churches and local confraternities, were duly remembered. Marian themes were emphasized in wills, by citing a belief either in Mary as ruler of heaven (goquie yebaa), or in Rosary songs. Thus, in 1684 Juan Martín of Yatzona mentioned Mary right after God and the Trinity as he affirmed his belief in “the three persons of the Holy Trinity, and also in the very ruler and great lady Saint Mary.”62 Some testators balanced Marian beliefs with traditional devotions. The 1677 will of Felipe Bautista from Yatzona included a phrase, inspired by Dominican teachings, that placed Mary in the same upper realms where Zapotec sacred

258

confr onting chris tianit y

beings dwelled: coyeaeglijlachiya xonasi dao sancta maria chia yehua yebaa, “I believed in the great lady Saint Mary, who is in the palace of Sky.” This canonical phrase was followed by an allusion to an important offering for ancestors, cured tobacco: tzela rinia toci xinia Ju[an] baotista nigaa cibi lachi yetze dao quea yoho, “and I say to this my only son Juan Bautista, he will take my cured tobacco that is here.”63 References to Marian devotions also served as testimonials of a colonial subject’s good Christian character. In 1744, Domingo Bautista, a former Lachirioag governor who was incarcerated after a rival faction brought a ruling against him from Mexico City, asked the alcalde mayor for his freedom “for the sake of the Holiest Mary of Sorrows,” and testified he had visited San Ildefonso not to promote infighting, but to arrange his daughter’s funeral and offer candel que xonaxi dao Santa Maria Rosario leni xonaxi de los Remedios dago queba lao xonaxi que xina noola goti, “candles for the great lady Saint Mary of the Rosary and for the Lady of Remedies, the sustenance of the Sky, for the ladies and for my dead daughter.”64 Many testators focused their attention on land bequests, while only some of them explicitly identified funds for their own funeral services. A common amount set aside for funeral rituals equaled roughly forty reales, or five pesos. The common fee for a memorial Mass was between two and a half and three pesos, while a minority of wills promised a higher contribution ranging between 3 and 5 pesos. An attachment to traditional names coexisted with preparations for a Christian afterlife. In 1637, don Juan de Santiago 12-Night of Yagayo left six pesos and three pounds of wax for a mass with singers and a crucifi x.65 In 1648, Agustín García, a wealthy man who stated that his greatgrandfather was the legendary ancestor 7-Rain Laguiag, left five pesos for a Mass with singers and candles. The following year, Gerónimo de Chavéz of Zoogocho, who was already mentioned above as a claimant to descent from Laguiag, drafted a testament with an orthodox preamble, as did Domingo Peres 7/10-Storm of Talea.66 Officials were careful to deploy doctrinal terms in order to refer to ancient observances. Thus, a 1693 accusation drafted by the justices of Tanetze against fellow resident Juan de Yllescas noted various transgressions, and ended with the serious accusation that Yllescas had borne false witness before doctrinal author and Tanetze curate Francisco Pacheco de Silva: coyeage lao bixoci yagheni lachie ditza conae china golaça roni al[ca]lde raca ghebeag rela, “he went to the father with lying words: he said that the alcalde engages in the labor of antiquity, that he would stay awake at night.”67 Yalalag’s remarkable collective atonement provides a vivid example of strategic investments on Christian performance. When Bishop Maldonado came for their idols, town authorities exhibited an easy mastery of catechetical ex-

259

re thinking z ap otec time

figure 7.4. Yalalag idolatry confession. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. México 882, 750r.

pressions first used in the Feria-Albuquerque Doctrina: sacred beings were “deities of stone,” transgressions, “evil sins,” and ritual protocols, “the evil labor of Becelao” (fig. 7.4). More importantly, they presented themselves as newly reformed sinners who had already renounced idolatry. Having already surrendered their “idols” to Villa Alta alcalde mayor Diego Ribera y Cotes,68 Yalalag authorities addressed him, rather than the bishop, in their confession, the only one in the corpus written in Zapotec: a gi mé x ic o 8 82 , 750 r – v diacalachi guitibiyadi animas que netoo niaque cha lizootee yeto na yogoo y.tollaa xihuij We want to wash our souls clean, so that indeed it ends now, on this day and instance, all the evil sin, etoo naca Golazaa cannatezi Seaglij biyeni nettoo which existed in ancient times always and forever, [which] we often committed, 260

confr onting chris tianit y

chela xoçi xotao netoo cannatesi benie y.china xihui que Beselaho Siani lizoo and also our fathers and grandfathers, for they always did the evil labor of Becelao many times. dieaggoa nettoo Bitao diacaxonee y.lao Bet[a]o quiag dieni yocho bidilalag We take children to make a reverence before the deities of stone. Something rancid is made; we were sickened.69

After citing the absence of priests and catechists as reasons for their infidelity, Yalalag authorities argued they already were on the path to Christianity: goca netto laya dioni nettoo y.leza gaca netto Benne lij christianos We were in peace; we await; we will be true people, Christians. lani catij ni ditoxoalapijlij netto y.lao loy tolla que neto didiogona yeni Bitao yogoo xijniloo And at this time, we confess before you our sin: we indeed cut the necks of youngsters, all of them your children. chela ditonaba neto yella dinitilao lao Dios lani y.lao cuina Rey . . . And we request forgiveness before God, and before the king himself . . . niaque cha lizootesi bitagoa neto yogoo etoo si goti etoo si bana because, once more, we brought all that the dead and the living would receive,70 bitagoa netto y.lao loo chela bati beseguiloo yahuij yeha niga which we brought before you, and [which] you already burned in this palace and plaza.71

Such an inspired performance contrasted with allegations that, during a 1709 pastoral visit, almost no women and few men from Yalalag could cross themselves.72 In 1735, the Yalalag cabildo was accused again, in a proceeding now incomplete, of committing child sacrifice, along with cannibalism.73

su mm a r y Northern Zapotec collective ceremonies occupied a shifting ground: they were held huatee lao, “manifestly,” before the entire town, but also beyond the scrutiny of outsiders. To call this world “hybrid” addresses the coexistence

261

re thinking z ap otec time

of Christian and Zapotec entities, but this term does not provide an insightful account of how coexistence functioned. The term gaya lacho, “in a mixed way,” communicated both the regret that ceremonies departed from those of antiquity, and the derision that attached to mixed parentage. This chapter also argued that European theories about an eleven-layered universe had minimal influence over Zapotec cosmological theories. It then located evidence of the precise absorption of Christian devotions into Northern Zapotec observances from Spanish almanacs, and through the inclusion of Christian entities into cosmological arrays. After exploring the refashioning of nicachi songs for Christ, the chapter provided a brief survey of public declarations of Christian faith in testament preambles. The heterodox ways in which Christian beliefs were declared in these wills provide insights into what notaries and testators found most compelling about Christianity. In the end, and regardless of whose deities they sought favors from, Northern Zapotec believers embraced a valedictory performance that stood as a permanent record of Christian beliefs, and which postponed inquiries about their more habitual allegiances.

262

chapter eight

Conclusions

history of spain in the seventeenth century would be woefully incomplete without a consideration of Christianity’s hold on social action and political will. Likewise, the historical study of colonial Indigenous societies remains incomplete without a full consideration of beliefs and practices that, from our vantage point, appear to be merely “religion” or “myth,” but which, from an Indigenous perspective, were authoritative instructions for navigating a shifting cosmos, and for investing economic and political resources as a means to confront rivalries, disease, conflicts, and colonial rule. All these concerns were addressed by the Zapotec term quela li, “true custom.” My work here has placed Indigenous beliefs on an analytical plane that included preoccupations about subsistence, political divisions, and everyday Christian devotions. In fact, Zapotec quela li encompassed, to use an Iberian seventeenth-century vocabulary, astrology and astronomical observations, chronicles of kings and rulers, natural and moral history, law, good governance, forecasting and divination, and, yes, the true faith—but one that went beyond Christianity. While ancient Zapotec devotions have been studied in depth by outsiders for almost a century and a half, José Alcina Franch’s research first revealed

A

re thinking z ap otec time

the exceptional nature of the AGI México 882 corpus. Spanish-language records for Oaxaca reveal little about how the intellectual engine of sacred counts and obligations—and the specialists and elites who controlled them— regulated life in colonial Indigenous communities. This book has addressed the deep silences left by such documentation, and surveyed the most important aspects of this extraordinary corpus, in order to add a transformative element to our understanding of a seventeenth-century Indigenous society. This volume contains the first comprehensive analysis and translation of the annotations, diagrams, and ritual songs in the AGI México 882 Zapotec corpus, and an appendix presents the first analytical translation of Songbooks 100 and 101. The book has also examined the convergence of Zapotec cosmological theories with cosmogonic scenes and important protocols in codices from the Borgia group, including Fejérvary-Mayer 1, Vaticanus B 13–14 and 15–16, and Borgia 25–26 and 29–32. My analysis, however, has resisted the temptation of interpreting the intricate recapitulation of primeval scenes in the Zapotec songs as a mere mimesis of the well-known cosmogonic scenes and offering protocols depicted in the Borgia group mantic books. Since Zapotec theories and protocols must be tied to a separate genealogy of the sacred in Mesoamerica, this book has explored continuities in a cardinal exchange protocol between ancestors and elites involving jewel strings and long leaves, as depicted in ancient Zapotec carvings and memorialized in colonial songs. It has also summarized novel information about Zapotec deities, including versions of Quetzalcoatl and Itztli. Finally, it analyzed complex narratives of origin that involved visions of deities, foundational ancestors, tutelary figures, and ancestors in the guise of animal co-beings: jaguars, serpents, turtles, and pumas. This concluding chapter emphasizes three observations drawn from this endeavor: an assessment of Zapotec cosmology as coeval with early modern intellectual history; the exorbitant cost of defending ancestral devotions; and calendrical knowledge as anticolonial praxis and source of dissent. It closes with a brief assessment of vibrant local devotions in Northern Zapotec communities. The worship of jaguar-mottled serpents seems arcane only if one forgets the enormous leap Dominicans asked Indigenous neophytes to perform as they moved toward Christianity. The 1567 Feria-Albuquerque Doctrina, which otherwise avoided detailed descriptions of Zapotec deities and their cult, presented idolatry in orthodox terms, but chose an extraordinary medium. As was done with Granada’s work, and as discussed in chapter 7, this Doctrina slipped in a passage based on Thomas Aquinas’s discussion of the origins of idolatry, but without an acknowledgment of its source. In his Summa Theologiae, Aquinas analyzed two first causes of idolatry: the dispositiva, which stemmed from human nature and actions, and the consummativa, an inter264

conclusions

vention by the Devil. The Doctrina adapted Aquinas’s explanation through an exposition of both causes. Aquinas’s dispositiva—based on Wisdom 14:15— was rendered in Valley Zapotec as follows: Cotobi loo còca cicatij, quelani toti beni natij xinì nachijni: chicani tebela còti xinini nachijni, citao tete pelacelachini, chela piñaxoolàchini, niateni xiquela côti xini nachijni . . . cani nacacîquie, nacacîyaga penichàhuini tobi loâ, tobi bennabi xiteni quettoo xînini, laaca loà canî, bennabi canî copachahuilichini: niani ca[n]nani looni, cica yobi xinini coca lachini beni cani loà canî, laaca bennabi canî pebaquini, peguichilachitaoni. The first [cause] was thus: because of a person who dies and is a beloved child, so that, if his dear son died, he was extremely sad, and he was irascible because of the death of his beloved child. . . . But vainly, he fashioned well from stone and wood an image, a representation of his child’s tomb. And he kept well in his house one mere image, one depiction, so that before it, that very child was in the person’s heart, but merely as an image. And he set up a mere depiction, and grew very animated.

This hidden jewel thus became the first adaptation of Aquinas’s work to be printed in an Amerindian language.1 Remarkably, Feria was perhaps right that Zapotecs venerated their ancestors due to what Christians regarded as disordered love (ex inordinatione affectus). Nonetheless, the shoehorning of ritual protocols into Thomistic categories distorted that which Zapotec sacred effigies and objects represented. What Feria and the Dominicans missed can be foregrounded by a final comparison between Northern Zapotec ritual discourse and mystical discourses in sixteenth-century Spain. Crucially, both involved sacred beings, but relied on incommensurable principles. Both colonial Zapotec ritual and mystical discourse in sixteenth- century Spain foregrounded a common preoccupation: the constant search for physically absent sacred beings. Michel de Certeau proposed a “triangular schema” as the structure of Spanish mystical discourse: events, symbolic discourse, and social practices rotated around an absent body. “In the Christian tradition,” he writes, “an initial deprival of the body”—that of Christ, those of his saints—“continually creates institutions and discourses that are the effects and substitutes of this absence.” Certeau also noted how the body became a “mystic dwelling” for Saint Theresa, and cites Francisco de Aldana’s poetic depiction of the Christianized soul as terrain colonized by God: “How great, how rich are the conquests of the Indies of God, that great world so hidden from worldly gazes!”2 Like Spanish mysticism, Northern Zapotec ritual was permeated by the cardinal absence of bodies—those of ancestors, physically present only 265

re thinking z ap otec time

through their traces as jewels and hanks of hair in sacred bundles, but who remained invisible, except to singers and celebrants. Even the Dominicans who attempted to co-opt nicachi songs by rewriting them to celebrate Saint Francis’s return misunderstood how Zapotecs conceptualized the absence of their ancestors. Nevertheless, Zapotec ritual discourse did not simply revolve, as did mysticism in sixteenth-century Spain, around the absent body. Its central axis was not the remnants of ancestors, but the structure of time interlocked with spaces in the cosmos, a continuum in which feast days wove through cosmic geography in endless movement, and in which ancestors could be sighted in the shape of their animal co-beings. Time–space made possible a web of exchanges between ancestors and humans, mediated by ritual discourse and beegalae xo, the dreams of the ancestors, which did hinge on bodily presence. This is why Northern Zapotec testators’ rejection of the Dominican neologism pela lati (“flesh, covering”) for the human body, as discussed in the previous chapter, was an act of epistemic rebellion: if one must talk about one’s body in Christian ways, one should recruit that foreign word, cuerpo (“body”), to do so. Indeed, Zapotecs and Dominicans sometimes talked about the same entities, but they did so from orthogonal ontological positions.3 Every yeche resident was instructed to make offerings and perform selfsacrifices according to age and gender divisions, in what I earlier called the “elective sphere” of ritual labor. The “collective sphere” required even greater investments. The lengthy protocols, the repetition of phrases, and the myriad couplets in the nicachi songs had to be performed collectively, and beyond the reach of Spanish and outsiders. Households were convinced or coerced to contribute a few reales to purchase turkeys, maize dough, and alcoholic beverages.4 Singers and musicians were trained; as a Betaza trial showed, funds collected for confraternities were siphoned off to remunerate teachers.5 As the Lachirioag confession called it, this was china que bezelao, “labor for the Lord of Underworld.” Local nobility and town officials invested heavily on its upkeep, which contributed to conflict, as seen through the 1666 rivalry between two noble factions in Lachirioag and the 1700 Caxonos riot. Divination led factions in Tagui to find the most propitious days for lawsuits, until the town was divided into two separate sites. Ancestor worship was the province of male specialists and noblemen who sometimes propitiated their own ancestors. Ritual labor was divided by gender, and female deities such as Huichana, Serpent 5-Soaproot, and Gozobi played essential roles. However, female specialists rarely participated in collective protocols, or were mentioned in the Villa Alta confessions. Among the few mentioned, there was Cecilia Mendoza of Yalahui; Juliana, daughter of Joseph Bautista of Yaa; Felipa from San Juan Chicomesuchil; and the healer Lucía de la Torre from Ixtlán.6 As chapter 1 showed, dissenters were not only 266

conclusions

rival male elites, but also women who disagreed about household contributions. Another salient example of female dissent was the March 1704 murder investigation of Juana María of Solaga, a seventeen-year-old who had already lost two children to disease, and who had married a ritual specialist, the Yoeche resident and former official Joseph Luis. As the couple and their relatives drank pulque on the night of All Saints, 1703, Juana turned angrily to Joseph and asked him why he had not run away, as idolaters were being arrested. She then allegedly hit Joseph with a large stick, killing him. Later, Juana and her relatives would have buried Joseph’s corpse clandestinely.7 Despite internal and domestic disagreements, collective dissent was mobilized against Christian hegemony. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, autochthonous societies in the colonial Americas took various paths, which rarely articulated an open rejection of the Christian god, with some exceptions. In 1539, don Carlos Chichimecateuctli of Tetzcoco noted the diversity of mendicant practices and suggested that natives also be allowed to worship in their own manner.8 In 1657, Hernando Hacas Poma famously claimed that the God of Spaniards gave nothing to Indians, and thus Indians had to continue sustaining their ancestors, even if their mallquis, mummified remains, were destroyed.9 Throughout the seventeenth century, Zapotec leaders avoided direct conflict with friars and ecclesiastics, but stood prepared to face punishment for involvement in local devotions. Some noblemen and officials attempted to maintain secrecy before civil and ecclesiastic authorities through coercion. Within a carefully encircled collective sphere, singers lamented the uprooting of ancient deities, struck an apologetic tone before ancestors, and placed Christian images face down, mimicking temporarily the permanent erasure of Zapotec sacred effigies. Placing ancient divine beings on public squares again was an act of defiance that reversed, albeit temporarily, the desecration of mountaintop shrines that Dominicans had undertaken. Ritual songs directed celebrants to defy ecclesiastic directives so that the sacred count and its protocols were protected, in defiance of Christian teachings. Although Zapotecs regarded their celebrations as lacho, “mixed,” due to the erosion of traditional knowledge, they continued until Maldonado’s 1704 campaign. Ecclesiastic and civil punishment did not completely erase quela, as shown by the 1718 denunciation cited in chapter 1, but it drove it further underground. Throughout Villa Alta, the political balance shifted in the first decade of the seventeenth century as Maldonado and the alcalde mayor sought to replaced town officials and embedded Spanish-language teachers in native communities. Moreover, Dominicans lost twenty-seven Oaxacan parishes to secularization, and the six forfeited in Villa Alta underwent further divisions.10 Zapotec quela has continued in a variety of ways, in spite of multiple suppressions. De la Fuente noted that, in the 1920s, specialists who summoned 267

re thinking z ap otec time

rain “began to describe the meteorological phenomena that precede rain . . . as if they were witnessing them,” a strategy reminiscent of the “dream of the ancestors.” He also noted that the souls of the dead resided both in Sky and in lu yu lubé, “Mitla land place,” an Underworld reachable through Mitla.11 The notion of lakes as places of origin resurfaced occasionally. In 1920s Mitla, as a distant echo of the Yelabichi probanza, Elsie Parsons documented a narrative in which primeval beings who had made the ruins, called “Montezumas,” went to “the Lake at Mexico” to receive food from the Spaniards.12 Some Southern Zapotec daykeepers, as documented by Roberto Weitlaner, maintained a nine-day cycle over which a particular deity would preside.13 While comparisons between the Northern Zapotec biyé and contemporary counts go beyond the scope of this work, Zapotec scholars Emiliano Cruz Santiago and Pergentino de la Cruz, among others, have analyzed several distinct variants of the 260-day count, which persist in various forms in southern Oaxacan communities, and which include a diversity of cyclical arrangements of day names derived from the names of deities and the mantic count.14 Northern Zapotec identities have been in constant flux, and thus communal ritual protocols have undergone important transformations since the seventeenth century. Rather than the 260-day count, daykeepers now employ the Calendar of the Most Ancient Galván, a popular agrarian almanac updated yearly since 1826.15 Sacred sites like Yahuiz in Lachirioag or Chhua Zin in Yaa continue to attract many petitioners, and important collective celebrations at these and other sites occur on New Year’s Day and the feasts of Holy Cross (May 3), Assumption (August 15), and All Souls (November 2). Several versions of the divinatory count also continue to be employed in contemporary Ayuuk communities.16 Specialists still propitiate sacred beings across the region, and local political leaders continue to treat sacred mountains, ponds, and caves with veneration.17 When doña Aurora Ramírez begins a petition protocol, she addresses not only sacred places in San Andrés Yaa, where she resides, but also mountains nearby and far away, including Mixe communities and mountains on the Oaxaca–Veracruz state border.18 Offerings to sacred ponds and maize divination continue to be practiced frequently in Northern Zapotec communities.19 Protocols still call for traditional nourishment, or approved substitutes, as offerings: candles, cacao beans, cigarettes in lieu of cured tobacco, and Tres Coronas sherry instead of nizoo yocho maguey beverage.20 Perennially reconfigured and renewed, the manifold devotions colonial Zapotecs called Quela Li, Queza Li, Straight (True) Custom, Straight Flint, continue to frame obligations that bind their descendants to the perennial people of mountains and rivers.

268

appendix

Analytical Translations of Songbooks 100 and 101, and Manual 1, Excerpt I began working on my translation of these songs in 1999. I am deeply indebted to Ricardo Ambrosio (RA) for his erudite assistance with my efforts since 2008, and to don Leocadio Guzmán (LG), doña Aurelia Cano, don Moisés González (MG), and doña Aurora Ramírez for various suggestions. I also acknowledge the importance of a digital version of Córdova’s dictionary for my work (Smith-Stark et al. 1993), which I have consulted periodically since 1999. For ease of consultation, footnotes include entries from Córdova’s 1578 Vocabulario in the original Spanish, along with alternative translation possibilities. To increase the legibility of this translation, I provide my analysis in three lines: a transcription and morphemic parsing in the fi rst line, a morpheme analysis in the second line, and an English gloss in the third line. The sung syllables that characterize this ritual genre (ayao, iiyaa, etc.) are shown in italics, separated by spaces from the analytical translation and glosses. The authors’ orthographic usage, capitalization, colons, periods, and accent marks have been retained. The footnotes contain corrections made by the authors of these documents, indicated as crossed-out text, along with words split over two folios. Customary notarial abbreviations, which appear in various forms (q¯, qz, bt.o, etc.), are transcribed as full words, with the omitted letters inside square brackets. Since colonial notarial practice in both Zapotec and Spanish varied as to the spacing of lexical units, the spaces between Zapotec words reflect basic distinctions between free and bound morphemes. Refrains in each stanza are marked by left-line indents. Since tao means either “great,” “large,” or “sacred,” this term’s glosses vary according to context, and lachi, which may refer to both essential anatomy and animacy, is translated as “heart.” Some Zapotec calendrical names, as written in the seventeenth century, can be interpreted in several ways, and alternate readings are listed. The intrusive /i/, added for rhetorical effect in many Colonial Northern Zapotec texts, is transcribed as i. or y. before the word it precedes. Morpheme labels deviate slightly from Leipzig glossing rules to increase their legibility in both English and Spanish.

a bbr e v i a t ions ( a d a p t e d f rom s m i t h- s t a r k 2 0 0 8)

1plE: first-person plural exclusive 1plI: first-person plural inclusive 2sg: second-person singular 3: third-person

appendix

3an: third-person, for animals 3f: third-person, familiar 3in: third-person, inanimate ADJ: adjective AG: agentive AN: animate C: causative CMP: completive, main form CMP2: second completive form DEM: demonstrative E: emphatic affi x EC: emphasis on completion FRQ: frequentative HAB: habitual HON: honorific IMP: imperative INT: interrogative NEG: negation NOM: nominalizer POS: possessive POT: potential PRF: perfective PRM: progressive movement PRO: pronoun PRT: particle PSB: possibilitative REL: relativizer REP: repetitive RES: restorative STA: stative < >: Tentative transcription tao: Correction made by the document’s authors, indicated by struckthrough text i. agi mé x ic o 8 82, 185r –202 v m a n ua l 10 0 : t he va rg a s – l ope s s ongb o ok Song 1 √1 (1:1) qui-chohui-ci y.ba y.nesa qui-to i.ci quita coci naha POT-be.charred-only PRT 1.good.thing road POT-one POT.take reed.mat time.period now The gratitude2 will be charred right away. The reed mats [the 260 feasts] and time periods will receive everything now.

270

appendix

qui-chohui-ci y.ba y.nesa no-xa be-ceto y.lao lachi POT-be.charred-only good.thing road who-INT CMP-fold3 before heart The gratitude will be charred right away. Who bowed before the Great Hearts?

tao great

co-lag yça co-cha tia CMP-be.born year CMP-be.born lineages The years were born, the lineages were birthed. √2 (1:2) nicaha ço-lao co-la quine tao here STA.stand-face CMP-be.visible4 POT.merit.something sacred Here, the sacred worthiness begins and was visible. yyaoo iyaooyoo iyao

hue-yaha AG-dance5 The dance.

laniy bijye ye-yooco pe lao yoho yoo la i.ye-cana quehue ece dao feasts time.period POT-coil6 spirit face house Earth then7 POT-fly.in.circles palace Eci great The feasts, the time periods: The spirits will coil over the House of Earth; then, they will encircle in flight the palaces of Great Eci.8 benee cohuaa nijy be-çoo hua-tee lao i.yaa people spirit here CMP-place9 PRF-be.taken.out face[in.public] plaza10 Place these spirits in public at the plaza, you! √3 (1:3) yalag caa cheche dao: copal nine angry12 great The copal of the Nine Great Angry Ones, yalaag caa beeçaa dao POT.open nine cloud13 great the Nine Great Clouds will open up, yalaag caa queehue eze dao POT.open nine palace Eci great the Nine Great Palaces of Great Eci will open up. be xohuanaa cobijcha b-ehe y-eyag quehe lana spirit lord sun CMP-give14 POT-return15 vow16 soot[word]17 Spirit Lord Sun gave; the vow and the words will return. iyaaooiyaa

271

looiy 2sg11

appendix

√4 (1:4) yaag quezaag nizaa quelaa che dao POT.go cured.tobacco [piciyetl] water lake west great The cured tobacco will go to the waters of the lake of the Great West, yaag quezaag nizaa quelaa bezaa dao POT.go cured.tobacco water lake cloud great the cured tobacco will go to the waters of the lake of the Great Cloud. be xohuaanaa cobijcha b-ehe y-eyag quehe lana spirit lord sun CMP-give POT-return vow word Spirit Lord Sun gave; the vow and the words will return. iyaa ooyoo iya √5 (1:5) o-çaa xiycaa çaa queelaa lao quelaa tene beechij tene queelaa lao quelaa tenee CMP-leave bundle POT.leave18 custom face lake blood jaguar blood custom face lake blood The bundle left; it left for First Custom, Blood Lake, Blood Jaguar, First Custom, Blood Lake. o-çaa yoolaa çaa queehue [185v]19 yita 20 CMP-leave 5-Reed POT.walk palace radiance21 5-Reed left and will go to the Palace of Radiance now.

naha now

be xohuaanaa cobijcha b-ehe y-eyag quehe lana spirit lord sun CMP-give POT-return vow word Spirit Lord Sun gave; the vow and the words will return. yyaa Aooga oog yoho yooi yaao22

hueyaha The dance.

√6 (1:6) ya-e yae-he ci-te ci-te bee teye hill-3 hill-3 POT.take-EC POT.take-EC spirit grandfather In their hills, in their hills, the spirits and grandfathers will indeed receive, receive [offerings]. co-chaa ga yaga co-to yaga bee queag na-lag queche quia lahui quebaa CMP-be.born nine tree CMP-one tree spirit rock STA-be.born23 town high.place middle sky The nine trees were born: the first trees, the spirits of the mountain, are being born in the Town of the High Place in the middle of Sky. i.y-eyag bee lachi huij POT-return spirit heart illness The spirit Heart of Illness will return.

272

appendix

cohua yee bene eche zoo naha hua-tee lao: spirit sign people town STA.stand now in.public The spirits, the signs: People of the town, they now stand in public. yiyayi

yahui yaha yaoo yaaho yaoiyai ancient plaza The ancients, plaza,

yaha ohuela plaza ray the plaza, the ray.24

[Instructions]: queto ga-ga-ci yaci-te ni tila hole POT-be.scraped25-only POT.enter-EC this this.one26 The hole will be scraped now; this one will indeed enter. queto to nicachi tina ti-hua Duca chi hole one drum POT.be.beaten27 HAB-rattle28 sacrifice STA.sit The hole of one drum will be beaten; rattling sounds are made [at] “The sacrifice sits.” √7 (1:7) yiyayi

yahui yaha yaoo yaoo yaoiya iaha ohuela Ancients, plaza, plaza, ray.

co-ce yalag nij lanij yeeola eetela29 30 CMP-throw copal this feast 3-Reed 11-Knot31 Throw the copal on this feast of 3-Reed and 11-Knot. goo-nahabe-he qu-ita huilag queza CMP-ask-3 POT-arrive disrupter32 cured.tobacco Ask the Disrupters to come, cured tobacco. benehe zoo n-ala hua-tee lao people STA.stand STA-celebrate33 in.public The people are celebrating in public, yiyaiy yahui yaha yaoo yaoya Ancients, plaza. √8 (1:8) xila yobi xa to yaca zo34 ni 35 gift HON father one tree STA.stand this.one The gifts of the Fathers; one tree; this one is present. baa chij cha cila lato cila queeba already STA.sit36 day dawn before.dawn37 dawn sky The day, the dawn, and the period before dawn are present already; the dawn of Sky.

273

[186r]

appendix

i.naa quehue bezaa dao xoohuaana quehue teni yeeola etela iy.yocaci now palace cloud great lord palace blood 3-Reed 11-Knot lion-colored Now, the Great Cloud Palace, the lords of Blood Palace: the lion-colored 3-Reed and 11-Knot. yy-epi coobicha b-eey-eyag que POT-go.up38 sun CMP-RES-return39 vow The sun will rise; the vow and the words returned.

lana soot

yiyayi yahui yaha yaooyaoyao Ancients, plaza. √9 (1:9) Bee yobi co-zo huichiy Bene yoo zope lao spirit HON CMP-stand Mexica40 people STA.be.inside two face An honorable spirit was present, a Mexica: a person who has two faces. bee-xo 41 huehue zoo n-ala huatee lao CMP-come.out old.one42 STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public The huehue [Nahuatl: elder] came out; he is celebrated in public. huana pe43 qui-xoc so pi-tana 44 thick.cloud spirit POT-come.out POT.stand CMP-be.bold45 The thick clouds, the spirits, will come out; they will stand and be bold. n-ala huatee lao bene eche46 zoo people town STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public The people of the town are celebrating in public. yiyaiyya

huiyaha The dance.

√10 (1:10) docaa zichi yza queedao sacrifice47 long.ago 48 year dead49 The sacrifice from long ago; the end of the year. cáci chi yza queedao 20-day.period50 time year dead The 20-day periods of time; the end of the year. yoho pee dao yoho quelao queche bechiyna STA.be.inside51 spirit great STA.be.inside first52 town deer There are great spirits here; there are the first ones from Town of Deer,

274

appendix

xohuaa quehue teni yoola eetela yi.yoci lords palace blood 3-Reed 11-Knot long-horned.deer53 the lords of Blood Palace: 3-Reed and 11-Knot, the long-horned deer. yye-pi coobicha quia lahui queba POT.go.up sun high.place54 middle sky The sun will go up to the high place in the middle of Sky. yyiyayiya huiyaha yaooya The dance. √11 (1:11) xia-to tichaa xijchaa xo bene fate-1plE language native55 ancestor people Our fate; the native language [the Zapotec language]56 of the ancestors. bene eche zoo naha hua-tee lao xa pe yaa people town STA.stand now in.public father spirit young57 The people of the town are now in public before the father, the young spirit. baa yo xo b-ina quiyag ce-yo ce-bi already STA.be.inside ancestor CMP-be.seen58 reed.field59 PRM-be.inside PRM-return60 They are here already, the ancestors. The reed field was glimpsed, it is entering, it is returning. bene eche zoo n-ala hua-tee lao xa pe yaha people town STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public father spirit plaza The people of the town are celebrating in public the father, the spirit, in the plaza. √12 (1:12) baa yo iy.xica-e yag ce-yo ce-bi already STA.be.inside bundle-3 POT.go PRM-be.inside PRM-return Their bundle is here already. It will go, it is entering, it is returning. bene eche zoo n-aala hua-tee lao people town STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public The people of the town are celebrating in public; n-ola y.laci gana STA-be.lengthy61 allotment leased62 the leased allotment is extensive. yi-teca-e yeg ce-yo ce-bi POT-be.gaunt63-3 flower PRM-be.inside PRM-return They [the ancestors] are gaunt; the flowers are entering, are returning.

275

[186v]

appendix

bene eche zoo n-ahala hua-tee lao people town STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public The people of the town are celebrating in public. yiyaiyya √13 (1:13) doo64 be to beela bee tete cord spirit one serpent spirit over.there65 The cord, the spirit, one serpent; the spirits over there. b-eo xia be CMP-come.in66 fate spirit Come in, fate of the spirits! jaa-biy n-ichi quíxi xana queeba POT-return STA-care.for67 wilds lord sky The lords of the sky will return and care for the wildlands. y.zoo pe zope lao STA.stand spirit two face Spirit Two-Face is present, la b-eo xiha bee then CMP-come.in fate spirit come in, then, fate of the spirits! gaa biyniy chi quixi xana q68 bilatela Dao nine seed STA.sit wilds lord 7-Knot great Nine seeds sit on the wildlands of Lord Great 7-Knot. b-eo laba niza tee CMP-come.in drop water ash The drops of ash water came in. ch-epi coobicha quia lahui yeba HAB-go.up sun high.place middle sky The sun goes up to the high place in the middle of the sky. yiyayi yahui yaha yaoyaaoyaoo Ancients, plaza.

276

appendix

[187r] Song 2 niy ta-ci ti-hua que n-ala neto to nicachi here69 POT.be.shaken-only70 HAB-rattle vow STA-celebrate 1plE one drum Here, the vow [musical performance] will be shaken, it rattles; we celebrate with one drum. queto ya-e ci-te hole hill-3 receive-EC The hole on the hill will indeed receive [offerings]. √14 (2:1) dooca chahuij dooca cilaa sacrifice good sacrifice East The good sacrifice, the sacrifice of the East: bea co-ti ch-ag b[e]t[a]o queag bichina ci xini cola animal CMP-dead HAB-go deity mountain deer POT.take child old the dead animals are going to the deities of Deer Mountain; the eldest child will receive [them]. dooca chahuij dooca cilaa sacrifice good sacrifice East The good offering, the offering of the East: bea co-ti ch-aag b[e]t[a]o queag bichina ci xini cola animal CMP-dead HAB-go deity mountain deer POT.take child old the dead animals are going to the deities of Deer Mountain. The eldest child will receive [them]. ca-lag quiag cobi quiag71 huita cabila POT-be.born rock new rock side underworld The new mountain will be born, the mountain on one side of Underworld. bene be-ni quela-li xee tia: people CMP-make NOM-straight creation lineages The person(s) who made the truth; the creation of lineages. ca-lag yag toa yaba yag qui-to cabila POT-be.born tree mouth72 sky tree POT-one underworld The trees at the entrance of Sky will be born, the trees of the entire Underworld. bene be-ni quela-li xee dao person CMP-make NOM-straight creation sacred The person who made the truth; the sacred creation:

277

appendix

coxana xini betao co-beechi AG-give.birth child deity AG-manufacture Coxana, son of the deity Cobechi. Abichi POT.run.out73 One will end.

too one

√15 (2:2) huichana dao yag quetag y.lao quiag tao cabila Huichana great tree tortilla74 on mountain great underworld Great Huichana: the tree of sustenance on the Great Mountain of Underworld: bene be-ni quela-li xee tiaa people CMP-make NOM-straight creation lineages the person who made the truth; the creation of lineages. huichana tao yag bi-leni quiag toa lahui yaba Huichana great tree CMP-guard75 mountain mouth middle sky Great Huichana: the tree that guards the mountain at the entrance of the middle of Sky: bene be-ni quela-xee dao person CMP-make NOM-create sacred the person who made the sacred creation. co-ga quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget76 lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi too One will end. [187v] [Instructions]:

nij n-acaa topa nicachi ce-ag tina na ni-xe lopa here STA-be two drum PRM-go POT.beat there77 creator 11-Dew Here are two drums; they will go on being beaten there, at “Creator 11-Dew.”

√16 (2:3) ni-xee lopa co-zoo toa quiyag quehue lao creator 11-Dew CMP-stand mouth reed.field palace first78 The Creator 11-Dew stood at the entrance of the reed field of the First Palace. ni-cila co-zoo xana ba beginning CMP-stand lord good.thing The Beginning stood, the lord of good things. 278

appendix

j.c-alag lopa ni-xe lachi lani-cij laba79 yalao cobechi dao POT-be.celebrated 11-Dew creator heart feast-only 8-Rabbit 11-Monkey Cobechi great 11-Dew, the Creator, the heart, will be celebrated only on the feast of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey [Days 8–11] of Great Cobechi: bene be-ni quela-li xee dao person CMP-make NOM-straight creation sacred the person who made the truth, the sacred creation. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. abichi to-n POT.run.out one-3in One of several will end. √17 (2:4) lea huidaa cabila lea huita cabila enclosure side underworld enclosure side underworld In the enclosure on one side of the Underworld, in the enclosure on one side of the Underworld, ca-chag bea lana xini b[e]t[a]o cobechij POT-be.found80 animal words child deity Cobechi the animals will be found: the words of the child [Coxana] of deity Cobechi. lea huida cabila enclosure side underworld In the enclosure on one side of the Underworld, co-chag bea xee bea cila che CMP-be.found81 animal creation animal East West the animals of the creation, the animals of East and West were found; qui-lana quete dao POT-be.hungry82 deep.place83 great the great depths will be hungry. ch-eag bitiag y.lao co-xicha be HAB-go lowland.paca84 face AG-be.strong spirit The first pacas go before the strong spirits. abichi to-n One of several will end.

279

appendix

√18 (2:5)

[188r]

ceche chia y.teye eche chia y.teye ya-e hee chiyaa y.teye POT.get.dark85 STA.sit grandfather town STA.sit grandfather hill-3 here.it.is86 STA.sit grandfather It will get dark; the grandfathers are seated in the town, the grandfathers are seated in their mountain. Here they are! The grandfathers are seated. eche chi-e c-ala-i.te deiye chiya iy.dee y.teye biyee town STA.sit-3 POT-celebrate-EC grandfather STA.sit ash grandfather time.count They are in the town, the grandfathers will indeed be celebrated; the ashes, the grandfathers of the time count are seated. biye i.biye i.lana y.quiola xoo time.count time.count words 9-Wind 8-Earthquake The time count, the time count, the words: 9-Wind [1680] 8-Earthquake [July 31]. coxaga ya be iy.t-elachi-lana-ha co-ne-to in.good.time87 hill spirit HAB-believe88-words-1sg CMP-sow-1plE Spirit Hill, I believe in the words we have sown in good time. eche i.zoo n-ala hua-tee lao town STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public The people of the town are celebrating in public. tela paa cobi ci-te lani xi-yona maybe89 tomb90 new POT.take-EC feast POS-three Maybe the new tomb will indeed receive the feast of the Three [Coxana, Cobechi, Huichana]. eche chia i.teye eche chia-i.te teye ya-ee chi yaha town STA.sit grandfather town STA.sit-EC grandfather hill-3 STA.sit plaza In the town the grandfathers are seated, in the town the grandfathers are seated indeed, in their hill; they are present in the plaza. √19 (2:6) xa do chehe yee co-zo hue-la dao ni father one west sign CMP-stand AG-defend great here The father of the only West, the sign, this great Defender was present; xohua be xohuanaa bechi tao hue-ce lord spirit lord jaguar great AG-irrigate91 the lord, Spirit Lord Great Jaguar, pourer of milk.

que POS

tela pa cobi ci-te lani xi-yona maybe tomb new POT.take-EC feast POS-three Maybe the new tomb will indeed receive the feast of the Three.

280

nichi milk

appendix

eche chia ye teye eche chia-y.te teye yaeech-aaa ye teye town STA.sit sign grandfather town STA.sit-E grandfather temple92-1sg sign grandfather In the town, the sign, the grandfathers are seated; in the town, the grandfathers are seated; my temple, the sign, the grandfathers. √20 (2:7) Be-yaha bichi canaa xi-yona quela CMP-dance brothers POT.walk POS-three lake Dance, brothers! The Three will walk to Blood Lake.

tene blood

bene eche laniy-la hua-te lao people town feast-2pl in.public People of the town, your feast is in public. tela pa cobi ci-te lani xi-yona-e maybe tomb new POT.take-EC feast POS-three-3 Maybe the new tomb will indeed receive the feast of the Three. chia y.teye eche chia y.teye STA.sit grandfather town STA.sit grandfather The grandfathers are seated in the town; the grandfathers are seated. [188v] zo taha quichaa xo bi-na STA.stand mat riches93 ancestor CMP-be.seen There is the mat of riches of the ancestors who were glimpsed; yocho nizoo yati y.niza zoohuia yaha qui te-yo POT.rot beverage white water cacao green offering94 foundation95 the white maguey beverage;96 the water; green cacao: the offering, the foundation. qui-to yag leni cobi-ci cachi cocio chi-quene POT-one tree array new-only seven time.period97 HAB-request98 All the trees and the new arrays of the seven periods; they make a request. ca-biy n-ichi-eh-e POT-return STA-care.for-3-3 They will return to care for them. chia y.teye eche chia y.teye yaeechiy-e STA.sit grandfather town STA.sit grandfather temple-3 The grandfathers are seated in the town; the grandfathers are seated in their temple.

281

appendix

√21 (2:8) lea huitaa cabila zo co-be ta enclosure side underworld STA.stand AG-divine99 mat In the enclosure on one side of the Underworld stands the diviner of the mat. to-ne qui quí-to-do cuita one-3in offering POT-one-one side One of several offerings, one for each side. queza co-cho yaba tobacco CMP-tear.up sky The cured tobacco was torn up in the sky. queza ch-ag xoa toa quiag quehue lao quichi yaba tobacco HAB-go lord mouth mountain palace face paper sky The cured tobacco goes to the lord at the base of the Mountain of First Palace of the papers from Sky. co-ca quela CMP-be custom It was the custom. √22 (2:9) cayniy cachi qui long.ago100 seven offering Long ago, the seven offerings. cayniy cachi quita long.ago seven reed.mat Long ago, the seven reed mats. quii-nibi xoo yo bi-nibi quela POT-shake101 earthquake land CMP-shake lake The earthquake will shake the land; Blood Lake shook.

tene blood

co-lag bela xila laxoo quela tene CMP-be.born serpent feather 4-Earthquake lake blood Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake was born at Blood Lake. co-na la xoz-a cobechi y.caciy chaa CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi 20-day.period day Say the name of my father: Cobechi of the twenty periods of days. ca-lag quela b[e]t[a]o cobiy beeco ti-tag niza POT-be.born lake deity new turtle HAB-flow102 water The new deities will be born in the lake, the turtles. The sea flows.

282

dao great

appendix

co-lag bela laxoo b[e]t[a]o CMP-be.born serpent 4-Earthquake deity Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity, was born. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. abichi to-n One of several will end. √23 (2:10) go-yaaci quicag co-yaaci y.lao bela xila laxoo quela CMP-put.in103 head CMP-place face serpent feather 4-Earthquake lake Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake dipped the head, dipped the face104 into Blood Lake. yag xohua toa quiag quehue lao tree lord mouth mountain palace face The tree, the lord at the base of the Mountain of First Palace. co-to chi ci105 quicag CMP-one period POT.take head On the first period, he will receive the head; co-to chi ci xana bela xila laxoo betao CMP-one period POT.take lord serpent feather 4-Earthquake deity on the first period, he will receive, Lord Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity. yag xohua toa quiag quehue lao quichi yaba tree lord mouth mountain palace face paper sky The tree, the lord at the base of the Mountain of First Palace of the papers from Sky. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √24 (2:11) be-zaaca be-zaca lani laxo yolopa ni CMP-arrive106 CMP-arrive feast 4-Earthquake 5-Dew this This feast of 4-Earthquake and 5-Dew arrived, it arrived.

283

[189r] tene blood

appendix

co-teche co-ne bela xila laxoo quela CMP-be.carried107 CMP-sow serpent feather 4-Earthquake lake Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake was carried and sown into Blood Lake.

tene blood

co-na la xoz-a cobechi CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. y.be-saca lani laxo yolopa ni CMP-arrive feast 4-Earthquake 5-Dew this This feast of 4-Earthquake and 5-Dew arrived. co-teche co-ne bela xila laxoo betao CMP-be.carried CMP-sow serpent feather 4-Earthquake deity Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake was carried and sown. bich-a ch-ag y-teche xone quiag quehue lao brother-1sg HAB-go POT-carry POT.run108 mountain palace face My brother is going, and will carry [it] running to the Mountain of First Palace. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √25 (2:12) yy-aachi queche huichana dao POT-need109 town Huichana great The town will need Great Huichana. go-tee cobechi CMP-pass.by110 Cobechi Cobechi passed by; co-ca chahui y.lao dohua bela xila laxoo quela CMP-be good on mouth serpent feather 4-Earthquake lake it was good at the mouth of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake of Blood Lake.

tene blood

co-na la xos-a111 cobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. y-chijno yoho be yatela quiag [189v] quehue lao quichi yaba POT-thirteen house spirit 5/8/11-Knot mountain palace face paper sky The thirteen houses of Spirit 5/8/11-Knot; the Mountain of First Palace of the papers from Sky. go-tee cobechi CMP-pass.by Cobechi Cobechi passed by; 284

appendix

co-ca ga chahui y.lao toa bela xila laxoo b[e]t[a]o CMP-be nine good.ones on mouth serpent feather 4-Earthquake deity there were nine good ones at the mouth of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity. bich-a ch-ag qui-teche xone quiag quehue lao brother-3 HAB-go POT-carry.in.arms POT.run mountain palace face My brother is going;112 he will carry him running to Mountain of First Palace. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √26 (2:13) leaa yolobia b leaa yolobia enclosure 5-Soaproot b [blank] enclosure 5-Soaproot At the enclosure of 5-Soaproot, at the enclosure of 5-Soaproot: bene qui-tog y.sichiy bene chila co-yaaci xi-laachiy person POT-come.down113 long.ago person diviner CMP-place POS-heart the people who would come down long ago. The diviner deposited his heart. bich-a ch-aag qui-teche xone quiag quehue lao brother-3 HAB-go POT-carry.in.arms POT.run mountain palace face My brother is going and will carry it running to Mountain of First Palace. Abichi to-n One of several will end.

Song 3 [Instructions]: nigaa be-do ti-hua niga que-zo-lao dohuag here CMP-end HAB-rattle here POT-stand-face maguey Here, the rattling sounds ended. Here, Maguey [first period of the year] will begin. √27 (3:1) yaah-ee yah-ee ci-te ci-tee deyee yaa-he chia teyee hill-3 hill-3 POT.take-EC POT.take-EC grandfather hill-3 STA.sit grandfather Their hill, their hill will indeed receive, will receive the grandfathers; the grandfathers are in their hill. çoo yobi yaca xeni yati STA.stand HON tree broad114 white Here are the honorable white ceiba trees,

yaiy

teyee grandfather the grandfathers.

doo lepii lao yobi yaca xeni yati yaiy cord POT.tie115 on HON tree broad white The cord will be tied on the honorable white ceiba trees, 285

teyee grandfather the grandfathers.

appendix

doo liçi lao lachi yobi yaca xeni yati cord POT.be.lifted116 on heart HON tree broad white The cord will be lifted over the hearts, the honorable white ceiba trees, ch-epi n-oa peco-hua xilaa HAB-go.up STA-carry turtle-1sg feather My turtle goes up and carries fresh feathers;

yaiy

teyee grandfather the grandfathers.

yaha fresh

qui-toa cene peco-hua xila yona POT-move117 diligently118 turtle-1sg gift three119 my turtle will move diligently the gifts of the Three. ya-ee ya-ehe ci-te ci-tee [190r] deyee yaehechi-a teyee hill-3 hill-3 POT.take-EC POT.take-EC grandfather temple-1sg grandfather In their hill, in their hill, the grandfathers will indeed receive, will receive [offerings] in my temple. teyee teyee ci-te c-ala-ti layla grandfather grandfather POT.take-EC POT-celebrate-E The grandfathers, grandfathers, will indeed receive and be celebrated well, ci-te chiya teye POT.take-EC STA.sit grandfather they will indeed receive; the grandfathers are seated. iyaiyayaoho iyaahohuee cheeyaiy deiyyaalayi chia ya teye STA.sit plaza grandfather The grandfathers are seated in the plaza. √28 (3:2) zichiy lachiy-naa zoo i.lachi dao queechee co-pa ye long.ago heart-hand STA.stand heart great town AG-keep sign Long ago, the town was under the care of the Great Heart, the Keeper of the Sign. i.yaqui yaqui ta-ya iyaiyayaoho iyaaohue echee yaiteiy yaala iy.chiya roasted.thing120 roasted.thing HAB-be.fresh121 town copal STA.sit The roasted thing, the roasted thing is fresh, the town, and the copal are present. √29 (3:3) çichij lachiy-naa zoo-e y.laachiy dao queechee co-pa long.ago heart-hand STA.stand-3 heart great town AG-keep Long ago, the town was in the care of the great heart, the Keeper of the Sign.

286

ye sign

appendix

i.yaqui yaqui ta-ya roasted.thing roasted.thing HAB-be.fresh The roasted thing, the roasted thing is fresh, are present.

iyaiyaaho iyaahohue echee yaiyyteiy yaala iy.chiya town copal STA.sit the town, and the copal

√30 (3:4) zichiy naha co-lag quezaa dao toa quehue hui-lag tao long.ago now CMP-be.born cured.tobacco mouth palace disrupter great Long ago, the cured tobacco was born at the entrance of the Palace of the Great Disrupter. co-lag be xonaaxiy co-pa yej CMP-be.born spirit lady AG-keep flower Lady Spirit, Keeper of the Flower, was born. yaquiy yaqui ta-ya iyaiyayaoho iyaaohue echee yaiyteiy yaala iy.chiya teye roasted.thing roasted.thing HAB-be.fresh town copal STA.sit grandfather The roasted thing, the roasted thing is fresh, the town, the copal and the grandfathers are present. [Instructions]:

ni ta-çi ti-hua here POT.be.shaken-only HAB-rattle Here, it will be shaken, it rattles.

√31 (3:5) lea huitaa cabila zoo cobechi tao enclosure side underworld STA.stand Cobechi great Great Cobechi stands in the enclosure on one side of the Underworld. do-ne qui qui-to-to yag toa-hua122 yaba yag qui-to cabila one-3in offering POT-one-one tree mouth-1sg sky tree POT-one underworld One of several offerings, one by one, for the trees of my entrance to Sky, for the trees of the entire Underworld. ca-lag coque yagchila xini lopa ni-xee be POT-be.born ruler 1-Caiman child 11-Dew creator spirit Ruler 1-Caiman will be born, the son of 11-Dew: the Creator, the spirit. i.lea huita cabila zo cobechi tao enclosure side underworld STA.stand Cobechi great Great Cobechi stands in the enclosure on one side of the Underworld. to-ne qui-toto y.yag toa yaba yag qui-to cabila one-3in POT-one-one tree mouth sky tree POT-one underworld One of several for each of the trees at the entrance of Sky, for the trees of the entire Underworld.

287

[190v]

appendix

ca-lag coque yagchila xini ni-xee tao POT-be.born ruler 1-Caiman child creator sacred Ruler 1-Caiman will be born, the son of the sacred creator. bene be-ni quela-li xe dao person CMP-make NOM-straight create sacred The people who made the truth, the sacred creation. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √32 (3:6) be-zaca be-zaca-ci-xa biye yagxo lani yagchila CMP-arrive CMP-arrive-only-INT time 1-Earthquake feast 1-Caiman Has this year 1-Earthquake and feast of 1-Caiman arrived? [March 2, 1660]

ni this

co-lag coque yagchila xini lopa ni-xee be yi CMP-be.born ruler 1-Caiman child 11-Dew creator spirit fire123 Ruler 1-Caiman was born, the son of 11-Dew: the Creator, the spirit, the fire. be-zaca-ci-xa biye yagxo lani yagchila CMP-arrive-only-INT time.period 1-Earthquake feast 1-Caiman Has this year 1-Earthquake and feast of 1-Caiman arrived?

ni this

co-lag coque yagchila xini ni-xee tao be-zaa queche CMP-be.born ruler 1-Caiman child creator sacred CMP-make town Ruler 1-Caiman was born, the son of the sacred creator who made the communities. chi-yepi b[e]t[a]o HAB-go.up deity The deity goes up. co-ca quela-co-yag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-go lineages It was the arrival of the lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end.

288

appendix

√33 (3:7) ba n-oa-ca ba n-oa-ca goque yagchila quijti za already STA-carry124 -E already STA-carry-E lord 1-Caiman candle fat Ruler 1-Caiman already carries, already carries tallow candles and maize.

i.xoba maize

o-na go-ce-e y.lao quiag toa gabila CMP-say CMP-cast.down-3 on mountain mouth underworld Say, “He was cast down onto the mountain at the entrance of Underworld.” co-na la xoz-a cobechi chiba [191r]125 cene que quijela li b[e]t[a]o CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi if diligent POS custom straight[belief] deity Say the name of my father Cobechi, if diligent regarding the belief in deities. co-ce-e queche ch-iepi b[e]t[a]o CMP-cast.down-3 town HAB-go.up deity He was cast down to the town; the deity goes up. co-ca quela-co-yag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-go lineages It was the arrival of the lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √34 (3:8) co-zaa goque126 yeagchila lea obi lea huita cabila CMP-go lord 1-Caiman enclosure round127 enclosure side underworld Ruler 1-Caiman went to the round enclosures, the enclosures on the sides of Underworld. co-xo-e chita co-yo-e yego CMP-be.strong128-3 scales129 CMP-be.inside-3 river The scales were strong. He went into the river. go-na la xoz-a gobechii130 CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. go-za goque yeagchila lea opi lea huita cabi[la]131 CMP-go lord 1-Caiman enclosure round enclosure side underworld Ruler 1-Caiman went to the round enclosures, the enclosures on the sides of Underworld. bi-chin-e lea chag lea cato n-ocha biyee lachii i.ticha tao CMP-arrive-3 enclosure full132 enclosure twin133 STA-be.mixed134 count heart word sacred He arrived at the full enclosures, the twin enclosures that are mixed together with the time count, the hearts, and the sacred words.

289

appendix

co-za coque yeagchila lea cha lea cato cabila CMP-leave ruler 1-Caiman enclosure full enclosure twin underworld Ruler 1-Caiman left the full enclosures, the twin enclosures of Underworld. lichi-ne zoa be xeni house-3in STA.be.now135 spirit large The large spirit is now in one of the houses. yog zo-bibi POT-be.written136 PSB-be.incised137 It will be written, it can be incised. co-na la xoz-a cobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. go-zaa coque yeagchila zoa CMP-leave ruler 1-Caiman STA.be.now Ruler 1-Caiman left; he is here now. be-yog zo-bibi pi-chine quixi CMP-be.written PSB-be.incised CMP-be.engraved138 wilds It was written, it can be incised; it was engraved in the wildlands. ti-toxo bicia tao quiag t-o-xia bechi HAB-be.impatient139 eagle great mountain HAB-C-be.contained140 jaguar Great Eagle is impatient with the mountain that contains Great Jaguar.

tao great

ca-lag bi-toto bela ch-ag quela-yaci quixi biye que-bij POT-be.born CMP-be.jaguar.mottled141 serpent HAB-go NOM-enter wilds count POS-3f He will be born as a jaguar-mottled serpent. He goes to the entrance of the wildlands in his time count. coque yagchila xini lopa ni-xe be ruler 1-Caiman child 11-Dew creator spirit Ruler 1-Caiman, son of 11-Dew: the Creator, the spirit. y.ca-lag bi-toto bela ch-ag quela-yaci quixi biye-he POT-be.born CMP-be.jaguar.mottled serpent HAB-go NOM-enter wilds count-3 He will be born as a jaguar-mottled serpent. He goes to the entrance of the wildlands in his time count. na-ye-tag xana yabaa be-bij coque yagchila yag que yo STA-FRQ-descend142 lord sky CMP-return ruler 1-Caiman tree POS land He is descending; the lord from Sky has returned, Ruler 1-Caiman, tree of the land. bixoci xina-e lopa ni-xe lachi father mother-3 11-Dew creator heart His father and mother is 11-Dew: the Creator, the heart.

290

appendix

lani-ci la[ba]143 yalao gobechi tao feast-only 8-Rabbit 11-Monkey Cobechi great The feast of 8-Rabbit to 11-Monkey [Days 8–11] of Great Cobechi. bene be-ni quela-li xe tao person CMP-make NOM-straight create sacred The people who made the truth, the sacred creation. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √35 (3:9)

[191v]

be-zaca be-zaca-ci-xa lani quezechi yagquina ni CMP-arrive CMP-arrive-only-INT feast 13-Jaguar 1-Field this Has this feast of 13-Jaguar and 1-Field [Days 234–235] arrived? be-oni-chahui-li xoba coque yagchila xini lopa ni-xe be CMP-make-well-straight144 maize ruler 1-Caiman child 11-Dew creator spirit The maize nurtured Ruler 1-Caiman, son of 11-Dew: the Creator, the spirit. i.be-zaca-ci-xa lani quecechi yagquina ni CMP-arrive-only-INT feast 13-Jaguar 1-Field this Has this feast of 13-Jaguar and 1-Field arrived? be-oni-chahui-li xo [blank] coque yagchila xini ni-xee tao bene zaa quechee CMP-make-well-straight maize145 ruler 1-Caiman child creator sacred people Zapotec town The [maize?] nurtured Ruler 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator of the Zapotec people, of the communities. ch-iepi b[e]t[a]o HAB-go.up deity The deity goes up. go-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. abiton [sic] çaha çaha yehue queche taa quela-co-le STA.go STA.go palace town sacred NOM-CMP-give.message146 The message goes, it goes to the palace of the sacred town;

291

appendix

la b-io za coque yagchila xini lopa ni-xe then CMP-place[on.road]147 STA.go ruler 1-Caiman child 11-Dew creator then, 1-Caiman, son of the creator Spirit 11-Dew, was placed [on the road]; he goes.

be spirit

i.zaa yehue queche taha quela-gole STA.go palace town sacred NOM-CMP-give.message The message goes to the palace of the sacred town; b-io za coque yagchila xini ni-xe tao quiha gaa quia cachi CMP-place[on.road] STA.go ruler 1-Caiman child creator sacred high.place nine high.place seven 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator of Mountain Nine, Mountain Seven, was placed [on the road]; he goes, la çaa coque148 yagchila xini lopa ni-xe because STA.go ruler 1 -Caiman child 11-Dew creator because Ruler 1-Caiman, son of 11-Dew, creator, spirit, goes

be spirit

i.quiag bilala quiag bilala quiag ta yoho mountain 7-Night mountain 7-Night mountain near149 house to the mountain of 7-Night, the mountain of 7-Night, the mountain near the house. laza co[que]150 yagchila xini ni-xe tao bene zaa que [blank] turn ruler 1-Caiman child creator sacred people Zapotec The turn of Ruler 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator of the Zapotec people of [?]. ch-ejpi b[e]t[a]o HAB-go.up deity The deity goes up. co-ca quela-go-yeag151 tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end.

Song 4 √36 (4:1) be-zaca-ci xia lani queçelao yagcoeo biye laxo CMP-arrive-only fate feast 13-Monkey 1-Soaproot count 11-Earthquake The fate, the feast of 13-Monkey to 1-Soaproot arrived only on Year 11-Earthquake [April 18–19, 1695]. co-ça coque yagchila lachag bela quiag taa CMP-go ruler 1-Caiman small.hill serpent mountain sacred Ruler 1-Caiman went to Small Hill of the Serpent, the sacred mountain.

292

appendix

co-na la xoz-a cobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. be-zaca-ci-xa lani queçelao yagcoeo biye laxo CMP-arrive-only-INT feast 13-Monkey 1-Soaproot year 11-Earthquake Has the feast of 13-Monkey and 1-Soaproot and Year 11-Earthquake arrived? be-xog zo-e xana quia-ne CMP-come.out STA.stand-3 lord high.place-3in He came out, he is here, the lord of one of the mountains. na-cana bela xila STA-be.smeared152 serpent feather Feathered Serpent is smeared. [192r] quia bilachila quia bilaxoo cila high.place 7-Caiman high.place 10-Earthquake east Mountain of 7-Caiman, Mountain of 10-Earthquake of the East. zoo quia qui-alag queza li b[e]t[a]o STA.stand high.place POT-celebrate flint straight [belief] deity Here are the mountains. The belief in deities will be celebrated. ga-lag qui-china coque yagchila cijlaa quia yegoo POT-be.born POT-arrive ruler 1 -Caiman dawn high.place river Ruler 1-Caiman will be born and will arrive at dawn at the mountains and rivers. ca-lag153 qui-china coque yagchila co-xi la154 quia tee POT-be.born POT-arrive ruler 1-Caiman CMP-take name high.place ash Ruler 1-Caiman will be born and will arrive. He took his name at Ash Mountain. na-cana bela xila STA-be.smeared serpent feather Feathered Serpent is smeared. nigaa-te huacha go-bilaye here-DEM Huacha155 AG-disturb Here is Huacha, the First Disturber. Abichi to-n One of several will end.

293

lao face

appendix

√37 (4:2) quela cachi yehue156 quia tini lake burial palace high.place slope Lake of the [Field of the] Burial, Palace of the Mountain Slope. quela cachi yehue quia tini niga beya tao lake burial palace high.place slope here mushroom157 great Lake of the [Field of the] Burial, Palace of the Mountain Slope, here is the Great Mushroom. be-chela quela-lo bexeag lachi xila xo quela CMP-be.fruitful158 lake-2sg Bixeag Lachi gift ancestors lake Your lake was fruitful, Bixeag Lachi, gift of the ancestors of Blood Lake.

tene blood

co-na la xoz-a cobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. quela cachi yehui quia tini gaa bela pa tao lake burial palace high.place slope nine serpent prince159 Lake of the [Field of the] Burial, Palace of the Mountain Slope, Nine Serpents, noble ones. be-chela quela loi bexeag calachi CMP-be.fruitful lake 2sg Bixeag 6-Jaguar/Lizard The lake was fruitful, you, Great Bixeag 6-Jaguar/Lizard.

tao great

toa cuina coque beo chila xoa quehue quia tini mouth160 self ruler moon diviner lord palace high.place slope The entrance of the very ruler of the moon, the diviner and lord of the Palace of Mountain Slope. zoa biquini xila yaha STA.be.now bird feather young There is a young [sacrificial] Feathered Bird here. co-na la xoz-a cobechi CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. toa cuina beo la beo logniza mouth self moon name moon 11-Water The entrance of the very moon called Moon 11-Water. y-aci quela tao beya pa tao POT-rise161 mature.maize162 mushroom prince/mushroom163 The mature maize plants, the mushrooms, and the noble ones [mushrooms] will rise.

294

appendix

be-chela quela-lo bexeag calachi b[e]t[a]o CMP-be.fruitful lake-2sg Bixeag 6-Jaguar/Lizard deity Your lake was fruitful, deity Bixeag 6-Jaguar/Lizard. co-ca quela-go-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √38 (4:3)164

[192v]

yaa quela tene yaa quela tene co-na be xene165 166 come.on lake blood come.on lake blood CMP-say spirit large “Come on, Blood Lake! Come on, Blood Lake,” said the large spirit. huachi n-aca167 huachi n-aca quela tene 168 portent STA-be portent STA-be lake blood “There is a portent, there is a portent at Blood Lake,” co-na bexeag lachi xini laxoo quela CMP-say Bixeag Lachi child 4-Earthquake lake said Bixeag Lachi, child of 4-Earthquake of Blood Lake.

tene blood

co-na la xoz-a cobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. huachi n-aca quela tene lichi b[e]t[a]o cha marvel STA-be lake blood house deity day There is a portent at Blood Lake, house of the deities and the days: t-o-laba169 xi-lo-lo yaca beca tao xigaa bela xila laxo b[e]t[a]o HAB-C-read POS-root-2sg tree jewel170 great bundle serpent feather 4-Earthquake deity Your roots are read, Great Jewel Tree [East]: the bundle of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity. co-ca yela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end.

295

appendix

√39 (4:4) quiyaa la xag quiya letee reed.field some171 payment172 reed.field wondrous173 Reed field of payments, wondrous reed field. co-xaca coque yagchila xini lopa ni-xe be CMP-be.healthy174 ruler 1-Caiman child 11-Dew creator spirit Ruler 1-Caiman was healthy, the son of 11-Dew: the Creator, the spirit. i.quiyaa la xag quiya reed.field some payment reed.field Reed field of payments, true reed field.

li-te straight-E

co-xa coque yagchila xini ni-xe CMP-be.open175 ruler 1-Caiman child creation Open up, Ruler 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator.

tao sacred

bi-yog niza quela tene CMP-be.inside water lake blood He was in the waters of Blood Lake. co-na la xoz-a cobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. bi-baba xi-lo-lo yaga bega tao xigaa bela xila laxo betao176 177 CMP-count POS-root-2sg tree sprouting great bundle serpent feather 4-Earthquake deity Your roots were counted, Great Sprouting Tree [West]: the bundle of the deity Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √40 (4:5) bee yati bee lao bi-zoog niza quela tene spirit white spirit face CMP-be.placed water lake blood The white spirits and the first spirits were placed in the waters of Blood Lake. co-na la xoz-a cobechij lagniza yati CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi 11-Water white Say the name of my fathers: Cobechi, white 11-Water.

296

appendix

be-laba xi-lo-lo yaga beiga tao xigaa bela xila laxoo178 b[e]t[a]o 179 CMP-read POS-root-2sg tree left.hand great bundle serpent feather 4-Earthquake deity Your roots were read, Great Left-Hand Tree [South]: the bundle of Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake, the deity. co-ca quela-co-yeg tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √41 (4:6)

[193r]

y.laa y.la-lo bela yati yagcueo name name-2sg serpent white 1-Soaproot The name, your name, white serpent, is 1-Soaproot. co-ni-cago coque yagchila xini lopa ni-xe POT-make-feed ruler 1-Caiman child 11-Dew creator It will feed Ruler 1-Caiman, son of 11-Dew, Creator, spirit.

be spirit

iy.laa-lo bela yati yagcueo name-2sg serpent white 1-Soaproot Your name, white serpent, is 1-Soaproot. co-ni-gaco coque yagchila xini ni-xee tao bene za POT-make-feed ruler 1-Caiman child creator sacred people Zapotec It will feed Ruler 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator of the Zapotec people. y.laa-lo bela yati yagcueo name-2sg serpent white 1-Soaproot Your name, white serpent, is 1-Soaproot. co-ni-gaco coque yagchila xini ni-xee tao bene zao POT-make-feed ruler 1-Caiman child creator sacred people black180 It will feed Ruler 1-Caiman, son of the sacred creator of the black people.181 i.laa quia yecoo bene zij xoa xila yaha queza tao bene zao ni then high.place river people POT.take maize gift fresh cured.tobacco people black here Then, the people of mountains and rivers will receive the maize, fresh gifts, and cured tobacco of these black people. quela-li xee tao NOM-straight creation sacred The truth, the sacred creation.

297

appendix

co-ca quela-co-[ye]ag182 tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. [Instructions]: cati c-ala laa coque yagchila ta-ci yogo ti-hua nii when POT-celebrate name ruler 1-Caiman POT.be.shaken-only all HAB-rattle here When the name “Ruler 1-Caiman” is celebrated, everything will be shaken, it rattles here. topa chona cue ni-cola tao chibala no-xa lata la two three piece PRO-old183 sacred if who-INT something some184 Two or three groups of the sacred old things, if [there is] someone or a little something. √42a (4:7)185 co-le chijya deeye le-chia la i.yeye le-chia le-chia CMP-give.message STA.sit grandfather 2pl.IMP-STA.sit some soot186 2pl.IMP-STA.sit 2pl.IMP-STA.sit tee teye ash grandfather Send a message! The grandfathers are seated; be seated, soot! Be seated, be seated, ashes, grandfathers! ci doo biy ci yalaag POT.take cord twisted187 POT.take copal They will receive twisted cords and copal. be-bij n-ichi queche yo cequi CMP-return STA-care.for town land POT.be.full188 They returned to care for the town. The land will be full. gaa-bij n-ijchi quixi xana yeba i.coo-ne-to189 POT-return STA-care.for wilds lord sky CMP-sow-1plE190 The lords of the sky will return to care for the wildlands we sowed. c-aog be Bilao Bia beyaj go-xichaa CMP-be.bloody191 spirit 10-Face puma192 mushroom AG-be.strong The spirit 10-Face Puma was bloody. The mushrooms, the strong ones. queya ij.yeola-e laba equal.exchange 2-Wind-3 8-Rabbit The equal exchange of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit. le-chia la i.yeye le-chia le-chia teeye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit some soot 2pl.IMP-STA.sit 2pl.IMP-STA.sit grandfather Be seated, soot! Be seated, be seated, grandfathers!

298

appendix

quite yoo qui-to yag be-bij n-ichi queche yo cequi POT.be.full193 land POT-one tree CMP-return STA-care.for town land POT.be.full The land will be full with all the trees. They returned to care for the town; the land will be full. caa-bij n-ijchi quixi xana queeba coo-ne-to POT-return STA-care.for wilds lord sky CMP-sow-1plE The lords of the sky will return to care for the wildlands we sowed. c-aog bee bilao bia beya i.co-xicha CMP-be.bloody spirit 10-Face puma mushroom AG-be.strong The spirit 10-Face Puma was bloody. The mushrooms, the strong ones. queya yaola eba equal.exchange 2-Wind sky The equal exchange of 2-Wind of Sky. le-chia chia yeye le-chia le-chia teeye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit soot 2pl.IMP-STA.sit 2pl.IMP-STA.sit grandfather Be seated, seated soot! Be seated, be seated, grandfathers, grandfathers!

teye grandfather

√42b (4:7)

[193v]

go xoçi be-teete be-to za zoo lea lichi gobicha nine194 father CMP-be.moved195 CMP-come.down STA.go STA.stand enclosure house sun Nine Fathers were moved. They came down; they go and stand by the enclosure of the house of the Sun. be-te cohue cequi n-ichi quixi xana queeba i.coo-ne-to CMP-serve196 exchange POT.be.full STA-care.for wilds lord sky CMP-sow-1plE Present the exchange that will be full. The lords of the sky care for the wildlands we sowed. c-aog bee bilao bia beya i.co-xichaa CMP-be.bloody spirit 10-Face puma mushroom AG-be.strong The spirit 10-Face Puma was bloody. The mushrooms, the strong ones. queyaj yeola-e laba equal.exchange 2-Wind-3 8-Rabbit The equal exchange of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit. le-chia la i.yeiye le-chia 2pl.IMP-STA.sit some soot 2pl.IMP-STA.sit Be seated, soot! Be seated, ashes, grandfathers!

tee teye ash grandfather

√42c (4:7) Naa topa be i.naa topa lachi la-ca zaa be xohuanaa yeola-e labaa indeed197 two spirit indeed two heart then-E STA.go198 spirit lord 2-Wind-3 8-Rabbit Now, two spirits; now, two hearts. And likewise, the spirits and lords of 2-Wind to 8-Rabbit go by.

299

appendix

le-chia la. i.yeyee le-chia le-chia te teeye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit some soot 2pl.IMP-STA.sit 2pl.IMP-STA.sit ash grandfather Be seated, soot! Be seated, be seated, ashes, grandfathers! le-chia la i.yeyee le-chia 2pl.IMP-STA.sit some soot 2pl.IMP-STA.sit Be seated, soot! Be seated! [Instructions]: nij ta-ci ti-hua here POT.be.shaken-only HAB-rattle Here, it will be shaken, it rattles. √43 (4:8) Za-lag bi-yaca xoo dao ga-lag bi-yaca bilatela tao PSB-be.born CMP-be.vigorous199 ancestor POT-be.born CMP- be.vigorous 7-Knot great The ancestors are able to be born vigorous; Great 7-Knot will be born vigorous. co-chag tijdi ya-laci xini colaa CMP-be.born delicate200 POT-be.thin201 child old The eldest child will be born in a delicate state; he will be thin. ga-lag bi-yaca xo dao ca-lag bi-yaca bilatela tao POT-be.born CMP-be.vigorous ancestor POT-be.born CMP-be.vigorous 7-Knot great The ancestors will be born strong; Great 7-Knot will be born strong. bi-baba ga yaca yeag caa i.taha yoocho nizoo bich-a CMP-count nine tree flower nine mat POT.rot beverage brother-1sg The nine flowering trees were counted; the nine mats, the maguey beverage, my brother(s). biyee gola chij ticha tao-ti yala-ti n-ao quene queag bichina count old time word sacred-DEM copal-DEM STA-be.bloody bowl mountain deer The old time count, the time, these sacred words, this copal. The bowl is bloody at Deer Mountain. A-bi-ni to-n PRF-CMP-make one-3in One of several was made. √44 (4:9) go-to huene go-to huene queche ga ela CMP-one arduous.task202 CMP-one arduous.task town nine 400 One arduous task at the town of 3,600 [9×400]: this town of spirits. zaa quetog goba STA.go squash203 spirit The squash goes to the spirits.

300

queche town

coba spirit

ni here

appendix

be-yaci quitag xo hue-go xoci tao b[e]t[a]o cobechij CMP-come.down reed.mat ancestor AG-insert204 father sacred deity Cobechi The reed mat of the ancestor sacrificer, the sacred father, the deity Cobechi, came down. co-to huene queche ca ela queche zoba ni CMP-one arduous.task town nine 400 town POT.be.upright205 this One arduous task at the town of 3,600: this town stands upright. za206 quetog goba STA.go squash spirit The squash goes to the spirits. be-yaci CMP-come.down

quitag xo reed.mat ancestor

hue-go AG-insert

xoci father

tao bene quela sacred people custom

bene people

ba i.tao quichi yahui abundance207 paper ancient The reed mat of the ancestor sacrificer, the sacred father, the person of the custom, the person of abundance from the ancient papers came down. be-tag ceebi quia lahui yaba CMP-descend early208 high.place middle sky The mountain in the middle of the sky descended early. be-yaga be-teag xoci tao bene quela bene ba i.tao CMP-come.out CMP-descend father sacred people custom people abundance The sacred father, the person of the custom, the person of abundance came out and descended. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √45 (4:10)

[194r]

yehui ya tini yehue ya tini bi-tog ni xola xila yaha palace hill slope209 palace hill slope CMP-come.down this riches210 gift fresh From the Mountain Slope Palace, from the Mountain Slope Palace came down the fresh riches and gifts. b-ita cebi quitag quiag na-lag yça CMP-arrive early reed.mat rock STA-be.born211 year The reed mat and the newborn mountain of the year arrived early. go-na la xoç-a cobechij yabaa lichi gobicha CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi sky house sun Say the name of my father Cobechi of Sky, here at Sun House.

301

nigaa here

appendix

bi-toag y.taa yog y.taa quinij xoa CMP-be.carried212 mat[feast.day] color mat sacrificed.one213 lord The mats [260 feasts] of the writings and the mats of the sacrificed lords were carried. y.yog y.lao chia be-cuana bechi tao y.taa color face STA.sit CMP-leave214 jaguar great mat The first writings sit there. Great Jaguar [1-Jaguar] has handed down the mats [260 feasts]. co-teni xoci tao bene quela bene ba i.tao la queza CMP-descend215 father sacred people custom people abundance some cured.tobacco The great father, the person of the custom, the person of abundance, descended; some cured tobacco. quela-co-lequi b[e]t[a]o lahui queche xono tia NOM-CMP-place216 deity middle town eight lineages The placement of the deity of the community of the town of eight lineages [Caxonos people]. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √46 (4:11) y.cochineag eleventh The eleventh one [stanza]. n-ichi yo zope laoo quezaa hue to ya bee-he lachi go-pa ye STA-taste217 house two face cured.tobacco here.it.is218 one hill spirit-3 heart AG-keep sign The house of Two-Face tastes cured tobacco. Here is the one hill of the spirits; the heart, the keeper of the sign. y.ço-na lao bi[a]219 ço n-ala hua-tee lao co-xijcha lag queza PSB-say Face Puma STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public AG-be.strong piece cured.tobacco “Puma Face” can be said: The strong one is celebrated in public. A piece of cured tobacco. zo-na lao bia zo n-ala hua-tee lao go-xijcha lag queza PSB-say Face Puma STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public AG-be.strong piece cured.tobacco “Puma Face” can be said: The strong one is celebrated in public. A piece of cured tobacco. ço-na PSB-say

lao bia zo n-ala hua-tee lao go-xijcha Face Puma STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public AG-be.strong

late yo place land

y-eo lao pia POT-give220 face puma “Puma Face” can be said: The strong one is celebrated in public. The space in this land will yield Puma Face.

302

ni here

appendix

go-xicha belag cij cij que go-pa ye AG-be.strong serpent POT.take POT.take vow AG-keep sign The strong one, the serpent, will receive, will receive the vow of the keeper of the sign. i.be-go-a yoo to-bi-bi cuee xila yaa xohua yehue huiyag CMP-place-1s land one-PRT-3f 221 piece gift fresh lord palace priest I placed in the land one belonging to him: a piece of the fresh gift of the lord of Priest Palace. ço-na lao bia zo n-ala hua-tee lao go PSB-say Face Puma STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public AG [blank] “Puma Face” can be said; [the strong one?]222 is celebrated in public. yag yehue yaxog bi-lequi quite yo qui-to yag caa-çaale223 CMP-place POT.be.full land POT-one tree POT-be.brought.down224 tree palace old.person225 He placed all the trees in the full land. The trees of the Palace of the Old Ones will be brought down. quichi yeba ya tee chia ci-te paper sky hill ash STA.sit POT.take-EC The papers from the sky are in Ash Hill,

yaiyaiyeey

tey-a grandfather-1sg my grandfathers will indeed receive [them].

eche eche yai te i.ya tee teye yala i.teye yala226 i. teeye yala iie yaa town town hill ash hill ash grandfather copal grandfather copal grandfather copal sign plaza In the town, the town, Ash Hill, Ash Hill, the grandfathers, copal, grandfathers, copal, grandfathers, copal, sign, plaza. √47 (4:12)

[194v]

ba zo hue-gaog tene ba zo hue-cao co-nij-zaça yaha already STA.stand AG-anoint blood already STA.stand AG-anoint POT-make-spread.out227 fresh beetao xicha deity strong228 The anointer of blood is already here, the anointer is already here; he will spread out the fresh thing [blood] for the strong deities. b-ey-eyag quii becala-e xoba tee n-ala loog xoba CMP-RES-return offering dream229-3 maize ash STA-be.celebrated root maize The offerings returned. The dream of maize and ashes: the maize roots are celebrated. be-tag xicha beo yehuee ci-yaca toa CMP-descend strong moon palace CMP2-come.out mouth The Strong Ones descended; the moon of the palace came out of the entrance. bene i.xicha ya tee chia ci-te yaiyaiyeei teye people strong hill ash STA.sit POT.take-EC grandfather Strong people of Ash Hill, they are seated and they will indeed receive, the grandfathers.

303

appendix

yaeche eche yai tei ya tee teye yaiye yala temple town hill ash hill ash grandfather copal ii.teye230 grandfather Temple, town, Ash Hill, Ash Hill, grandfathers, grandfathers.

yi.teye yala. grandfather copal

i.ye yala sign copal

copal, grandfathers, copal, sign, copal,

√48 (4:13) Zo huijchi-tee STA.stand Mexica-DEM

n-acaa STA-be

na-cotii naha ch-ag STA-dead now HAB-go

chiog-e piece231-3

lachi heart

bene people

bixi232 yeo little land233 These Mexica that are dead are here now. Their piece goes; the heart of the little people from Earth. lao bia zohua quiy zohua xene Face Puma STA.be.now offering STA.be.now large Puma Face, the offering is here, the large one is here, na cobeechi ta xinaa be xonaxi co-pa ye and Cobechi mat mother spirit lady AG-keep sign and also Cobechi, the mat of the mother, Spirit Lady Keeper of the Sign. i.zo-na lao bia zo n-ala hua-tee lao ya tee PSB-say Face Puma STA.stand STA-celebrate in.public hill ash “Puma Face” can be said; Ash Hill is celebrated in public. chia ci-te yaiyaiyeei teye STA.sit POT.take-EC grandfathers The grandfathers are seated; they will indeed receive [offerings]. yaeche eche yai tei ya tee teye temple town hill ash hill ash grandfather

yala i.ye yaala copal sign copal

i.teye yala grandfather copal

yaala i.teye copal grandfather Temple, town, Ash Hill [bis], grandfathers, copal, sign, copal, grandfathers, copal, sign, copal, grandfathers. [Instructions]: ni ta-ci ti-hua here POT.be.shaken-only HAB-rattle Here, it will be shaken, it rattles.

304

i.ye234 sign

appendix

Song 5 √49 (5:1) bilatela dao bilatela dao bene co-liza huichana quiag lao ço lachi yego tee 7-Knot great 7-Knot great person AG-pick.up235 Huichana mountain face POT.stand heart river ash Great 7-Knot, Great 7-Knot, collector for Huichana of First Mountain, will stand at the heart of Ash River. bilatela tao bene co-liza huichana quiag lao zo lachi yego 7-Knot great person AG-pick.up Huichana mountain face STA.stand heart river Great 7-Knot, collector for Huichana of First Mountain, stands at the heart of River of Fate.

xia fate

lichi b[e]t[a]o nica house deity here Here [are] the houses of the deities. co-ca quela-li xee dao CMP-be NOM-straight creation sacred It was the truth of the sacred creation. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. A-bi-ni to-n PRF-CMP-make one-3in One of several was made. √50 (5:2)

[195r]

Nita nita i.yog huila na bela doa i.ba quiag lao STA.stand.3pl236 STA.stand.3pl colors disrupter indeed serpent mouth already mountain face Here they are, here they are, the writings of the Disrupter, indeed; the serpent of the entrances [the feasts] is already in First Mountain. so lachi yego237 dee POT.stand heart river ashes It will sit at the heart of Ash River. nita i.yog huila bela doa quina la quete tao STA.stand.3pl colors disrupter serpent mouth field name deep.place great Here are the writings of the Disrupter: the serpent at the entrance of the field called Great Depth. chia lachi yego xia lichi b[e]t[a]o niga STA.sit heart river fate house deity here The heart of the River of Fate is present at the house of the deities, here.

305

appendix

co-ca quela-li xee dao CMP-be NOM-straight creation sacred It was the truth of the sacred creation. co-ca quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √51 (5:3) Aca bata y-ala béa ta xoci-lo go-bilaye lao NEG when POT.burn238 order mat father-2sg AG-disturb face Never burn the decrees, the mats [260 feasts] of your father, the First Disturber. Aca bata niti yog quela yog xila i .yog naba ba-te NEG when POT.destroy color custom color gift color STA.request already-EC Never lose the writings of the custom, the writings of the gifts, the writings for requesting, never. nita239 quela co-xicha be STA.stand.3pl custom AG-be.strong spirit Here is the custom of the strong ones, the spirits. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √52 (5:4) yaichi240 chiya i.chiya chiya-tee teye yaeche yaeche temple STA.sit STA.sit STA.sit-EC grandfather temple temple In the temple the grandfathers are seated, seated, seated indeed in the temple, the temple. y.le-chia y.le-chia ci-te chiya i.teye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit 2pl.IMP-STA.sit POT.take-EC STA.sit grandfather Be seated! Be seated! The grandfathers will indeed receive; they are seated. teiyee ch-io y.teeye-te i.yeiyee grandfather HAB-be.placed grandfather-DEM soot The grandfathers are placed, these grandfathers, the soot; la chia la i.yeye xila tila i.teiye yaala i.teye then STA.sit then soot gift fight grandfather copal grandfather then, the soot is seated. The gift, the fight; grandfathers, copal, grandfathers.

306

appendix

zo na-la i.zo na-la i.goohui-ci zochi go-beza cila STA.stand STA-celebrate STA.stand STA-celebrate exchange-only POT-drink 241 AG-await242 dawn/East The exchange is celebrated, is celebrated. They who await dawn will drink. yalag gayo lo beechi tao zoo yobi n-etee bezaa tao copal five root jaguar great STA.stand HON STA-taste243 cloud great The copal of the five roots, of Great Jaguar; the honorable ones are present, the Great Clouds have a taste. sope lao zope lao laza ij.yoo layo ya ij.ni Two Face Two Face turn house Earth hill here Two-Face, Two-Face, the turn of House of Earth, of this mountain. y-eyeag xolag queche y-eyag cila yebaa POT-return riches town POT-return east sky The riches of the town will return; Dawn and Sky will return. y.b-iy-eyag nizo-e nizahui n-ete bezaa CMP-RES-return alc.beverage-3 alc.beverage STA-taste cloud The maguey beverage returned: the Great Clouds have a taste.

tao great

go-yala i.ye CMP-be.renewed244 sign The sign was renewed. yala i.ye teiye ye teiye ilae chia tee teye copal sign copal sign copal STA.sit ash grandfather Copal, sign, grandfathers, sign, grandfathers, the ashes, the grandfathers are seated. √53 (5:5) piyee chee245 cachi246 -bi yeche huij biyee che hua-xé count west seven-3f town illness count west PRF-creation247 The count of the West, its seven towns of illness. The count of the West is infinite. bilaalao i.co-ce yalag nij248 queyag CMP-cast.down copal this equal.exchange 7-Face249 Sprinkle this copal. The equal exchange of 7-Face. b-iy-eyag nizoo nizahui n-ete bezaa tao CMP-RES-return beverage alc.beverage STA-taste cloud great The maguey beverage returned: the Great Clouds have a taste. go-yala i.ye CMP-be.renewed sign The sign was renewed.

307

[195v]

appendix

yala i.teiye teiye i.lee-chiya tee teye copal grandfather grandfather 2pl.IMP-STA.sit ash grandfather Copal, grandfathers, grandfathers; be seated, ash, grandfathers! √54 (5:6) za-la pani yagque i.za cene xi-cue PSB-light.up beam250 1-Reed STA.go diligently POS-piece It is possible to light up the beam of 1-Reed; it goes diligently to one part [of a group]. i.co-peça na co-tona be xeni cachi CMP-await indeed AG-bring251 spirit large precious Indeed, the messenger of the large and precious spirits awaited. co-pezaa na co-tona be-çonao252-ti CMP-wait indeed AG-bring CMP-follow.someone253-E Indeed, the messenger waited; he accompanied someone well. go-yala i.ye CMP-be.renewed sign The sign was renewed. yala i.teiye teiye lee-chiya-i.te i.teye copal grandfather grandfather 2pl.IMP-STA.sit-EC grandfather Copal, grandfathers, grandfathers, be seated, grandfathers! yala i.teiye teiye lee-chiya i.tee i.teye copal grandfather grandfather 2pl.IMP-STA.sit ash grandfather Copal, grandfathers, grandfathers; be seated, ash, grandfathers! [Instructions]: ni ta-ci ti-hua here POT.be.shaken-only HAB-rattle Here, it will be shaken, it rattles. √55 (5:7) yobi be cechi chi-quene-e te HON spirit ten254 HAB-request-3 ash The honorable Spirits Ten; they request ashes. g-ala chila chila b[e]t[a]o ci xini cola255 lazaa lazaa POT-celebrate diviner diviner deity POT.take son old turn turn The diviners, the diviners will celebrate the deity; the elder son will take a turn, a turn. be-ni yag quezag nisa quela tene CMP-make tree cured.tobacco water lake blood Make a tree of cured tobacco for the water of Blood Lake.

308

appendix

co-na la xoç-a cobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. lasaha beyag ch-epi be-xo lana quete tao turn mushroom HAB-go.up CMP-fall words deep.place great The turn of the mushrooms. Words go up and fall into the Great Depth. çoo toa belog lana lichi betao çoxana256 yehui quia tini STA.stand mouth cave word house deity Coxana palace high.place slope The words are at the entrance of the cave, at the house of the deity Coxana, at the Palace of Mountain Slope. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √56 (5:8) Na-xo naha bichi na-xo naha bichi STA-be.strong now brother STA-strong now brother “It is strong now, brothers; it is strong now, brothers,” co-na payo bela la xono CMP-say younger.brother257 serpent name eight said the younger brother, the Serpent called Eight. co-na la xoz-a gobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. nigaa neta bichi go-na yobi be çechi here 1sg brother CMP-say HON spirit ten “Here I am, brothers,” said the honorable Spirits Ten. c-ala [196r] chila b[e]t[a]o qui-yona tao qui-yona tao POT-celebrate diviner deity POT-three sacred POT-three sacred The diviners will celebrate the deities, the three sacred ones, the three sacred ones cha t-o-zag niza quela tene day HAB-C-let.blood out 258 water lake blood on the day Blood Lake lets water out like blood. co-na la xoz-a gobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. qui-yona tao cha y-epi be-xo lana quete tao POT-three great day POT-go.up CMP-fall words deep.place great The three great ones of the day: words will go up and fall into the Great Depth. 309

appendix

çoo toa belog lana lichi b[e]t[a]o çoxana yehue quia tini STA.stand mouth cave words house deity Coxana palace high.place slope The words are at the entrance of the cave, the house of the deity Coxana, the Palace of the Mountain Slope. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √57 (5:9) la çoo che la çoo che yehue quia tini zoa biquini xila yaha then place west then place west palace high.place slope STA.be.now bird feather young The young Feathered Bird is in the West, then, in the West, then, in the Palace of the Mountain Slope. go-na la xoz-a cobechij CMP-say name father-1sg Cobechi Say the name of my father Cobechi. lace bichi toa belog lana lichi b[e]t[a]o late-te chee food.offering259 brother mouth cave words house deity place-DEM West The food offerings, brothers, at the entrance of the cave of the words, the house of the deity; this region of the West. yaza tao-ti qui-tag benog bela xila long.leaf great-DEM POT-descend tree.shoot260 serpent feather These great long leaves; the tree shoot of Feathered Serpent will descend. i.co-ga261 quela-co-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. nij zo-lao go-hui zohuia here STA.stand-face CMP-exchange cacao Here begins the exchange of cacao.

Song 6 √58 (6:1) chijla tee deye teiye yala i.ye chiya i.tete i.ya tee-te diviner ash grandfather grandfather copal sign STA.sit STA.be.across262 Hill Ash-DEM Diviner, ashes, grandfathers, grandfathers, copal, sign; they are seated across this Ash Hill.

310

appendix

chia tee teye-te i.yala i.yechi ya i.tete i.ya te teye STA.sit ash grandfather-DEM copal town hill STA.be.across Hill Ash grandfather Ashes, these grandfathers, and copal are seated in the town and mountain; the grandfathers are located across Ash Hill. bij-lequi gaa bee y-eyag lanij-e lani bee bilao yaa go-xicha CMP-place nine spirit POT-return feast-3 feast Spirit 10-Face young AG-be.strong Nine spirits [cacao beans?] were placed. His feast, the feast of Young Spirit 10-Face, the Strong One, will return. zoo quij c-aog betao be bilao cica cijye STA.stand offering CMP-be.bloody deity spirit 10-Face thus long.time263 The offering is here, the deity Spirit 10-Face was bloody in this way for a long time. yag be quiya-e za queche que lana tree spirit high.place-3 STA.go town vow words The tree of spirits, their mountain; the vow and the word go to the towns. co-nabi-lo beiho cayo ni CMP-request-2sg caiman264 five this Caiman, you requested these five ones. cohui quehue265 go-ce yaca gohui be zohuiya exchange palace CMP-cast.down tree exchange spirit cacao The noble exchange: cast the exchange of Spirit Cacao on the trees. yaha chij ya tee teye teiye yala266 plaza STA.sit hill ash grandfather grandfather copal In the plaza, in Ash Hill, sits the grandfather, grandfather, copal. √59 (6:2)

[196v]

doca cichij za quehue tao i.ye queche cila yeeba sacrifice ancient STA.go palace great sign town dawn sky The ancient sacrifice goes to the great palace, to the sign, to the Town of the Dawn of Sky. i.naa yoo yo la yo yainij indeed land/house STA.be.inside heat STA.be.inside light267 Indeed, in the land there is heat, there is light; now, the spirits. na i-eyag yi lao b[e]t[a]o indeed POT-return fire face deity Indeed, the first fire will return to the deities. cohue belag quina yaba exchange serpent field sky The exchange of the serpent of the sky fields.

311

naha cohua now spirit

appendix

i.co-yalag quijna cachi layoo beche layoo lene layoo CMP-open field burial Earth jaguar Earth by.force268 Earth Open Field of the Burial on Earth, Jaguar of Earth, using force on Earth. qu-ita lene xohuana b[e]t[a]o layoo bichichi bexochi POT-arrive by.force lord deity Earth gold269 bell270 The lords, the deities will arrive by force on Earth: the gold, the bells. qui-to yag be zohuiya qui-to-to n-ete beza zoa POT-one tree spirit cacao POT-one-one STA-taste cloud STA.be.now All the trees, Spirit Cacao. One by one, the Clouds that are here have a taste. chijya tee teye teiye yala i.ye chiya ii.tete i.ya tee teye The ashes, the grandfathers, grandfathers, copal and sign are seated; the grandfathers are seated, they are across Ash Hill. √60 (6:3) doca cichi za baog queza tao goba ela xi-yona sacrifice ancient STA.go burned.thing271 cured.tobacco spirit 400 POS-three The ancient sacrifice: the burned thing and cured tobacco go to Spirits Four Hundred of the Three Ones. go-te-lachi b[e]t[a]o go-te-lachi xohuana coque lahui272 be bilao bia 273 CMP-pass-heart[be.forgotten] deity CMP-be.forgotten lord ruler middle spirit 10-Face puma The deities were forgotten. Spirit 10-Face Puma, lord and ruler of the community, was forgotten. chijya tee teye teiye yala i.ye chiya i.tete i.ya tee teye STA.sit ash grandfather grandfather copal sign STA.sit STA.be.across Hill Ash grandfather The ashes, the grandfathers, grandfathers, copal and sign are seated; the grandfathers are seated, they are across Ash Hill. √61 (6:4) Zo-chag lachi b[e]t[a]o go-chag lachi xohuana PSB-be.born heart deity CMP-be.born heart lord The hearts, the deities can be born; the hearts, the lords, were born. bi-toog cohuichi-bi yagque xo cila CMP-come.down Mexica-3f 1-Reed ancestor East He came down, their Mexica: 1-Reed [Quetzalcoatl], the ancestor of the East. ba-chiba noo yobi xohuana cocio bilala yaglana PRF-be.above274 PRO HON/Mixtec lord time.period 7-Night 1-Death They were already up above, they who are honorable or Mixtec lords of the periods, 7-Night and 1-Death.

312

appendix

ba-chiba noo yobi xohua b[e]t[a]o que yolaa yaglana PRF-be.above PRO Mixtec/HON lord deity POS 9-Wind 1-Death They were already up above, they who are Mixtec lords and deities of 9-Wind [Quetzalcoatl] and 1-Death [Sun]. ci-zaca be xohuana co-ne-to çi cha CMP2-arrive spirit lord CMP-sow275-1plE POT.take day The lords and spirits we sowed have arrived.276 They will take the day. b-ey-eyag que lana CMP-RES-return vow words The vow and the words returned. quela tao ba-chilaa277 PRF-be.useful278 custom great The great custom has been useful. ba-chila i.quela tao be bila[o]279 PRF-be.useful custom great spirit 10-Face The great custom of Spirit 10-Face has been useful. g-o-ni-za CMP-C-hold.feast280 They held a feast. i.ya be nij yya be ni y.çila chijno-e hill spirit this hill spirit this dawn thirteen-3 This Spirit Hill, this Spirit Hill, the dawn of the Thirteen; be bilao yya be ni nij [197r]281 y.sila 282 spirit 10-Face hill spirit REL eternal dawn Spirit 10-Face, the Spirit Hill that is eternal, the dawn. cohui yehue co-ce yaca gohui be zohuiyaa yaha exchange palace CMP-cast.down tree exchange spirit cacao fresh The noble exchange: cast down the exchange of green Spirit Cacao on the trees. qui-to yag be zohuiya qui-to n-ete beza POT-one tree spirit cacao POT-one STA-taste cloud All the trees, Spirit Cacao. All the Great Clouds have a taste.

taao great

chijya tee teye teiye yala i.ye chiya i.tete i.ya tee teye STA.sit ash grandfather grandfather copal sign STA.sit STA.be.across Hill Ash grandfather The ashes, the grandfathers, grandfathers, copal and sign are seated; the grandfathers are seated, they are across Ash Hill.

313

appendix

[Instructions]: ni ta-ci queche lahui here POT.be.shaken-only town middle Here, it will be shaken at “town in the middle.” gani zoo queche lahui be-yelag-ca bichi gana283 gani queche neza 284 285 286 where STA.stand town middle CMP-grow.large -E brother where where town road Where is the town in the middle? The brothers grew in size. Where, where is the town, the road? gani go-tete be sucia zochi xoa queag bichena where CMP-be.across spirit clean287 POT.drink lord mountain deer Where were the clean spirits placed across? The lord will drink at Deer Mountain. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √62 (6:5) daha yaba i.zo yoho xee chij gabila niga mat sky STA.stand house creation STA.sit underworld here The mat of the sky is in the house of creation; Underworld is present. na-xog queche xe queche cila niga-tehe STA-come.out town creation town dawn here-DEM The town of creation, the town of the East is coming out here. zaha quela go-xicha be STA.go lake AG-be.strong spirit The strong ones and spirits go to the lake. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √63 (6:6) tuca ch-eag daa yaba ch-ag que yobi chiba da za y.no zag sacrifice HAB-go mat sky HAB-go vow HON STA.be.above mat Zapotec PRO STA.go The sacrifice goes to the mats of the sky, the honorable vow goes up above to the Zapotec mats [260 feasts], they that go. [Instructions]: ti-hua HAB-rattle Rattling sounds are made. i.tuca ch-eag chij gabila ch-ag288 que yobi chiba d-etag sacrifice HAB-go ten underworld HAB-go vow HON STA.be.above HAB-arrive.first.time289 The sacrifice goes to the Ten of the Underworld, the honorable vow goes up; it arrives for the first time.

314

appendix

y-eyeag chita yego xila niga-dee POT-return bone river sharp here-DEM The bone, the Sharp River [bone musical instrument] will return here. zaha quela go-xicha be STA.go lake AG-be.strong spirit The strong spirits go to the lake. Abichi to-n290 One of several will end. √64 (6:7)

[197v]

go-chi lao go-chi y-eyeag go-chi lana dau CMP-seven face CMP-seven POT-return CMP-seven words great The seventh face; the seventh one will return; the seventh great word [the seventh stanza]. bene quela-zochi go-lequi be zo b[e]t[a]o yeag bichina people NOM-drink CMP-place spirit STA.stand deity mountain deer The people of drinking. The spirit was placed; the deity is at Deer Mountain. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √65 (6:8) pecelao dao queche gabila Becelao great town underworld Great Becelao of the Town of the Underworld; go-de gobeche CMP-pass.by Cobechi Cobechi passed by. i.ga-ca chahuij xuba yati chi-zeg quig y.cha ni laye POT-be good corn white HAB-remain291 offering day REL sacred The white corn will be good. The offering of the sacred day remains: the seeds. becelao dao queche gabila Becelao great town underworld Great Becelao of the Town of the Underworld; go-de gobechi292 CMP-pass.by Cobechi Cobechi passed by.

315

binij seed

appendix

go-ca chahui yaga be chaana ch-ag queza dao zo yoho hue-ni chila dao CMP-be good tree spirit lord HAB-go cured.tobacco STA.stand house AG-make diviner great The tree of the spirit lords was good. The cured tobacco goes, it is at the house of the Great Diviner’s helper. qui yog quia xoba no bich-a cila cuita offering color high.place maize PRO brother-1s east side Offerings, writings, Mountain of Maize. He who is my brother of the Eastern section; queche le yog belcelao dia town next.to color Becelao lineage the town next to the writings of Becelao, the lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end. √66 (6:9) te-zaca de-zaca-lachi becelao dao queche gabila ci xini HAB-rejoice HAB-rejoice293 Becelao great town underworld POT.receive son Great Becelao of the Town of Underworld rejoices, he rejoices; the eldest son will receive.294 de-zaca te-zacai295-lachi becelao dao queche gabila ci xini HAB-rejoice HAB-rejoice Becelao great town underworld POT.receive son Great Becelao of the Town of Underworld rejoices, he rejoices; the eldest son will receive. be-xog que zo lopa doa ni-laye yegquela CMP-come.out offering STA.stand 11-Dew mouth sacred 1-Night The offerings came out. 11-Dew is present at the sacred entrance, 1-Night. be-iyog deni xila bicia quiag binij CMP-be.put.in blood gift eagle mountain seed Put blood in, the gift of the Eagle of Seed Mountain. be-xog que zoo yalao gobechi dao yagquela CMP-come.out offering STA-stand 9/11-Monkey Cobechi great 1-Night The offering came out; 9/11-Monkey, Great Cobechi, and 1-Night are present. be-iyog deni doa biquini bechi tao CMP-be.put.in blood mouth bird jaguar great Put in blood from the mouth of the bird of Great Jaguar [Cobechi]. quia yog quia xoba no bich-a cila cuita high.place color high.place maize PRO brother-1s east side Mountain of Writings, Mountain of Maize. He who is my brother of the Eastern section;

316

gola old

gola old

appendix

queche le yog beçelao tia town next.to color Becelao lineage the town next to the writings of Becelao, the lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end.

Song 7 [Instructions]: nigaa que-zo-lao doag here POT-stand-face maguey Here, Maguey [first period of the year] will begin. √67 (7:1) zijchi n-aca yehue zoo queche bechina long.time STA-be palace STA.stand town deer In ancient times, there was a palace that stood in Town of Deer. ye yehue dao quehue zoo bicia dao sign palace great palace STA.stand eagle great The sign of the great palace; Great Eagle is in the palace. ce-bi nopa no lo [198r] bicia dao PRM-return today296 PRO root eagle great He is returning today, he who is the root, Great Eagle. bea yazag qui teni command long.leaf offering blood The command: long leaves, a blood offering. zichi n-aca yehue zoo queche bechina long.time STA-be palace STA.stand town deer In ancient times, there was a palace that stood in the town. yehue dao quela zoo bicia tao palace great lake STA.stand eagle great The great palace; Great Eagle is in the lake. ce-bi nopa no lo yo bicia tao PRM-return today PRO root house297 eagle great He is returning today, he who is the foundation, Great Eagle. ce-bi que ch-ag xila dao lichi-lu be i.dola PRM-return vow HAB-go298 gift great house-2sg spirit debt The vow is returning, the great gifts go to your house, spirit of the debt.

317

appendix

d-o-n-a gohui na co-zochi-te chi-de yona-e laachi HAB-C-make-1sg exchange now CMP-drink-EC STA.sit-EC POT.break.down299-3 heart I make the exchange now. Indeed, they got drunk and are present. The hearts will be softened. gohui leni bexoci gohui leni b[e]t[a]o exchange array father exchange array deity The exchange of the arrays of the father(s), the exchange of the arrays of the deity [blank space]. b[e]t[a]o zoo no hue-ga-og b[e]t[a]o t-o-lohuicha deity STA.stand PRO AG-POT-be.bloody deity HAB-C-be.notified300 The deities are here: he who is the anointer deity gives a notification. bi-gocha quela b[e]t[a]o ga dia ni cue ichi CMP-blend301 lake deity nine lineage this group POT.be.soft302 At the lake, the deities and the nine lineages blended together; this group will soften. no dia cina bi qui teyo qui-to yag lao yo beneati PRO lineage wise303 PRT offering foundation POT-one tree on land people They who are the wise lineages, the offering, the foundation; all the trees on the land of the people. qui-to yag be zohuiya qui-to-to n-ete beza POT-one tree spirit cacao POT-one-one STA-taste cloud All the trees, Spirit Cacao. Each Great Cloud has a taste.

taao great

chia tee deye teiye yala i.ye chiya dete i.ya dee teye STA.sit ash grandfather grandfather copal sign STA.sit STA.be.across hill ash grandfather The ashes, the grandfathers, grandfathers, copal and sign are seated; the grandfathers are seated, they are across Ash Hill. √68 (7:2) gu-tu-de lachi quiag qui xila go-tu-de laachi bichina CMP-one-DEM heart mountain offering gift CMP-one-DEM heart deer This first heart of the mountain, the offering, the gift; this first heart from a deer. guhui yehue go-ce yaca cohui be zohuiya yaha exchange palace CMP-cast.down tree exchange spirit cacao young The noble exchange: cast the exchange of Spirit Green Cacao on the tree. gu-to dohua niza dao lachi biquini xila yaha CMP-one mouth water great heart bird feather young On one entrance of the sea, the heart of the young Feathered Bird. gu-do tohua niza dao lachi beo yaa beo xochi gu-zo hui-chigaa quela CMP-one mouth water great heart macaw304 young macaw strong305 CMP-stand AG-sacrifice306 lake On one entrance of the sea, the heart of the young macaw, the strong macaw. The sacrificer was at the lake.

318

appendix

zo-cechi niza qui-to yeba-ho PSB-make.sound307 water POT-one sky-2sg The waters are able to make a sound in all of your sky; ca-ceche yeba ca-xo yaza POT-make.sound sky POT-come.out long.leaf Sky will make a sound; the long leaves will come out. qui-to yag be huijya qui-to-do n-ete bezaa dao POT-one tree spirit priest POT-one-one STA-taste cloud great All the trees and spirits, priest; each Great Cloud has a taste. chia tee deye teiye ya STA.sit ash grandfather grandfather hill The ashes, the grandfathers, the grandfathers are seated on the mountain. √69 (7:3) la yocho i-tegaa then POT.be.rotten POT-be.gaunt Rotten and gaunt is the face, then;

lao face

la yocho i-tegaa nia bechi then POT.be.rotten POT-be.gaunt foot jaguar rotten and gaunt is the foot, then, Great Jaguar;

tao great

la yocho i-te-ca nia bechi tao then rotten POT-be.eaten.with.holes308-E foot jaguar great rotten and pockmarked is the foot, then, Great Jaguar. hueyo ce-xog already309 PRM-come.out It is already coming down; hueyo naba hueya quila already sweet.song310 dance in.haste311 already, the sweet songs and dances in haste; hueyo naba [198v] y-eyag nizo yati already sweet.song POT-return beverage white already, the sweet songs. The white alcoholic beverage will return. qui-to yag be zohuiya qui-to-to n-elte beza daol312 POT-one tree spirit cacao POT-one-one STA-taste cloud great All the trees, Spirit Cacao. Each Great Cloud has a taste.

319

appendix

chia tee deye teiye yala i.ye chia STA.sit ash grandfather grandfather copal sign STA.sit Ashes, grandfathers, grandfathers and copal are seated; the sign is present. √70 (7:4) qui-do yag nizo bigaana POT-one trees beverage young.man For all the trees, alcoholic beverages, young man. qui-chohui baha queche lao yoo beneati guzoobi la POT-be.scorched good.thing town on land people Gozobi then The good thing will be scorched on Earth; then, the people of Gozobi danced.

be-yaha CMP-dance

go-guchi bexoci gu-liza CMP-seventh father AG-pick.up The seventh father [7-Knot], the collector: y-eyag-bi cue lea yehue yaxog quichi yeba POT-return-3f 313 piece enclosure palace old.person paper sky he will return a portion to the enclosure of the Palace of the Old Ones of the papers from Sky. gu-oxog co-xo-ci no bich-a CMP-be.paid CMP-be.paid.only314 PRO brother-1sg He was paid, he was paid with much suffering, he who is my brother. lana dao zaa ela zaa xini words great Zapotec 400 Zapotec child The great Zapotec words of the Four Hundred [uncountable] Zapotecs, of the children. qui-to yag be zohuiya qui-to-to n-ete POT-one tree spirit cacao POT-one-one STA-taste All the trees, Spirit Cacao. Each Great Cloud has a taste.

beza dao cloud great

chia tee deye-te STA.sit ash grandfather-DEM The ashes and these grandfathers are seated. √71 (7:5) i.go-yaini yeba i.gu-yaini yehue i.cabila quia ya CMP-dawn315 sky CMP-dawn palace underworld high.place reed316 Dawn broke in the sky, dawn broke in the palace of the underworld at Reed Mountain. i.cu-xog co-xo-ci no bich-a CMP-be.paid CMP-be.paid-only PRO brother-1sg He was paid, he was paid with much suffering, he who is my brother.

320

appendix

lana dao za ela za xi-yoni words great Zapotec 400 Zapotec POS-sweetness The great Zapotec words of the Four Hundred [uncountable] Zapotecs, their sweetness. co-yajni yehue ece chila dao CMP-dawn palace Eci diviner great Dawn broke at the palaces of Eci, the great diviner. qui-to yag be xohuiya qui-to-to n-ete POT-one tree spirit cacao POT-one-one STA-taste All the trees, Spirit Cacao. Each Great Cloud has a taste.

beza dao cloud great

chia dee teye teiye yala i.ye chiya chiya i.tete i.ya teye STA.sit ash grandfather grandfather copal sign STA.sit STA.sit STA.be.across hill grandfather Ashes, grandfathers, grandfathers, copal, and the sign are seated; the grandfathers sit, they sit; they are located across the mountain. √72 (7:6) le-chi-e yala i.yee-i.ci g-ala i.dee teye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit-3 copal sign-only POT-celebrate ash grandfather Be seated, copal and sign! The ashes, the grandfathers, will be celebrated. le-chi-e yala i.yee i.ci-ti g-ala i.tee teye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit-3 copal sign POT.take-E POT-celebrate ash grandfather Be seated, copal and sign! The ashes, the grandfathers, will receive much and be celebrated. gu-da-baa qu-ezaacaa go-ta-baa que-ceya-paa CMP-tie.up-3an POT-hold CMP-pluck317-3an POT-burn-3an Tie up the animal and hold it. Pluck the animal; it will burn. ba-zoo-yaqui yani quiag chonna yebaa PRF-PSB-twist318 neck mountain three sky He was able to twist the [animal’s] neck at Mountain of the Three from Sky. i.gu-ni-ba chiy bitao gu-ni-ba chi bexoci be yolopa [199r]319 be celana CMP-give-3an ten child CMP-give-3an ten fathers spirit 5-Dew spirit 13-Death The animal gave to the ten children; the animal gave to the ten fathers, to Spirit 5-Dew and Spirit 13-Death. gu-hue dao be bilao bia CMP-exchange great spirit 10-Face puma The great exchange of Spirit 10-Face Puma. le-chi-e yala i.yee-i.ci tica chia dee teye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit-3 copal sign-only DEM320 STA.sit ash grandfather Be seated, copal and sign! Look over there; the ashes, the grandfathers, are seated.

321

appendix

√73 (7:7) quina yog que zoo quina xoa queya-ci field color POS time321 field lord exchange-only The field of the writings of time; the field of the lords of the only exchange. quijna laa quina chahui yazag qui tene field multicolored322 field good long.leaf offering blood The multicolored field, the good field; the long leaves, the blood offering. yoho zoo y-ey-eyag yoho zoo house time POT-RES-return house time The house of time; the house of time will return. huana ye-yaci yehue dao cloud POT-enter palace great The clouds will enter the great palace. ce-bi que ch-ag xila dao lichi-lo be PRM-return vow HAB-go gift great house-2sg spirit The vow is returning, the great gifts go to your house, spirit. i.Zohu-ey-eyag-lo be Zo hue-china-lo PSB-RES-return-2sg spirit STA.stand AG-labor-2sg You are able to return, spirit; your laborer is here, spirit.

be spirit

i.le-chi-e yala i.yee i.ci-ti c-ala i.dee teye STA.sit-3 copal sign POT.take-E POT-celebrate ash grandfather Be seated, copal and sign! The ashes, the grandfathers, will receive much and be celebrated.

Song 8 [Instructions]: zaha goba ya coba yati ta-ci STA.go spirit hill spirit white POT.be.shaken.only When “spirit of the hills, bright spirit” goes, it will be shaken. nigaa co-to ni-quita doca balaa co-zochi here CMP-one square-shaped323 sacrifice excessive324 CMP-drink Here, one square object at “The excessive sacrifice: they drank.” √74 (8:1) doca balaa go-zoochi chi bila chi benij chi bee sacrifice excessive CMP-drink ten sister325 ten seed ten spirit The excessive sacrifice: Ten sisters, ten seeds, ten spirits drank.

322

appendix

i.ticha gohui na cuo-zochi queza laog bea naba bexoci word exchange indeed CMP-drink cured.tobacco face animal STA.request fathers The word of the exchange; indeed, they drank. The first cured tobacco and the animals appeal to the fathers. guhui cequi n-ichi bee bilao no-bi cee exchange POT.be.full STA-care.for spirit 10-Face PRO-PRT 8-Snake The exchange will be full. Spirit 10-Face cares for he who is 8-Snake. le-chi-e yala i.yeei-ti c-ala i.dee teye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit-3 copal sign-DEM POT-celebrate ash grandfather Be seated, copal, and this sign! The ashes, the grandfathers, will be celebrated. [Instructions]: ni ta-çi doca bala co-zochi quela niaque bich-aa here POT.be.shaken-only sacrifice excessive CMP-drink custom for brother-1sg si-china.i POS-labor Here it will shake at “The excessive sacrifice; they drank.” The custom for my brother, his labor. √75 (8:2) guoba ya guoba yati dough raw dough white The uncooked maize offering, the white maize offering. gu-nabi-ba-e326 laachi-ba zoo quia çi cha CMP-request-3an-3 heart-3an STA.stand high.place POT.take day The animal made a request to them. The animal’s heart is on the mountain; the day will receive it. ba-zoo-yaqui yani quiag chona yeba PRF-PSB-twist neck mountain three sky He was able to twist the neck at Mountain of the Three of Sky. i.guo-ni-ba chi bitaao go-nni-ba chi [199v] chi bexoci be yolopa be celana CMP-view-3an ten children POT-give-3an ten ten fathers spirit 5-Dew spirit 13-Death The animal inspected the ten deities; the animal inspected the ten fathers, Spirit 5-Dew, Spirit 13-Death. gohuee tao be bilao bia exchange great spirit 10-Face Puma The great exchange of Spirit 10-Face Puma. le-chi-e yala i.ye i.ci-ti c-ala i.tee teye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit-3 copal sign POT.take-E POT-celebrate ash grandfather Be seated, copal, sign! The ashes, the grandfathers, will receive much and be celebrated.

323

appendix

√76 (8:3) te i.yala teiye teiye i.lee-chia dee deye ash copal grandfather grandfather 2pl.IMP-STA.sit ash grandfather Ash, copal, grandfathers, grandfathers; be seated, ash, grandfathers! xa pe yaohog be ii.be327 i.xa tola tohua nijy 328 father spirit POT.appear spirit spirit father debt mouth this Fathers, spirits; the spirits, the spirits, the fathers of the debt will appear at this entrance [feast day]. cuiba i.teni yehue i.lichi bao bexoci go-ne-to sort329 blood palace house burned.thing fathers CMP-sow-1plE Another sort of blood at the palace and house; the burned things of the fathers we sowed.330 ga-og bee bilao bia ga-og quiag qui xoba POT-be.bloody spirit 10-Face puma POT-be.bloody mountain offering maize The spirit 10-Face Puma will be bloody; Mountain of the Maize Offering will be bloody. ga-og quiag i.cue i.hue-go-ti-hue331 POT-be.bloody rock piece AG-[wound]332 The mountain of the section of the wounder will be bloody. go-ni-lo be i.biquio bene lio-ba CMP-view-2sg spirit male person inside333-tomb You viewed the male spirits, the people from Lioba [Mitla]. te i.yala te i.yala teiye teiye ii.lee-chia te deye ash copal ash copal grandfather grandfather 2pl.IMP-STA.sit ash grandfather Ash, copal, ash, copal, grandfathers, grandfathers; be seated, ash, grandfathers! √77 (8:4) quene quenee guacha ij.ni quene quenee bowl request Huacha this bowl request The bowl, the request of this Huachaa; the bowl, the request. gaa-bij n-ichi-bi ga-ca quene gaani334 xoba POT-return STA-care.for-3f POT-be bowl nine [grain] corn He will return to care for them; there will be a bowl with nine [grains] of corn. gohue zachi qui-tag bene xi-yona yo ni laa go-xijcha go-tila exchange fat POT-descend people POS-three land this name AG-be.strong AG-fight The exchange of fat. The People of Three will descend on the land, those called Strong Ones, Fighters. be i.ye be bilao bia spirit sign spirit 10-Face puma The spirit, the sign, Spirit 10-Face Puma.

324

appendix

teiye la teiy-a la teiye grandfather then grandfather-1sg then grandfather Grandfathers, my grandfathers, grandfathers. √78 (8:5) pexio yati Zo chiog qui tene relatives335 white STA.stand portion offering blood White relatives, there is a portion of the blood offering. g-ala Zo yoobi bee bilao bia POT-celebrate STA.stand HON spirit 10-Face puma The honorable Spirit 10-Face Puma will be celebrated. te i.yala teiye i.lee-chia tee deye ash copal grandfather 2pl.IMP-STA.sit ash grandfather Ashes, copal, grandfathers; be seated, ashes, grandfathers!

Song 9 [Instructions]: ni ta-ci ti-hua336 here POT.be.shaken-only HAB-rattle Here, it will be shaken, it rattles. √79 (9:1) lani cuala belachila337 lani cuala belachila ni ga-ca chahuij feast 6-Face 7-Caiman feast 6-Face 7-Caiman this POT-be good The feast of 6-Face and 7-Caiman; this feast of 6-Face and 7-Caiman will be good. ba quiag lao zo lachi yego [200r] dee already rock face STA.stand heart river ash The First Mountain is already there: the heart of Ash River. lani biladela yalao ni go-ca chahui feast 10-Knot 11-Monkey this CMP-be good This feast of 10-Knot and 11-Monkey [Days 10–11] was good. quijna laa quete dao chia lachi yego xia field name deep.place great STA.sit heart river fate The field called Great Depth sits at the heart of River of Fate. lichi b[e]t[a]o niga yagque yaci quitag xo hue-go go-xicha be house deity here 1-Reed black reed.mat ancestor AG-insert AG-be.strong spirit Here is the house of Black 1-Reed; the reed mat of the ancestor sacrificer and strong spirit.

325

appendix

Abichi to-n One of several will end. √80 (9:2) ga-le ye yog g-ala ye yog POT-be.announced sign color POT-celebrate sign color The sign and writings will be announced; the sign and writings will be celebrated. n-aca i.ba quiag lao zo lachi yego dee STA-be already mountain face STA.stand heart river ash There is the First Mountain already; it stands at the heart of Ash River. chino xoz-a n-aca quina laa quete dao chia lachi yego thirteen fathers-1sg STA-be field name deep.place great STA.sit heart river My thirteen fathers are in the field called Great Depth; it sits at the heart of River of Fate.

xia fate

lichi b[e]t[a]o niga yagque yaci quitag xo hue-go go-xicha be house deity here 1-Reed black reed.mat ancestor AG-insert AG-be.strong spirit Here is the house of Black 1-Reed; the reed mat of the ancestor sacrificer and strong spirit. Abichi to-n One of several will end. [Instructions]:

go-do i.pa ni-quita go-to yo i.no zag-quita CMP-one tomb square.shaped CMP-one house PRO Toward-Reed.Mat The first square tomb, the first house of he of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. naha ba-ti go-de go-hui zohuia now already-EC CMP-pass.by exchange cacao Now, the exchange of cacao has fully gone by.

√81 (9:3) nij zo-lao go-to yo-te doag qu-ita go-to yo here STA.stand-face CMP-one house-DEM Maguey POT-arrive CMP-one house Here begins this first house, Maguey [first period of the year]; the first house will arrive. ga-ca que gozobi leni que bene ya tini gula dao POT-be POS Gozobi and POS people hill slope old great It will belong to Gozobi, and to the Mountain Slope people, the old ones. niga xoa xi-gogo bene ya tini yoho gola dao que gozobi cati-te doag here lord POS-seat people hill slope house old great POS Gozobi when-DEM maguey Here is the lord of the throne, the Mountain Slope people, the house of the great old ones; it belongs to Gozobi during Maguey.

326

appendix

√82 (9:4) queyaa queechino lao quela-li xee dao equal.exchange thirteen face NOM-straight creation sacred The equal exchange of the First Thirteen, the truth of the sacred creation. bene yoxi yaha yoxi dao gabila people sand338 fresh sand great underworld People of fresh sand, of the great sand of Underworld. go-dee bene xiag bene cachi CMP-pass.by people fate people burial The people of fate passed by, the people of the [Field of] Burial. gozobi dao be olobia xi-la i.[qu]ina xi-la Gozobi great spirit 5-Soaproot POS-sharp field POS-sharp Great Gozobi and Spirit 5-Soaproot of Sharpness, of Field of Sharpness; [qu]ina hui-quene hui-quene field AG-request AG-request Field of the requesters, of the requesters. bene xi-laa bene xi-la bene xi-cuana people POS-sharp people POS-sharp people POS-enchantment339 People of Sharpness, people of Sharpness, people of enchantments; bene go-ce-chona gaa lachi-lo people CMP-REP-three340 nine heart-2sg the other Three people, your nine hearts. yo beeya yo beya [200v] yo nij gozobi tao be olobia house mushroom house mushroom house this Gozobi great spirit 5-Soaproot House of mushrooms, house of mushrooms; this house of Great Gozobi and Spirit 5-Soaproot. i.teeye i.teeye yala i.ye yala i.ye i.tee i.teye Grandfathers, grandfathers, copal, sign, copal, sign, ashes, grandfathers. √83 (9:5) xi-laya eche nij go-zobanij doyag doyag la POS-chant341 town this CMP-begin342 dance343 dance name The chants of this town; the dance, the dance called Turtle began; yog xoa lea ocui color lord enclosure round the writings of the lord of the round enclosures [Becelao].

327

bego turtle

appendix

za xi-laya bene quiag quio deoo STA.go POS-chant people rock male lion-colored344 The chant of the people of Mountain of Lion-Colored Males [3-Reed, 11-Knot] goes on. ni xi-laya bene lea dao te-ola i.naa belao this POS-chant people enclosure great HAB-be.up.above345 now singer This is the chant of the people of the Great Enclosures; it is up above now, singer. ba-n-ene yehue quia tini zoo qui-nina beego PRF-STA-be.difficult346 palace high.place slope STA.stand POT-twist.leg347 turtle It is already difficult at the Palace of the Mountain Slope; the turtles are there, their legs will get twisted. ba-n-exog yehue beza348 dao PRF-STA-fall palace cloud great The Palace of the Great Clouds is already coming down. go-ye-yag dij d-o-la naa belao la-yoho quela-biyee la lachi i.ticha tao CMP-FRQ-go349 song HAB-C-be.sung350 now singer Earth NOM-time.count name heart word great The songs went again: the singers sing them now, on the time count called Heart of the Great Word. d-o-nij naa belao queche tia-e HAB-C-be.searched351 now singer town lineage-3 The singer searches now for the town’s lineages: laachi queche xee dao lachi yego dee go-laza heart town creation sacred heart river ashes CMP-take.turn the hearts of the town of the sacred creation, the heart of Ash River of ancient times. i.teeye i.tee Grandfathers, ashes. [Four turtle symbols]

Song 10 √84 (10:1) go-to bego CMP-one turtle First Turtle yaeche ya i.teye yaeche chia i.teye yaaooyooi temple352 reed grandfather temple STA.sit grandfather At Reed Temple, grandfathers; the grandfathers sit in the temple, ci yaalag gaa yoho quela lao latee gaa lachi POT.take copal nine houses custom face place nine hearts The nine houses of First Custom will receive copal, the places of nine hearts.

328

ya i.dee i.teye hill ash grandfather Ash Hill, grandfathers.

appendix

go-za i.late ga beetao bee bilalao CMP-go place nine deities spirit 7-Face Spirit 7-Face went to the places of nine deities. la bichi belao no laa go-yela be-na log zahui be-na y-eyag xi-xila-çi and brother singer PRO name AG-convince353 CMP-give root gray354 CMP-give POT-return POS-gift-only Brother singer, he who is called Convincer, gave the gray root. He gave, and his gift will return. doya i.gaa lea yehue xoa bij-chitog355 queche bechina yace che dance nine enclosures palace lord AN-iguana356 town deer black west The dance of the nine enclosures of the palace of Lord Bichitog [Iguana] at the town of Black Deer of the West. ya i.teye yaeche chia teye yaaoyooi ya i.tee i.teye hill grandfather temple STA.sit grandfather hill ash grandfather Mountain, grandfathers; in the temple the grandfathers are seated; Ash Hill, grandfathers. √85 (10:2) gu-ne yag go-nabij zo no-te za-lapa huei-go [201r]357 358 CMP-sow tree CMP-ask STA.stand PRO-DEM PSB-break.things AG-insert Plant the tree(s); ask for someone here who is able to break things, a sacrificer. za i.quiya ceye lachi quia tini STA.go reed.field green.corn.ear359 heart high.place slope The green corn ear goes to the reed field, to the hearts at Mountain Slope. queza i.na lichi xohuana360 neto xicha cured.tobacco now house lord 1plE strong The cured tobacco is now at the house of our lord, the strong one. b-eey-eyag que lana yaeche CMP-RES-return vow words temple The vow and words returned to the temple. ya i.teye yaeche chia hill grandfather temple STA.sit The mountain; the grandfathers are in the temple. √86 (10:3) go-xog go-xog za b-eog lachi bitog CMP-pay CMP-pay beans CMP-come.in heart early.fruit361 Pay, pay with beans. The hearts, the early fruits came in. be-yog beza yao ba-tee gaa gocio CMP-be.placed cloud stone362 PRF-be.seated363 nine Gocio Stone Cloud was placed; the nine stone Gocijos are seated. 329

yao stone

appendix

i.t-eo-ne364 xa pe yaxi y-eyag-bi cue yela-i.na-go ye-si HAB-give-still365 father spirit POT.be.paid366 POT-return-3f piece NOM-STA-be.inserted sign-only Father Spirit still gives and will be paid. He will return a portion to the emplacement of the sign. goo-yaxi zaa367 be-yog lachi biye CMP-be.paid beans CMP-be.placed heart time.count They were paid with beans. The heart, the time count was placed. yo quela-goo-zochi yana yace che ya house NOM-CMP-drink corncob368 black west hill The house of drinking; the black corncob of the West; the hill.

Song 11 go-dopa bego CMP-two turtle Second Turtle √87 (11:1) yao Juiyaaijyaaayaha yao i.tee i.teye yao iyaai yaoo hoiyaiya ayahayaoi dee i.teye stone stone ash grandfather stone stone ash grandfather Stone, stone, ash, grandfathers, stone, stone, ash, grandfathers. lani la lao bigaana feast 8-Reed 11-Crow young.man The feast of 8-Reed to 11-Crow [Days 73–76], young man. la be-tag zo no quiag zaa toa b[e]t[a]o gola gola then CMP-descend STA.stand PRO mountain STA.go mouth deity old old Then, he descended, he is present. He of the mountain, he goes to the entrance, the very old deity. qu-ezaha-i.ti go-to yoo le chaa POT-be.enough369-E CMP-one house next.to day It will certainly be enough: the first house next to the day; i.yeye la le quitag yao huiyaa soot then next.to reed.mat stone priest the soot, then, next to the stone reed mats and the priests. ijayaahao yaha yao i.tete i.teye oguee plaza stone STA.be.across grandfather The grandfathers are placed across the stone plaza,

330

appendix

√88 (11:2) teiye quela lao quia xiya teeiye quela370 gobechi grandfather custom face high.place fate grandfather custom/lake Cobechi Grandfather of the First Custom, Mountain of Fate, grandfather of the custom, Cobechi. yalag naa belao t-o-chi b[e]t[a]o go-bena xi-lana copal mother singer HAB-C-be.answered deity CMP-be.hungry371 POS-word Copal now, singer; the deity Gobena [Hunger] gives an answer with his words. yala d-o-chi xoohuana goo-bena copal HAB-C-be.answered lord CMP-be.hungry Copal; Lord Gobena gives an answer. dij go-gula na belao be-yaica chahui song CMP-old indeed singer CMP-come.out372 well The old song indeed, singer; it came out well. go-bixi ga-og [201v] i.xoba xochi-bij cuee xi-yon CMP-be.bundled POT-be.bloody maize POT.cut373-3f piece POS-three The maize was bundled up and will be bloody; he will cut a piece for the Three. lana-ca queche bechina lana-ca quia xila words-E town deer words-E high.place gift The words of Town of Deer, the words of Mountain of Gifts; bilalao go-ya xi-yao 7-Face CMP-whiten374 POS-stone 7-Face made his stone white. iyaaijyaaa

yaha yao i.tee. i.teye i.yao plaza stone ash grandfather stone Stone plaza, ash; stone grandfathers.

√89 (11:3) quia quiog lacha ij.xila yaha quia high.place male small.hill gift fresh high.place Male mountain, small hill, fresh gifts of the mountains; qu-ita lachi go-za i.niza dao lahui POT-arrive heart375 CMP-spread.out376 water great middle the hearts will arrive; the sea spread out in the middle. yalag bego yog yoo yati copal turtle color house bright/white Copal for the turtles; the writings of the bright house.

331

appendix

xoohuana xa tola377 t-o-yainaa goobechi yalag naa belao lord father debt HAB-C-be.sustained378 Cobechi copal now singer Lord and father of the debts. Cobechi sustains himself with copal now, singer. yaoiyaai yaaaya

Song 12 go-yona bego CMP-three turtle Third Turtle [Instructions]: ni ta-ci ti-hua379 here POT.be.shaken-only HAB-rattle Here, it will be shaken, it rattles. √90 (12:1) pecelao dao xonaxi yagcueo bene be-ni yela-le li xee tiaa Becelao great lady 1-Soaproot people CMP-make NOM-female.genitalia380 straight creation lineage Great Becelao, Lady 1-Soaproot: the persons who made the true womanhood, the creation of lineages. becelao dao xonaxi yagcueo bene be-ni yela-li xee Becelao great lady 1-Soaproot people CMP-make NOM-straight creation Great Becelao, Lady 1-Soaproot: the people who made the truth, the sacred creation.

dao sacred

go-lag behne cachi xonaxi gozobi tao be olobiaa CMP-be.born people burial lady Gozobi great spirit 5-Soaproot The people of the [Field of the] Burial were born: Ladies Great Gozobi and Spirit 5-Soaproot. go-lag bilaachi yagquina queza tao CMP-be.born 7-Jaguar/Lizard 1-Field cured.tobacco 7-Jaguar/Lizard and 1-Field were born; the cured tobacco. bene quela-zoochi go-lequi b[e]t[a]o people NOM-west381 CMP-be.placed deities The people of the West placed the deities. go-ca quela-go-yeag tia CMP-be NOM-CMP-beget lineages It was the begetting of lineages. Abichi to-n One of several will end.

332

appendix

√91 (12:2) quia chee dao gabila quia ca paza high.place West great underworld high.place nine meadows382 Mountain of the Sacred West, Underworld, Mountain of Nine Meadows. gabila zoa beza quiti gozobi tao be yolobia underworld STA.be.now cloud luminous383 Gozobi great spirit 5-Soaproot In the Underworld now stands the luminous cloud of Great Gozobi and Spirit 5-Soaproot. quia chee dao gabila quia ca paza high.place West great underworld high.place nine meadows Mountain of the Sacred West, Underworld, Mountain of Nine Meadows. gabila zoa beza quiti quiagquechi gabila underworld STA.be.now cloud luminous 1-Jaguar underworld In the Underworld now stands the luminous cloud of 1-Jaguar of Underworld. ga-lag384 bilaachi yagquina queza [202r] queza tao POT-be.born 7-Jaguar/Lizard 1-Field tobacco cured.tobacco 7-Jaguar/Lizard and 1-Field will be born; tobacco, the cured tobacco. bene goba ni ga-tole banij people spirit this POT-slide.down385 POT.be.alive These people and spirits will slide down alive. bene go-te-de ga-tole tete xoa y-eyag people CMP-pass.by-EC POT-slide.down over.there lord POT-return The people who finished passing by will slide down over there: it is the lords that will return. Abichi na386 Abichi to-n It will end indeed. One of several will end. ni que-zo-lao this POT-STA.stand-face This one will begin. √92 (12:3) iyaij yaaaha yao i.tee i.teeye plaza stone ash grandfather Stone plaza, ash, grandfathers. bi-yelag qui bi-yelag qui-e yanna bi-lahua-ij.bi queche bicia tao xoa yaga xeni CMP-come offering CMP-come offering-3 today387 CMP-be.carried388-3f town eagle great lord tree large The offerings came, their offerings came today. They carried into town Great Eagle, the lord, the ceiba.

333

appendix

quichi be i.lachi ya bee. i.lachi-ci choona papers spirit heart hill spirit heart-only three The papers, the spirits, the heart, Spirit Hill, only the hearts, the Three. y-eyag zoo yola zohua nij lohueyag chi-quene b[e]t[a]o quia toa POT-return STA.stand 2-Reed load this parrot.plumage HAB-be.requested deity high.place mouth 2-Reed returns and is present. This load, the parrot feathers, is requested by the deity of mountains and entrances [the feasts]. qu-etee chilag ca xi-go xoba quia xi-nola i.lachi xoba POT-deliver389 diviner nine POS-dog[child]390 maize high.place POS-woman heart maize The diviner will deliver to nine children the maize of Mountain of Women; the heart of maize. quia xi-cha la i.b[e]t[a]o cichi be-ni gohue high.place POS-heat some deity ancient CMP-make exchange Mountain of Heat391 of some ancient deities; they made the exchange. iyaijyaa yaha yao i.tee i.teeye Stone plaza, ash, grandfathers. √93 (12:4) doca bene quela-yaa huaanaha xohuaana sacrifice people NOM-clear392 cloud lord The sacrifice of the people of clarity, the clouds, the lords. doca bene queche be i.lachi ya be i.lachi-ci chona queag sacrifice people town spirits heart hill spirit heart-only three rock The sacrifice of the people of the Town of Spirits; the hearts of Spirit Hill. The hearts, the Three of the mountain. zoo yola zohua nij lohueag chi-quene b[e]t[a]o quia393 toa STA.stand 2-Reed load this parrot.plumage HAB-be.requested deity high.place mouth 2-Reed is present; this load, the parrot feathers, is requested by the deity of mountains and entrances. qu-ete chilag ga xi-go xoba quia POT-deliver diviner nine POS-dog[child] maize high.place The diviner will deliver to nine children the maize of the mountain. yaijaha yaha yao plaza stone The stone plaza. √94 (12:5) dozag lohuela394 toa yati bechij 395 young.maize.plant ray mouth bright jaguar The young maize plant; the ray from the bright mouth of the jaguar. 334

appendix

dozag lago beche huee bene gola za young.maize.plant sustenance jaguar ill396 people old Zapotec The young maize plant, the sustenance of the ill jaguar of the ancient Zapotec people. [202v] dozag lohuela dao yati bechij young.maize.plant ray great bright jaguar The young maize plant, the great bright rays of the jaguar. dozag toa gobeche huee bene gola za bene za young.maize.plant mouth Cobechi ill people old Zapotec people Zapotec The young maize plant for the mouth of ailing Cobechi of the ancient Zapotec people and the Zapotec people. y-eyag queza chi-quene b[e]t[a]o quia toa POT-return cured.tobacco HAB-be.requested deity high.place mouth The cured tobacco will return; it is requested by the deity of mountains and entrances [the feasts]. qu-etee chilag ga xila be-ni ii.yaga toa gola POT-deliver diviner nine gift CMP-make tree mouth old The diviner will deliver nine gifts. The trees [ancestors] made the old entrances [the feasts]. giza-la i.b[e]t[a]o cichi be-ni gohue chaa bene gola za every397 deity ancient CMP-make exchange day people old Zapotec Every ancient deity made the exchange of the days of the ancient Zapotec people. iyaiyaijyaaa yaha yao y.teete i.teye plaza stone STA.be.across grandfather The grandfathers are placed across the stone plaza.

Song 13 go-tapa bego CMP-4 turtle Fourth Turtle √95 (13:1) huiya i.yaho i.yaa i.yaoho i.ya i.yaa yaha yao. i.dee i.teye priest stone reed stone hill reed plaza stone ash grandfather Stone priest, stone reed, hill, reed, stone plaza; ashes, grandfathers. d-o-na-lachi bigaana de-one bilachi HAB-C-[be.sad] young.man HAB-have.energy398 7-Jaguar/Lizard The young man that is full of energy is sad: 7-Jaguar/Lizard [1-Wind’s son].

335

appendix

go-za i.nizo CMP-spread.out beverage The alcoholic beverage is spread out. quia xi-yani xoba yaza toa i.xicha high.place POS-light.ray399 maize long.leaf mouth strong Mountain of the rays of light. The maize, the long leaves of the strong mouth. yalag gaa bexoci gohue cha copal nine fathers exchange day The copal of the Nine Fathers, the exchange of the days. i.zo-na lao bia PSB-say face puma “Puma Face” can be said. hoiyaya huiyaa i.yaooho i.ya i.yaa yaa yao i.teye priest stone hill plaza plaza stone grandfather Stone priest, mountain, stone plaza, plaza: the grandfathers.

ii. agi mé x ic o 8 82, 2 27r –2 36r m a n ua l 101: t he g on z a l o s ongb o ok Song 1 √1 (1:1)

[227r]

ai yaoo i.co-ya stone CMP-whiten The stones turned white. ij.go-ce-lepi beetao beegala-e xohua yaoo chao CMP-REP-tie.up 400 deity dream-3 lord stone401 together 402 Tie up the deities again: the dream of the assembled lords of stone. yooce quij dao gaa yoo chao niti tao long-horned.deer offering great nine houses together POT.spend403 great The long-horned deer, the great offerings, the nine houses assembled, the great spending. i.loce quij dao i.loce qui gaa zo bezaa xohua latee horn404 offering great horn offering nine time cloud lord place The horns, the great offering, the horns, the offering, the nine times. The clouds, the lords of the places. yaiyaoo iyaiya iyaiya iyaohoya

336

appendix

√2 (1:2) hua-cicha gala cina i.deyo. i.lichi hui-yoo zope lao PRF-stand.upright405 twenty wise foundation house AG-vanquish406 two face The twenty wise ones [day signs] have stood up: the foundation of the house of the victor, Two-Face. hua-zoo yoobi zoo yobij be-ye-tac quichi yahui queeba PRF-stand HON STA.stand HON CMP-FRQ-descend papers ancient sky The honorable ones have been present, the honorable ones are present, the ancient papers of Sky came down again. i.zoo yobi zoo yobij be-ye-tac quichi yahui queeba STA.stand HON STA.stand HON CMP-FRQ-descend papers ancient sky The honorable ones are present, the honorable ones are present, the ancient papers of Sky came down again. i.yoo to naa y-eyac betao beexoci hue-ya to queeba STA.be.inside one407 now POT-return deity father AG-dance one sky There is more now. The deities and fathers will return to the dance of the one Sky; i.go-pa quiyac be eola etela AG-keep reed.field spirit 3-Reed 11-Knot the keepers of the Reed Fields, Spirits 3-Reed and 11-Knot. iyaiyahoo aiyao iyaiyaiyaoo aiyaoo iyaaayaaho huei-lij goxe ayaao AG-straight only408 Only the straighteners,

hue-i.xoba goxe bichi tao zoo AG-be.placed409 only brother sacred STA.stand only the ones who place things, the sacred brothers, are present.

yalac gaa bene goqui t-aca huijyaa huiyaa copal nine person ruler HAB-be priest priest The copal of the nine rulers who are priests, priests. aiyaoahui yaahahui huiyaa aiyaoa huiya huiya yaoo hohue yaha i.yaoo ohue yaha ooiyai yaoiya Ancients, priests, priests, stone priests, stone plazas, plazas, na-yo chehe STA-be.inside West it is placed inside the West. qui-yooc bela za i.la to lac gocio na-co chee POT-be.inside serpent Zapotec then one piece time.period STA-be.covered410 West The Zapotec serpent will be placed; then, one piece of the time period is covered [in] the West. gui-oc bela za i.lani-bi gocio POT-be.inside serpent Zapotec feast-3f time.period The Zapotec serpent will enter the time period411 of its feast.

337

appendix

ooiya iyaoiya nij go-xicha dee-gaana quieche la lachi zaa this AG-be.strong HAB-circle412 town name heart Zapotec This strong one goes in circles around the town called Heart of the Zapotecs: beegala-e xo dream-3 ancestor the dream of the ancestors. zee cee y-eyaac queche laa laachi zaa STA.be 8-Snake POT-return town name heart Zapotec There is 8-Snake. He will return to the town called Heart of the Zapotecs: beegala-e xo zijchi dream-3 ancestor ancient the ancient dream of the ancestors. zee y-eyaac queche laa laachi zaa STA.be POT-return town name heart Zapotec There he is [8-Snake]. He will return to the town called Heart of the Zapotecs: beegala-e xo dream-3 ancestor the dream of the ancestors. ayaaohue iyaohuahui yahaaiyaoiya √3 (1:3) guiiya yoo 413 huiya gooaa huiyaa yoo reed.field house priest spirit priest house Reed field, house, priests, spirits, priests, house. xichi qui-to ela chi-te lachi be xonaxi song414 POT-one 400 STA.sit-EC heart spirit Lady The songs 400 [countless]. The hearts, the spirits, the ladies are indeed present: beegaala-e xo-guaa cichi dream-3 ancestor-1sg long.ago the dream of my ancestors from long ago. xa pe yao ch-ue-ne lohui father spirit stone HAB-give-still 2sg Father, stone spirit, you still give things.

338

[227v]

appendix

go-yepi goobicha b-ey-eyac que lana CMP-go.up sun CMP-RES-return vow words The Sun went up, the vow and the words returned. a huiyaha guiyaa aiyaoa quii yaahahui yaaaiyaoa guiya guiya yaoo guiyaha yaoo dance reed.field offering ancient reed.field reed.field stone reed.field stone The dance of Reed Field, ancient offering, Reed Field, Stone Reed Field, Stone Reed Field. ohue yaha iyaoo ohue yahaoo iya yao iya √4 (1:4) guana co-ye-yac qui lida i.yehue dogua cloud CMP-FRQ-go offering flat415 palace entrance The clouds; the offerings went straight again to the palaces of the entrances [the feasts]. chaoij-te gue-e looc beetao good-E POS-3 root deity The root of the deities is very good; beegala-e xo guijya dream-3 ancestor reed.field the dream of the ancestors, the reed field. ayoo

huiya416 i.ha huiyaa ho priest priest priests, priest,

hueyaha dance the dance,

huiyaa aiyaoiya priest priests.

zoo za-ni ye-yoc be-xoo-te looc gaa beza dao STA.stand together417 POT-be.placed CMP-come.out-EC root nine cloud great They stand together: the roots and the nine great clouds will be placed and fully come out. bichitoc queza dela cha Bichitog cured.tobacco night418 day Bichitog [Iguana] of the cured tobacco, night and day [forever]. i.goohui toba bitao gobicha exchange maguey deity sun The exchange of Maguey for the Sun deity. b-ey-eyac queena CMP-RES-return vessel419 The vessel returned. ayaaohue iyaohuahui yahaayaoiya

339

appendix

√5 (1:5) gua-xoc-te na i.quenaa hue-lac quiza PRF-come.out-EC indeed vessel AG-defend420 every The vessels of the Defender have fully come out indeed, all of them. gua-xoc-tee dicha ni-n-aatee bichi go-xicha be ola eetela PRF-come.out-EC word ADJ-STA-be.hoary421 brother AG-be.strong spirit 3-Wind 11-Knot The hoary words of the brothers and strong ones, Spirits 3-Reed and 11-Knot, have fully come out. ayaaogue iyao √6 (1:6) zoochi guij gaa-caa zochi quiya to-ci queba West offering POT-be drunkenness reed.field one-only sky The West, the offering; there will be the drunkenness of the Reed Field of the only Sky. i.hui xi-yoce bilaoo illness POS-long.horned.deer 10-Face The illness of the long-horned deer, 10-Face; quij xi-yoce bilao offering POS-long.horned.deer 10-Face the offerings of the long-horned deer, 10-Face. nizoo yati nizoo gochi xoono-e yac no lo yo alc.bev white beverage seventh eight-3 tree PRO root house The white maguey beverage, the beverage of the seventh of the Eight Trees, they who are the foundation. gobichaa b-ey-eyac quelaa422 sun CMP-RES-return custom Sun, the custom returned. a guiya guiyaa ho quiyaaha yaoo ohue yaha i.yaoo ogue [228r] yaha ooiyaiyaoiya reed.field reed.field reed.field stone plaza stone plaza Reed field, reed field, reed field of stone, plaza of stone, plaza. bee b-ey-eyac bee gaici xi-xana queba spirit CMP-RES-return spirit immediately423 POS-lord sky The spirits, the spirits returned immediately: the Sky of the lords. i.bi-yo b-ey-eyac bi-yo quixi xana queba CMP-be.inside CMP-RES-return CMP-be.inside wilds lord sky The lords of Sky were inside and they returned, they were inside the wildlands.

340

appendix

i.hua-xa t-o-ya i.dee424 bichi goo-xicha be eola eedela PRF-INT HAB-C-be.rocked ashes brother AG-be.strong spirit 3-Reed 11-Knot Are they already dancing, the ashes, the brothers, the strong ones, Spirits 3-Reed and 11-Knot? ayao ayaaooguee √7 (1:7) go-zooca lachi dela cha i.ni-de bichi goo-xicha be eola eedela ni CMP-draw.close 425 heart night day this-DEM brother AG-be.strong spirit 3-Reed 11-Knot this The hearts drew close on this night and day: these brothers and strong ones, Spirits 3-Reed and 11-Knot. go-zooca lachi dela cha i.ni-dee bichi goo-xicha be eola eedela CMP-draw.close heart night day this-DEM brother AG-be.strong spirit 3-Reed 11-Knot The hearts drew close on this night and day: the brothers and strong ones, Spirits 3-Reed and 11-Knot. ayaaohuee √8 (1:8) go bi-lequi bi-lequi bilopa gaa naa-iyo-ca quia ya nine CMP-place CMP-place 7-Dew nine STA-be.inside-E high.place reed The Nine were placed; 7-Dew immediately placed the Nine inside Mountain of Reeds. i.xi-chinaa d-o-la xi-chinaa t-oo-ya POS-labor HAB-C-be.sung POS-labor HAB-C-be.rocked The labor of singing, the labor of dancing. i.huiyaayao huiyaha huiyaao hueyaa huiyaa priest stonepriest dance priest Priests of stone, priests, the dance, priests, hueyaha dance the dance,

iyaooohue yahaayo

huiyaa priest priests,

yo

huiya priest priests,

aiyaoiyayao huiyaa yo huiyaa yooho priest priest priests, priests, yaooho hueyaha ohuaaiyao dance priests.

√9 (1:9) ci xa pe yaoc ci china co-zochi naa t-o-ya POT.take father spirit stone POT.take labor AG-drink now HAB-C-be.rocked Father Spirit Stone will receive, will receive the labor of the drinkers; now, they dance. i.ca i.xichi xa ga tola-ee lachi hui-yo zope lao nine song father nine debt-3 heart AG-vanquish two face The nine songs of the father, his nine debts; the heart, the victor, Two Face. ayaaohue iyaohua [Drawing of a river]

341

appendix

Song 2 √10 (2:1) go-xicha zoo laac queyac AG-be.strong STA.stand piece equal.exchange Strong One, here is a piece of equal exchange; b-ey-eyac quego niza CMP-RES-return river water this river and waters returned.

ni this

go-xicha zoo laa-e queyaa AG-be.strong STA.stand name-3 equal.exchange Strong One, here is its name [the river’s], Equal Exchange; b-ey-eyac que-ze-go niza aoae CMP-RES-return POT-REP-stagnate426 water the waters returned and will stagnate again. xichi que to-ela chi xichij xa ga tola xichij xa t-o-ya song POS one-400 STA.sit song father nine debt song father HAB-C-be.rocked The songs of the 400; the songs of the father of Nine Debts are present, the songs of the father; they dance. [228v] iohuayao iyaohuai yaooaaiya yaoohogua √11 (2:2) bichina y-eyac be-zo quiya co-xicha zo lago beetao cobicha deer POT-return CMP-place reed.field AG-be.strong STA.stand sustenance deity sun The deer will return. The Strong Ones set down the Reed Field.427 There is sustenance for the sun deity. bee-yee-yac quena-ca CMP-FRQ-go vessel-E The vessel returned. bi-yelac na-chee be b-ino-e xo nigaa belac que-lequi gaa dohua CMP-come STA-evening428 spirit CMP-bring429-3 ancestor here serpent POT-place nine mouth Last night, the spirit came. He brought the ancestors here; the serpent will place the nine entrances. be-zo quia bilopa gana bene eche yeeola eedela430 CMP-place high.place 7-Dew only people town 3-Reed 11-Knot 7-Dew placed on the mountain only the people of the town, 3-Reed and 11-Knot.

342

appendix

iyaogua iyaoo guiyaa Reed field,

haaiyao iyaiyaiya oiyayao431 guijya guiya guiya googooaiyao reed field, reed field, reed field,

guijya iyaocoocooiyao Aaiyao yyeegoiya reed field. [Instructions]: cati ni n-aca go-to yoo toni when this STA-be CMP-one yoo POT.be.long432 When there is the first “yoo” here, it will be a long one. √12 (2:3) oogua yaha ogua yaha yaoo yao 433 aiyaáyaaoyo huaayaolai to be i.deeyee yaa plaza plaza stone stone one spirit grandfather young Plaza, stone, stone, plaza, one spirit, the young grandfather. be-laci lao yoo yo yaaclaba yeeola eceche bala yao hue-da CMP-grow.thin on house earth 1-Rabbit 3-Reed 13-Jaguar shadow stone AG-flay 1-Rabbit [don Cristóbal Martín], 3-Reed, 13-Jaguar, and Stone Shadow the Flayer grew thin at House of Earth. ba-de neeche xaa ba-zo xini PRF-be.seated mushrooms seeds PRF-stand child The mushrooms and seeds434 lie here already; the children [mushrooms] are here already. go-yaci [que]la be-cho [que]la be-chani CMP-enter lake CMP-be.split435 lake CMP-carry.something436 They entered the lake; the lake parted; they carried something. oogua oguayaaha √13 (2:4) bi-yeelacg-a naa bichij bi-yelacg-a naa bichij belao CMP-come-1sg now brother CMP-come-1sg now brother singer I have come again now, brother; I have come again now, brother singer. bene gu-elac[qu-e] zooa bene y-eyac [que]che lachi people POT-come-3 STA.be.now people POT-return town heart The people came again; the people are here now; the Town of Hearts will return. go-za i.hua-gochi too bi-lagaa i.y-eyac [que]dao yeeola eceche CMP-go PRF-soft437 cords CMP-chased.away438 POT-return dead.one 3-Reed 13-Jaguar The cords came out softly. The dead ones, 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar, were chased away and will return. ohuayaoo gaayaayaoo

343

appendix

√14 (2:5) ga tolaa bitaao ga yoolaa nine debts deity nine STA.be-long The nine debts of the deity; the nine tall ones. bidaao-xa go-topa nij quiya child-INT CMP-two this reed.field Which children are these two from the reed field? bechi xoba-te loc jaguar maize-DEM root The jaguar; this maize of the roots. [229r] queza chi-yoc quij dene bene y-eyac [que]che lachi cured.tobacco HAB-be.inside offering blood people POT-return town heart It is cured tobacco that is inside the blood offering of the people; it will return to the Town of the Hearts. go-za i.hua-gochi doo bi-lagaa i.y-eeyac [que]tao yeeola eceche CMP-go PRF-soft cords CMP- chased.away POT-return dead.one 3-Reed 13-Jaguar The cords went by softly. The dead ones, 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar, were chased away and will return. oohua yaaha ogua Plaza,

yaaha yaooa plaza

yao of stone.

√15 (2:6) bigaana gua-lo quij bigaana gua-naabaha la-bij queza young.man PRF-show439 offering young.man PRF-request some-PRT cured.tobacco The young helper has shown the offering; the young helper has requested more cured tobacco. y-eyac [que]to-le quitac POT-return squash-2pl reed.mat Your [pl.] squash will return to the reed mat. be-ya i.be-ya i.lobi nij toca go-yaa qui-yac qui CMP-dance CMP-dance 2sg here sacrifice CMP-be.fresh440 POT-go offering Dance, dance, you! This was a fresh sacrifice; the offerings and gifts will go. ch-eyac bigana go-ye-yac nij [que]che qui teyo HAB-return young.man CMP-FRQ-go this town offering foundation The young helper returns; the offering and foundation returned to this town; naa bichi bela aagoo ayaoo aai yaeocho now brother serpent now, brother serpent.

344

xila gift

appendix

gaya lacho gaya i.ci-ti another.way441 mixed another.way POT.take-EC In a mixed way, in another way, they will receive much; g-ala i.tee i.teye POT-celebrate ash grandfather the ashes, the grandfathers will be celebrated. √16 (2:7) bi-cho quiq[que] i.bi-cho qui xila yaha cana yac [que]che neto CMP-be.split head CMP-be.split offering gift fresh only tree town 1plE Cut the head, cut the offerings and the fresh gifts of the only tree of our town; naa bichi belao aayoo aayoohua iyaeo chog-a442 yala now brother serpent piece-1sg copal now, brother singer, my piece of copal. √17 (2:8) gobeechi go-be-gua be-gua be-gua be-gua Cobechi AG-divine-1sg spirit spirit-1sg spirit-1sg Cobechi, my diviner; my spirit, my spirit, my spirit. i.dee i.teye aayao aayoo aaiyaeo chog-a ash grandfather piece-1sg Ash, grandfathers, my piece. √18 (2:9) go-yee-yac go-yee-yac go-yee-yaac quiya laa quiya chene CMP-FRQ-go CMP-FRQ-go CMP-FRQ-go reed.field multicolored reed.field engraved Come back, come back, come back, multicolored reed field, engraved reed field, deities! go-ye-yac beneaiti go-ye-yac bene cina CMP-FRQ-go people CMP-FRQ-go people wise Come back, people; come back, wise people! bica be-to bica chaga que-a jewel CMP-come.down jewel near POS-1sg The jewels; the jewels came down near me. late yoni bi-ani-e443 ga bini yo lachiga place sweetness AN-radiance nine seed444 land right.now445 The sweet place, the radiance of the nine seeds of the land, right now!

345

betao deity

appendix

be-yaa be-zaaha [que]la-go-nabi gogue CMP-dance CMP-make NOM-CMP.request lord Dance, make a request to the lords: ce-[que] n-ichi yeola eceche aayooa PRM-be.trapped446 STA-care.for 3-Reed 13-Jaguar 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar are being trapped; they are cared for. c-ala bi-quio laa qui-yac447 qui xila xa go-chi ba POT-celebrate AN-male multicolored POT-go offering gift father CMP-seven period The multicolored males will be celebrated; the offering and gift will go to the father of the seventh period. y-eyac-lo xo bechi y-eyac cha chi y-eyac cilaa i.cilaa nij POT-return-2sg ancestor Jaguar POT-return day period POT-return dawn dawn this Ancestor Jaguar, you will return; the day and period will return; this beginning, this beginning will return. [que]che gaa448 qui deyo qui-topa neto naa bichi belao za town nine offering foundation POT-come.together 1plE now brother singer Zapotec Town of nine offerings and foundations, we will come together now, brothers, Zapotec singers. go-lac yaxoc zaa lo-e ch-ac lacta za CMP-be.born old.person STA.go root-3 HAB-go place Zapotec The old ones were born, their roots depart, they are going to the Zapotec places. go-lac naa go-chia go-dee CMP-be.born now CMP-sit CMP-be.seated They were born now, they sat, they were placed down. be-naa [que]la be-naa lani yeeola eceche ayaoayoo CMP-give lake CMP-give feast 3-Reed 13-Jaguar Give to the lake, give to the feast of 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar. √19 (2:10) xoba cilaa ij.gui-yahapa449 lachi-naa ya be maize east POT-be.kept heart-hand hill spirit The maize of the East will be kept in the care of Spirit Hill. i.go-zochi bichi g-ala go-zohua queche CMP-drink brother POT-celebrate CMP-comply450 town Drink, brothers; the town will celebrate and be in compliance. go-ye-yac que-ye-yac xo yac tini CMP-FRQ-go POT-FRQ-go ancestor hill slope Come back! The ancestors from Mountain Slope will come back.

346

[229v]

appendix

bee nizaa yaa guixi queeya-hi lachi go-gui spirit water fresh fields equal.exchange-3 heart CMP-roast451 The spirits, the fresh water for the fields, the equal exchange of the roasted heart. go-zochi bala ci xij-yeene bala ci xi-yene CMP-drink shadow POT.take POS-bowl452 shadow POT.take POS-bowl Bala [Stone Shadow] drank. He will take his bowl; Bala will take his bowl. goo-xicha laoc [qui]-bij [que]che-lo gui go-za AG-be.strong face POT-remain453 town-2sg offering CMP-go The first Strong One will remain in your town; the offering left. i.ba chi quiya-e zoba already STA.sit reed.field-3 STA.stand-straight His reed field is already present; ganna quiya-e zo ci-yeteec only reed.field-3 STA.stand PRM-be.brought.down454 Only his reed field stands; it is being brought down. ci do bigaa be guiya POT.take cord jewel spirit reed.field He/they will receive the string of jewels from the spirits of Reed Field, yaza be guiya chino long.leaf spirit reed.field thirteen the long leaves of the spirits of Reed Field Thirteen. ci-ya yoo yoo lea yaxoc POT.take-1sg house STA.be.inside enclosure old.one I will receive the house that is inside the enclosure of the old ones. ganna ci-ya gogue da xi-co beeco chichi only POT.take-1sg ruler dead POS-dog[child] turtle shining455 Only I will receive the dead rulers, the children of the shining turtles. belachina becogo zoo i.ye go-laaza 7-Deer seat STA.stand sign CMP-take.turn 7-Deer [Day 7], the seat where the sign of ancient times is located. aayao lea chi ye la-e chi-e aiyaai dee i.teeye enclosure STA.sit sign name-3 STA.sit-3 ash grandfather The sign sits in the enclosure; its name is seated, the ashes, the grandfathers.

347

appendix

√20 (2:11) yoo yoo yati i.yegu-a zo chijto cana lea quiyac quixi la house house bright palace-1sg STA.stand [bi]chijto only enclosure reed.field wilds multicolor The house, the bright house, my palace. Only Chijto [Iguana] stands in the enclosure, the reed field, the multicolored wilderness. zo yo bilaoc guagoo leoc STA.stand house 10-Face food456 earth There is the house of 10-Face and the food of Earth. qui-nabe doba-gua ga laci laa i.bilaa xij-goo bijla POT-ask maguey-1sg nine allotment multicolored sister457 POS-dog [child] incantation My Maguey [first period of the year] will ask for the nine multicolored allotments of the sisters and children, the incantations; leni yegu-a yegu-a yegu-aa array palace-1sg palace-1sg palace-1sg the arrays of my palace(s), my palace(s), my palace(s). aaiyaa

i.dee i.teye Ashes, grandfathers.

√21 (2:12) gani na-xoc quechee gani cue ecee dao i.xicha gratis458 STA-come.out town gratis piece Eci459 great strong The town is coming out gratis; a piece for Great Eci, the strong one, gratis. bij-xa ga-ca to gueza to guezoc lachi-naa ya be what-INT POT-be one bloodletter one pot460 heart-hand hill spirit Which will be the one bloodletter, the one pot in the care of Spirit Hill? i.aaya

la-e chiy-e la-e chiy-e name-3 STA.sit-3 name-3 STA.sit-3 Their name sits, their name sits,

aiyaaitue teye grandfather the grandfathers.

√22 (2:13) go-zoo yeeola epac go-zoo yac CMP-stand 3-Reed 13-Rain461 CMP-stand tree 3-Reed and 13-Rain were present, the trees were present. go-i.bi chiiba bee yene gogue cha i.xa CMP-return STA.be.above spirit large ruler day father The large spirits, the rulers of the day, the fathers returned and are up above.

348

appendix

go-dee leyac q [blank] leyac gueti be-ti yacque CMP-pass.by outside462 outside torch CMP-last463 1-Reed The torch passed by outside, outside: 1-Reed [Quetzalcoatl] lasted. i.aayao

la-e chiy-e la-e chiy-e ai yaati dee i.teye name-3 STA.sit-3 name-3 STA.sit-3 white ash grandfather Their name, their name sits, it sits, ashes and grandfathers white. [230r]

Song 3 yo huana bego house cloud turtle House of Turtle Cloud √23 (3:1) yoo huana begoo yo-hua i.yao 464 yoo huana begoo yoo-hua i.yao house cloud turtle house-1sg stone house cloud turtle house-1sg stone House of Turtle Cloud, my house of stone; house of Turtle Cloud, my house of stone. huana huana chichij huana huana chilag bene quiya-e cloud cloud shining cloud cloud diviner person reed.field-3 Cloud, shining cloud; Cloud, cloud of the diviner, of the people of the Reed Field: ii.lee-chiya i.dee teye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit ash grandfather be seated, ashes, grandfathers! be-ceche la yagaa yaaga lanaa CMP-get.dark some tree tree word Evening fell. Some trees, trees; the words. bigana chichi chi quene i.niga young.man shining ten bowls here Shining servant, ten bowls here! yoo bego i.niga za yoo i.yego house turtle here STA.go house river This house of turtles goes to the house of the river; baila yooho leni quiba huichaa chacha shadow STA.be.inside and knife Huechaa POT.be.untied465 [Stone] Shadow is inside, and the knife of Huechaa will be untied:

349

appendix

Bala yao hue-da la-i la betao yoo goti shadow stone AG-flay name-3 then deity house dead Stone Shadow the Flayer is his name then, the deity of the House of the Dead. bitiag la bidiag biquini gaila paca some paca bird somewhere466 The pacas, some pacas, the bird, somewhere; bidiag la bitiag biquini queag yoo ya i.leni bata lona-bi paca some paca bird rock house reed and sometimes guardian-3f/Bata Lonabi467 the pacas, some pacas, the bird, the mountain of House of Reeds, and sometimes, their guardians. la be-cebi queza ceyo then CMP-cause.to.swallow468 cured.tobacco relatives469 Then the relatives were made to swallow the cured tobacco; ce-tag ceyo na-ba hue-da PRM-descend relatives STA-keep AG-flay the relatives are descending to tend to the Flayer. queza cila queza cene laago cured.tobacco east cured.tobacco diligent sustenance Cured tobacco of the east, diligent cured tobacco, sustenance. huenii dao xini gocio lag queag signal470 sacred child Cocijo piece rock The sacred signal of the child of Cocijo, a part of the mountain. i.yoo huana begoo yo-hua i.yeo yo huana begoo yo-hua i.yeoo house cloud turtle house-1sg victorious471 house cloud turtle house-1sg victorious House of Turtle Cloud, my victorious house; House of Turtle Cloud, my victorious house. huana huana chichij huana huana chila bene quiya-e cloud cloud shining cloud cloud diviner person reed.field-3 Cloud, shining cloud; cloud, cloud of the diviner, of the people of Reed Field. iiy.le-chiya-ide i.teye 2pl.IMP-STA.sit-EC grandfather Be seated now, grandfathers! √24 (3:2) gachi quij cila quixi xana queeba seven offering east wilds lord sky The seven offerings of the east; the wildlands of the lords of Sky.

350

appendix

i.ce-ye-yag ce-yene-bi bata lona-bi PRM-FRQ-go PRM-be.difficult472-3f sometimes guardian-3f Their guardians are going again and it is difficult for them sometimes; yoo huana begoo-e yo-hua house cloud turtle-3 house-1sg House of Turtle Cloud, my house. √25 (3:3) be-yoochi nij go-ca quixi xana queeba CMP-end473 this CMP-be wilds lord sky This one ended; there were the wildlands of the lords of Sky. i.ce-ye-yag ce-yone-bi bata lona-bi PRM-FRQ-go PRM-paint.body474 -3f sometimes guardian-3f Their guardians are going again and they are painting their bodies sometimes; yoo huana begoo-e yo-hua house cloud turtle-3 house-1sg House of Turtle Cloud, my house. √26 (3:4) hue-yoo 475 n-ahui co-yobi hua-cila i.naa bichi belao yoo AG-vanquish STA-be.honest477 CMP-search.for478 PRF-dawn[infinite]479 now brother singer house huana bego 476 cloud turtle The victor is honest. Search endlessly now, brother singer, for the House of Turtle Cloud. √27 (3:5)

[230v]

ba-la que chiba que dete que nij lao quina laa PRF-be.hurled480 vow STA.be.above vow STA.be.across vow this on field multicolored The vow was hurled; the vow is up above; this vow is located across the multicolored field. yaci betoo go-chi hue-i.xila la POT.come.down sapling CMP-seven AG-gift481 then The sapling will come down from the seventh donor then, yaha xijni gocio lag queag young child Cocijo piece rock the young one, the child of Cocijo, a part of the mountain. yo huana begoo yo huana i.yeo house cloud turtle house cloud victorious House of Turtle Cloud, House of Victorious Clouds.

351

appendix

√28 (3:6) chiga-xa bini go-ni g-ao yoo why-INT seed POT-make POT-be.bloody house Why will the seeds be bloodied in the Radiant House?

binij radiant482

chiga-xa bini go-ni gohui why-INT seed POT-make exchange Why will the seeds make an exchange? bee lachi dao bala yao hue-da la-i la bedao yoho quidi spirit heart great shadow Stone AG-flay name-3 then deity house skin483 The spirit, the great heart, Stone Shadow the Flayer is his name then, the deity of the House of Skins. bidiag biquinni bitiag la bidiag biquinni484 gaila paca some paca bird somewhere paca bird The pacas, some pacas, the bird, somewhere; the pacas, the bird. queag yoo ya i.leni bata yo lona-bi rock house reed and sometimes house guardian-3f Mountain of the House of Reeds, and sometimes, the house of their guardians. yo huana begoo yo huana i.yeo yoo huana begoo yoo-hua house cloud turtle house cloud victorious house cloud turtle house-1sg House of Turtle Cloud, House of Victorious Clouds, House of Turtle Cloud, my house.

Song 4 √29 (4:1) 1

Be-tog cina CMP-come.down bat/mouse485 1. The bat came down. yao yao huiya ho stone stone priest Stone, stone, priests,

huiyaa ahaya priest priest.

yoho ya go-zoo i.lee-chiya-i.te ho house reed CMP-stand 2pl.IMP-STA.sit-EC House of Reeds stood; be seated now!

huijya priest Priests,

yoho ya go-zoo i.lee-chiya i.teye house reed CMP-stand 2pl.IMP-STA.sit grandfather House of Reeds stood; be seated, grandfathers!

352

ho

huiyaaha yaa priest young young priests,

appendix

be-laa ga bini que cee CMP-be.hurled nine seed POS 8-Snake The nine seeds of 8-Snake were hurled. ch-eag xila ya bini huiya yo nij bijni HAB-go gift fresh seed priest house REL radiant The fresh gifts and the seeds go to the priest of the house that is radiant. Ba-yoo xigoo binij Ba-ye-yag quene xo quila PRF-be.inside lark486 seed PRF-FRQ-go bowl ancestor in.haste The lark and the seeds are already inside; the bowl of the ancestors has returned in haste. i.Ba-la ga bini ch-ag que yobi quela qui-lag quioo PRF-be.hurled nine seed HAB-go POS HON lake POT-resist487 male The nine seeds were hurled, they are going to the honorable lake; the males will resist. ch-ag que ni bi-chene ni gohui HAB-go offering this CMP-be.fearful488 this exchange This offering is going, this exchange of hearts is fearful.

lachi heart

be-tog cina bea go-laza489 la bea t-agoa-na quela CMP-come.down mouse animal CMP-take.turn then animal HAB-eat.up 490 tender.maize491 The bat, the animal from ancient times, came down then, the animal that eats up tender maize cobs. hohohui ohohui √30 (4:2) go-deechee go-tapa tohua bini queya492 CMP-carry-3 CMP-four mouth seed equal.exchange The seeds of the equal exchange were carried to the four entrances; la i.go-yaci y-eyag bilaxoo then CMP-enter POT-return 7-Earthquake then, 7-Earthquake entered and will return. ce-yago xeza belao zo ce-xog xiza PRM-eat POT.lying.flat493 singer STA.stand PRM-come.out POT.lying.flat They go eating lying flat, singer; they are coming out lying flat; be-ye-tag be-ye-tag xaca494 xo CMP-FRQ-descend CMP-FRQ-descend on.time495 ancestor the Ancestors Nine descended, descended again on time.

caa nine

be-ye-ga bea t-ago-na [que]la CMP-FRQ-be.caught[mouse]496 animal HAB-eat.up tender.maize The animal who eats up tender maize cobs was caught again.

353

appendix

hohuiyaoho huiya aayayoo hoya Priests. √31 (4:3)

[231r]

i.cha za i.co-chino-he yahui day STA.go CMP-thirteen-3 ancient The day goes by; its Thirteen Ancient Ones. ca yo nij hui ca yo nij nine house REL ill nine house this The nine houses that are ill, these nine houses. ce-yago xa za be-yee-gag zo ce-xog xeza PRM-eat father Zapotec CMP-FRQ-be.caught yes497 PRM-come.out POT.lying.flat The Zapotec fathers go on eating; they were caught, yes! They are coming out lying flat. be-yee-gag be-yee-gag xaca xo caa CMP-FRQ-be.caught CMP-FRQ-be.caught timely ancestor nine The Ancestors Nine were caught, were caught again in good time. be-ye-cag498 bea t-ago-na quela CMP-FRQ-be.caught animal HAB-eat.up tender.maize The animal who eats up tender maize cobs was caught again. ho

huiya ho huiyaa aaya priest priest Priests, priests,

yoho y-ago zo house POT-eat yes the house(s) will eat, yes!

√32 (4:4) zito xoci yoni quij lao cinaa near.here499 father sweet offering before bat Near here, the fathers, the sweetness, the offering before the bat. be-na to-bi be-na be-tog be-na bi-cina huixi y-ago CMP-give one-PRT CMP-give CMP-come.down CMP-give AN-bat blue POT-eat Give one; give; it came down. Give to the blue bat; it will eat, singer. ce-yago ze-za be-ye-tag zo PRM-eat wanderer500 CMP-FRQ-descend yes The wanderer goes on eating. It descended, yes; ce-xog xeza be-ye-tag ce-yago xeza PRM-come.out lie.flat CMP-FRQ-descend PRM-eat lying.flat it is coming out lying flat; it descended while eating, lying flat.

354

belao singer

appendix

be-yee-gag zo CMP-FRQ-be.caught yes It was caught, yes, ce-xog xeza be-yee-gag be-yee-gag xaca xacaa PRM-come.out lie.flat CMP-FRQ-be.caught CMP-FRQ-be.caught timely timely it is coming out lying flat; it was caught, it was caught in good time, in good time. be-ye-cag bea t-ago-na quela CMP-FRQ-be.caught animal HAB-eat.up tender.maize The animal who eats up tender maize cobs was caught again. ho

huiya ho Priests,

huiyaa ahayayoo priests.

√33 (4:5) chi cila dao baa go-chi bechij STA.sit dawn great good.thing CMP-seven jaguar The great dawn is present, the good thing, the seventh Jaguar. go-leni yaza xila ya CMP-be.carried501 long.leaf gift hill The long leaves, the gift, were carried to the hill; n-ohua quetag li quitag ya STA-carry tortilla straight reed.mat hill tortillas are carried straight to the reed mat and hill; n-oa quia ela hue-chita queego za ni STA-carry high.place 400 AG-wisdom502 river STA.go this they are carried to the Mountain of the Four Hundred Wise Ones. This river runs. ho

huiya ho huiyaa aya Priests, priests.

Song 5 [Instructions]: nigaa ce cue go-che ya-e chia-de deye here STA.be piece CMP-be.fi lled503 hill-3 STA.sit-EC grandfather Here is the part, “their hill was filled; the grandfathers are indeed seated.” √34 (5:1) go-che ya-e chia-de teye CMP-be.fi lled hill-3 STA.sit-EC grandfather Their hill was filled [with offerings]; the grandfathers are indeed seated, 355

appendix

la chia ya-eo le-chia ya-e hoyaaho yooyao then STA.sit hill-3 2pl.IMP-STA.sit hill-3 then, they are seated on their hill. Be seated! Their hill. i.to-bi go-be lana beegoo quiti ta ya one-PRT AG-divine word504 turtle torch mat reed One diviner: the words, the turtles, the torch, the reed mat, quili ta yaa ta la i.yaa-i.de parrot505 mat reed mat some reed-DEM the small green parrot, the reed mat, the mat, some of these reeds. teye loog cuego loog cuegoo ga dia grandfather root warrior506 root warrior nine lineage Grandfather, root, warrior, root, warrior of the nine lineages. lohui quela log cuego 2sg custom root warrior You, the custom, the root, the warrior: loog queche log queche eba tia root town root town sky lineage root of the town, root of the town of Sky of the lineages; lohui quela log queche 2sg custom root town you, the custom, the root of the town. go-bee-ne quete lagga xila yooho yalaa CMP-sit.together507 deep.place row gift STA.be.inside copal Place together the row of gifts in the deep place; there is copal; la ce-bi ya te go-laza then PRM-return hill ash CMP-take.turn then, Ash Hill of ancient times is returning. qu-iog laga huixi queetao yeeola ezeche [231v]508 chee ya-e 509 POT-be.placed row blue dead.one 3-Reed 13-Jaguar west hill-3 A blue row will be placed for the dead ones, 3-Reed and 13-Jaguar of the West, in their hill. chia-de teye le-chia STA.sit-EC grandfather 2pl.IMP-STA.sit The grandfathers are indeed seated; be seated!

356

appendix

√35 (5:2) queyaa laa bea xohua nola no lo yo equal.exchange name animal lord woman PRO root house The equal exchange called Animal of the Lords: the female [animal?], she who is the foundation. biquinni xila bicia tao hue yazag ga510 bechina bea la bird feather eagle great here.it.is long.leaf nine deer animal then Feathered Bird, Great Eagle; here they are, the long leaves, the nine deers, the animals, then; yazag quela naa ya be i.yaeche yao yoo long.leaf custom now hill spirit temple stone land the long leaves of the custom now, Spirit Hill, temple of stone of Earth. huiyaaha huana i.yao-i.de i.deye dance cloud stone-DEM grandfather The dance, this stone cloud, the grandfathers. √36 (5:3) Biquini xila biquini lahuij biquini xila lo bea xohua bird feather bird middle bird feather root animal lord Feathered Bird, bird of the community; Feathered Bird, root, animal of the lords, queyaa bea lahuij equal.exchange animal middle the equal exchange of the animal of the community. biquini xila lo bea no lo yo quela bird feather root animal PRO root house custom Feathered Bird, the root, the animal who is the foundation of the custom, yazag b[e]t[a]o yaeche yao yoo long.leaf deity temple stone land the long leaves of the deity, the temple of stone of Earth. huiyaaha huana i.yeo dance cloud victorious The dance, the victorious clouds,

aiyaaidei deeye grandfather the grandfathers.

√37 (5:4) bi go-caa biyee quecexo lanij quecelaba PRT CMP-be year 13-Earthquake feast 13-Rabbit It was the year 13-Earthquake, feast of 13-Rabbit [Year 13, Day 208; 31 May, 1671].

357

appendix

go-zohua i.cinag lanaa beneati yaeche yao yoo CMP-comply wise words people temple stone earth The wise ones were in compliance with the words of the people of the temple of stone of Earth. huiyaaaha huana The dance, the clouds. √38 (5:5) go-huee go-huee betao go-bixij go-bixi betao CMP-be.hurt511 CMP-be.hurt deity CMP-be.bundled CMP-be.bundled deity The deity was hurt, was hurt. The deity was bundled up, bundled up. zo yobi neza y-eyag [que]che lachi STA.stand HON road POT-return town heart The honorable one is on the road and will return to the Town of the Hearts. go-za i.ci-yepi quehue tao lichi bela xilag quei CMP-go PRM-go.up palace great house serpent feather vow He left and is going up to the great palace, the house of Feather Serpent, the vow; ci-yaci lea lato dicha go-xono-e PRM-enter enclosure before.dawn word CMP-eight-3 he is entering the Enclosure of the Period Before Dawn: the word of the Eight. yag quini gohui quela tree sacrificed.one exchange custom The tree of the sacrificed one, the exchange, the custom; beegala-e xo yaeche yao yoo dream-3 ancestor temple stone earth the dream of the ancestors, the temple of stone of Earth. huiyaaha huana i.yeo aiyaai deeye dance cloud victorious grandfather The dance, the victorious clouds, the grandfathers. √39 (5:6) Bi-chohui quee nij xoci neza laci huiya CMP-be.scorched vow this father road narrow512 priest This vow was scorched, father; the narrow road of the priest. gohui-ya go-naa huijya exchange-1sg CMP-say priest “My exchange,” the priest said:

358

appendix

yaza huiya ya ta huiya quete513 long.leaf priest reed mat priest deep.place the long leaves of the priest, the reeds, the mat of the priest, the deep place. go-nabaa teni quela bego yago xeni di-laza i.tao gocio CMP-request blood lake turtle river large HAB-take.turn514 great Cocijo The lake asked for blood; the turtle(s) of the large river, the great time period of Cocijo. beegala-e chila yaeche [232r]515 yao yoo dream-3 diviner temple stone land The dream of the diviner at the temple of stone of Earth. huiyaaha huana The dance, the clouds. √40 (5:7) bene y-eyag naa xohuana people POT-return now lord People, the lords will now return. bene zoo quı˘a cila quı˘a teni quia chigo quı˘a bila people STA.stand high.place east high.place blood high.place origin516 high.place incantation517 People, East Mountain, Blood Mountain, Origin Mountain, and Incantation Mountain are present. i.b-eog ta xi-quela go-te yaeche yao yoo huiyaaha huana.ı˘ CMP-come.in mat POS-custom CMP-be.seated temple stone land dance cloud The mat of the custom came in. It was seated at the temple of stone of Earth; the dance, the clouds. √41 (5:8) go-yao huiya huiyaa AG-buy priest dance The buyers, the priests, the dance,

yaohoohueyahaho

hueyaaha aiyaai dee i.teye dance ash grandfather the dance, ashes, grandfathers.

hui-queene hui-queene hui-queene quela tinaa bigana chiba quia AG-request AG-request AG-request lake precipice518 young.man STA.be.above high.place Requester, requester, requester at the lake of the precipice; the young man is above the mountain(s). lohueche yag que za pa leni quelaa chiba cehe feather519 tree POS Zapotec tomb array custom STA.be.above 8-Snake Feathers for the trees of the Zapotecs, the tombs, the arrays, the custom is up above, 8-Snake. gohua nii yagquechi ta laa POT.place.flat.things520 this 1-Jaguar mat multicolored This 1-Jaguar will place the multicolored mats:

359

appendix

quela que cheag quezo chila i.ye yana custom POS POT.be.fi lled pot diviner sign corncob the custom of Cheag [It Will Be Filled; eighth year period], the pot of the diviner, the sign, the corncob.521 hohuiho

huiya yao ohohuı˘ Priests of stone.

√42 (5:9) ni-go-zaa zaaha xila ADJ-CMP-go beans gift Those that left, the beans, the gift. queche bi-yoo-ci no go-ye-yag yag quia town CMP-see522-only PRO CMP-FRQ-go tree high.place The town saw they who came back: the trees of the mountains. que[c]he bi-yo-ci no go-ye-yag lohuéeyag tao chiba lichi goobicha town CMP-see-only PRO CMP-FRQ-go parrot.plumage great STA.be.above house sun The town saw they who came back: the great parrot plumage up above, the house of the sun. i.qui-yelag i.qui-yebi yag quia queche bi-yo-ci POT-come POT-go.up tree high.place town CMP-see-only They will come and go up to the trees of the mountains [that] the town just saw. ho

huiiya ho Priests,

huiiya ayoohui priests.

Song 6 quela lao first custom The first custom √43 (6:1) quela523 lao go-yahala yona quela-betao qui yahuij tao custom face CMP-be.obeyed three NOM-deity offering ancient great The first custom: the three divinities and the ancient great offering were obeyed. go-yahala be-yochi-si cheag quela b[e]t[a]o CMP-be.obeyed CMP-end-only POT.be.fi lled custom deity They were obeyed; Cheag [eighth year period] ended; the custom of the deities. ho

360

huiya ho Priests,

huiya ayao huiyaaha o priests, the dance,

huana i.huana i.yeolaa i.de clouds, clouds 3-Reed, ashes,

i.teye grandfathers.

appendix

√44 (6:2)

s[232v]

go-taa la lohui belao go-lazaa ta quelaa ta quezehe CMP-scrape524 then 2sg singer CMP-take.turn mat custom mat gold.powder525 Scrape then, you singer of ancient times, the mat of the custom, the mat of powdered gold. ti-ca-le bila dij t-o-la belao ga HAB-compose526 incantation527 song HAB-C-be.sung singer nine All of you [pl.] compose the incantations, the songs that the Singers Nine sing. yagquee na-lohui xini bicia xila lag queag 1-Wind STA-be.shown528 child eagle feather piece rock 1-Wind is shown; the child of Eagle Feather, a piece of the mountain. no go-yepi quia laana zo no go-yaci quela yazag belao PRO CMP-go.up high.place soot529 STA.stand PRO CMP-enter lake long.leaf singer He who went up the Mountain of the Word is present, he who entered the lake; the long leaves, singer. ho huijyaa Priests,

ho huiya ayoo huiyaaha ho priests, the dance,

huana clouds,

i.huanai clouds.

√45 (6:3) ca xichi lachij que-nao ca chahui530 531 nine song heart POT-accompany nine good The nine songs of the hearts will accompany the Nine Good Ones. chica lachi-naa belao gabi sacrifice heart-hand singer round532 The sacrifice is in the hands of the round of singers. chica-bi chica nij g-ochag quela-yohui gola-tee dijcha sacrifice-3f sacrifice this CMP-stain.with.blood533 NOM-pay old-E word Their sacrifice, this sacrifice. The very ancient payment was stained with blood; the words. go-yaci b[e]t[a]o go534 bala i.bala i.be-yato quehue be-tapa xohuana CMP-enter deity nine shadow shadow CMP-be.on.both.sides535 palace CMP-four lord The deities, the Nine [Stone] Shadows, the Shadows, entered the Palace of Four Lords from both sides. lohui xini yobi na-te i.yoho be-na yoc lachag queyag 2sg child first STA-pass.by house CMP-give color small.hill equal.exchange You, firstborn, pass by the house that gave writing, the small hill of the equal exchange, yoho yog lichi gooque house color house ruler the house of writing, the house of the rulers:

361

appendix

begala-e xo dream-3 ancestor the dream of the ancestors. huiyaha huiyaha o huiyaa The dance, the dance, priests,

o huiyaaha aiyai the dance,

te deeye ashes, grandfathers.

√46 (6:4) Bitina hua-lohuij-bi tohua lag tao precipice PRF-be.shown536 -3f mouth piece sacred He showed himself [the firstborn] at the precipice: the entrance, the sacred piece. go-cechina lahui beeg go-cechina lahui na ya be i.yaeche yaoho CMP-whistle537 middle spirit CMP-whistle middle indeed hill spirit temple stone Spirits whistled in the middle; Spirit Hill whistled in the middle, indeed: the Temple of Stone. yoohui yaha huana i.yeo aiyaa payment fresh cloud victorious Fresh payment, victorious clouds.

Song 7 lachag zoa betao go-zo-de xohuana go-de small.hill STA.be.now deity CMP-stand-EC lord CMP-be.seated In the small hill stand the deities now. The lords were there indeed; they were seated. √47 (7:1) niga cacij quela-go-caa Here 20-day.period NOM-CMP-be.stuck Here is the 20-day period of the capture.538 lachag zohua betao quia zohua lagga xi-[y]achi small.hill STA.be.now deity high.place STA.be.now row POS-be.wretched539 The mountain deity is at the small hill now; the row of misery is here now. go-naa quelaa beneeati [y]achi go-xee quela-go-laza CMP-say custom people be.wretched CMP-create NOM-CMP-take.turn Speak about the custom of the wretched people: it was created in ancient times. hue-lepi quia b[e]t[a]o hue-li-ci yego be-xohuana AG-strong540 high.place deity AG-straight-only river CMP-lord Strong is the mountain of deities; very true is the river of lords.

362

appendix

ni gohui lachi xoba-ci xoba-ci this exchange heart POT.be.placed-only POT.be.placed-only541 This exchange of the hearts will be placed immediately, will be placed immediately. ni chahui lij xoba-ci ga-zaha huicha [233r]542 que yo 543 POT-let.blood lineage POS house REL good straight POT.be.placed-only The lineage of the house that is good and straight will let blood out; it will be placed immediately. que-yalag queche late no n-ala chiba quia b[e]t[a]o POT-open town place PRO STA-be.celebrated STA.be.above high.place deity The town and the places will open up; they who are celebrated are up above at the mountain of deities. que-yalag queche late no n-ala chiba POT-open town place PRO STA-be.celebrated STA.be.above The town and the places will open up; they who are celebrated are up above, leni go-hue-cha i.xana neto na bi-yaho and AG-give544 -day lord 1plE indeed CMP-appear and Day Giver, our lord [the Sun], appeared indeed. huiya huiyaa ohoohui yaha ohuee yaha aiyaai dee i.teye Priests, priests, plaza, plaza, ashes, grandfathers. √48 (7:2) go-xaa bechi log be xene lachi sua lohuij CMP-summon545 jaguar root spirit large heart POT.be.now 2sg Summon the jaguar, the root, the large spirit, the heart: you will be here. bala y-ohui quiche b[e]t[a]o bala y-ohui quicha bexoci shadow POT-give riches deity shadow POT-give riches father [Stone] Shadow will give riches to the deities; Shadow will give riches to the fathers. y.neza i.dicha be-ni b[e]t[a]o i.neza i.dicha be-ni bexoci road word CMP-make deity road word CMP-make father The road and the word the deities made; the road and the word the fathers made. yao huiya huiyaa yaoho ohue yaha Stone, priest, priest, stone young,

ohue yaha young.

aiyaa

√49 (7:3) Be-zoo quiaglao beya ta leagniza dao CMP-place 1-Face mushroom mat 11-Water great Place the mushroom [called] 1-Face on the mat [feast day] of Great 11-Water.

363

appendix

chi-yolog HAB-get.lukewarm

i.xi-labi POS-boiling546

yeeche temple

chi-yaxii HAB-be.paid

di-ba HAB-be.fortunate

bicia eagle

dao great

xij-lanaa be POS-fortune547 spirit The boiling is growing lukewarm at the temple. Great Eagle is paid, he is fortunate; he of fortune, the spirit. i.yao Stone,

huiya huiya ayaoho ohueyaaohue priest, priest.

√50 (7:4) niga ca bee go-zag lanij548 go-zo bidao here nine spirit CMP-go feast CMP-stand deity Here, the nine spirits, the feast came out; the deities were present na quina be yolobia indeed field spirit 5-Soaproot indeed, at the Field of Spirit 5-Soaproot; na quina beeca ga yoo beca ga yo yaho indeed field jewel nine houses jewel nine houses stone indeed, at the Field of the Jewel, the nine Jewel Houses, the nine Stone Houses. quina be toba beca laxi beca i.neza i.neza field spirit maguey jewel 4th.daughter549 jewel road road The field of the Spirit Maguey, the jewel of the fourth daughter; the jewel of the road, the road. i.dicha be-ni betao i.ne i.dicha be-ni bexoci yao word CMP-make deity-one STA.say word CMP-make father stone The words the deities made; they are saying the words the Stone Fathers made. huiya huiyaa yaoo hueyahao hueyaha iyai dee i.teye Priests, priests of stone, the dance, ashes, grandfathers.

Song 8 zohua beo chila STA.be.now moon diviner The moon of the diviner is here now. √51 (8:1) za go-lag zohua beo chila eldest.sister550 CMP-be.born STA.be.now moon diviner The eldest sister was born; the moon of the diviner is here now.

364

no PRO

appendix

zo yobij za go-lag [233v] xana quiyag quego STA.stand HON eldest.sister CMP-be.born lord reed.field river The honorable eldest sister is present. The lord of the reed field was born at the river. bi-hi551 lohui betao CMP-give 2sg deity Give to the deity, you! go-da bee laza yati go-deete CMP-move552 spirit bark553 white CMP-be.across The spirits moved on the white bark that was placed crosswise. be-yene queche go-yao ga-china queche CMP-hurry554 town AG-buy POT-arrive town The buyer hurried to the town; he will arrive in the town. gaa beegxoci za i.dao ci-yepi quiyag quioo nine fathers Zapotec great PRM-go.up reed.field male The nine great Zapotec fathers are going up the Male Reed Field; na-zoo-chi cijla dao huene STA-stand-day east great arduous.task it is daytime, the Great Dawn, an arduous task. go-cene pa i.lohue lohueyag biquinni dao queag yoo ya CMP-hasten555 pleasant.thing556 feathers plumage bird sacred rock house reed They hasten: the pleasant thing, the feathers, the plumage of the Sacred Bird of the Mountain of House of Reeds. i.xi-quitag xohuana beo la-e zeehe POS-reed.mat lord moon name-3 8-Snake The reed mat of Lord of the Moon: his name is 8-Snake. iyaaiyaaiyaiyai yaha Plaza,

aaiyaai dee i.teye ashes, grandfathers.

√52 (8:2) lanij quiolaoo go-lag bayo557 bilachila feast 2-Face CMP-be.born younger.brother 7-Caiman On the feast of 2-Face, the younger brother of 7-Caiman was born [2-Face]. ga to leo558 chihij go-ye-yag dohua niza dao nine cord earth time CMP-FRQ-go mouth water great The nine cords of Earth and the time periods went again to the entrance of the sea.

365

appendix

ga yo leo chihij go-ye-yag xanaa queba iieola nine house earth time CMP-FRQ-go lord sky 3-Reed The nine houses of Earth and the time periods went again to the lord of Sky 3-Reed. ga bexoci y-epi quiyag quioo na-zoo-chi cijla dao huene nine father POT-go.up reed.field male STA-stand-day east great arduous.task Nine fathers will go up the Male Reed Field. It is daytime, the Great Dawn, an arduous task. go-ce ni pa i.lohueyag lohue lohueyag biquinni dao y-eyag CMP-cast this pleasant.thing parrot.plumage feathers parrot.plumage bird sacred POT-return yoo ya house reed Cast this pleasant thing, the plumage, feathers, plumage of the Sacred Bird; House of Reeds will return.559 i.xi-quitag xohuana beo la-e zehe POS-reed.mat lord moon name-3 8-Snake The reed mat of Lord of the Moon: his name is 8-Snake. iyaaiyaaiyai yaha aaiyaa i dee i.teye Plaza, ashes, grandfathers. √53 (8:3) ni go-di hue-da i.yog i.nila laoo this CMP-die AG-flay color sacred face This dead Flayer; the first sacred writings. belao go-quiichaa ba-yoho dij lachi-naa belao queya singer CMP-shout560 PRF-be.inside song heart-hand singer exchange Singers, shout! The song is in the care of the singers: the equal exchange. ij.be-na betao i.chinoo be-naa bexoci CMP-give deity thirteen CMP-give father Give to Deity Thirteen, give to the fathers. gohue za gohue zoog lohueyag exchange Zapotec exchange occasional561 parrot.plumage The Zapotec exchange, the occasional exchange of parrot plumage. xiinaa ya be i.ci-yepi quiyag qui-yoona zoo-chi cila dao huene mother hill spirit PRM-go.up reed.field POT-three STA.stand-day east great arduous.task Mother Spirit Hill is going up to the reed field of the Three. It is daytime, the Great Dawn, an arduous task.

366

appendix

go-ce ni562 pa i.lohueyag lohue lohueyag biquinni dao y-eyag CMP-cast this pleasant.thing parrot.plumage feathers parrot.plumage bird sacred POT-return yoo ya house reed Cast this pleasant thing, the plumage, plumage, plumage of the Sacred Bird; House of Reeds will return. i.xi-quitag xohuana beo la-e zehe POS-reed.mat lord moon name-3 8-Snake The reed mat of Lord of the Moon: his name is 8-Snake. iyaiyai [234r]

yaiyai yahaa i.yaa i.de i.teye Plaza, reeds, ashes, grandfathers.

Song 9 go-xono hui xene CMP-8 illness large The eight large illnesses. √54 (9:1) go-xono yi xeni be-dobi zo n-alag la CMP-eight fire563 large CMP-be.grabbed564 STA.stand STA-celebrate then The eight large fires were grabbed; the people celebrate then, only the people. t-o-naaza i.da bene yoho i.neza bezaa tapa be HAB-C-be.scattered565 dead people STA.be.inside road cloud four spirit The dead scattered. The people are on the road: the cloud of the four spirits and lords. yochila bexooci-ca be-niti laa 2/5/9-Caiman father-E CMP-lose name Father 9-Caiman lost the name of the road.

bene bene-ci people people-only

xohuana lord

i.neza road

huiyaaha ooiyaaiyaoohoiyaho hueyaha i.te i.teye The dance, the dance, ashes, grandfathers. queo lachij hue queo lachi toba i.la yagniza naa ya be strength heart illness strength heart maguey then 1-Water now hill spirit The strength of the heart of illness, the strength of the heart of maguey then, 1-Water; now, Spirit Hill. i.hue yazag ga niza dohua yazaa illness long.leaf nine waters mouth ditch566 The illness; the long leaves of the nine bodies of water; the edge of the ditch.

367

appendix

hue yazag ga niza log quechi dao illness long.leaf nine water root thorn/lancet sacred The illness; the long leaves of the nine bodies of water; the roots; the sacred bloodletter. quia huao dao na-zola dozag bexoci high.place Huao great STA-be.on.loan567 young.maize father On Great Huao Mountain, the young maize plant of the fathers is on loan: la dozag go-hue-cha i.xana neto lonaa-bi some young.maize AG-give-day lord 1plE guardian-3f some young maize plants of Day Giver, our lord, their guardian [of the maize plants]. aayanaaiyaeo i.dee i.deye aha yanna aiyaeoo i.dee Ashes, grandfathers, corncob, ashes,

i.teye grandfathers.

√55 (9:2) la queza la quezaa queeza then flint then cured.tobacco corn.ear Then, the flint; then, the cured tobacco and corn ears. quiya naba xi-za bene eche reed.field STA.request568 POS-bean people town The reed field is requesting its beans from the people of the town. aa yana aiyaeo i.de i.deeye Corncob, ashes, grandfathers. √56 (9:3) bedao bedao cila queeba i.biquinni lahui deity deity east sky bird middle The deities, the deities of the east, of Sky; the bird of the community, yazag quela dao zohuiya long.leaf custom sacred cacao the long leaves of the sacred custom, the cacao. i.go-zaa lohui yagque i.yagniza yeeola eedela lag gaa queche CMP-let.blood 2sg 1-Reed 1-Water 3-Reed 11-Knot piece nine towns You! Let blood out for 1-Reed, 1-Water, 3-Reed, and 11-Knot; the portions of the nine towns; la bao dao bene eche some burnt.thing sacred people town some sacred burnt things from the people of the town.

368

appendix

aiaaiyaaiyaai yaooiyaho hueyaa chiy-e chiy-ee chiya deye i.dee i.deye dance STA.sit-3 STA.sit-3 STA.sit-3 grandfather ash grandfather The dance, they are seated, seated, the grandfathers are seated, ashes, grandfathers.

Song 10 be-chela CMP-be.fruitful It was fruitful. √57 (10:1) i.xi-cha i.xichaa laggaa chiba que lahui POS-heat strong row STA.be.above POS middle The strong heat, the row up above of the community. goo-ni queela lao la pa i.za yego bilaachi queag ni baa chi POT-make custom face large tomb Zapotec river 7-Jaguar/Lizard rock this already STA.sit The first large custom will make the Zapotec tombs, the river of 7-Jaguar/Lizard. This mountain has been present. chia chia dee deyyee chiya [234v] chiya deye ij.dee i.deye STA.sit STA.sit ash grandfather STA.sit STA.sit grandfather ash grandfather The ashes, the grandfathers are seated, seated; the grandfathers are seated, seated; ashes, grandfathers. √58 (10:2) Be-chelaa yoho lanij y.xicha be-chela gaa quetog li CMP-be.fruitful house feast strong CMP-be.fruitful nine hole straight The houses and the strong feasts were fruitful. The nine straight holes were fruitful. quitag toca betao huene reed.mat sacrifice deity arduous.task The reed mat of the sacrifice of the deities; an arduous task. go-yag que-chela lanij cha yagxoo zohua569 CMP-go POT-be.fruitful feast day 1-Earthquake STA.be.now The feast and the day went by and will be fruitful; 1-Earthquake is here now. i.y-eyag quehe zohua i.lo POT-return vow STA.be.now root The vow will return; the roots are here now.

369

appendix

yo yag-chila de-zaca gocio na go-doxo go-beza na house 1-Caiman HAB-arrives Cocijo indeed CMP-be.impatient570 CMP-cloud.over571 indeed House of 1-Caiman arrives. Indeed, Cocijo was impatient; indeed, it clouded over, go-ne bigana bene eche CMP-say young.man people town said the young man to the people of the town. aiyaaiyaaiyaa aiyaooiyaao hueyaha aiyaa The dance,

i.dee i.deye ashes, grandfathers.

√59 (10:3) doca balaa queche lao yoo bini queeche ya i.que yaba sacrifice excessive town on land seed town hill POS sky The excessive sacrifice on Earth: the seeds of the towns of the hills of Sky; la i.laci xi-bichina ci-tag then allotment POS-deer PRM-descend then, the allotment of the deer is descending, y-eyag be zohuiya ya i.bi-chohui-ba POT-return spirit cacao green CMP-scorch-3an the green spirit cacao will return; the animal was scorched. y-eyag quela-bidaao huanij queeyag huani qui [l]ona-bi POT-return NOM-deity in.haste572 equal.exchange diligent offering guardian-3f The divinities will return in haste; the diligent equal exchange, the offering of their guardians. aiyaoaiyaeoo ba-yoho biquinni xila yaha laachi-na yeeola ezehe ba-yaci573 PRF-enter PRF-be.inside bird feather fresh heart-hand 3-Reed 13-Snake The young Feathered Bird came in and was in the care of 3-Reed and 13-Snake. huicha ci cha ga lanij naa day.after.tomorrow POT.take day nine feasts now Now, the day after tomorrow will receive the days, the nine feasts; ya be i.ni-ni quene quela dohua niza dao lag que-lepi-lao hill spirit PRO-eternal bowl custom mouth waters great large POT-hide-eye574 the Spirit Hill that is eternal, the bowl of the custom, the entrance to the large sea; the view will be hidden. y-eyag zaha xohua dohua yego POT-return beans lord mouth river The beans will return to the lord on the edge of the river:

370

appendix

queya xi-yaeche equal.exchange POS-temple the equal exchange of the temple. ya-e ya-ehe ci-te chiya i.yala i.yee chiya chiya dee i.teye hill-3 hill-3 POT.take-EC STA.sit copal sign STA.sit STA.sit ash grandfather Their hill, their hill will indeed receive; the copal and sign are seated, ashes and grandfathers are seated, seated.

Song 11 gohui quela bilaxo exchange custom 10-Earthquake The exchange, the custom of 10-Earthquake [Day 257]. √60 (11:1) huiyaa haooi yaa i.yao i.yahui yaaha ooi yaa i.yaoo iyayo priest reed stone ancient plaza reed stone Priests, ancient stone reed, plaza; stone reed. hua-la chiy-e chiya laci-te together575 STA.sit-3 STA.sit allotment-DEM They are seated together, this allotment is seated. i.lee-chiya deye ij.teye la xini la xini 2pl.IMP-STA.sit grandfather grandfather then child then child Be seated grandfathers, grandfathers; then the children, then the children! gohui quela bilaxoo quela-d-o-cha b[e]t[a]o exchange custom 10-Earthquake NOM-HAB-C-be.bloodied deity The exchange, the custom of 10-Earthquake, the bloodletting of the deity. ci-yela quii yi xi-cha ci yalag go-hue-cha PRM-come offering fire POS-solar.heat POT.take copal AG-give-day The offering is coming to the fire, the solar heat: Day Giver will receive copal. iai [235r]

yaaiyaaiyaaaiyaaiyaayohua yoo yao i.de i.deye House of stone, ashes, grandfathers.

√61 (11:2) no bea go-ti bi-yoci yati baa-lahuag yaza576 quela bidao PRO animal CMP-dead CMP-horn white PRF-be.carried long.leaf lake deity He who is a dead animal, the white horned one; the long leaves were carried to the lake of deities.

371

appendix

aiyaaiyaaiyaaiyaaaiyaayo huana yoo yao i.deie deye Clouds, house of stone, grandfathers, grandfathers. √62 (11:3) yalaana yalaana la xini yalana betao 5-Death 5-Death then child 5-Death deity 5-Death, 5-Death, then, the child of 5-Death, the deity. no577 go-do bao dao zohua quela la PRO CMP-bring578 burnt.thing sacred STA.be.now lake large579 He who brought the sacred burnt thing is now at the large Blood Lake.

tene blood

yalaana no be-ti be chita tao 5-Death PRO CMP-last spirit bone great 5-Death, he who endured, spirit of the sacred bones. bea ci-xene animal CMP2-get.fat580 Animal, you grew fat.

loohui 2sg

ya-laana la qui-dopa nij bilao niza lachi-na581 xi-yoyna 5-Death then POT-two this 10-Face water heart-hand POS-three 5-Death; then, this second one, 10-Face Water [Tabaa ancestor] is in the care of the Three. bij-xa quela-bi xa what-INT custom-3f father What is the custom of the fathers? lanij ti bao tao feast song burnt.thing sacred The feasts, the songs, the sacred burned things, zohua quela tene yalaana STA.be.now lake blood 5-Death 5-Death is now in Blood Lake. bi-xa quela-bi xa nij what-INT custom-3f father this What is the custom of these fathers? bi-dodo bego ni tete lahui queba ii.xicha CMP-be.jaguar.mottled turtle this STA.be.across middle sky strong These turtles were mottled like jaguars; they are placed across the middle of the strong sky. be-zaca quecelao yagcueo ga-ti bao dao CMP-arrive 13-Monkey 1-Soaproot POT-die burnt.thing great 13-Monkey and 1-Soaproot arrived [Days 91–92]. The sacred burnt thing will die; 372

appendix

zohua quela tene yalaana STA.be.now lake blood 5-Death 5-Death is now in Blood Lake. be-zaca cualachi bijlina CMP-arrive 6-Jaguar 7-Field The feast of 6-Jaguar and 7-Field arrived [Days 214–215]. bi-dodo bego ni tete lahui queeba ii.xicha CMP-be.jaguar.mottled turtle this STA.be.across middle sky strong These turtles were mottled like jaguars; they are placed across the middle of the strong sky. yao yoo yao i.ya yao i.ya ii.te deye Stone, house of stone, hill of stone, hill, ashes, grandfathers.

Song 12 √63 (12:1) yagquee yagquee la xini yagquee betao li laachi bilachi 1-Wind 1-Wind then child 1-Wind deity straight heart582 7-Jaguar/Lizard 1-Wind, 1-Wind. Then, the child of 1-Wind, the loyal deity 7-Jaguar/Lizard. too bilachi neza bilachi cord 7-Jaguar/Lizard road 7-Jaguar/Lizard The cord of 7-Jaguar/Lizard; the road of 7-Jaguar/Lizard, chinoa la n-oa-lane-do b-io bi-chao eternal583 name STA-carry-secretly584 -1plE CMP-place[on.road] CMP-grow585 the names eternal we secretly carry were placed [on the road], and grew. quia doo quia chene quia chi quiog la n-oa-lane-do high.place cord high.place engraved high.place STA.sit strength name STA-carry-secretly-1plE The mountain of the cord, the engraved mountain, the mountain where strength sits; the names we secretly carry. be-xog bi-chao lachi zaa CMP-come.out CMP-grow heart Zapotec The Zapotec hearts came out and grew. di la lachi za xi-yona song then heart Zapotec POS-three The songs and the Zapotec hearts, the Three. yao yoo ayao i.ya yao iyaaai yaa i.dee deye Stone, house, hill of stone, reeds, ashes, grandfathers.

373

appendix

√64 (12:2)

[235v]

na-xog na-xog queche quela tene lachi go-za i.ni-de STA-come.out STA-come.out town lake blood heart CMP-go this-DEM The Town of Blood Lake is coming out, coming out, the hearts; these ones came. be-gohua xilaa nizaa CMP-place.flat.things gift water They placed down the gifts, the water; be-gohua xi-yona yego hue-ba-niza CMP-place.flat.things POS-three river AG-good.thing-road[generously]586 the Three Ones placed down the rivers with generosity. le-bi-hi lohui b[e]t[a]o deity 2pl.IMP-CMP-give587 2sg Give, all of you [plural], and you [singular], to the deity! bee bilao niza lachi-na quela dene lachi za.i spirit 10-Face water heart-hand lake blood heart Zapotec The spirit 10-Face Water is in the care of Blood Lake, the Zapotec heart. √65 (12:3) bi-doog nijyla di yati CMP-come.down incantation588 song white The incantations and white songs came down. goo-chini b[e]t[a]o go-chini bilao niza lachina quela CMP-be.sated589 deity CMP-be.sated 10-Face water heart-hand lake The deities were sated; 10-Face Water was sated [while] in the care of Blood Lake. lachi go-za i.go-za heart CMP-go CMP-go The hearts came out, they came out. i.ci-ye-yag zooo ci-yepi yohui dao PRM-FRQ-go STA.stand PRM-go.up payment great The great payment is going, it is present, it is going up. zo yobi neza y-eyag queche lachi STA.stand HON road POT-return town heart It is on the honorable road; it will return to the Town of the Hearts; go-za i.ci-yepi queghue590 dao lichi bela xila CMP-go PRM-go.up palace great house serpent feather it came out and is going up to the great palace, the house of Feathered Serpent;

374

tene blood

appendix

yag ci-yaci lea laa lato POT.go PRM-enter enclosure name before.dawn it will go and is entering the enclosure called Before Dawn. dicha go-xono-e yagque ni gohui quela word CMP-eight-3 1-Reed this exchange custom The word of the Eight, of this 1-Reed, the exchange, the custom; beegala-e591 xo yaeche yao yoo dream-3 ancestor temple stone land the dream of the ancestors, the temple of stone of Earth. huiyaa huana yeo yaoai yaa592 i.dee i.teye Priests, victorious clouds, reeds, ashes, grandfathers. queag xoa yohui rock maize payment The mountain of maize, the payment.

Song 13 √66 (13:1) queag xoba593 yohui i.be-chela bichi go-huecha i.xana neto lona-bi xene rock maize payment CMP-be.fruitful brother AG-give-day lord 1plE guardian-3f large The mountain of maize, the payment; our brother lord Day Giver, its great guardian [of the maize] was fruitful. quene gohui chi lachi-na bela chitog bowl exchange STA.sit heart-hand serpent [bi]chitog The bowl of the exchange is in the care of Serpent Chitog [Iguana]. bene-de queche be-dona yahui yahui people-DEM town CMP-be.banished594 ancient ancient These people of the town: the ancients, the ancients were banished. yaa595 yaogoiyaaohua hueyaaa i.yaa i.dee i.deye Reeds, the dance, reeds, ashes, grandfathers. √67 (13:2) Be-do-ci go-laza huuiya gobeche di lagna596 ya be CMP-come.down-only CMP-take.turn priest Cobechi song words hill spirit The priest Cobechi came down only in ancient times: the song, the words of Spirit Hill. i.yao huiyaa huiyaa yao oohoiyaao stone priest priest stone Stone, priest, priest of stone,

375

hueyaha aiyaai dee y.deye [236r]597 dance ashes grandfather the dance, ashes, grandfathers.

appendix

√68 (13:3) niyaa go-ceche laachi-ca ba-yona ii.lao beedao gobicha foot598 CMP-make.noise heart-E PRF-three before deity sun The end: the hearts made noise; the Three before the deity Cobicha [the Sun]. b-ey-eyac quee lana ayaaohue CMP-RES-return vow words The vow and the words returned. nigaa go-ceche laachi-ca ba-yona iy.lao beedao here CMP-make.noise heart-E PRF-three before deity Here, the hearts made noise; the Three before the deity Cobicha.

gobicha sun

b-ey-eyac quee lana CMP-RES-return vow words The vow and the words returned. ohue yaoo ohue stone Stone,

yaha yaoo ohue yahaaa huiya huiya i.yao iya. plaza stone plaza priest priest stone stone plaza, plaza, priests, stone priests.

iii. agi mé x ic o 8 82, 16 0 r –162 r m a n ua l 1, day s 1–18, b y j ua n m a r t ín of s ol ag a These annotations are discussed in chapter 5 and in table 5.4.

1-Caiman lata si y.Ba gola llexe dao B-eh eche le ço yaca xeni place poor period old Lexee great CMP-give town next.to STA.stand tree large Poor Place; old period; Great Lexee; give to the town(s); next to where the ceiba stands; le cue qui yagcuee; hua-ci yogo bala bi-tila next.to piece offering 1-Soaproot PRF-take all excessively CMP-make.someone.fight next to a piece of an offering for 1-Soaproot; everyone has received excessively; make someone fight.599

2-Wind lata çobi y.ba gola b-eh eche yaci chahui loho yaca xeni bedao place harvest period old CMP-give town POT.enter good root tree large deity Place of Harvest; old period; give to the town(s); good things will come in; the root of the ceiba of the deities;

376

appendix

yaci y.taba xohua qui yagcuee; le ta quichaha POT.enter four lord offering 1-Soaproot next.to mat illness the four lords will come in; offering for 1-Soaproot; next to the mat [day] of illness.

3-Night lata chaba y.ba gola xohua go-di yaca çe-yag llih j-çaca the-oho huehe; place weaving period old lord CMP-dead tree PRM-go straight POT-be.worth HAB-give Huee Place of Weaving; old period; the dead lords; the tree will be going straight; it will be valuable; Huee gives. chi thiyenpo niga th-ehe yoho lani queche lao you cadi bini niti quichaha STA.sit time here HAB-reside STA.be.inside feast town on land when seed POT.destroy illness Tiempo sits here; the feasts reside, are placed on Earth. It is when seeds will be lost; illness. bata qui-cani NEG when POT-dig.hole Holes will never be dug [for planting?].

4-Lizard lata niti be-he eche aca bi-to caga xo taho th-eo qui-naba xi-quiya place cane CMP-give town NEG NEG-one everything ancestor HAB-give POT-request POS-debt n-oze th-eo biquio STA-owe HAB-give male Place of Cane; give to the town(s); one does not give everything one has for the ancestors; one will request; men give for the debts they owe.

5-Snake lata si b-ehe ehui y.ba gola caga que betao chino betao place poor CMP-give palace period old everything POS deity thirteen deity Poor Place; give to the palaces; old period; everything one has for Deity Thirteen, Deity Cobechi;

cobechi Cobechi

caga que bilao lachina que goçobi [y]asi que huechaha betao huecha neti everything POS 10-Face 8/11-Deer POS Gozobi POT.enter vow Huechaa deity Huechaa people chiya xoua que nola STA.sit lord POS woman everything for 10-Face, 8/11-Deer, for Gozobi. The vow of Deity Huecha, Huecha of the people, will enter; here sits the lord of women.

377

appendix

6-Death llata zobi b-ehe ehui caga que golana place harvest CMP-give palace everything POS Golana Place of Harvest; give to the palaces everything one has for Golana; caga quego a le ta le to-bi y.ba yaha everything vow STA.go next.to mat next.to one-PRT period young everything one has for the river that goes next to the mat [day], next to one; young period.

7-Deer lata chaba b-ehe ehui aca bi-tj caga y.ba yaha chiya xoua que nola place weaving CMP-give palace NEG NEG-EC everything period young STA.sit lord POS women Place of Weaving; do not give everything to the palaces; young period; the lord of women sits here. [different hand]: q[ue] naha be-te-si betao huee POS now CMP-serve-only deity illness Now, present the vow [offering] to Deity [of illness] Huee.

8-Rabbit lata niti lexe dao le zo yaga le cue quiyag place cane Lexee great next.to STA.stand tree next.to piece reed.field Place of Cane; Great Lexee; next to where the tree stands; next to a section of Reed Field; aca caga bica b-ehe ehui niga b-eta thiyenpo NEG everything jewel CMP-give palace here CMP-arrive time not everything one has for the jewel; give to the palaces; the tiempo arrived here. n-aca si-cha nola lani chi-bi nidi th-eo que STA-be POS-heat woman feast ten-PRT POT.spend HAB-give vow The heat of women is here, the feast; their ten will be spent; people give vows; n-aca cuenta que th-eo yag xi yag xene STA-be account vow HAB-give tree small tree great there is an accounting of vows; the small trees and large trees give. yogo lani nihj yoho y.neza y.ba all feast this STA.be.inside road period All these feasts are on the road; young period.

378

yaha young

benee people

appendix

9-Water lasi y.ba yaha zohua hue-la lagniza tuhua y.ba b-ehe ganihj turn period young STA.be.now AG-defend 11-Water mouth period CMP-give gratis The turn of the young period; the Defender 11-Water is here now; the period’s entrance; give gratis; th-ehe-zo-lao xi-cha HAB-be-stand-face POS-heat the heat begins; men give.

th-eo biquio HAB-give male

10-Knot lata çobi y.ba yaha b-éehe ganihj ye-bi be-laga lani place harvest period young CMP-give gratis POT.carry600 -3f CMP-chased.away feast Place of Harvest; young period; give gratis; the feasts will be carried and chased away.

11-Monkey lata chaba y.ba gola b-ehe ganihj xoua co-di yaga aca g-aca bi-tj ga-ca place weaving period old CMP-give gratis lord CMP-be.dead tree NEG POT-be NEG-EC POT-be Place of Weaving; old period; give gratis; the dead lords; there are not, there will not be trees at all.

12-Soaproot lata niti b-ehe gani aca g-aca bi g-aca aga bi qui chela b-ehe ganij place cane CMP-give gratis NEG POT-be NEG POT-be NEG NEG offering and CMP-give gratis ba gola period old Place of Cane; give gratis; there will not be, there will not be offerings, and give gratis; old period.

13-Reed lata si y.ba gola yaba b-ehe y.sxi : aca g-aca cue cantela place poor period old sky CMP-give little NEG POT-be piece candle Poor Place; old period; Sky; give a little; there will not be a piece of candle.

1-Jaguar lata çobi le chehe le quinag y.ba gola b-ehe y.sxi aca g-aca bi-tila place harvest next.to West next.to field period old CMP-give little NEG POT-be CMP-fight go-n-o POT-make-2sg Place of Harvest; next to the West, next to fields; old period; give a little; do not fight, don’t. 379

appendix

2-Field lata chaba lexe dao b-ehe y.sxi aca g-aca cuehe gona y.ba gola place weaving Lexee great CMP-give little NEG POT-be piece offering period old Place of Weaving; Great Lexee; give a little; there will not be a piece of the offering; old period.

3-Crow lata niti y.ba yaha b-ehe y.sxi yogo lani niga th-ehe yohoa place cane period young CMP-give little all feast here HAB-reside STA.be.inside Place of Cane; young period; give a little; all the feasts reside here, are placed here; n-aca cuenta que th-eo chi-bi quicha niti y.neza lani n-aca xi-lebi STA-be account offering HAB-give ten-3f hair/illness POT.loss road feast STA-be POS-rope.turn nola woman there is an accounting of offerings; one gives ten hanks of hair; the feasts will lose their way; there is a rope turn for women.

4-Earthquake lata si b-ehe eche y.ba yaha zo xo zo t-adi niga cuehe place poor CMP-give town period young STA.stand ancestor STA.stand HAB-be.dead here piece cantela yoho tao candle house great Poor Place; the town gave; young period; the ancestors are here, they are dead; here, a piece of candle of the church.

5-Dew lata çobi y.ba yaha b-ehe eche601 caga que yogo çi bala bi-tala place harvest period young CMP-give town everything POS all POT.take excessive CMP-come.out Place of Harvest; young period; give to the town(s); everything one has for all; they will receive excessively, they will come out; n-aca xi-cha bequio STA-be POS-heat male the heat of men is here.

380

notes

c h a p t e r on e . in t roduc t ion 1. AHJO-VA Criminal 184, L(egajo)11-E(xpediente)5, 1r–v. Unless otherwise stated, all transcriptions and translations from Valley and Northern Zapotec, Nahuatl, Spanish, and Latin are my own. 2. Feria 1567, 23v, 63v. This phrase sometimes includes quela-hue-zaa, NOM-AGmanufacture, where -zaa is “to make with one’s hands” in Córdova (1578a, henceforth CO-), 215r, 286r; see 150v, 163r, 216r. Alternative, CO-367v, “draw one’s blood”; 227v, “commit idolatry,” to-zàa-ya pezèlào. “Manufacture” is more plausible, due to its Thomistic implications (Tavárez 2011). 3. Caso 1965, 932. 4. AGI México 882, Manuals 18, 19, 25, 30, and 32. 5. Melchora’s tamales resembled oauhqujltamalli, amaranth tamales Mexica celebrants ate on the tenth day of Izcalli to honor Xiuhteuctli and Ixcoçauhqui (Sahagún 1950–1982, Book 1, 29; Book 2, 159–160, 167). 6. AHJO-VA Criminal 184, L11-E5, 2r–3v, 4r. 7. AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 18v–r, 49v. 8. CO-336v: “be charred,” ti-chòhui-a. 9. AGI México 882, Songbook 100, 185r. 10. Córdova served as lieutenant in Flanders. At age 40, he joined the Dominicans and devoted himself to the study of Zapotec. In the 1570s, two years after being elected provincial, his coreligionaries suspended his appointment. He then retired to Tlacochahuaya to work on his Vocabulario and Arte (Burgoa [1670] 1989, I:219–224). 11. Subrahmanyam 1997, 2014. 12. See, for instance, Gould 2007; Schiebinger 2017; Cañizares-Esguerra 2018; McDonough 2019. 13. Tavárez 2017; Laird 2018. 14. Chimalpahin 1997, 2001, 2010; Alva Ixtlilxochitl 1975, 2018; Wood 2003; Ruiz Medrano 2011; Romero Frizzi 2012; Megged and Wood 2012; Townsend 2016. 15. See, for instance, Lockhart 1992; Terraciano 2001; Chimalpahin 2010; Pizzigoni 2012; Truitt and Christensen 2015. 16. Rappaport and Cummins 2011. For notaries, see Burns 2010. 17. Habermas 1989. See Chartier 2008 for a longitudinal analysis of early modern writing practices. 18. Kellogg 1995; Owensby 2008. 19. Cohn 1980.

notes to page s 6 – 10

20. See, for instance, Greenleaf 1962; Alberro 1988; Poole 1995; Taylor 1996, 2016; Schwartz 2008. 21. Tavárez 2011; Chuchiak 2012; Lara Cisneros 2014; Nesvig 2018; Olko and Brylak 2018. 22. Tedlock 1996; Christenson 2007. For links between K’iche’ Christian texts and the Popol Vuh, see Sparks 2019. 23. Maxwell and Hill 2006. 24. Bierhorst 1985; León-Portilla 2011; Sahagún 1950–1982; Ruiz de Alarcón 1984. 25. Arzápalo 1987; Nájera Coronado 2007; Weeks, Sachse, and Prager 2009; Hanks 2010. 26. For instance, see Anders et al. 1991, 1993; Quiñones Keber 1995; Berdan and Anawalt 1997; Boone 2000, 2007; Magaloni Kerpel 2014; Díaz Álvarez 2014, 2020; Dupey García and Vázquez de Ágredos 2019. 27. Carrasco 2000; Aveni 2008; Vail 2000; Milbrath 2013; Díaz 2014, 2020; Dehouve 2015. 28. Joyce and Barber 2015; Joyce 2018. 29. Urcid 2005, 2011, 2014; Urcid and van Doesburg 2017; Sellen 2007, 2011; Winter et al. 2016. 30. Whitecotton 1990; Romero Frizzi 2012; Romero Frizzi and Vásquez Vásquez 2003, 2013. 31. Carmagnani 1988; Chance 1989; Zeitlin 2005. 32. Smith-Stark 1999, 2007, 2008, 2009; Smith-Stark et al. 1993; Broadwell 2015, 2021; Foreman and Lillehaugen 2017. 33. Whitecotton 1990, 2003; Tavárez 2000, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2019; Oudijk 2000, 2008; Sousa 2017. 34. Farriss 2014, 2018; Tavárez 2017. 35. Yannakakis 2008; Calvo 2010; Piazza 2016. 36. Smith-Stark et al. 1993 was essential to my efforts. I occasionally consulted Oudijk 2015 (a resource based in part on Smith-Stark et al. 1993) and Wood 2000– 2020 to review Valley Zapotec and Nahuatl entries, and employed Voorburg 2007 to confirm some correlation calculations. 37. While not consulted for this work, two digital humanities sites focus on colonial Zapotec texts: one provides transcriptions and some analyses of Valley Zapotec materials (Lillehaugen et al. 2016), and another contains transcriptions and translations of a substantial number of Northern Zapotec wills (Oudijk 2016). 38. Burgoa [1674] 1989; Chance 1989; Castellanos 2003; Ríos Morales 2013; Arrioja 2011, 44–49. I retain the spellings “Bixanos” and “Caxonos,” as they reflect the phonemic principles of colonial Zapotec orthography, unlike the Hispanicized “Bijanos” or “Cajonos.” 39. AGI México 882; Tavárez 2011. 40. For Montaillou, see Le Roy Ladurie 1975; for Zumárraga, see Greenleaf 1962. 41. Figure based on 1704 tributary records (Chance 1989, 62). Bishop Maldonado reported an unconfirmed estimate of 60,000 inhabitants (AGI México 880). 42. Tavárez 2000, 2011. 43. Zilbermann 1966; Alcina Franch 1966. 44. Alcina Franch 1993, 1998; Miller 1991. 45. See, for instance, Tavárez 2000, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2017, 2019, 2020. 382

notes to page s 11 – 18

46. Agüero 1666; Arte de Lengua Zapoteca n.d.; Córdova 1578a, 1578b; Cueva n.d.; Gramática y sermones en lengua Zapoteca n.d.; Levanto 1766; Long and Cruz 2000; Martín 1696; Martínez [1633] 1872; Quaderno de Ydioma Zapoteco del Valle n.d.; Peñafiel [1886] 1981; Reyes [1704] 1891; Torralba 1800.

c h a p t e r t w o. r e t hin k ing t ime: z a p o t e c a n d na h ua c y c l e s a f t e r t he c onqu e s t 1. López de Gómara 1964, 219; Chimalpahin 2010, 258. 2. Díaz del Castillo 2005, 356. The object was a natura como de honbre, or human penis. This passage was suppressed in an early printed edition (Díaz del Castillo 1632, 107v). 3. AGN-Inq 40(4), 3bis-a. 4. See Gruzinski 2010 for timekeeping practices on an early modern global scale. 5. CO-13v, 116v, 117r. 6. CO-10r, 13v, 325r, 387r–v; CO-13v, 376v, 329v. 7. CO-201r, 214v, 387r. Huechilla derives from hue- (agentive) and -chilla, a verbal root related to casting lots, as it appears in pi-chijlla, the name for dried seeds used in divination. 8. CO-143v; Hamann 2015, 87–91. 9. Guechea was reported as a term for brujos, “sorcerers,” by a Spanish visitor to Tiltepec; AHJO-VA Criminal 129, L8-E8, 21v. 10. Ricardo Ambrosio, personal communication (henceforth, RA), 2008. All terms contributed by RA are in contemporary Northern Zapotec orthography. In Yatzachi, this term is bene go-ža’ (BU-391, Butler’s orthography), “daykeeper,” a term equivalent to colanij. While ža is “day,” other readings are ch-ža, to “change” (BU205), or “place” (BU-204). Filemón Beltrán interprets bene wa-ža as “carrier of days.” 11. Weitlaner 1958; Weitlaner and De Cicco 1961; Meer 2000; Cruz Santiago 2008; Pergentino Cruz, personal communication, 2010. 12. CO-299v. Burgoa (1989, II:350–351) glossed huipa too, a term for great priests at Mitla, as “he who sees all”; see also Smith-Stark 2002, 138–139. 13. CO-250v. I analyze this verb as t-oa-ya, HAB-carry-1sg. 14. CO-14v, 132v; hui-a, AG-carry. Yatzachi Zapotec still has güia’ as the infinitive of “to carry” (BU-144). This agentive differs from another term for “carrier,” hue-coayoa (CO-73r). 15. CO-349v; Molina 1571, II:101. 16. Brumfiel 2011. 17. Ruiz de Alarcón 1984; Molina 1571, II:149. 18. CO-138v, 384r, 196r. 19. CO-283v, 213r, 423r. 20. The latter arrangement is mentioned by Diego Luis (AGN-Inq 473-I). 21. CO-108v, “cipher”; 182v, “any sort of writing,” yye nacàa quíchi. The couplet lána yye, “sooth, sign,” is glossed as “single letter” (CO-142v). 22. Córdova 1578b, 115v; CO-95v; Manual 98. 23. Caso 1965, 932; Flannery and Marcus 2003. 24. For Zapotec language classification, see Smith-Stark 2007; Broadwell 2015. 25. Urcid 2005, 7. 383

notes to page s 18 – 2 4

26. CO-78r, 239r: “crocodile, water lizard.” Córdova lists two species: while pichijlla pèoo may be a caiman, pènne (CO-78r, 279r) may refer to another caiman-like lizard. Nahua and Mixtec pictograms for Sign 1 consist of an animal with a short snout and non-interlocking teeth, which depicts a caiman or alligator (Alligatoridae), as crocodiles (Crocodylidae) have interlocking teeth and longer snouts. Sign 1 glyphs sometime feature an eye within a curved line, which resembles the spectacled caiman. In Lachirioag, “caiman” is wel xhil, and yag xhilha, “caiman stick,” refers to a staff used in Malinche dances performed on December 12 (RA, 2020). 27. CO-283r: “night.” 28. CO-421r: “deer in general,” pichìna tàni. 29. CO-343r: “scrambled, like a tangled thread”; 285v: “tricky knot.” 30. CO-273r: “male monkey,” pi-lloo ni-guijo. 31. Urcid 2001; CO-228v: “soap-like herb, used as soap.” 32. CO-472r: “tiger.” 33. CO-375r: “sown field; field to be sown.” 34. CO-239r: “lizard”; Martín 1696, 34: “small lizard (lagartija),” huaachi niza. 35. CO-207r: “drop”; Butler (2000, henceforth BU), 405, “drop.” 36. CO-425v: “wind.” 37. CO-349v: “lightning,” also the gloss for tiàpi làa and làa tiàpi nìça. 38. CO-71r: “unripe maize cane,” quèla; 74r: “reed, a type of cane,” quij, qui. 39. CO-361v: “falling dew”; 200v: “for it to be cold.” 40. CO-289r: “eye”; CO-102r: “crow.” 41. López de Gómara 1552, 118r. Olin is the past tense of olini, “to move” (Sahagún 1950–1982, Book 2, 113); tlaolinia appears in Molina (1571, I:87), which also has olinini, “movable thing.” 42. CO-13r-v: “omen,” pijzi, pijze, peezi; 141r; see Urcid 2005. 43. CO-73v. 44. CO-95v: “time of bread harvest”; 401r: “season for crops, fruits, reaping”; BU-382: “harvest,” gw-lap; Long and Cruz 2000, 338: “to harvest,” che-lap. 45. CO-244v: “hare”; Martín 1696: laana, “hare.” 46. Munro and Sonnenschein 2007. 47. For Kaufman’s analysis, see Justeson and Tavárez 2007, 20. 48. These festivals are described in Sahagún’s Primeros memoriales and in the Florentine Codex. See, for instance, Graulich 1990; Broda 1991; Carrasco 2000; Schwaller 2019. For an analysis of the interdigitation of images and text in the Florentine Codex, see Magaloni Kerpel 2014. For Quecholli, see Olivier 2015. 49. Jiménez Moreno 1961. 50. Cline 1973, 13–14. 51. Urcid 2005, 71–72. 52. Seler 1980, II:85–103; Anders, Jansen, and Reyes García 1993, 261–276; Boone 2007, 121–132. 53. Motolinia 1903, 36–38. López de Gómara 1552, 128r–129v. 54. Motolinia 1903, 48–49; see Aveni 2012. 55. Caso 1959, 16; Córdova 1578b, 122v. 56. Alcina Franch 1993; Justeson and Tavárez 2007; Prem 2008. 57. On December 22, 1704, Juan Mathías testified that one of four calendars surrendered by Malinaltepec specialists was his, and that his father had given it to him

384

notes to page s 2 4 – 29

in 1697 and instructed him in its use (AGI México 882, 914r). In Manual 81, a statement reads, “Ju[an] Matias is M[aestr]o,” meaning idolatry “teacher” (ibid., 1376r). A Zapotec-language register, dated February 4, 1686, was placed at the end of Manual 81. The text mentions Pedro de Aquino as regidor, and Pedro de Aquino was one of four specialists who surrendered calendars. Malinaltepec, a head town by 1789, was no longer listed separately after 1826 (Arrioja 2011, 516, 522), and Chance (1989, 81) suggests it merged with Roavela, a location where the toponym survives and Fuente (1946, 155) reported this toponym’s persistence in the 1940s. 58. MNA, Colección Gómez Orozco 184, 30r–v, cited in Lockhart 1992, 383. 59. Justeson and Tavárez 2007. 60. Caso 1967, 47. 61. 3-Monkey = Saturday, March 13, 169[4] is one day ahead of the established correlation. 62. The correspondences are: 13-Snake = August 31 [1691]; 2-Deer = September 2 [1691]; 1-Drop = September 14 [1691]; 11-Water = September 24 [1691]; 11-Rabbit = November 2, [1691]; 10-Rabbit = [February 24] 1693; 6-Lizard = April 11 [1695]; 4-Soaproot = August 17 [1695]. 63. The correspondences are: 13-Monkey = September 27, [1691]; 5-Eye = October 2, [1691]; 3-Water = Holy Cross [September 14, 1693]; 2-Night = John the Baptist [August 29, 1695]. Another correspondence (Christmas Day 1694 = 3-Caiman) is erroneous, as the correct date is 3-Earthquake. 64. Tavárez and Justeson 2008, 77–79. However, on that date this lunar eclipse was not visible in Central Mexico. 65. CO-266r, 420r. 66. Tavárez 2011, 21–23. 67. AGI México 882, 1148r–v; see Alcina Franch 1993, 125. The epidemic killed more than thirty adults. In 1705, Velasco was interrogated regarding sorcery accusations against Nicolás Pacheco, and a Spaniard carpenter noted that Miguel Hernandes was denounced as specialist in 1703 at Tiltepec (AHJO-VA Criminal 129, 8r, 22r). 68. AGI México 882, 1445r–1449r; Chance 1989, 52. 69. This explanation for the dates in Manual 85-1 is preferable to an earlier hypothesis that the correlation featured two halves of European years (Justeson and Tavárez 2007). 70. CO-253r: “maguey,” tòba; BU-418: “maguey,” doa’. 71. AGI México 882, 1144r, 1456r, 1512v, 1542r, 1543r. 72. While Manual 85-1 lists the name of the Maguey period as Tohuà, this term recurs as toba and dohuag in Zapotec songbooks 100 and 101. 73. Córdova (1578a) translates ze-gaa-ya as “for a plant or seed to sprout” (342v), “to become green” (359r, 423v); PRM-become.green-1sg; cf. BU-101: che-ga’a. 74. CO-420v: “keep a vigil at night, ti-pèennàa-ya; 21r: “be alert,” ti-peennáa-yà; 34r: “be ready,” ti-peeñaa. 75. CO-317r: “feathers, the rows that parrots have on them.” 76. Term analyzed as go (agentive) and làgo, glossed as “sustenance” (CO-258r); “food” (CO-257v); and “stomach” (CO-190v). 77. CO-201r: “fruit,” xi-gàha. Alternative, CO-312v: “heavy thing,” gàha. 78. Analyzed as tina, a verb with a zero-marked potential form, CO-128v: “be

385

notes to page s 29 – 3 4

cleaned of soot,” ti-tiña. Córdova treats ti-tiña as semantically equivalent to ti-llòba, “to be swept” (52r). An alternative is tin, the potential of ch-tin, “to be wrinkled,” or “to split, crack” (Long and Cruz 2000, 178; BU-175), the first of which is semantically similar to Tititl. Paso y Troncoso (1898, 268–269) proposed Tititl meant “Wrinkled One,” a reading supported by Caso (1967, 133–138). Citing a representation of Tititl containing two children who pulled each other’s arms, Durán (1967) translated Tititl as “to stretch out.” 79. Neither Spanish nor moss, this is the English name for Tillandsia usneoides, an epiphyte called pachtli that “grows on and hangs from trees” (Molina 1571, II:79r). 80. CO-200v: “bean,” pi-zàa. 81. CO-415v: “something humid,” na-hui; “humidity,” na-hui; “very humid,” huahui tao. Alternative: “Great Illness,” as huij is “illness” (CO-144r, 165v). 82. See Chavero (1903, 426–427), who cited Alphonse Pinart’s 1875 edition of Juan de Albornoz’s Arte de la lengua chiapaneca. 83. CO-206v: “fatness,” zàchi; 209v: “fat . . . or lard,” zàchi. BU-345: zaš ə’, “fat person.” 84. Weitlaner and Weitlaner 1946, tables 1–2; Edmonson 1988, 152, 204. 85. BU-79: ch-chej, “be tied,” POT: chej. CO-44v: “be fi lled,” ti-chèea; see also CO19r, 220v, 287r. 86. Analyzed as possibilitative zohu- (Smith-Stark 2008, 409–410) and the verbal root -ao, “eat” or “buy”; see BU-55: ch-ao (eat, wear out, destroy), ch-’ao (buy); t-ao is “be covered in blood” (CO-371v); “be pricked” (CO-186v); “be anointed” (416r). 87. Analyzed as ye-tilla, POT-fight; CO-361r: “to quarrel,” ti-tílla; CO-356r: tèetilla-ya, “to resist.” 88. Córdova glosses quècho, queecho as “blister,” “buboes,” “leprosy” (61v, 208v). 89. Besides “buyer” (CO-83v), còhui is glossed as “purple” (80r); “reverse side” (176v); “stirrer” (343r). 90. Jiménez Moreno 1940, 71. 91. Burgoa 1989, II:391; my emphasis. 92. CO-121r: “be disconcerted”; 135v: “feel faint”; 129r: “swoon”; 174v: “be clumsy.” 93. CO-275r. 94. AGI México 882, 1172r, 1526r. 95. Justeson and Tavárez 2007, 55–57. I thank Michel Oudijk for sharing with Justeson and me an unpublished transcription of materials from AGI México 882, which facilitated our work on that publication. 96. For an overview of Mesoamerican calendars, see Caso 1967; Edmonson 1988. 97. Díaz Rubio and Bustamante 1983; Prem 2008, 134, 139, 146. Sahagún noted that Tlacaxipehualiztli began on February 26. 98. Motolinia 1903, 36. 99. Gómara 1552, 128r. 100. Martínez 1606, 105. 101. Serna 1892, 318; Boturini [1746] 1990, 106; Nuttall (1904) embraced Serna’s position. 102. Sahagún 1950–1982, Book 2, 35. While Seler (1903, 28) noted this as Sahagún’s opinion, Nuttall (1904) believed Sahagún documented a leap-year correction; Prem (2008, 129) read this statement as conjecture. 103. Burgoa 1989, II:391.

386

notes to page s 3 4 – 4 0

104. Graulich 1990, 1992; Broda 1983, 1991. 105. For correction possibilities, see Castillo 1971; Tena 1987. For the opposite view, see Graulich 1990; Šprajc 2000; Prem 2006; Olivier 2015. 106. Steinmetz 2011. 107. Caso 1967, 99; Palomera 1988, 140–142. 108. Chimalpahin 2001, II:152; 7th-189r: Ypan cemilhuitlapohualli Chicuey Ehecatl, auh yn ipan yn inmetztlapohual catca huehuetque chiucnahuilhuitia quecholli. 109. BNF Mexicain 22; Berlin and Barlow 1980, 74; Chimalpahin 2001, II:157, 159; 7th-190v–191r: ypan cemilhuitonalli Ce Cohuatl . . . ypan yn III Calli xihuitl. 110. See Caso 1967, 57. Cline (1973, 25) argued that, in his letters to the king, Cortés cited November 8 not as the day he first met Moteuczoma, but as the date when he began incurring expenses associated with this ruler. November 8 became canonical after López de Gómara cited it in his 1552 Conquista. 111. Following Kubler and Gibson (1951) on the relationship between the ember day (one of four moveable fast days) in September and Dominical letters in the Tovar, Prem concurred that Tovar’s European year was either 1549 or 1591. 112. Bustamante 1990. 113. Chimalpahin 1997, I:302–304; 3rd-115r. Florentine Codex, Book 12, 50v (Lockhart 2004, 174–176). 114. Caso 1959; Cline 1973. 115. Translation by Durán (1967), who glossed titotoxcahuia as “[we are] dried up by thirst.” 116. Caso 1939. 117. Nicholson 1971. Nicholson’s thesis was deployed by Susan Milbrath (2013, 5–10) in an analysis of the Codex Borgia that placed year-bearer dates on Izcalli’s first day. 118. Caso 1967, 61–63. For the Templo Mayor, see Matos Moctezuma 1987. For Anales de Tecamachalco, see Townsend 2016, 102–106. 119. Robertson (1959) and Batalla Rosado (1994) argued that the Codex Borbonicus was painted shortly after the conquest. 120. Caso 1967, 45. 121. Sahagún 1950–1982, Book 7, 23–31. 122. Quiñones Keber 1995; Hassig 2001. 123. Sahagún, Primeros memoriales, 283r. However, Gómara (1552, 129r) argued the 52-year count began on 1-Rabbit. 124. Calnek 2007. 125. Kirchhoff 2002, 377. I thank Danièle Dehouve for bringing this citation to my attention and for useful exchanges regarding Calnek’s thesis. 126. This reform also accounts for the twenty-day discrepancy between the González/San Buenaventura and Caso correlations: the former suggests a third scenario in which daykeepers inserted an extra Izcalli period without repeating the previous period’s twenty-day count, thus ending twenty days ahead of the pre-reform year. 127. 104 vague solar years and 65 Venus cycles (each lasting ~584 days) both equal a period of 37,960 days (Satterthwaite 1965, 623). 128. Hassig 2001, 87–98. 129. Chimalpahin 1997, I; Prem 2008, 196. 130. yhuin ynin quihtohua yn aquin catca ytoca Martin Tochtli Mexicatl. yn oqui-

387

notes to page s 41 – 4 8

cuillotia ynin tonalpohualizamatl yn ipan niyauh axcan nehuatl ye tlacpac oninotocateneuh ynic nicyancuilia (Chimalpahin 1997, II:119–121; Anderson and Schroeder’s translation, revised). 131. See AGN-Tierras 17(4), 248v; a transcription appears in Reyes García et al. 1996, 74–82, and is mentioned in Lockhart 1992, 154. I thank Bill Connell and Jonathan Truitt for directing me toward these sources. 132. AGN-Tierras 55(2); see Connell 2011, 83–86. 133. While Horacio Carochi called Castillo a mestizo, others doubted this identification (Navarrete 1991, 33). 134. Prem 2008, 136–137. 135. AGI México 336B, AGI México 336A; see also Bustamante 1990. 136. The copy of Serna’s Manual at the MNA contains a 1656 letter and is dedicated to Mateo de Sagade Bugueiro, Archbishop of Mexico in 1655–1662. 137. Serna 1892, 474. 138. Boturini ([1746] 1990, 106) initially identified Góngora as author of Serna’s calendar, and then amended this assertion. 139. Poole 1995, 151–158. 140. Báez Rubí 2012, 185. 141. Becerra Tanco 1675, 19r–v. 142. Castillo implicitly placed the five nemontemi on January 4, but Becerra Tanco inserted Tititl and Izcalli, miscounted Izcalli’s length, and omitted February 29, 1520. 143. BNF Mexicain 40. Medina González (1998), who proposed broad similarities between this manuscript and Chimalpahin’s annals, also observed that Mex 40 cites Torquemada’s 1615 Monarquía Indiana, and that therefore it must have been written after 1615. 144. BNF Mexicain 399. I identified Hand 2 in the Atzaqualco Catechism as the handwriting used in Histoire mexicaine, and Elizabeth Boone argued that several heraldic signs were drawn by this annalist (Boone, Burkhart, and Tavárez 2017, 104– 107, 115–121). 145. BNF Mexicain 40, 14–19. 146. Kirchhoff, Odena Güemes, and García 1989; Ricard 1966, 20. 147. Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Historia (in Codex Chimalpahin), 12v (Caso: 5-Reed, 15th of Tozoztzintli); 55r (Caso: 6-Deer, 9th of Atemoztli); 90r (Caso: 1-Water, 16th of Toxcatl). Chimalpahin dates Moteuczoma’s accession to 1502. For a recent edition of the Historia, see Alva Ixtlilxochitl 2018.

c h a p t e r t hr e e . nor t her n z a p o t e c w r i t ing, l i t e r ac y, a n d s o c ie t y 1. Smith-Stark 2007. 2. Feria stated that he composed this Doctrina following instructions issued by a Dominican chapter held at Teposcolula, and “guided and assisted [encaminado y ayudado] by the doctrina that Your Excellency [Bishop Albuquerque] made in that same Zapotec language” (Feria 1567, Prologue, iii verso, as shown in the copy preserved as 4° F 3 Th.Seld.(1) at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University).

388

notes to page s 4 8 – 5 2

3. AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 18v. Lyman Boulden (2010, 11) reported a similar process triggered by loss of tonal distinctions in minimal pairs. 4. My table’s format is indebted to Smith-Stark 2003 and Smith-Stark 2008, 380, and Foreman and Lillehaugen 2017, 265. 5. CO-231v, 271v. For a full list of Zapotec catechetical imprints and manuscripts, see Tavárez 2017. 6. Kaufman 2015. 7. Here, período, a term borrowed from ancient Greek, refers to a sentence, as in Aristotle, Rhetoric 3.9. 8. Reyes 1891, 28; my emphases. Pace Reyes, as documented in the songbooks (see appendix) and other texts, this intrusive /i/ has a broad distribution, with at least one restriction: it appears at the boundary between a word that ends with the vowels /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and a word that begins with a consonant. 9. Sonnenschein 2005, 41; Long and Cruz 2000, 415. 10. Reyes [1794] 1891, 40: ze-chaga-ba, PRG-get.tired-3an; Martín 1696, 21: ta-goa cauallo go-loho-ba silla, HAB-bring horse CMP-place-3an saddle. 11. AHJO-VA Civil 255, L17-E13, 1r. 12. AHJO-VA Civil 236, L16-E7, 1r, 2r. 13. AHJO-VA Civil 25, L3-E1, 28r; AHJO-VA Civil 368, L22-E26, 1v; AHJO-VA Civil 598, L33-E18, 11r. 14. See, for instance, AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 10v (seventeenth century); AHJO-VA Civil 52, L4-E6, 1v (1689); AHJO-VA Civil 180, L11-E21, 1v (1744). 15. Data for CVZ affi xes comes from Smith-Stark 2008 and Broadwell 2015. For Yalalag Zapotec verbs, see López and Newberg 2005. For Yatzachi and Zoogocho Zapotec, see Butler 2000; Long and Cruz 2000. 16. Levanto 1766, 35; Broadwell 2021. 17. Reyes [1704] 1891, 28; AHJO-VA Civil 52, L4-E6, 13r: ciy-yeg-li-lach-aa to-ci Dios, CMP2-go-straight-heart-1sg, “I believed in one God.” 18. Reyes [1704] 1891, 33. 19. As conclusion to the discussion of Zapotec motion verbs in Speck and Pickett (1976), Pickett (1976) documented the aspect marker z- and zi-, and informally called it “on-the-wayative.” Smith-Stark (2008, 408) then identified the aspect marker z- and c- in CVZ as progresivo de movimiento, “progressive movement.” An alternative to Pickett and Smith-Stark’s analysis exists: CNZ forms such as zeag could be interpreted as stative verbs, following the analysis of contemporary Zapotec variants spoken in Yatzachi el Bajo (Butler 1980), Yalalag (López and Newberg 2005), and Zoogocho (Sonnenschein 2005). These three grammatical descriptions identify only four verbal aspect markers (continuative, stative, completive, and potential), and analyze verbs of motion such as zej as statives, as it appears that there is no habitual/ progressive contrast in those variants (Broadwell 2015). However, CNZ texts do not record the andative and venitive forms attested in the contemporary variants. I embrace Pickett’s and Smith-Stark’s analysis, based on the following facts. First, as the appendix demonstrates, there are many attestations of motion verbs (“go,” “return,” “arrive,” “come out,” “go up”) and a few other verbs (“eat”), that mark a progressive aspect with ce- or ci-. Second, Reyes ([1704] 1891, 40), following Córdova (1578b, 66r), identified zee- as denoting “perseverance.” Hence, this work identifies the aspect

389

notes to page s 5 2 – 55

marker ce- and ci- in CNZ as PRM, “progressive movement,” as it marks this aspect primarily in motion verbs. Progressive movement ce-, ci- is different from the progressive ca-, whose historical development is discussed in Broadwell 2015. 20. For hua-, see Song 100-1:2, hua-zoo yoobi, “The honorable ones have been present.” Broadwell (2021) suggested the Proto-Central Zapotec reconstruction *gwa-, “perfect,” which accounts for CVZ hua- and for ba- in some contemporary languages, and also for CNZ ba-, which may also have the unbound form baa, “already.” 21. Smith-Stark 2008, 393; Broadwell 2015, 162, 179. 22. Long and Cruz 2000, 442, 445. 23. Córdova 1578b, 61. 24. RA, personal communication, 2020; BU-215. 25. AHJO-VA Civil 368, L22-E26, 2r; Reyes 1704, 28. See also AHJO-VA Civil 44, L3-E19, 10r: niaque ba-ti be-yobi neto lao guichi (because already-EC CMP-recognize 1plE on paper), “because we have already acknowledged in the document.” 26. In Lachirioag (RA, 2017), -te indicates that the action of a verb in the completive form has been finalized indeed; w-dita, “played”; w-dita-te, “finished playing.” BU-294 glosses -te as an emphatic, and also as “later.” 27. Córdova 1578b, 61. For negative constructions, some of which include the couplet aca zoo chij aca zabi guela, “the day does not exist, the night does not exist,” see Anderson and Lillehaugen 2016. 28. Broadwell 2015, 173, 179; see appendix. 29. Pacheco de Silva 1687, xvii verso. 30. AHJO-VA Civil 60, L4-E14, 1r; CO-177v: “to inherit from my father,” to-llàni-a xi-quichàa pi-xòze-a. 31. Operstein (2003, 171) examined -no in Rincón and Lachixío Zapotec; in the latter, it refers to infants or beloved elders. 32. Chance 1989, 17–21. 33. CO-52v: “battle,” quela yè 34. BU-366: “around here,” nil ə. 35. AGI México 882 971v; 1487r; 1491r. 36. Wood 2003, 124: oaçico in tlaneltoquiliztli, “the true faith arrived.” 37. See Tavárez 2019, 101–102. 38. See Chance (1989, 33–34) for the Analco Papers. For the Lienzo de Analco, a pictographic record of warfare in the region, see König [1993] 2010, and Yannakakis 2008. 39. It was composed by the escribano Hernán Pérez. 40. See Chance 1989 and Calvo 2011 for a discussion of town officials in Zapotec communities. 41. See, for instance, the 1704 Yalálag idolatry confession (AGI México 882, 750r–752r). 42. For examples of yoo lahui lichi Rey with the occasional Audiencia, see AHJOVA Civil 255, L17-E13, 1r (1681); AHJO-VA Civil 52, L4-E6, 6r (1689); AHJO-VA Civil 44, L3-E19, 10r (1709). 43. AHJO-VA Civil 360, L22-E17, 46r. There are three separate translations of this dispatch: one for dissemination among twenty Nexitzo towns (AHJO-VA Civil 360, L22-E17, 47r), another for twenty-seven Caxonos towns (45r), and a third one for

390

notes to page s 55 – 61

thirty-four Bixanos and Chinantec towns (46r). These translations differ minimally from each other, primarily in terms of spelling preferences. The copy for Nexitzo and Caxonos communities was drafted in the same hand, similar to that of Juan de Orozco, who served as Villa Alta court interpreter between the early 1750s and the mid 1770s. However, the spellings used by Orozco or his assistant are inconsistent, as the Nexitzo copy contains some Caxonos spellings, while the Caxonos copy conforms to non-Caxonos spellings. 44. See also CO-170r: “in another, ancient time,” xi-layòo co-làça (POS-earth CMP-turn), which corresponds to the Northern Zapotec phrase leo go-laza (earth CMP-turn). Yannakakis and Schrader-Kniff ki (2016, 531) proposed that leo golaza meant “law (leo) of olden times.” However, Northern Zapotec writers borrowed Spanish terms for “law” and “king” as lei and rey. Thus, lei for “law,” but not leo, appears in the aforementioned 1774 dispatch (AHJO-VA Civil 360, L22-E17, 47r). 45. AHJO-VA Civil 598, L33-E18, 11v. 46. Agustín García’s 1648 will identified don Juan “Gonsales” (rather than Gonsalo) as “the son” of one of his witnesses, Gerónimo de Chávez Pea Quiçoba of Zoogocho (AHJO-VA Civil 213, L3-E25, 9r). While Quiçoba’s 1649 will named another descendant, Bartolomé Lopes, as an heir, his son Juan Gonsalo did sign this will as alcalde. In 1649, Quiçoba would have been sixty, as he was reported to be a nineyear-old in 1598 (AHJO-VA Civil 196, L13-E6, 1r–v). 47. See Tavárez 2008, 40. 48. In a broad-ranging discussion of Zapotec wills and narratives, Romero Frizzi and Oudijk (2003) briefly mention these two Zoogocho testaments. For the first analysis of a Colonial Valley Zapotec text that bears a 1565 date and was later analyzed by Oudijk, see Terraciano, Munro, et al. 2005. 49. AGA 276.1/1803-legajo 2, 34r–36v. 50. Belagneza could mean 7-, 10- or 12-Water. Nonetheless, in keeping with the pattern identified above, it is interpreted here as 7-Water. 51. As discussed in chapter 6 and shown in table 6.1, the Memoria de Juquila lists Domingo Bilagniza as the ancestor of Talea, and the eighteenth-century Probanza de Yelabichi names a Bilagniza as the grandfather of Caxonos peoples. 52. In the 1595 will, these four men, whose office is not mentioned, appear as one of two Bartolomé López, either Queçelao (13-Monkey/Crow/Face) or Yalachi (5/9-Jaguar/Lizard); Pedro Pérez Tia Lala (4/8/11-Night); Juan López Quecetzina (13Deer); and Thomas López Tia Laa (4/8/11-Wind~8/11-Reed). 53. AHJO-VA Civil 213, L13-E25, 11r. The present-day Lache Dia Beag is located near the barrio of Santa Cruz Shla Bar, in the direction of Yatzachi el Bajo (Odilia Romero, personal communication, 2020). 54. AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 1r–40r, 77r–v. 55. AHJO-VA Civil 25, L3-E1. 56. Whitecotton 2003; Arellano Hernández 2017. 57. AHJO-VA Criminal 23 L2-E1, 39r. Don Diego’s translator reported that Tio meant león, a reference to the only lion-like large feline in Mesoamerica, Puma concolor, puma or mountain lion. 58. CO-219v, 115r. For a different view, see Arellano Hernández 2017. 59. BU-21. Beag or bia is a generic term for animals and some plants. 60. AGA 276.1/1803-legajo 2, 34r–36r.

391

notes to page s 61 – 6 8

61. AHJO-VA Civil 231, L16-E1, 17r. 62. Parsons 1936, 80. 63. AHJO-VA Civil 196, L13-E6, 1v; AHJO-VA Civil 213, L13-E25, 10r; AHJO-VA Civil 231, L16-E1, 17r–18v. 64. AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 16r–v; AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 18r–v; AHJO-VA Civil 508, L29-E18, 8r–10v. 65. CO-349r. 66. Bierhorst 1985; Read and Rosenthal 2006; León-Portilla 2011. 67. My translation. For earlier translations, see Bierhorst 1985, 388; Read and Rosenthal 2006, 327; León-Portilla 2011, II:1053. 68. See Tavárez 2017; for a discussion of the Zaachila dynasty, see Zeitlin 2005. 69. CO-187r: “this is,” laatij. 70. CO-38v: “shrouded,” peni n-ooli-hui. 71. CO-166v: “seize,” ti-ñaaze-a; CO-44r: “trap someone with an argument,” tiñaze-a láo ticha. 72. CO-236r: “difficult thing,” na-gána. 73. CO-263r: “be damaged,” ti-lòte-a. 74. CO-255r: “be accursed,” ti-zàca-ya. 75. CO-323r: “possible,” ni-zo-àca. 76. CO-210r: “keep God’s commandments,” t-o-ni . . . chahui-a. 77. CO-270r: “young boy,” pini huijni. 78. CO-74v: “woman or man of marriageable age,” peni huayàca . . . cochàgañaani. 79. CO-139v: “differently”; CO-257r: “in a different way,” cachèe cachèe. 80. CO-139v: “for one thing to differ from another,” xiàa xiàa nàca; CO-117r: “in many ways,” xiàa xiàa. 81. CO-300r: “parable,” ticha-pèa . . . ná-coxàba-ni. 82. “Universal” appears as a gloss for nallahui as a marginal note in the Miscelano copy held at the John Carter Brown Library. 83. Levanto 1766, v–r. 84. For a different perspective, see Farriss 2018. 85. Sahagún 1950–1982, Book 6, 137. For the ceiba as sacred Maya tree, see Bassie-Sweet 2014, 72-82. 86. AGN-BN 596, no. 45; Tavárez 2011, 78. 87. Agüero 1666, 142 (Catechism); CO-111r: “suck,” ti-cóoba-ya. 88. I thank Michael Galant for his valuable comments regarding this translation, table 3.2, and the first half of this chapter. 89. AGI México 882, fols. 1519, 1520, 1523, 1524. This watermark bears the number “2” in the lowermost circle and has curlicues near its cross; the upper circle resembles watermarks 5347 and 5255 in Briquet (1907, II: appendix). According to Valls i Subirà (1980, 120–121), the three-circle-with-cross watermark is found in Genoese paper and copied by French paper mills. These paper stocks circulated broadly in Spanish America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 90. Tavárez 2006. 91. Tavárez 2011, 152. Ruis admitted to buying a manual from López for three reales, but the collective confession does not confirm that he surrendered it to authorities. 92. Modern pagination reflects changes introduced since 1999. 93. Martín 1696. 392

not es t o page s 87 – 93

94. Rodys 2013. 95. AGI México 882, 935r; Díaz Patri 2009, 58. 96. Crocker 2000, 54. 97. AGI México 882, 403v. 98. AGI México 882, 1463r. 99. Literally, chinohua lani is “three hundred feasts” (CO-412r). Alternatively, chinohua could be a variant of -chijño, -tija-chijño, “to be eternal, infinite.” CO-192v: “be eternal,” ti-chijño-a; 234r: tija-chijño-a. The words for “year” (yza) and “night” (quela) also appear in the construction tija-chijño yza guela, which Córdova glosses as “forever” (300r), while t-áca tija-chíño yza quela—lit., “it is Lineage Thirteen year(s) and night(s)”—is glossed, “for something to last forever or infinitely” (148r). 100. CO-149v: “be poured . . . like cacao,” ti-çòa. 101. CO-52r: “be enough, reach completion,” ti-zaa; BU-191: “have the full amount,” ch-za’. 102. CO-140r: “for time to be delayed,” ti-chee chij; 276r: “a lot of time,” ti-chèe; 138v: “day,” chèe. Alternative glosses for tí-chèe-a include “to be fi lled up, to be full thus, to be taken up” (CO-217r, 220v, 287r). BU-80–81: ch-chi, “to cram, pack in,” CMP, b-chi. 103. CO-100r: “be forty,” ti-tòa; Córdova 1578b, 99v: “forty,” to˘ua. This phrase would contain the completive be- instead of the usual go- for numbers, and tza/cha as a connector; the latter appears in numbers discussed in Munro and Sonnenschein 2007. 104. AHJO-VA Civil 180, L11-E21, 1v. 105. See AHJO-VA Civil 322, L20-E17, 1v (1769). 106. AGI México 882, 452r, 1134v. Piyè xòo was “creator of everything” (CO-98v, 141r). 107. Taylor 1996. 108. Martínez 2008, 124–134. 109. Martínez Baracs 1993. 110. Villella 2016, 244–247. 111. AGI México 882, 341v. 112. AGI México 882, 572v, 615v. 113. CO-235v: “appoint someone to office,” ti-co-a. 114. See Tavárez 2008, 35; Tavárez 2017, 44. I warmly thank Juana Vásquez Vásquez for her comments regarding my 2008 translation. For a different translation, see Farriss 2014, 163–164.

c h a p t e r fou r . t he sh a p e s of t he u n i v er se: t heor ie s of t ime a n d spac e 1. Sense retained in BU-278: ch’oa puert, “portal.” 2. AGI México 882, 500r. I read bi-casa as bi-saca, “[we] celebrated,” a verb in Manual 13. For be-zi, see 399n54. Alternative, BU-198: ch-zi, “drip down.” 3. CO-35r: “profit from,” ti-cij-paa-ya. 4. Tentative translation as potential form of t-àca-lèe, “be presented” (CO-193v). CO-6v: “for writings to be explained,” t-àca-lèe ticha. 5. CO-335r: “which day,” cáa chijxa. 393

notes to page s 93 – 9 8

6. Seler 1901–1902. 7. Seler 1901–1902; Boone (2007, 115) provides two diagrams that depict both iterations. 8. AGI México 882, 528r-v. 9. For the marriage alliances of Santiago and relatives, see Sousa 2016, 357. 10. Calvo 2010, 135; don Zipriano is mentioned as Santiago’s father in AHJO-VA Civil 60, L4-E14, 8r. 11. AGI México 882, 255r. However, Juan’s name also appears in Manual 6. 12. Ángel Ximénez offered feathers and precious stones at Yaquiee Mountain (AGI México 882, 255v). Don Antonio Ximénez drafted the 1677 will of Felipe Bautista (AHJO-VA Civil 25, L3-E1, 28r). 13. AHJO-VA Civil 60, L4-E14, 16r–17v. 14. AGI México 882, 266r–267v (Manual 5); 280v–281v (Manual 6). 15. AGI México 882, 1253r. 16. Literally, “Communities on the land.” 17. Manuel Ríos Morales (2012, 146–148), an anthropologist from the Sierra Norte who has focused on the study of Northern Zapotec societies, interprets this diagram as a Mesoamerican “humanized essence,” and proposes that Underworld is associated with “condemnation,” Earth with “everyday experiences,” and Sky with “rest, enjoyment.” Various conceptions of the connection between temporal and spatial domains persist in other contemporary Mesoamerican societies. As analyzed by Juan Carlos Reyes Gómez (2017, 17–27), the Ayuuk couplet it-xëëw, “space-time,” expresses a complex and “indivisible entity” that also denotes the notion of “date” in the Ayuuk divinatory count. 18. Joyce 2004. 19. Urcid 2005, 120, 94. 20. I thank Marina Garone Gravier for her many insights on amanuensis practice in New Spain, which helped me propose this analysis of graphic elements in Manual 11. 21. Ocharte reused in the Feria-Albuquerque Doctrina a woodblock depicting a Dominican preaching to the Saracens, originally used in Improbatio Alcorani, Riccoldo da Montecroce’s 1500 treatise, printed by Stanislaus Polonius in Seville. This woodblock was given to the Crombergers when they brought the first printing press to the Americas in 1539, and would have been passed on to Juan Pablos, and then Ocharte (Tavárez 2017, 291). For the production of colonial imprints in Indigenous languages in the context of educational policies, see Garone Gravier 2019. 22. I thank Erika Loic for her kind assistance regarding rotunda types, which led to the identification of the Feria-Albuquerque Doctrina type as one that matches the Ratdolt specimens. For Ratdolt’s 9:130G type, see https://tw.staatsbibliothek-berlin .de/ma00403. 23. AGI México 882, 372r, 373v. 24. CO-188v: “estar, ser,” t-èe-a. 25. BU-109: ch-exjw, “descend”; AHJO-VA Civil 98, L7-E7, 1r: b-exog lichi guia frasco, “the jar came out from the jail”; BU-84: ch-choj, “come out.” 26. Seler 1980, II:251–253. 27. See Tavárez 2020 for a more detailed discussion of statements about feast movements in the manuals. 28. CO-78v: “be taken,” ti-roa; bi-roag-ti (CMP-be.taken-E). 394

notes to page s 101 – 115

29. Seler 1901–1902, 14–16. 30. This interpretation of the similarities between Manual 11 and Vaticanus B 15– 16 was introduced in Tavárez 2020, 203, note 8. 31. Córdova 1578b, 115v–116r. 32. Manuals 5, 9, 34, 35, 36, 37, 41, 47-2, 53, 54, 57, 82, 83, 84, 85-1, 85-2. 33. Manuals 8, 10, 13, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 30, 68, 74, 76, 89, 99. 34. CO-148v: “Hey!”; CO-216v: “Here it is.” 35. RA, 2020. 36. BU-4: ba(1), “warm season”; ba’a, “smooth, good, beautiful, large.” 37. Manuals 5–8, 13, 17–26, 29–32, 37–38, 40–42, 45–46, 47-1, 48–49, 52, 55, 58– 59, 62, 66-1, 71, 74–76, 82, 85-1, 87–95, 97–99. All listed the fifty-two years, except for truncated lists in Manuals 13, 26, 40, and 58. 38. Seler 1980, I:21–23, 253. 39. BU-328: yelə’(2), jilote, “tender maize ear.” 40. CO-375r: “grown . . . maize plant,” quèela tào. 41. Seler (1980, II:42) identifies the Borgia 39 deities as Red and Black Quetzalcoatl, and Boone (2007, 197) as Stripe-Eye and Xochipilli. 42. Seler 1980, II:11. 43. CO-81r: “food”; 95v: “harvest”; 299r: “bread, wheat.” The word for Gozobi in Lachirioag, Wazob, still refers to maize as gift and blessing, as in the phrase knhaz ba-gane wa-zob do’o, “it is sad to leave behind the great Gozobi,” uttered when a corncob is carelessly left on the ground (RA, 2020). 44. Manuals 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 28, 33, 34, 35, 39, 40, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47-2, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 64, 66-2, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84. 45. CO-400r: “weave, be woven”; BU-46: chabə, “weave,” 3pl, sa’abə. It is less likely that latag chaba referred to chàba (CO-261r), “a tumpline”; chàba (CO-196r), a feast children organized to commemorate their parents; na-chàba, “be dirty” (CO392v); or chápa, “maiden” (CO-146r). 46. Manuals 7, 8, 17, 21, 22, 23, 30, 42, 63, 89, 99. 47. CO-355v; 71r; 267v. I thank Eduardo Ruiz-Sánchez and Javier Rendón Sandoval for graciously sharing with me their expertise about, and photographs of, plant specimens. 48. CO-310r: “get lost”; 114v: “be spent”; 135v: “destroy.” 49. CO-279v: “nothing.” 50. CO-187r: “corner”; see also “land plot” (CO-390v) and “nose” (CO-279v). 51. CO-80r: “yellow”; BU-224: gaš ə, “yellow.” 52. CO-317v: “poor.” 53. CO-57v: ti-cána-ya, “fly in swirling motion.” 54. For a different interpretation, see Cruz 2007. 55. CO-184v; 262r. 56. Urcid 2005, 50–66. 57. CO-14v; 196v; 55v; xi-làha or xi-làa is a possessive form of ti-làha, “to be sharp” (CO-14v). 58. Rendón Sandoval 2014, 22. 59. See Ruiz-Sánchez et al. 2015 for the morphology of Olmeca refl exa. 60. AGN Inquisición 473-I, 571, 573. 61. CO-105v: “near,” le-çáa-ni; 133v: “later,” co-lèza; 266r: “tavern,” yóho lèza. It 395

notes to page s 115 – 12 4

is less likely that this term is the imperative plural form le-zaa, 2pl.IMP-go, “go on, you”; see BU-252, “go on,” le’e-ža. 62. Alternative translation: “Flower [yeg] of the Carrier [huiah].” 63. CO-372v: “plump,” ni na-yòozàa. Alternative, CO-273v: “mulberry,” yaga peyozaa; BU-30, “mulberry,” yag b-oza. 64. In Northern Zapotec texts, and as shown in the appendix, bichi usually means “brother,” and has a systematic orthographic differentation from bechi/beche, “jaguar.” 65. Urcid 2005. 66. Agüero 1666, A2v; Tavárez 2017, 41–43. 67. Alternative, “Period of Ten.” 68. CO-254r: “maize . . . dried up,” pèche; 380r: “seed.” 69. CO-14v: “boil secretion”; 27v: “wart,” pitèe. 70. BU-174: ch-te, “be eaten up,” CMP: b-te. 71. CO-286r: “be obliged to keep . . . commandments, feasts,” ti-lipi-a; “bound,” na-lipi; CO-325v: “be imprisoned, ti-lipi-a. 72. AGI México 882, 1086v. It also depicts a seven-day cycle for Huechaa and a five-day cycle for Eci. 73. CO-69v: “wildlands in general”; 228r: “plant in general”; quijxi. 74. Folio 709v, not shown, illustrates one array for women and another for men, each containing twelve circles surrounding a central circle—a circuit that nopia çolao quibaba, “will start to be counted on 12-Soaproot.” 75. AGI México 882, 707r. I thank John Justeson (personal communication, 2018) for suggesting that this note may refer to an eclipse expected on 13-Soaproot/ 1710, as there was no eclipse visible in Northern Oaxaca in 1658. 76. Alcina Franch 1993, 130–132. 77. BU-146: ch-o’e, “give,” CMP: be’. These indications mean either “give to . . .” or “. . . gave.” 78. CO-152r: “for free or in vain,” cáni. 79. CO-140v: “diminutive,” ci; 110v: “little,” cí. 80. BU-34: “with all of one’s forces,” caga de’e de, confirmed by RA. 81. Seler 1980, I:19; Nowotny 2005, 247. 82. Boone (2007, 75), citing an assertion by Lipp (1991, 132) that Mixe daykeepers associated multiples of nine with men and multiples of seven with women, linked 9and 7-day patterns in the Borgia and Cospi to gender divisions. 83. CO-192v: “be eternal,” ti-chijño-a. By itself, chinoa meant “300.” If this label was strictly numerical, then it may refer to a cycle from Day 42 of one 260-day count to Day 82 of the next one. 84. Urcid and Domínguez 2013; Brittenham and Uriarte 2015. 85. Boone 2007, 213–226. 86. Domenici 2017, 503–504. 87. Seler 1903; Seler 1980; Nowotny 2005; Bricker 2001; Boone 2007, 179–185; Milbrath 2013, 77–81; Jansen and Pérez Jiménez 2017, 451–469. 88. Boone 2007, 175–176. 89. Seler 1901–1902, 14. 90. Boone 2007, 55. 91. Anders, Jansen, and Reyes García 1993; see also Boone 2007, 179. 92. Boone 2007, 14. 396

notes to page s 125 – 14 0

93. In Lachirioag, chhi means “edge.” Alternative reading of leto: letaj, “descent” (RA, 2017). 94. CO-173v: “be buried,” ti-càchi-a; “burial,” quela co-cachi. 95. CO-255v: “someone who sucks,” t-àachi nìchi; 54v: “drink by sucking,” t-achia; 241v: “to suck milk,” t-aachi. Alternative: “Barren Field”; CO-228r, “barren,” tàche. 96. While Laxoo is the Northern Zapotec name 4-Earthquake, it is also a nearhomophone of Urcid’s (2005, 16) proposal for a personal name recorded in Monte Albán, and composed by Glyph M (laa, “lightning”) and Glyph E (xoo, “strong”). In Valley Zapotec, Laa Xoo, “strong lightning,” is distinct from 4-Earthquake, Calaxoo (Córdova 1578b). 97. Cave Nine, Cave Seven, and Blood Lake were first identified as names for Zapotec places of origin in Oudijk 2000, and a convergence between Blood Lake and an illustration in the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca was hypothesized in Oudijk 2008. 98. AGI México 882, 188v–189. 99. Ancestors named Bichitog also appear in Tabaa Lienzo 1 and the Lienzo de Comaltepec. 100. Another directive appears in Manual 97 (AGI México 882, 1546v): yoolao çolao quibaba xoa bezi ya guita, “On 5-Monkey, one begins to count the lords who received the Reed Hills.” 101. There were alternative arrangements; for instance, Manual 27 aligns Field of the Burial with the two trecenas between 13-Wind (Day 182) and 13-Rabbit (Day 208). 102. An alternative theory in Manual 87 (AGI México 882, 1444r) proposed a different association: Blood Field with 8/11-Dew, Sharpness with 4/11-Soaproot, and Burial with 5-Snake. 103. The only exception is one reference, in Song 100-6:2, to Queche Cila Yebaa, “Town of Dawn in the Sky,” which could be an allusion to Venus. 104. CO-191v. 105. CO-42v, 248v, 383v; BU-346: ze’e(1), wall. 106. Sonnenschein 2005, 176. 107. The term yehia can be read as yeyiaj, “adjoining mountains.” It could also be y-eyaj, POT-close, thus yielding tze yehia, “the seat will close” (RA, 2020). 108. Alternative: CO-255v: “malevolent,” pèni hui-chije; 254r: “bad thing,” ni-hui-chije. 109. CO-186v: “thorn,” quéchi; 15r: “iron lancet,” quechi quiba yào. 110. CO-385r: “shadow.” Alternative: CO-122r: “rest.” 111. Sahagún 1950–1982, Book 10, 192; my translation.

c h a p t e r f i v e . de i t i e s , s ac r e d be i ng s , a n d t he i r f e a s t s 1. Monaghan 1998. 2. While the first element resembles bi-, this animacy prefi x usually precedes a noun. 3. CO-29r, 186v; Kaufman (2016, 15) reconstructed bee in all Zapotec branches as kweeʔ. 4. Smith-Stark 1999; Weitlaner and De Cicco 1961. For Diego Luis, see Tavárez 2011. 397

notes to page s 14 0 – 149

5. AGI México 882, 305r; Alcina Franch 1993, 75, 114. 6. Alcina Franch (1993, 96–111) proposed different comparisons between Diego Luis’s list and Northern Zapotec and Central Mexican deities. 7. Smith-Stark (1999) groups this deity with Pitào zii pitào yàa, “deity of misery,” and Pitào tèe, “deity of evil.” Vetao Si, Deity (E)ci, was petitioned so that priests would not ask Betaza residents questions “about the Christian doctrine” (AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 31v). 8. CO-167r, 329r: “female genitor”; 252v, “womb,” co-zàana. 9. CO-40v: “artisan”; 253r, “expert in a craft,” co-pèeche. 10. AGI México 882, 158r–177v, Day 10-Face; CO-40v, 45r, 151v, 332r. The substitution of co- with hua- still occurs in Lachirioag, as the deity Co-zobi is called Wa-zob (RA, 2020). 11. “Maker, Modeler” (Tedlock 1996, 67); “Framer, Shaper” (Christenson 2007, 34). For a recent reexamination of the Popol Vuh, see Chinchilla 2017. 12. CO-69r: “be changed,” ti-chaa-ya; 220v: “be fi lled,” ti-chaa. For hue-chaa, see CO-22v, 186v, 427v. 13. CO-144r: “pain”; 165v, “illness,” huèe. 14. Berlin 1963; Chinchilla 2017. 15. CO-288r: “offering”; 329v, “promise”; 367v, “sacrifice”; 428v, “vow,” quij. 16. AGI México 882, 385v, formerly 393v. 17. CO-13r: “bundle”; 257v, “handful,” xijca. 18. CO-19v: “disturber,” co-pilla-yé. 19. RA, 2017. 20. Marcus and Flannery 1996, 224; Urcid 2005, 21. 21. BU-62: “to sow,” ch-az(3), POT: gazə; “to put in,” ch-az(5), POT: gaz. 22. AGI México 882, 997r–v. 23. Jansen and Pérez Jiménez (2017, 117) suggested the Mixtec divine couple 1-Eagle and 1-Dog were equivalent to Ohxomoco and Cipactonal. 24. AGI México 882, 708v. Manual 37’s Huichana images were echoed by Simón de Santiago of Betaza, who confessed that, after ingesting cuana betao, he spoke with “small people who walk by” called Guitzana Tao Goque, Great Huichana Lords (AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 39r). 25. This statement’s likely authors were three relatives who shared the name “Juan Mendoza,” or two namesakes called “Pedro López” (see table 3.3). 26. CO-253v: “largest of all,” ni-tào. 27. CO-314r: “picietl [cured tobacco],” quèeza. 28. CO-28v: “be near, accompany,” ti-zò-nào-a. 29. CO-84r: “to agree,” te-xija; “agreement,” quela-hue-xija cháhui. 30. CO-367v: “sacrifice,” cóna; BU-228, “offering,” gon. 31. BU-179: “to be located, to lie . . . flat,” ch-xoa, CMP: gw-xoa. 32. CO-226r: “joined thus, together,” ñee. 33. AGI México 882, 1328v. 34. CO-196r: “guarantor,” co-pa tiñe, co-bèe tiñe; 325v, “guarantee,” cò-pa tiñe. 35. The alternative would yield a 156-day period between 10-Caiman and 10-Earthquake, not noted elsewhere as a significant period. 36. Urcid and Domínguez 2013, 638. 37. The authors disambiguate between “reed field” and “mountain” by capitalizing the y in quiYaa, as yaa means “reed.” 398

notes to page s 15 0 – 16 0

38. Bierhorst 1992, 145–147. 39. Boone 2007, 207–208. Quetzalcoatl’s twin, Xolotl, carries a torch and a Venus sign in Codex Dresden 40. 40. CO-236r: “Mixtec interpreter,” quela-yóhui. 41. Jansen and Pérez Jiménez 2017, 248–249. 42. Jansen and Pérez Jiménez (2017, 114–116) discuss Yaa Yuta and an associated entity, 1-Eagle, the “grandmother of the river.” 43. Boone 2007, 42; for itztapal-, see Karttunen 1992, 108. 44. BU-306. This naming pattern for precious minerals also occurs in Nahuatl, which uses teocuitlatl, “divine excrement,” for “gold.” 45. CO-385r: “shadow.” I read -da as -tàa, “to flay something, like one’s hand,” and “be peeled”: CO-134v, ti-tàa ñaa-ya, HAB-flay hand-1sg; 272v, ti-táa. 46. Urcid (2005, 87–88) suggests the Xipe cult existed in Zapotec polities, as reflected in several entries in Córdova’s dictionary, and by flayed-skin mask depictions in Cerro de la Campana’s Tomb 5. 47. I warmly acknowledge the assistance of the late Ana Díaz Álvarez (personal communication, 2015) for suggesting a comparison of Borgia 25 and Zapotec calendars to assess the significance of 10-Earthquake, and for many insightful comments about my analysis. 48. Nowotny 2005; Díaz and Rodgers 1993, xxi; Anders, Jansen and Reyes 1993; Díaz Álvarez 2014. 49. Aveni 1999, S5. 50. Bricker 2001. 51. Vail 2015. 52. Boone 2007, 219–220. 53. BU-111: che-yalə’, “cool down”; CO-347r: “be refreshed”; 396r, “be lukewarm,” te-yàla-ya. 54. BU-169: ch-si’, “call, name,” CMP: b-si’. 55. Manual 53’s circle arrangement is depicted without labels in Manual 57, AGI México 882, 1143r. 56. CO-240r: “be hurt or in pain”; 198r, “be emaciated,” ti-huèe-a. 57. This progression is copied in Manual 54 (not shown), with two changes: 9-Water is for bene napa yeche, “people who guard the town,” and 3-Eye belongs to bene goxana reho, “people who gave us birth.” 58. CO-359v: “be strong,” ti-xóo-a. 59. Alternative: CO-199r: “be forced or be thus necessary,” ti-quiña-ya. 60. CO-307r: “flint,” quìe quèça. 61. CO-88r: “opportune, in time,” pèa cani. 62. The last row has eight circles instead of seven, but the annotation refers to “seven days.” 63. RA: b-ion, “it sprouted, emerged.” Alternative: CO-53v: “nurture plants”; 83r, “fi x well,” te-òni-cháhui-a. 64. Alternative: CO-130v: “for something to crumble, collapse,” t-eàa. 65. CO-307r: “small piece”; 317v: “a little,” làci; CO-118r: “part that belongs to me”; 390v: “allotment,” làaci. RA, 2016: “being adjacent to, next to,” ledo. 66. CO-127v: “be undone,” ti-chílla. 67. CO-88v: “for God to preserve things”; 243r: “lift up,” ti-lláni-a. 68. CO-261v: “doctor,” hui-ñaa. 399

notes to page s 16 0 – 18 4

69. BU-93–94: ch-e’, “say, call, command”; STA: n-e’. 70. CO-415v: “humid land,” cò-cha; 217v: “bloated,” co-chaa. 71. Seler 1963, I:253–256. 72. CO-227v: “be lying down,” nàa-xea. This verb may recur in the name of the sacred being Bixeag Lachi, discussed in chapter 6. 73. CO-197v: “set in place,” lipi, na-lipi; 384r, “be solid,” ti-lìpi-a. Not to be confused with -lípi-, “be tied up.” 74. A variant in Manual 97 (AGI México 882, 1546v, 1550v) lists ten xoa xia be, “lords of the fate of winds,” and nine xoa xia bini, “lords of the fate of seeds.” 75. CO-45v: “be fi xed like a nail . . . on a wall,” t-àça. 76. CO-257v: “handful,” chòno. 77. AGI México 882, 1099v. A similar arrangement appears in Manual 54, AGI México 882, 1114r. 78. AGI México 882, 157r–v. 79. They began on Day 12, 12-Soaproot, and continued on Day 32, 6-Soaproot; Day 56, 4-Eye; Day 84, 6-Lizard; Day 136, 6-Eye; Day 188, 6-Rabbit; and Day 240, 6-Face. 80. CO-363v: “something broken . . . due to age,” hu-eàa. 81. Tipa is glossed as “strong man’s force” (CO-201v); “verve” (CO-83v); see BU91: ch-dip, “have strength.” 82. The emphatic -te after tipa may signal excessive force, in keeping with Mesoamerican notions about dangerous imbalances.

c h a p t er si x . singing t he a nc e s t or s b ac k t o e a r t h 1. AHJO-VA Civil 196, L13-E6, 1v; 4r. See chapter 3. 2. Romero Frizzi and Vásquez Vásquez 2003. 3. AHJO-VA Civil 228, L15-E6, 5r-6r; Tavárez 2019. 4. AGN-Tierras 1303 (2), 48–52; Fuente 1949. 5. König 2010; Oudijk (2000, 186–201) discusses Tabaa Lienzo 1 and 2 as well as the Tabaa Genealogy. 6. AHJO-VA Civil 321, L20-E16, 1r; AHJO-VA Civil 213, L3-E25, 9r. 7. Romero Frizzi and Vásquez Vásquez 2013. 8. AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 19v. The place to which quiha, “high place, mountain” refers is ambiguous, and thus this sentence may also refer to a descent onto the mountains where Zapotecs live in the Northern Sierra. 9. CO-227v: “already,” cià. Alternative: BU-284: “well,” sia. 10. AHJO-VA Civil 196, L13-E6, 5r. 11. CO-397v: “be held by force”; 325r: “hold tightly,” ti-quijchi-a. CO-224r: “be stolen,” ti-laana-ya; BU-133: ch-lan, “seize.” 12. AHJO-VA Civil 196, L13-E6, 3r. 13. CO-243r: “to be raised,” t-iáça; CO-53r: “to be baptized,” t-àçea niça. 14. CO-297v: “to pay a debt,” ti-quíxe-a, CMP: coti-; BU-428: “to pay,” ch-yixjw. 15. CO-93r; co-lóo-quíchi, AG-root-paper. 16. Yachialag was identified as Comaltepec’s Zapotec name (AHJO-VA Civil 228, L15-E6, 5v/8r). In Nahuatl, comal-tepe-c means “at Comal Hill.” I propose the analysis ya chial la(g), Hill of Hot/Sharp-Edged Comal, as “comal” (griddle) is žil (BU-354), “hot,” la(1), and “sharp,” la(2) (BU-242, 243). 400

notes to page s 18 4 – 19 0

17. AGI México 882, 697r–699v. These sites were Yago Guelalao, Yelalao, Yela Beo Xochi, Xana Guia Iaba Cue, and Yelayeg. Beo xochi, “strong macaw or moon,” recurs in Song 100-7:2. 18. While a demonstrative -n suffi x exists in Comaltepec (Lyman Boulden 2010, 59) and elsewhere, this intrusive -n in nouns and verbs points toward hypercorrection or nasalization. It also appears in calendrical names like Bilopa-n (7-Dew) here and in several Bixanos and one Nexitzo manual (13, 34, 36, 83, and 84). 19. CO-176v: “reverse side,” tiñe. 20. CO-62r: “good thing,” na-quèza. 21. Tentative translation. See BU-197: “to name,” ch-zetj, CMP: b-zetj. CO-365v: “wise one,” láchi hue-citàa. 22. RA, 2008: ka to, “just as, as well as.” 23. I thank Daniel Suslak for his kind assistance regarding this gloss, based on his extensive knowledge of Mixe. 24. Final -ne is a third-person pronoun denoting respect, attested in Comaltepec (Lyman Boulden 2010, 33) and elsewhere in the Sierra Norte. I interpret lalaha as “all,” based on phrases that often indicate the end of a testator’s declaration in a will: lalaa titza, “all the words,” or lalaa-bi-ci titza, “only all the words.” It is less likely that lalaha refers to Oaxaca City, called lalaha/lolaa in colonial texts, and which remains as La’, a name for the state of Oaxaca or Oaxaca City (BU-243). In the latter case, the gloss would be “Here are the hills and rocks of old Oaxaca.” For “be seen/visible,” see BU-131. 25. Tentative translation, from yag- (positional prefi x), -gahua (count), as -gàba meant “age” (CO-150v) and “count” (CO-341v; Tavárez 2019). An earlier partial translation parsed this word as yagga-hua, “my tree,” (Oudijk 2008, 110). While this gloss would metaphorically refer to ancestors as “trees,” it is less likely, as “tree” is written yaga in CNZ texts. 26. Gloss based on CO-216v: “toward,” zàa; CO-190r: “reed mat,” quijtaa. “Mexico City” was called zaguita in colonial Zapotec (CO-216v, 422v). 27. AHJO-VA Civil 228, L15-E6, 5r–6r. 28. Xitza has two potential glosses: “heat” (CO-68r: xichaa; BU-374: sša’a), or “strong” (CO-418r: co-xijcha; BU-349: zižjə). 29. Romero Frizzi and Vásquez Vásquez 2003. 30. CO-14v: “something sharp-pointed,” na-lòcho. 31. CO-240r: “long or high,” tóni. 32. AHJO-VA Civil 228, L15-E6, 5r–6r. Most sites mentioned in the Yachialag Map do not appear in other sources—for instance, Nizan Chibihi, Flat Waters (CO246v: “flat,” na-chíbi). 33. I warmly thank Javier Castellanos for sharing these narratives with me (personal communication, 2020). Castellanos stressed the similarities between the Yacha’a tradition and the bonfire lit by Dominicans to punish specialists during a 1560 auto de fe in Teiticpac (AGI México 358, no. 7). Castellanos’s Yacha’a narrative, transmitted by his grandmother, was published in El Nacional 1 (18), 1990. See also his landmark novel, Castellanos 1994; for contemporary Indigenous literature, see Chacón 2018. 34. König 2010, 83–89. I thank Viola König for sharing a photograph of the Lienzo with me, which was taken before the assembled cabildo of San Juan Comaltepec. 401

notes to page s 19 0 – 20 6

35. AGI México 882, 182r, 184r. 36. AGI México 882, 302v. 37. Bierhorst 1985; Karttunen and Lockhart 1980; León-Portilla 2011. 38. Bierhorst 1985; León-Portilla 2011. For criticism of Bierhorst’s attempt to read various elements as references to Nahua “revenants,” see Lockhart 1991. 39. Urcid 2005. 40. CO-415r. Alternative: “Gift River”; “Feather River”; “Heat River.” For Mesoamerican ideophones, see Domenici 2016, Sánchez Santiago and Higelin 2014. 41. For an exacting discussion of these protocols, see Dehouve 2015. 42. CO-234r, 300r, 379v. The verb may be analyzed as tij-a qui-chiño-a (HAB-go?) POT-thirteen-1sg), while the two other expressions contain the couplet tija chijño, “generations thirteen.” 43. CO-147r, 365v. 44. CO-249r. 45. CO-219v, 318r–v. 46. This date was chosen because it fell 169 (13 × 13) days after the start of 8-Rabbit/11-Monkey. 47. For bat effigy vessels, see Sellen 2007. 48. CO-297v. 49. CO-297v; 83v. 50. BU-56, 308: ch-a’ogüe, “buy, be bought”; CMP: g-o’ogüe. RA, 2017: “to exchange.” 51. CO-229v; 418r; 195v and 265r. 52. CO-265v; Molina 1571, II:84r. 53. The difference between chia, “to sit up high,” and chi, “to sit,” as used in Colonial Northern Zapotec, has been preserved in some contemporary languages. The former is still understood as “to sit on the sky” or “to sit on a horse” in Yalahui (Bernardino Cano, personal communication, 2008), and Yalalag Zapotec differentiates between llìà, “to sit up high,” and llì, “to sit on the ground” (Alonso Ortiz 2020, 88). 54. AHJO-VA Civil 60, L4-E14, 8r; see Tavárez 2009, 96. 55. CO-219v: “son . . . the seventh,” teije. A final alternative is that teeye is linked to chije, “spirit” (CO-186v). 56. For Nahuatl as a lingua franca, see Ethnohistory 59.4 (Schwaller 2012). 57. Nicholson 1971; Limón 2001. 58. This meaning of “two-faced” is used by contemporary specialists (RA, 2017). 59. 100-4:6, 4:7, 4:11, 4:13, 6:3, 7:6, 8:2–5, 13:1. 60. CO-80r: “lion-colored,” yòo-càci; RA: yo’o cashi, “yellow like a papaya.” 61. CO-80r: “lion-colored,” na-tèo. 62. Burgoa 1989, I:339–340. Jansen and Pérez Jiménez (2017, 116, 123, 232) hypothesized that Cumbre de Cervatillos held the ancestors of Mixtec dynasties, and noted that a Deer Hill pictogram was depicted next to Town of Death (Chalcatongo) and Temple of Death in Codex Selden 7-IV. 63. Brittenham and Uriarte 2015; Urcid and Domínguez 2013, 640, fig. 13.24. I thank Javier Urcid for providing these examples. 64. See López Austin and López Luján 2009. 65. König [1993] 2010; Oudijk 2000. 66. AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 39r. 402

notes to page s 20 9 – 2 2 2

67. See Caso 1979, 226–227. Whitecotton (2003) discussed links between 11-Water and Zapotec nobility in the Map of Macuilxochitl, the Yale Genealogy, and the Lienzo de Guevea. 68. Fuente 1949, 186. 69. Moisés González, personal communication, 2016. 70. López Austin and López Luján 2009. 71. Oudijk 2000, 304. 72. This site, located on a precipice atop Ya Huiz, Lachirioag’s sacred mountain, is still used for collective and family rituals. Ya Be is still read as ya, “mountain,” and be, “wind” (RA, 2016). 73. For an earlier discussion of this sacred bundle that links it to ancient Zapotec sacred assemblages, see Tavárez 2011, 206–207. 74. AGI México 882, 155v–157v; 298r. Alcina Franch (1993, 116) reported this surrender, although Zapotec terms are transcribed incorrectly. 75. This word brings to mind the positional prefi x yag-, for Position 1 in the 260day count. However, I have not found examples of the positional yag- as base morpheme in colonial Northern Zapotec. Earlier, Alcina Franch (1993, 114) suggested the yagtao were “portrayals” of mythical ancestors comparable to Roman lares. 76. Urcid 2005, 39, 43, fig. 3.15. As Urcid noted, a missing skull bone from Tomb 10 of Monte Albán, interpreted by Caso as a secondary burial, could have been retrieved as an heirloom. 77. AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 17r. 78. AHJO-VA Criminal 132, L8-E11, 1r-v. 79. AGI México 882, 301v, 305r, 306v. 80. BU-253: len, “bundle, armful.” 81. Calvo 2010. 82. AGI México 882, 320r–v; for Tagui, see Alcina Franch 1993, 115. 83. These intervals varied between five and sixty days, as these were Days 4, 24, 34, 39, 66, 118, 137, 164, and 224. 84. AHJO-VA Criminal 79, L5-E2, 2r. 85. Smith-Stark 1999. 86. CO-221v: “long leaf,” yaza. 87. Certain nouns described as “shimmering” in the songs, such as cosmological houses and rays, are also called yati, which in those cases means “bright.” 88. Chimalpahin 1997, 29, 101–103. 89. Kirchhoff, Odena Güemes, and Reyes García 1989, 29, 160. 90. CO-216v; 245r; to-lípi-lachi-a xi-cani, HAB-tie.up-heart-1sg POS-sorcery. 91. For shape-shifters in Oaxaca, see Sousa 2017, 19–25. 92. AGI México 882, 1514r–1515v. This case was first discussed by Alcina Franch (1993, 85–86), who also mentioned the confessions of two Chinantec shape-shifters: Sebastián del Río, who in dreams could become lightning or a buzzard; and Diego Cardoso, who could turn into a snake, mule, or piglet. 93. CO-275r: nizòo yòocho; 426v, nizòo ni-zàhui; nizòo yàti. 94. Boone 2007, 192, 197. 95. CO-429v: pe-nèeche, pèya çòo, coo pà tào. 96. Chance 1989, 162; Alcina Franch 1993, 81–84; Tavárez 2011, 222–225. 97. Urcid 2005, 127, figs. 6.7 and 6.9; Urcid 2000, 253. 98. Caso 1928, 109–111. 403

notes to page s 2 2 2 – 2 4 0

99. Glossed as “the [feather] rows parrots have” (CO-317r). 100. In a striking parallel, stanza 2:9 of the Vargas-Lopes songbook also describes a momentous arrival: the birth of 4-Earthquake in Blood Lake. 101. See Sellen 2011 for depictions of agricultural rituals and blood sacrifice. 102. Cano’s offering at Ya Be completed a series of gifts of alcohol, cacao beans, cigarettes, and bread deposited in thirteen small sacred sites in a circuit that spans the outskirts of Lachirioag and ends at Ya Huiz’s summit. As many celebrants are migrants, Cano often asked them to take off a piece of clothing at Ya Be so that the “people of mountains and rivers” may recognize and protect them in their return journey to the United States. 103. AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 16r; AGI México 882, 323r-v; Alcina Franch 1993, 115. 104. Easby and Scott 1970; Marcus 1980; Marcus 1992, 284–286; Piña Chan 1992; Urcid 2000. 105. Urcid 2000, 221–229. Three circles that complete 8-Death’s name are next to 9-Deer’s numerals. 106. For recent work on the yahui, first discussed by Caso, see Hermann Lejarazu 2009, and Jansen and Pérez Jiménez 2017, 163. 107. Urcid (2000, 223–224) called this sacrificer xicani, after a Valley Zapotec term translated as “sorcery” and “sorcerer” (CO-216v, 245r). 108. RA (2008) glossed Cobechi as “Jaguar Handler.” 109. AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 36v. 110. CO-224v: ti-tóto-a; BU-215: di’id ə’, “mottled, spotted animal.” 111. AGA 276.1/5402, Secretaría de la Reforma Agraria 1997. 112. Oudijk (2000, 141–149, 150–152), hypothesized that this genealogy was composed “between 1570 and 1610,” given the generational span of the six generations in this document, and identified Juan Bernabé López as the last listed successor. Cruz López (2015, 81–82) suggested this man was the same Juan Bernal López who presented documents regarding his Quiaviní inheritance in 1655. For contemporary Quiaviní Zapotec, see Galant 2006. 113. The features that are highly suggestive of eighteenth-century hands include the ligature of the ch in quiechilla (1-Caiman) and the rounded hook ending of the g in guiapini (Quiaviní), both placed near the depiction of 1-Caiman on the left (see fig. 6.11). 114. CO-339r: “sprouting of roots,” quela . . . ti-tije lòo pàa yàga; bi-tie loho, CMPcome.out root. 115. CO-275r: “be shown”; 257r: “be manifested,” ti-lòhui. Alternative: “spirit of the Mountain of Maize, of Place of Tortillas; he was shown.” 116. Picíci, Pecelána, Quialáo (Córdova 1578b, 118v, 117v). 117. The name “Great Eagle” was shared by two individuals in Tabaa Lienzo 1: Great Eagle Yeagela, and Nelao Great Eagle.

c h a p t e r se v en. c on f ron t ing c hr is t i a n i t y : r e sis t a nc e , a da p t a t ion, r e c e p t ion 1. As shown by a recent study of colonial evangelization in Oaxaca (Farriss 2018), although Dominicans made titanic efforts to render Christian meanings into Za404

notes to page s 2 4 0 – 25 3

potec and other Indigenous languages, these endeavors led to both remarkable successes and important impasses. 2. For a magisterial analysis of the diversity of these devotional practices, see Taylor 2016. 3. AHAO-Mártires de Caxonos; Gillow [1889] 1990; Tavárez 2011. 4. AMO-Caxonos trial records, 95r–v. 5. CO-125r: “be cast aside,” ti-tóna; 281r, “negation . . . as what Saint Peter did to our savior,” quela ti-tòna. 6. CO-78v: “be seized,” ti-yàça. 7. Reyes [1704] 1891, 21–22. Contemporary Northern Zapotecs use another construction for “in public”: lao’ lcue’ (BU-246), and latj lagüe (Long and Cruz 2000, 381). I thank Andrew Laird for his comments regarding these Latin prepositions. 8. CO-366v: “be taken out,” ti-tée-a. 9. CO-227v; 371v. 10. The term is glossed as “language” (CO-212r); “manner, usage, custom,” “usage of one’s motherland” (CO-270v); “man’s condition” (330r); and “the essence of something” (377v). 11. CO-195v: ti-cij-quèla-lij-a (HAB-take-custom-straight-1sg); CO-256v. 12. CO-266r; 278r; 52v; 279r. 13. López Austin 2016. 14. Nielsen and Reunert 2009. 15. Knowlton and Vail 2010; Díaz 2020. 16. Dicks 1970, 202–203; Grant 1996, 276–277. 17. McCluskey 2000, 124–126. 18. Grant 1996, 315–317, 376, 382. 19. Alva Ixtlilxochitl 1975, 404; see Laird 2018, 92–93. 20. Spitler 2005; Tavárez 2011; Diel 2018. 21. Martínez [1606] 1948, 37–39. 22. Tornamira 1585, 23–24. 23. Mengin 1952; Prem 1978; Diel 2016. 24. López Austin 1973. 25. Díaz and Alcántara 2011. 26. BNF Mexicain 41–45 (Codex Cozcatzin), 18v. 27. For Granollach, the Repertorio’s first edition in 1492, and the identification of Eli, later Li, as converso, see Martos 2014. For a critical edition of this work’s 1495 printing, see Li 1999. For Juan Cromberger, see Griffin 1991. For Salaya’s editions, see López Piñero et al. 1981–1986, 31–32. 28. BNF Mexicain 381; see Spitler 2005, Tavárez 2011. 29. Not to be confused with Totonac-speaking Tepetlan (Gerhard 1972, 373). Heijnen (2020) hypothesized that this manuscript was composed in the Basin of Mexico. 30. Spitler 2005, 232–233. 31. AGI México 882, 1203v; Li 1510, d1v. 32. AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 16r–18r. 33. Klein 1982; López Austin 2016. 34. Tavárez 2017. 35. Granada 1554, 129v. 36. CO-73v. 405

notes to page s 25 3 – 261

37. CO-77r, 102r, 364r. 38. Translation by Smith-Stark et al. 2008, 317. 39. AHJO-VA Civil 306, L20-E1, 1r. 40. AHJO-VA Civil 599, L33-E19, 1v. 41. Pacheco de Silva 1687, 35r: gozilaae (“liberate them”). 42. AGI México 882, 691v. 43. AGI México 882, 692v. 44. AGI México 882, 665r. 45. CO-102r: “living body,” pela nào; Pacheco de Silva 1687, 4v: “resurrection of the flesh,” iela huebaani gazacca bela naato; BU-15: bel nat, “human body.” 46. AGI México 882, 665r. 47. ASV-SS Vescovi e Prelati 62, 135r–136v. 48. AGI México 881, Diego Díaz Romero’s testimony, July 13, 1706. 49. Tavárez 2011, 187–189, 261–264. 50. Villella 2016, 274–281. 51. Lockhart 1992; Rojas Rabiela et al. 1999–2004; Pizzigoni 2012; Christensen 2013; Truitt and Christensen 2015. 52. Lockhart 1992, 469–470. 53. AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 16r. 54. AHJO-VA Civil 25, L3-E1, 1r (memoria) and 10r (will): bareaglilachia toçi dios tzona presona. The features of these texts’ hands are consistent with those used in seventeenth-century Villa Alta documents. 55. AHJO-VA Civil 231, L16-E1, 17r. 56. AHJO-VA Civil 508, L29-E18, 8r. 57. AHJO-VA Civil 52, L4-E6, 1v; AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 24v; AHJO-VA Civil 60, L4-E14, 8r. Nahua wills used comparable formulas (Lockhart 1992, 472). 58. Molina 1569, 61v. 59. AHJO-VA Civil 321, L20-E16, 1r. 60. AHJO-VA Civil 25, L3-E1, 28r. 61. Feria 1567, 11v–12v. 62. AHJO-VA Civil 60, L4-E14, 8r. For other expressions of Marian devotions in Northern Zapotec wills, see Tavárez 2017, 52. 63. AHJO-VA Civil 25, L3-E1, 28r. 64. The alcalde mayor ordered an investigation of the cabildo headed by alcalde Pedro Sanchez and notary Pasqual Antonio, which had plotted against Bautista with the assistance of Juan Domingo Calderón and others (AHJO-VA Civil 180, L11-E21, 1r–v, 6v–14r). 65. AHJO-VA Civil 52, L4-E6, 14r; AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 14r. 66. AHJO-VA Civil 213, L13-E25, 9r–11r; AHJO-VA Civil 196, L13-E6, 2r. 67. BU-94: “take out, recover,” che-bej, POT: ye-bej; BU-67, “stay awake,” ch-bej bišgal. AHJO-VA Civil 28, L3-E3, 3r. 68. AGI México 882, 716r. 69. BU-132: “to be sickening,” ch-la’. 70. BU-63: “to live,” POT: əban. Alternative, CO-235v: “untouchable, sacred thing,” na-pàana. 71. AGI México 882, 750r–752r. 72. AGI México 880, May–June 1709 testimony. 73. AHJO-VA Criminal 225, L13-E3. 406

notes to page s 265 – 27 1

c h a p t e r eigh t. c onc lu sions 1. However, several extant manuscripts contain an adaptation of Aquinas’s Summa into K’iche’ Maya that was overseen by the Dominican Domingo de Vico in the 1550s (Sparks 2019). 2. Certeau 1982, 110. 3. Epistemic rebellion stands in contrast to the process that Lockhart (1992, 445), seeking to understand Nahua interpretations of Spanish culture, called “Double Mistaken Identity”: each side assumed that a given concept operated in the same way in its own tradition, but hardly took “cognizance of the other side’s interpretation.” 4. Betaza’s uncooked maize offerings, mentioned in AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7E9, were called guoba ya, “uncooked dough”; see Song 100-8:2. In Lachirioag, xhua’ de, “ash maize,” still refers to barely cooked maize offerings. 5. Tavárez 2011, 225–226. 6. AGI México 882, 303r, 431v, 1345r. 7. AHJO-VA Criminal 126, L8-E5, 1r-7v. Most witnesses claimed to have no knowledge of this murder. For marital relations in colonial Oaxaca, see Sousa 2017. 8. González Obregón 1910, 6. 9. Duviols 1986, 143. 10. Chance 1989, 156. 11. Fuente 1977, 303–305. 12. Parsons 1932, 283. 13. Weitlaner and De Cicco 1961; see also Meer 2000. 14. Pergentino Cruz, personal communication, 2008; Cruz Santiago 2008. See González Pérez 2019 for contemporary Southern Zapotec protocols. 15. Aurelia Cano, personal communication, 2006, 2008. 16. Lipp 1991; Torres Cisneros 2003; Reyes Gómez 2017; Tránsito Leal 2020. 17. As is the case for other comparable arrangements in Indigenous societies in Latin America and elsewhere, these “cosmopolitics” are preserved through collective practices that have deep historical roots, and constitute a pluriverse that stands in contrast with extractivist economic practices (Cadena and Blaser 2018). 18. Aurora Ramírez, personal communication, 2016. 19. See Dávila 2019 for a compelling analysis of these observances. 20. Moisés González, personal communication, 2006 and 2016.

a ppen di x . a na ly t ic a l t r a nsl a t ions of s ongb o ok s   10 0 a n d 101, a n d m a n ua l 1, e xc er p t 1. Reyes 1704, 28, particle, y/i. See chapter 3. 2. CO-113v: “dar gracias,” ti-cij-paa-nèza-ya. 3. CO-144r: “doblar,” to-zeto-a. Alternative, RA and Leocadio Guzmán (henceforth, LG): “Who offered (b-zeto) the center of the sacred hearts?” 4. BU-131: ch-la’, “be seen/visible”; CMP: gw-la’. 5. CO-269v: “mitote,” hue-yàha. 6. BU-190: ch-yoc, “coil, get twisted”; POT: əyoc. 7. BU-243: la’(3), “because, so, then.” This la, which may also mark focus, should 407

notes to page s 27 1 – 274

not be confused with the CVZ conjunction -la, used frequently in Feria 1567 and other sources. 8. Alternative: [y]ece, 13-Snake. 9. BU-200: ch-zo(2), “place”; POT: so. 10. BU-319: “ya’a,” plaza. 11. Alternative: “the roots.” 12. CO-170r: “enojado,” na-chèche. 13. CO-285r: “nuue blanca,” pèe-zàa. 14. BU-146: “give”; CMP: be’. 15. BU-113: ch-eyej(1), “return”; POT: y-eyej. This phrase refers obliquely to a ceremony, as in na’a yeyiaj ser, “today, the candles will return,” which references a funeral mass (RA, 2020). 16. CO-367v: “sacrificio”; 329v: “promessa,” quèe. 17. CO-403r: “tizne”; 297v: “palabra,” lana. 18. BU-191: ch-za’, “leave”; POT: sa’. 19. quee[185v]hue. 20. Alternative: 5-Wind. 21. RA: byita, “radiance.” Alternative: “Palace of the Rainbow,” CO-36v: “arco del cielo,” quìta quiepàa; BU-341: yit ə’, “rainbow.” 22. yaaohieo. 23. BU-53: n-aljə, STA-be.born. Alternative, RA and LG: “the spirits of the mountain support (n-alag) the town of the high place.” 24. CO-339r: “rayo,” lohuela. 25. CO-341r: “raspado,” te-gàa. 26. CO-189v: “este,” tijla. 27. CO-206r: “golpeado,” ti-tiña-ya. 28. CO-386r: “sonar como piedra dentro de arca,” ti-huà-hua-ya. Main alternative, RA: “it beats along, it plays along (as accompaniment),” chh-wa’a. Other alternative: BU-90: ch-dia, “last”; POT: dia. 29. eeyateyatela. 30. 3-Reed is yeola/yeolaa/yeolaha in nineteen manuals. 31. 11-Knot is yetela (Book 32); athela (Book 1). 32. AHJO-VA Criminal 81, L5-E4, 2r: b[e]ne xihui huilacg (“bad man, disturber”); RA: wilha, “reader of souls.” Alternative: CO-17v: “helper,” hue-làa. 33. BU-52: ch-alə’, “celebrate.” RA: zoo n-ala, “it is being celebrated.” 34. Another hand: o. 35. BU-302: xa, “father [vocative]”; Long and Cruz 2000, 285: xa gole, “grandfather.” 36. BU-64: ch-be’, “sit down”; STA, chi’. 37. CO-288v: “oy antes del dia”; 252v: “madrugar,” càlato. 38. CO-389r: “subir,” ti-yàpi-a; BU-107: ch-ep, “go up.” 39. BU-113: “return,” ch-eyej; CMP: b-eyej. 40. CO-267v: “mexicano,” pèni huijchi. 41. beexio. 42. Alternative: CO-198v: “floxo,” na-huèhue. 43. pezoo. 44. CO-186r: “nuue espessa,” huaana. 45. CO-295v: “osado,” ti-tána-ya. 408

notes to page s 274 – 279

46. ceche. 47. CO-367v: “sacrificio este ho[m]bre o muger,” péni tóoga. 48. CO-401r: “tiempo mucho,” cichij. 49. CO-292v: “onras de difuncto, cabo de año,” tòoga quétáo; 276v: “muerto,” quètào. 50. CO-266r: “mes parte dozena del año,” cacij. 51. BU-158: cho’o, “enter, contain”; STA: yo’o. 52. CO-29v: “antes o primero,” què-lao. 53. CO-421r: “venado con grandes cuernos,” yòci. 54. CO-24r: “alto”; 39r: “arriba,” quiáa. 55. RA: “native,” as in dilla xilla, “Zapotec language.” 56. In the 1704 Yalalag confession, ticha xicha designates “the Zapotec language” (AGI México 882, 751r). 57. CO-359v: “reziente cosa o fresca”; 99r: “cruda,” yáa. 58. CO-428r: “visto,” tì-ña. 59. CO-71r: “cañas”; 71v: “cañaueral,” quiyàa. 60. CO-406r: “tornarse,” ze-bij-a. 61. CO-329r: “prolixo cosa luenga,” n-óla. Alternative: “the women.” 62. CO-39r: “arrendada,” gàna. 63. CO-198r: “flaco,” ti-tèga-ya. 64. dietodoo. 65. CO-9r: “adelante mas alla,” tète. 66. CO-174v: “entrar otra vez,” te-yòo-a; CMP: pe[-yoo]; BU-115: “be added,” CMP: be-yo’o. 67. BU-207: ch-ži’i, “care for, love”; STA: n-ži’i. 68. Blank space follows q. 69. BU-269: “here,” ni(1). 70. BU-86: “be shaken, make a sound,” ch-da; POT: ta. Main alternative, RA and LG: “the vow will be untied (taci), it is carried (ch-wa)”; see BU-88: ch-dazə, “be untied”; POT: tazə. 71. quiagl. 72. BU-144: “on, at, the edge,” cho’a(2). 73. BU-447: ch-biž, “run out, dry up”; POT: ə-biž. 74. Here, quetag, “tortilla,” is glossed as “sustenance.” Alternative, RA and LG: “wild cane” (yag yetag). 75. CO-88v: “conseruar Dios las cosas en su ser,” to-làni-a. Alternative, RA and LG: “the tree that emerged (bi-leni).” 76. CO-166v: “engendramiento,” quela-co-yàa. 77. BU-265: “that one, there,” na’(3); “and,” na’(4). 78. CO-115v: “delantero,” na-lào. 79. labab. 80. RA and LG: “the animals will be found (ga-llag).” Alternative, cachag bea “one half of the animal.” 81. RA and LG: “the animals were found (wa-llag).” Alternative, “cut in half”; CO-261r: “mediar,” to-chaa. 82. CO-398r: “tener gana de comer,” ti-llàna-ya. 83. CO-1v: “abaxo,” quète. 84. BU-17: betjag (Cuniculus paca). 409

notes to page s 2 8 0 – 2 8 9

85. CO-29v: “anochecer,” hua-zechee. 86. CO-216v: “he aqui,” hèhè. 87. CO-159r: “en buen tiempo.” 88. CO-97v: “creer en sueños,” tèe-làchi-a pecala. 89. CO-322v: “por ventura,” teláa. 90. CO-377v: “sepultura,” pàa. 91. CO-347v: “regar,” to-zèe-a niça. 92. See Smith-Stark 2002, 139. 93. CO-360v: “riquezas,” quicháa. Alternative: CO-165v: “enfermedad,” quijcha. 94. CO-288r: “ofrenda,” quij. 95. CO-202r: “fundamento,” ti-tee-yoho. 96. This beverage may resemble pulque (Nahuatl: itzac octli, “white alcoholic beverage,” Molina 1571, II:45r). 97. Alternative: “seven Cocijos.” 98. CO-384r: “solicitado,” ti-quèñe. 99. CO-10r: “adiuinar,” ti-bee-a; “adiuino,” co-bee. 100. BU-36: cani’, “long ago.” 101. CO-395v: “temblar,” ti-ñìbi. 102. CO-255v: “manar en pozo,” ti-tàa nìça. 103. Feria 1567, 62r: co-yaci yobi bezeloo (“the very Devil entered”). 104. Remarkably, as in 100-70:3, these body parts are not possessed. 105. xanabelaxilalaxoo. 106. CO-22v: “allegar como vna fiesta,” te-zàca lanij. 107. CO-251r: “lleuado ser,” ti-tèche. 108. CO-94r: “corridamente,” xòñe. RA: xhonaj, “to run or flee.” 109. CO-194r: “faltar,” ti-àchi-a. 110. RA and BU-88: “pass by,” ch-de(1); CMP: gw-de. Alternative: “Cobechi was seated.” 111. xota. 112. Ritual specialists address less powerful sacred beings who assist them as “brothers” (MG, personal communication, 2016). 113. AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 15r: be-tog li (“descends straight”). 114. CO-104v: “ceyba,” yàga xèni. 115. CO-168v: “enlazar con lazos,” t-o-lìpi-a tòo; 86r: “obligar,” to-lipi-a. 116. BU-137: ch-lis, “lift up”; POT: lis. 117. CO-275v: “mouido,” t-itòa-ya. 118. CO-140v: “diligentemente,” hua-zèñe. Alternative, RA: sene, “notification.” 119. CO-404r: “todos tres,” ti-yòna. 120. CO-41v: “assada,” yàaqui. 121. BU-182: ch-ya’a(1), “be fresh.” 122. toayahua. 123. BU-337: “fire,” yi’. 124. CO-250v: “lleuar carga,” n-òa-ya. 125. chi[191r]ba. 126. goqque. 127. CO-106r: “cerco o cosa redonda,” na-yobi. 128. CO-359v: “rezia cosa,” ti-xóo-a. 129. CO-84r: “concha de galapago,” chíta pégo. 410

notes to page s 2 8 9 – 29 6

130. goyea. 131. Read cabila. 132. Alternative: “beautiful”; CO-218r: “hermoso,” na-cháa. 133. CO-302r: “parida de dos mellizos,” péni cozàana càto. 134. CO-267r: “mezclado,” n-oocha. 135. RA: There is a semantic contrast between zo, “to stand, be,” and zoa, “to stand, be present now” in Lachirioag Zapotec. 136. BU-190: ch-yoj, “be written”; POT: yoj. 137. CO-333r: “punçado,” ti-pípi-a. Alternative: “the writings can be incised.” 138. CO-183v: “esculpido,” ti-chiñe-a. 139. CO-230v: “ympaciente”; 202r: “furioso,” ti-tòxo-a. 140. CO-287r: “ocupar lugar,” to-xij-a. 141. CO-224v: “iaspeado . . . como cuero de tigre,” ti-tóto-a. 142. AHJO-VA Civil 157, L10-E18, 2r: be-ye-tag li-dia (“descends straight”). 143. Read laba; see 100-16(2:3). 144. CO-53v: “beneficiar plantas,” te-òni-cháhui-a. 145. Read as xoba. 146. CO-284r: “noticia ser dada,” ti-lèe. 147. CO-159v: “encaminacion,” pi-yóo. RA: ba-yo’, “it was placed in.” Alternative: “give [bio] beans [za] to Ruler 1-Caiman.” 148. cogoque. 149. RA: yia da yoo, “hill adjacent to a house.” 150. Read as coque. 151. gocayeag. 152. CO-416v: “vntado,” na-càna. 153. cagalag. 154. lab. 155. RA: bene walla, “mediator.” 156. yelhue. 157. CO-429v: “setas,” peya; 414v: “tunar,” piyàa. 158. CO-331r: “prouechoso,” ti-chéla-ya. 159. CO-327v: “principe,” pa tao. 160. Here, toa, “mouth, entrance,” apparently refers to Blood Lake as an entry point. 161. BU-57–58: ch-as, “get up”; POT: ch-as; RA: “it is getting up.” 162. CO-375r: “alta (sementera de mayz),” quèela tào. Alternative: “great custom.” 163. CO-429v: “seta,” coo-pà tào. 164. Although there is no check mark here, this is a new stanza, as a line was drawn at the end of 192r and the preceding section ends with Abichi ton, a refrain that marks the end of stanzas. 165. xenehua. 166. RA: ya’a, “let’s go.” 167. nacachi. 168. CO-185r: “espantoso,” huáachi. 169. xilalaxo b[e]t[a]o coxa quelacoyeag yeagtia abichiton. 170. CO-224v: “ioya,” pigaa; 372r, Sartal de cuentas, too pigaa. RA: bgaa, “Christian medal, relic.” 171. BU-243: la’, “some.” 172. RA: la-xaj, “the payment.” 411

notes to page s 29 6 – 3 0 2

173. CO-275r: “mostruo,” pèni cò-letèe; RA: lhete, “eye-catching.” 174. CO-371r: “sano,” co-xàca-ya. 175. CO-4r: “abierto,” ti-xàa. 176. conala xozacobechij. 177. CO-358r: “retoñecido . . . arbol,” yaga pe-gaa. 178. laxootao. 179. CO-257v: “mano yzquierda,” pèega. 180. BU-32: b-zao’, “black (maize).” Alternative: “people of fragments”; BU-282: sao’, “fragment.” 181. A reference to ancient priests who painted their body black. 182. Read as yeag. 183. CO-290r: “oluidada cosa,” ni-cò-la. For the formation of adjectives with ni-, see Córdova 1578b, 11v, 17r, and Smith-Stark 2008, 406. 184. Tentative translation; BU-247: “something,” lat ə’; “a little,” lat ə’ə -las. 185. This section is interpreted as a single stanza divided into three parts: 42a, 42b, and 42c. Unlike other marks in the manuscript, the check marks for 42b and 42c have double underlines. 186. BU-336: yey, “soot.” 187. CO-406r: “torcido hilo,” tòo bij. 188. CO-250v: “lleno,” ti-cèqui-a. 189. caooneto. 190. Alternative: “A plea.” CO-245v: “limosna pedir,” tó-ni-co-ñèto-a; 317r: “pobre que pide,” peni hue-ñèeto. 191. CO-371r: “sangrentando ser”; 314r: “picar,” t-ào-a. 192. CO-301r: “pardo leon,” piaa. 193. RA: ni-yite yo, “the house is full.” 194. CO-285r: “nueue,” gòo. 195. CO-275v: “mouido”; 303r: “passado,” ti-tète-a. 196. BU-89: “serve, present,” ch-de(2), CMP: b-de. 197. BU-264: “indeed,” na. 198. RA: la gaz, “and likewise.” 199. CO-39r: “arreziado,” te-yaca-ya. 200. RA: gw-chhaj llidi, “it was born as a valuable/delicate being.” 201. CO-65v: “enflaquecido,” ti-làce-a. 202. CO-209r: “graue cosa”; 140r: “dificile,” huène. Alternative: hue-ne, AG-speak, “speaker.” 203. CO-67r: “calabaça,” queeto. 204. CO-367v: “sacrificador,” hue-coo. 205. CO-118r: “derecho,” çòba. 206. ni?za. 207. CO-4v: “abundancia,” paa tao. 208. RA: zebi, “it came down early.” 209. RA: yatin, “hill slopes.” In a 1704 Betaza confession, Agustín Gonzalo said that Vene Yactina Goxio, “Hill Slope People, Goxio” (see 100-9:3) were consulted to foretell calamities (AHJO-VA Criminal 117, L7-E9, 33r). 210. CO-360v: “riquezas,” xola paa tao. 211. RA: nh-alaj, “newly born.” 212. CO-250v: “lleuado,” ti-tòa-ya. 412

notes to page s 3 0 2 – 3 0 8

213. CO-367v: “sacrificado,” quijnijé. 214. BU-75: ch-cua’an, “leave behind”; CMP: b-cua’an. Alternative: CO-216v: “hechizeria,” pecuàna. 215. BU-175: ch-tin, “come down”; CMP: gw-tin. Alternative: “be apart”; CO-32r: “Apartadas estar,” tij-teni-a. 216. AHJO-VA Civil 28, L3-E3, 3v: ri-lequi firma (“place signature”). 217. BU-143: ch-nix, “taste food”; STA: n-nix.; 384, “lovingly care for,” ch-onši’i. 218. RA: we, “look!” 219. Read bia. 220. AHJO-VA Civil 25, L3-E1, 10v: t-eeo-a guichi (“I give this paper”). 221. Alternative: “I placed on the land he shakes”; CO-368r: “sacudido,” t-o-bi-bi. 222. Error: go for goxicha. 223. çaalae. 224. BU-192: “bring down,” ch-zalə’. 225. Long 2000, bene’ exo’ “old person”; Agüero 1666, A2v, goo-xo-ni. 226. yalaiyeya. 227. CO-189v: “estenderse,” ti-záazáa. 228. Alternative: “the native deities.” 229. CO-390r: “sueño,” pe-cala. 230. yalaiyei. 231. bixoxiyaxi. 232. BU-148: chog, “piece.” 233. RA: bene bichhi yo, “little people from inside Earth.” These “little people,” called “Great Huichana Lords” (see chapter 5, note 24), were seen by specialists who ingested cuana betao; see Tavárez 2011, 223. 234. yalaiyei. 235. CO-78v: “coger los tributos,” ti-lìça-ya. 236. BU-200: “be present,” ch-zo(1); STA.3pl: nitə’. 237. yegodao. 238. BU-52: ch-alə, “burn”; POT: g-alə. 239. niiata. 240. yaichia. 241. CO-153v: “emborracharse,” ti-zòochi-a. 242. CO-185v: “esperador . . . en dios,” co-béeza; RA: chh-beza shzil, “wait for dawn.” 243. CO-366r: “sabor,” nète. RA: nh-etaj, “he/she tastes.” 244. CO-347r: “refrescado ser,” te-yàla-ya; BU-53: ch-alj(2), “increase”; CMP: gw-yalj. 245. The letter “A” appears above chee. 246. cachi bichi. 247. CO-234r: “infinitamente,” hua-xee. 248. nijzo. 249. Manual 52: Bilaalaoh, 7-Face. Alternative: 7/10-Crow/Monkey. 250. RA: zala bani, “a light is being lit.” 251. CO-250v: “lleuador,” peni co-tona. 252. bezçonao. 253. CO-14v: “aguardar”; 28v: “andar con otro,” ti-zònào-a. 254. CO-139r: “diez,” ce-chij. 413

notes to page s 3 0 8 – 317

255. colaxono cona. 256. Error for “coxana” here, and in stanza 57. 257. CO-178r: “ermano menor,” páyo. 258. CO-367v: “sacrificarse sacarse sangre,” to-zàa-ya. Alternative: “The day one lets blood out for Blood Lake.” 259. CO-257v: “manjares del demonio,” lace. 260. CO-358r: “retoño de arbol,” penno; BU-29: “shoot,” bno. 261. conaga. 262. Foreman and Lillehaugen 2017, 276–277. 263. CO-42v: “assi,” cica; 401r: “tiempo mucho,” ciyee. 264. CO-239r: “lagarto . . . cocodrillo,” peyòo. 265. quechehue. 266. After last verse: oog. 267. RA: yo la yo yani, “there is heat, light”; BU-242: la, “hot.” 268. CO-201v: “fuerça por fuerça . . . hazer,” lene. 269. CO-95r: “oro,” pi-chichi yache. 270. CO-77r: “caxcauel,” pi-xochi çobi pi-chijna. 271. CO-336v: “quemada cosa,” pao. 272. lahui or lahui. 273. RA: gu-te-lhalli, “it was forgotten.” 274. CO-149r: “echado ser,” ti-chíba-ya; 161v: “encima,” chiba. 275. BU-141: ch-ne’, “sow”; CMP: gw-ne’. 276. Alternative: coneto, “a plea.” 277. balachilaa. 278. CO-417v: “vtil,” ti-chìlla. 279. Read as lao. 280. CO-215v: “hazer la fiesta,” t-ò-ni-çàa-ya. 281. ni-[197r]-nij. 282. CO-192v: “eterno,” ni-nij. 283. ganaaga. 284. RA: gan zo, gan gane, “where is . . . ?” 285. BU-184: ch-yelə, “grow large”; CMP: b-yelə. Alternative: AHJO-VA Civil 180, L11-E21, 1r: be-yelag-a (“I have come”). 286. For examples of the emphatic -ca in the Feria-Albuquerque Doctrina, see Broadwell 2015, 175. 287. Cata 2012, 40: Bele susiaa, “clean star.” 288. chagya. 289. CO-13v: “agora venir . . . la primera vez,” t-eeta. 290. Abichiton go. 291. RA: chh-iziaj, “remain”; ni-la-ye, “sacred.” 292. gobechi?. 293. CO-21r: “alegrarse,” te-zàca-làchi-a. 294. Alternative: “He [Becelao] will receive the eldest son.” 295. tezaocai. 296. CO-13r: “agora,” nopaa. 297. CO-108v: “cimie[n]to,” loo yoho. 298. Alternative: “They go finding the great gifts in your house”; RA: ye-chh-aj, modger-HAB-go, “go finding.” 414

notes to page s 318 – 3 25

299. BU-190: ch-yon’, “dissolve”; POT: əyon’; RA: “be softened.” 300. CO-49v: “auisar,” to-lohui-chia. 301. RA: b-gusha, “it blended.” 302. BU-188: ch-yiš ə’, “be soft”; POT: yiš ə’. Alternative: RA: ni kue y-illi, “group that is independent.” 303. CO-365v: “sabio,” peni na-cijña. 304. CO-300r: “large green parrot,” máni péo. Alternative, “moon”; CO-249r: “luna,” pèo. 305. RA: shosi, “strong”; CO-305r: “pauorosa,” hua-xochi. 306. CO-367v: “sacrificador,” hue-chijga; Feria 1567, 22r: pe-chiga-to (“we sacrificed”). 307. CO-385v: “sonar,” ti-cèchi-a. RA: gu-zelli, “it made a sound.” 308. Tentative translation; BU-174, “be eaten with holes” (beans, maize), ch-te. RA: gu-de-ka, “it certainly was pockmarked.” 309. CO-227v: “ya,” hue-yo. 310. CO-147v: “dulce canto,” na-paa. 311. CO-34r: “ap[re]suradamente,” quilla-quilla. 312. Read as nete beza dao. 313. Here, the familiar third-person pronoun -bi, which refers to the ancestor 7-Knot, stresses the kinship relationship between him and the singer of this song, who calls him “my brother” in the next line. This -bi is not a particle here, as it requires a numeral or an aspect marker (to-bi, go-bi, etc.) as a base morpheme. 314. RA: gu-xho-zi’, “it was paid with much suffering.” 315. BU-101: “dawn”; CMP: gw-ye’eni’. RA: gu-yanhi’i, “to dawn.” 316. BU-375: ya’, “reed.” Alternative, BU-311: ya(2), “sweatbath.” 317. CO-308r: “pelar cuero de animal muerto,” to-tàa-ya. 318. CO-406r: “torcido,” na-yaqui. RA: gw-ta-ba que-zaaca ye-zeya-ba, “tie up and hold an animal to burn.” 319. yo[199r]lopa. 320. RA: dgaa, “look over there.” 321. CO-401r: “tiempo passado,” çoo. 322. CO-95v: “cosa de muchas colores,” na-làa. 323. CO-99v: “cuadrada cosa,” ni-quitàa. Alternative: RA: ni-yite, “something very full.” 324. RA: balaa, “excessive.” 325. CO-178r: “ermanos/as,” pella; BU-23: “woman’s sibling,” bilə. RA: bilha, “a woman’s sister.” 326. gunabibaei. 327. beibani. 328. AHJO-VA Civil 321, L20-E16, 2r: bi-yao netto (“we appear”). Alternative: BU183: ch-ya’o, “be bought”; POT: əya’o; see CO-83v. 329. CO-257r: “manera,” cuiba. 330. Alternative: goneto, “a plea.” 331. hueogotihue. 332. CO-218v: “herir,” to-có-ti-huée-a. 333. CO-269r: “mirar considerando,” t-ò-nnij-a; CO-117r: “dentro,” li-yoo. 334. Read as bini. 335. CO-11v: “afines,” pe-xio-ni. 415

notes to page s 3 25 – 33 2

336. tihanahua. 337. gon. 338. CO-37r: “arena,” yooxe. 339. CO-216v: “hechizeria,” pecuana. 340. CO-104r: “otros tres,” ce-chòna. 341. CO-288r: “officio diuino,” tij xi-làya. 342. CO-7r: “acometer, començar,” to-zòbanija-ya. 343. CO-111v: “dançante,” pèni toyàa-ni. 344. CO-80r: “color de leonado,” na-tèo. Alternative: CO-105r: “ceniziento,” na-tèo. 345. CO-24r: “alto,” ti-yóla. 346. CO-90v: “con trabajo . . . hazerse,” n-ene. 347. CO-218v: “herir con la mano,” t-ò-ni-ñaa-ya; 123r: “desconcertarse pie o mano,” ti-ñij-ñaa-ya. Alternative: BU-142: ch-nin, “thunder.” 348. bbeza. 349. BU-102–103: indicative singular order; POT: gw-. 350. CO-69v: “canción ca[n]to,” tij t-o-la-ni. 351. CO-183r: “escudriñar,” t-o-nij-a. 352. CO-99r: “cv,” yèeche. 353. RA: gw-yela, “convince.” 354. CO-80r: “ceniziento,” na-zahui. 355. bijchitogche. 356. RA: washi b-llitaj, “iguana.” Alternative: CO-220r: “hilador,” hue-chij-tóo. The “black deer” in this line may reflect the belief that a celestial deer carried the sun across the sky every day, according to a narrative collected by Filemón Beltrán. 357. huei-[201r]-go. 358. CO-35v: “quebrado . . . ser,” ti-llàpa-ya. 359. CO-151v: “elote . . . verde,” zéye. 360. xonahuana. 361. CO-201v: “fruto,” pijto. 362. CO-371r: “sangradera . . . de Piedra”; 239v: “lanceta,” queça yao; 228v: “yesso,” yòo yào. 363. CO-189v: “estar sentado,” ti-tèe-a. 364. tieone. 365. BU-268: -nə, “still.” 366. CO-2917v: “pagada,” te-yàxe. 367. goyazaa. 368. CO-252r: “maçorca . . . quitado el grano,” yàna. 369. CO-52r: “bastar,” t-èzàa. 370. quelaque. 371. CO-213v: “hambre,” co-pijña. 372. RA: be-yac-shaw, “it came out well.” 373. CO-94v: “cortada cosa,” na-xochi. 374. CO-56r: “blanquear,” ti-yàa. 375. Alternative: 4-Jaguar; 4/11-Lizard. 376. CO-102v: “cu[n]dir, estenderse,” ti-zàa; CMP: co. 377. tolataba. 378. CO-258r: “mantener,” to-yana-ya. 416

notes to page s 33 2 – 339

379. tihanahua. 380. CO-87v: “natura de hembra,” lèe; see CO-267v, 280r, 424r. Alternative: RA: yela lhe’e, “guilt.” 381. CO-321v: “poniente,” çoo-chij. 382. CO-324r: “prado,” paçaa. 383. RA: yit: “luminous”; CO-350r: “Reluzir hazer,” tò-ni-queàti-a. 384. ga-lagbichi. 385. CO-355r: “resbalador,” peni ti-tole. RA: hua-tole, “to fall rolling down.” 386. Abichito toni queatia tòni queàti-a nna. Gray ink, another hand. 387. CO-13r: “agora,” yanna. 388. CO-251r: “lleuado,” ti-llahua-ya. 389. AHJO-VA Civil 60, L4-E14, 8r: qu-ete i.bechi-ya (“I delivered to my brother”). BU-98: ch-edəgua’, “deliver,” POT: y-ed əgua’. 390. POS: dog; see xi-co xini, “children.” 391. A possible reference to the site Ya Xitza Tao (Ixtepejí), which is also mentioned in the Yelabichi Probanza and the Yachialag Map. See chapter 6. 392. CO-77r: “claridad,” quela-na-yàa. 393. quiatao. 394. lohuelataa. 395. CO-375r: “sementeras de mayz,” toça. 396. CO-246v: “lisiado,” na-huee. 397. CO-404r: “todo,” quizaha. 398. CO-412v: “triste,” tò-na-làchi-a; RA: bigan deyon, “the young man is full of energy.” 399. CO-356v: “resplandor,” xi-yanij. 400. CO-342r: “reatar,” to-ce-lìpi-a. 401. Alternative: “the dreams of the lords that will appear together.” 402. CO-418v: “vamonos juntos,” zàa-chào-no. 403. CO-135v: “desuanecerse,” ti-niti-lào-a. Alternative: “great difficulty.” CO-313r: “pesado negocio,” na-nijti. 404. CO-101v: “cuerno,” lòce. 405. BU-195: ch-zecha, “stand upright.” 406. CO-421v: “vencedor,” huèe-yòo. 407. CO-47v: “aun ay mas,” hua-yóo-to. 408. CO-393v: “tan solamente,” còxe. 409. C319v: “puesto,” ti-xòba. 410. CO-40r: “arropado,” na-co lati. 411. Here, gocio refers either to the first 65-day period, during which the protocols below take place, or to a year in Years 27–39, which were associated with the West. 412. CO-28r: “andar alrededor,” ti-càna-ya. 413. qayayoo. 414. CO-71r: “canto,” xichij-e. Alternative: 329r: “profeta.” 415. CO-250r: “llano,” litaha. 416. huiyaihua. 417. CO-105v: “cercano,” le-çáa-ni. 418. CO-283v: “noche,” teela. The 1789 Solaga will states that a Bichito Yeza is the wife of 7-Rain Laguiag (Bautista Cruz 2017, 134). 417

notes to page s 339 – 3 4 8

419. CO-293v: “orça,” quena. 420. CO-17v: “ayudador,” hue-làa. 421. CO-69v: “cana,” ni-n-atee. 422. quelaana. 423. CO-248v: “luego ynmediate,” gaaci. 424. tolayaidee. Alternative: dee could be an emphatic affi x. 425. CO-39r: “arrimado,” ti-çocàa-ya. 426. CO-188r: “esta[n]carse,” ti-ego. RA: chha-za-ga, “it stagnates again.” 427. Alternative: “The Strong Ones were placed in the Reed Field.” 428. CO-29v: “anoche,” na-chee. Alternative: CO-191r: “estraña cosa.” 429. AHJO-VA Civil 228, L15-E6, 4r: n-ino-e Recaodo (“they brought the collection”). 430. eebadela. 431. oiyaoyao. 432. CO-19r: “alargado,” ti-tóni-a. Alternative: “Then, there is a first house [yoo]; it will be a long one.” 433. aiyao. 434. A likely reference to the seeds of a hallucinogenic plant such as cuana betao, which specialists ingested. See chapter 6. 435. CO-303r: “partido,” ti-cho-a. 436. C-160r: “encargado,” to-cháni-a. 437. CO-56v: “blandamente,” hua-cochi. 438. CO-94r: “corrido,” ti-làga. 439. BU-138: ch-loe’, “show.” 440. BU-182: ch-ya’a(1), “be fresh,” CMP: gw-ya’a. Alternative: BU-182, “dance,” POT: gw-ya’a. 441. CO-117v: “de otra manera,” cayaa. 442. chogala. 443. bioanie. 444. CO-365v: “resplandor,” piánij; Alternative: “nine radiant houses.” 445. CO-174r: “entonces mismo,” laachijgaa. RA: lachga’, “truly.” 446. CO-8r: “acorralar ganado,” ti-q[u]e-a; CO-175r: “entremetido ser,” ti-què-a. 447. quiyace. 448. gaago. 449. gaiguiyahapa. 450. AHJO-VA Civil 3, L1-E4, 1r: so-sohua titza (“I complied with the words”). RA: ye-zowa, “he/she will comply” (with one’s responsibilities). 451. CO-41v: “assada,” coo-qui. 452. BU-325: ye’en, “bowl.” 453. CO-336r: “Quedado, te-bij-a. 454. CO-1v: “abaxado,” ti-yete-a. 455. CO-350r: “reluziente,” na-chichi. 456. CO-257v: “manjar,” huàgo. 457. Alternative: 7/10-Reed/7-Wind. 458. Alternative: “where.” 459. Alternative: 13-Snake. 460. CO-289v: “olla,” quèço. 461. Read as yseepag, 13-Rain. 418

notes to page s 3 49 – 356

462. CO-201v: “fuera,” lèya. 463. CO-148r: “durar,” ti-tij-a. 464. yaohuaana. 465. CO-198v: “floxo,” hua-chacha. 466. CO-158v: “en algun lugar,” caala. 467. BU-7: bat, “some day”; batbat, “occasionally”; RA: lonha, “guardian, protector”; lonha mrdom, “mayordomo.” See also CO-11v: “afines,” xi-llòna; 102v: “cuñado,” xi-lòna-ya. Alternative: “(Deity) Bata Lonabi.” 468. BU-195: “make someone swallow”; CMP: b-zebe. 469. CO-11v: “afines,” co-cèyo. 470. Huèni is a “jewel” used by one lord to request another’s help in war (CO376v, 224v). 471. CO-421v: “vencedor,” hue-yèeyòo. 472. CO-309r: “penoso,” ti-ène-a. 473. BU-116: “end”; CMP: be-yož. 474. CO-315v: “pintado,” na-yòoñe. 475. huahueyoo. 476. be[230v]go. 477. CO-92v: “onesto,” na-huij. 478. CO-63r: “buscar,” to-yóbi-a. 479. CO-234r: “infinitamente,” hua-cílla. 480. CO-402v: “tirada,” ti-làa. 481. CO-146r: “donador,” huée-xíllaa. 482. CO-248v: “lumbrosa cosa,” binij; 408v: “transparente,” ti-binij-a. 483. CO-315r: “piel,” quiti mani; 301v: “pargamino,” quiti. 484. biniquinni. 485. CO-273v: “morcielago,” pi-guìte-ziña; BU-440: “little mouse,” b-zin. 486. CO-23v: “alondra,” xijco máni. 487. CO-355v: “resistir,” tí-lla-ya. 488. CO-96v: “couarde,” ti-chène-làchi-a. 489. golalaza. 490. CO-81r: “comer . . . delicadamente,” t-ágo-nayáa-ya. RA: chh-au-nya’, “he/she eats the whole thing.” 491. BU-328: yelə’ (2), “jilote.” 492. quelaya. 493. CO-396v: “tendida,” nàa-xeçàa-ya. 494. xxaca. 495. CO-45v: “a tiempo,” xaca. 496. CO-341r: “raton ser tomado,” tì-gàa. 497. BU-350: zo’o, “yes (among men).” 498. becag yeyecag. 499. CO-35v: “aquende mucho,” cìto. 500. CO-304r: “passeador,” pèni zée-záa. 501. BU-136: “carry”; CMP: gw-len. 502. CO-147r: “dotissimo,” hue-chijtáa ticha. 503. CO-217v: “henchir,” to-chée-a. 504. Alternative parsing: to bi-go belana, “one was put inside, 10-Death.” 505. CO-300r: “papagayo chiquito verde,” màni quíli. 419

notes to page s 356 – 365

506. CO-383v: “soldado,” co-ègo. 507. CO-7r: “acompañar sentado,” ti-peenee-a. 508. eze[231v]che. 509. CO-64r: “caber,” ti-yó-a. 510. bega. 511. CO-218v: “herido,” ti-huée-a. 512. CO-69r: “camino estrecho,” nèza làce. 513. tequete. 514. CO-276r: “mucho tiempo,” ti-làça. 515. ya[232r]eche. 516. CO-295r: “origen”; 246r: “linaje,” pi-chijgo. 517. Alternative: “sister.” 518. AHJO-VA Civil 231, L16-E1, 16r: y.lao dinag (“at the precipice”). 519. CO-317r: “plumas,” lohuè-yàche. 520. BU-75: “place tortillas, bricks,” ch-cua’(2); POT: əgwcua’. 521. Alternative: “the custom, the vows. The pot of the diviner will be filled.” 522. AHJO-VA Civil 180, L11-E21, 1r: loi bi-yo (“you will see”). 523. gotaalalaiquela. 524. CO-340v: “raspar,” to-tàa.ya. 525. CO-295r: “oro en poluo,” queze. Alternative: 13-Snake. 526. CO-413r: “trobado,” ti-càa. 527. CO-387v: “sortilego,” pèni co-bijlla; Javier Castellanos, wila: “songs.” 528. CO-257r: “manifestacion,” quela-na-lòhui. 529. Alternative: “Mountain of Death.” 530. chahuohui. 531. CO-7r: “acompañado,” tè-nào-a. 532. CO-118v: “derredor,” capij; 92v: “coro de angeles,” cabij xiténi angeles. 533. CO-371r: “sangrentando,” t-òcha-ya. 534. gola. 535. CO-114r: “de ambas partes,” ti-àto . . . pi-àto. 536. CO-275r: “mostrado,” ti-lóhui. 537. CO-380r: “siluado,” ti-cechiñaa-ya. 538. CO-325v: “capture,” quela-co-cáa. 539. CO-264r: “me[n]guado,” na-yàchi; bene si bene yachi couplet (chapter 3). 540. CO-359v: “reziamente,” hue-lípi. 541. Alternative: “maize they will receive.” 542. hui[233r]cha. 543. CO-246r: “Linaje,” huecháa. Alternative: deity Huechaa. 544. BU-146: ch-oe’, “give.” 545. BU-61: ch-ax, “to summon”; CMP: go-x. 546. CO-174r: “entibiarse,” ti-yôolo; 219r: “Heruor,” xi-llábi. 547. CO-55r: “bienauenturado,” xi-pàa xi-làna pêni. 548. lanijdo. 549. CO-219v: “hija . . . la 4,” làxi. 550. C178r: “Ermana la mayor,” zàa. 551. bihilazo. 552. CO-263v: “menearse,” ti-tàa; BU-86: “move”; CMP: gw-da. Alternative: CO246r: “limpiar,” to-táa-ya. 420

not es t o page s 3 6 5 – 37 5

553. CO-95r: “corteza,” láça. 554. BU-185: “hurry”; CMP: b-yene. 555. CO-16r: “ahincarse,” ti-zèñe-a. 556. CO-388v: “svaue cosa,” pàa. 557. bayolachi. 558. leochihui. 559. Alternative: “it [the parrot plumage] will return to House of Reeds.” 560. CO-209r: “gritar,” ti-quìcha-ya. 561. CO-49r: “a vezes,” çòo. 562. goyeceni. 563. Alternative: “younger brother”; CO-178r: “ermano menor,” yèe. 564. CO-78v: “cogido,” ti-tòbi-a. 565. CO-131v: “desparzirse,” to-nàça-ya. 566. CO-221v: “hoja . . . larga,” yaza; BU-324: “furrow,” yas. 567. CO-177v: “deprestado estar,” cani na-zòlaa-ni. 568. BU-139: “request”; POT: ə-nabe STA: n-nabe. 569. zoohua. 570. Alternative: CO-169v: “enojarse,” ti-tòxo-a. 571. CO-285r: “nuues parecer,” ti-pèezàa. 572. CO-326v: “pressurosamente,” huanij. 573. baoiyaci. 574. CO-230v: “ympedida tener la vista,” ti-lìpi-lào-a. 575. CO-226r: “iuntamente,” huà-la. 576. nobeayaza. 577. nod. 578. dgodo; CO-407v: “traer,” to-toà-ya. 579. Alternative: “Milpa of Blood,” AHJO-VA Civil 29, L3-E4, 18r: xa yelala (“below . . . the milpa”). 580. CO-167r: “engordar,” ti-xène-a. 581. lachinayo. 582. CO-241r: “leal,” na-lij-láchi. 583. Alternative, “300”: “the three hundred names we secretly carry . . .” 584. RA: nh-hua-lhan, “he/she secretly carries.” Alternative: CO-388r: “sostener,” ti-llàne-a; BU-136, ch-lene, “be able to carry.” 585. BU-77: “grow, develop,” ch-cha’o; AHJO-VA Civil 474, L28-E4, 2r: ti-chao-bi testamento (“their testament will be renewed”). 586. CO-240r: “largamente,” hue-páa-néza. 587. Alternative: AHJO-VA Civil 321, L20-E16, 1v: la le-bi-zi (“no more”). 588. CO-216v: “hechizeria,” nílla. 589. RA: gu-chini-n, “he/she was sated.” Alternative: CO-261r: “mecedor,” to-chijni. 590. queyghue. 591. beelagalae. 592. yaaie. 593. xobahui. 594. CO-135r: “desterrado,” ti-tona-yya. 595. yaoooyaa. 596. lagnaano. 421

notes to page s 37 5 – 3 8 0

597. 598. 599. 600. 601.

422

y.de[236r]ye. CO-64v: “comienço tambien toma[n] por cabo,” nija. BU-175: ch-tilə’, “make someone fight”; POT: b-til. BU-184: ch-ye(3), “carry.” y.ba.

glossary

A: Arawak CNZ: Colonial Northern Zapotec CVZ: Colonial Valley Zapotec N: Nahuatl S: Spanish alcalde (S): chief town official alcalde mayor (S): governor and justice of colonial jurisdiction altepetl (N): Nahua polity betao (CNZ); pitào (CVZ): deity, sacred being biyee (CNZ); piyè (CVZ): time period, both 260-day count and 365-day year cabildo (S): town council cacij (CNZ, CVZ): 20-day period in Zapotec year cacique (A): ruler from an established lineage coci (CNZ), cocio (CVZ): 65-day period in 260-day count coque (CNZ), coquì (CVZ): hereditary ruler escribano (S): notary gohui (CNZ, CVZ): exchange libana (CNZ), lipàana (CVZ): elegant words; speech or song logquechi, lóoquíchi (CNZ, CVZ): Paper of the Roots; chronicle metzpohualli (N): 20-day period in Nahua year nicachi (CNZ, CVZ); teponaztli (N): two-tone wooden drum quela (CNZ, CVZ): custom quela tene (CNZ, CVZ): Blood Lake; place of origin queza li (CNZ, CVZ): Straight Flint; faith or belief quina, quiña (CNZ, CVZ): field tia, dia (CVZ, CNZ): lineage tonalpohualli (N): Nahua 260-day count trecena (S): 13-day period in the 260-day count xana, xua, xohuana (CNZ), joàna, chàna (CVZ): lord xihuitl (N): Nahua 365-day year xonaxi (CNZ, CVZ): lady yagtao (NZ): Great Tree; sacred bundle yetze, yeche, queche (CNZ, CVZ): Zapotec polity yza (CNZ, CVZ): Zapotec 365-day year

bibliography

Agüero, Cristóbal de. 1666. Miscelaneo espiritval, en el idioma zapoteco. Mexico City: Francisco Rodríguez Lupercio. Alberro, Solange. 1988. Inquisición y sociedad en Mexico, 1571–1700. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Alcina Franch, José. 1966. “Calendarios zapotecos prehispánicos según documentos de los siglos XVI y XVII.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 6:119–133. ———. 1993. Calendario y religión entre los zapotecos. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. ———. 1998. “Mapas y calendarios zapotecos; siglos XVI y XVII.” In Historia del Arte en Oaxaca, vol. 2, 173–191. Oaxaca, Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, Gobierno de Oaxaca. Alonso Ortiz, Ana D. 2020. “Propiedades de los verbos posicionales en el zapoteco de Yalálag.” Lingüística Mexicana. Nueva Época 2(1): 77–99. Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando. 1975. Obras históricas. 2 vols. Ed. Edmundo O’Gorman. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. ———. 2018. History of the Chichimeca Nation: Don Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl’s Chronicle of Ancient Mexico. Trans. and ed. Amber Brian, Bradley Benton, Pablo García Loaeza, and Peter Villella. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Anders, Ferdinand, Maarten Jansen, and Luis Reyes García. 1991. El libro del Ciuacoatl: Homenaje para el año del Fuego Nuevo. Libro explicativo del llamado Códice Borbónico. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica. ———. 1993. Los templos del cielo y de la oscuridad: Oráculos y liturgia, libro explicativo del llamado Códice Borgia. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Anderson, Caroline J., and Brook D. Lillehaugen. 2016. “Negation in Colonial Valley Zapotec.” Transactions of the Philological Society 114.3:391–413. Apian, Peter. 1524. Cosmographicus liber Petri Apiani mathematici studiose collectus. Basel: Peter Apian. Arellano Hernández, Alfonso. 2017. “Dynasty and Hierarchy in the Tombs of Monte Albán, Oaxaca: Tell Me Your Name.” In Constructing Power and Place in Mesoamerica, ed. Merideth Paxton and Leticia Staines Cicero, 113–124. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Arrioja, Luis. 2011. Pueblos de indios y tierras comunales. Villa Alta, Oaxaca: 1742– 1856. Zamora: Colegio de Michoacán. Arte de Lengua Zapoteca. n.d. JCB, Codex Ind. 14. Arzápalo, Ramón. 1987. El ritual del los Bacabes. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

biblio gr aphy

Aveni, Anthony. 1999. “Astronomy in the Mexican Codex Borgia.” Archaeoastronomy 24, Supplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy 30:S1–S20. ———. 2008. Foundations of New World Cultural Astronomy. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. ———. 2012. Circling the Square: How the Conquest Altered the Shape of Time in Mesoamerica. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society. Báez Rubí, Linda. 2012. “‘Y que la pintura mueva más que la escritura’: La circulación de imágenes entre América y España.” Ciencias Sociais e Humanidades 24:171–192. Bassie-Sweet, Karen. 2014. Maya Sacred Geography and the Creator Deities. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Batalla Rosado, Juan José. 1994. “Datación del Códice Borbónico a partir del análisis iconográfico de la representación de la sangre.” Revista Española de Antropología Americana 24:47–74. Bautista Cruz, Melitón. 2017. Memoria histórica de Tapa-baa. Mexico City: CopIt-arXives. Becerra Tanco, Luis. 1675. Felicidad de México. Mexico City: Por la Viuda de Bernardo Calderón. Berdan, Frances, and Patricia Rieff Anawalt. 1997. The Essential Codex Mendoza. Berkeley: University of California Press. Berlin, Heinrich. 1963. “The Palenque Triad.” Journal de la Société des Américanistes 52:91–99. Berlin, Heinrich, and Robert Barlow, ed. and trans. 1980. Anales de Tlatelolco. Mexico City: Rafael Porrúa. Bierhorst, John. 1985. Cantares Mexicanos: Songs of the Aztecs. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ———. 1992. History and Mythology of the Aztec: The Codex Chimalpopoca. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Boone, Elizabeth H. 2000. Stories in Red and Black: Pictorial Histories of the Aztec and Mixtec. Austin: University of Texas Press. ———. 2007. Cycles of Time and Meaning in the Mexican Books of Fate. Austin: University of Texas Press. Boone, Elizabeth H., Louise Burkhart, and David Tavárez. 2017. Painted Words: Nahua Catholicism, Politics, and Memory in the Atzaqualco Pictorial Catechism. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. Boturini, Lorenzo. [1746] 1990. Idea de una nueva historia general de la America septentrional. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Bricker, Victoria. 2001. “A Method for Dating Venus Almanacs in the Borgia Codex.” Journal for the History of Astronomy, Archaeoastronomy Supplement 32:21–44. Briquet, Charles-Moïse. 1907. Les filigranes. 4 vols. Paris: Alphonse Picard et fi ls. Brittenham, Claudia Lozoff, and María Teresa Uriarte. 2015. The Power of Painting in Ancient Central Mexico: The Murals of Cacaxtla. Austin: University of Texas Press. Broadwell, George A. 2015. “The Historical Development of the Progressive Aspect in Central Zapotec.” International Journal of American Linguistics 81.2:151–185. ———. 2021. “The Diachrony of the Perfect in Zapotec.” In The Perfect Volume:

425

biblio gr aphy

Papers on the Perfect, ed. Kristin Melum Eide and Marc Fryd, 163–180. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Broda, Johanna. 1983. “Ciclos agrícolas en el culto: Un problema de la correlación del calendario mexica.” In Calendars in Mesoamerica and Peru: Native American Computations of Time, ed. Anthony F. Aveni and Gordon Brotherston, 145–165. Oxford: BAR International Series 174. ———. 1991. “The Sacred Landscape of Aztec Calendar Festivals: Myth, Nature, and Society.” In To Change Place: Aztec Ceremonial Landscapes, ed. Davíd Carrasco, 74–120. Niwot: University Press of Colorado. Brumfiel, Elizabeth M. 2011. “Technologies of Time: Calendrics and Commoners in Postclassic Mexico.” Ancient Mesoamerica 22.1:53–70. Burgoa, Fray Francisco de. [1670] 1989. Palestra historial. Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa. ———. [1674] 1989. Geográfica descripción. 2 vols. Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa. Burns, Kathryn. 2010. Into the Archive: Writing and Power in Colonial Peru. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Bustamante García, Jesús. 1990. Fray Bernardino de Sahagún: Una revisión crítica de los manuscritos y de su proceso de composición. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Butler, Ines. 1980. Gramática zapoteca: Zapoteco de Yatzachi el Bajo. Mexico City: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. ———. 2000. Vocabulario zapoteco de Yatzachi el Bajo. 2nd ed. Mexico City: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. Cadena, Marisol de la, and Mario Blaser. 2018. A World of Many Worlds. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Calnek, Edward. 2007. “Kirchhoff ’s Correlations and the Third Part of the Codex Borbonicus.” In Skywatching in the Ancient World: New Perspectives in Cultural Astronomy. Studies in Honor of Anthony F. Aveni, ed. Clive Ruggles and Gary Urton, 83–94. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. Calvo, Thomas. 2010. Vencer la derrota: Vivir en la sierra zapoteca de México (1674– 1707). Zamora: Colegio de Michoacán, CEMCA, CIESAS. Cañizares-Esguerra, Jorge, ed. 2018. “Introduction.” In Entangled Empires: The Anglo-Iberian Atlantic, 1500–1830, 1–15. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Carmagnani, Marcelo. 1988. El regreso de los dioses: El proceso de reconstitución de la identidad étnica en Oaxaca, siglos XVII y XVIII. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Carrasco, Davíd. 2000. City of Sacrifice: The Aztec Empire and the Role of Violence in Civilization. Boston: Beacon Press. Casas, Bartolomé de las. 1967. Apologética historia sumaria. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Caso, Alfonso. 1928. Las estelas zapotecas. Mexico City: Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Historia y Etnografía. ———. 1939. “La correlación de los años azteca y cristiano.” Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 3:11–45. ———. 1959. “Nuevos datos para la correlación de los años aztecas y cristiano.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 1:1–25.

426

biblio gr aphy

———. 1965. “Zapotec Writing and Calendar.” In Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 3, ed. Robert Wachope and Gordon R. Willey, 931–947. Austin: University of Texas Press. ———. 1967. Los calendarios prehispánicos. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. ———. 1979. Reyes y reinos de la Mixteca, vol. 2: Diccionario biográfico de los señores mixtecos. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Castellanos, Javier. 1994. Wila che be ze ihao: Cantares de los vientos primerizos. Mexico City: Editorial Diana. ———. 2003. Diccionario Zapoteco–Español, Español–Zapoteco. Variante Xhon. Oaxaca: Ediciones Conocimiento Indígena. Castillo, Cristóbal del. 1991. Historia de la venida de los mexicanos y de otros pueblos e historia de la Conquista. Trans. and ed. Federico Navarrete Linares. Mexico City: INAH. Castillo Farreras, Víctor M. 1971. “El bisiesto mexicano.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 9:75–104. Cata, Víctor. 2012. Libana. Oaxaca City: Víctor Cata, Fondo Yoo Guchi. Certeau, Michel de. 1982. La fable mystique: XVIe–XVIIe siècle. Paris: Gallimard. Chacón, Gloria. 2018. Indigenous Cosmolectics: Kab’awil and the Making of Maya and Zapotec Literatures. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Chance, John K. 1989. The Conquest of the Sierra. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Chartier, Roger. 2008. Inscription and Erasure: Literature and Written Culture from the Eleventh to the Eighteenth Century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Chavero, Alfredo. 1903. “Calendario de Palemke: Los signos de las veintenas.” Anales del Museo Nacional de México (Primera época) 7:425–440. Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin, Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón. 1997. Codex Chimalpahin. 2 vols. Trans. and ed. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Susan Schroeder. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ———. 2001. Las ocho relaciones y El memorial de Colhuacan. 2 vols. Trans. and ed. Rafael Tena. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. ———. 2010. Chimalpahin’s Conquest: A Nahua Historian’s Rewriting of Francisco López de Gómara’s La conquista de México. Trans. and ed. Susan Schroeder, David Tavárez, Cristián Roa, and Anne Cruz. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo. 2017. Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya. New Haven: Yale University Press. Christensen, Mark. 2013. Nahua and Maya Catholicisms: Texts and Religion in Colonial Central Mexico and Yucatan. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Christenson, Allen, ed. and trans. 2007. Popol Vuh, the Sacred Book of the Maya. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Chuchiak, John F. 2012. The Inquisition in New Spain, 1536–1819: A Documentary History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Cline, Howard F. 1973. “The Chronology of the Conquest: Synchronologies in Codex Telleriano-Remensis and Sahagún.” Journal de la Société des Américanistes 1973 (62): 9–34.

427

biblio gr aphy

Codex Borbonicus. Manuscrit Mexicain de la Bibliothèque du Palais Bourbon. 1899. Facsimile. Ed. E. T. Hamy. Paris: E. Leroux. Codex Borgia. 1898. Manuscript of the Sacra Congregazione di Propaganda Fide. Facsimile. Ed. Duc. de Loubat. Rome. Cohn, Bernard. 1980. “History and Anthropology: The State of Play.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 22.2:198–221. Connell, William F. 2011. After Moctezuma: Indigenous Politics and Self-Government in Mexico City, 1524–1730. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Córdova, Juan de. 1578a. Vocabulario en lengua çapoteca. Mexico City: Pedro Ocharte and Antonio Ricardo, JCB. ———. 1578b. Arte en lengua zapoteca. Mexico City: Pedro Balli, JCB. Crocker, Richard. 2000. An Introduction to Gregorian Chant. New Haven: Yale University Press. Cruz, Víctor de la. 2007. El pensamiento de los binnigula’sa’: Cosmovisión, religión, y calendario, con especial referencia a los binnizá. Mexico City: Publicaciones de la Casa Chata. Cruz López, Beatriz. 2015. “Las pinturas del común: Títulos primordiales, historia local y memoria documental entre los pueblos zapotecos del periodo colonial.” MA thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Cruz Santiago, Emiliano. 2008. “Una revelación de un calendario de San Bartolomé Loxicha.” Manuscript. Cueva, Pedro de la. n.d. Parábolas y exemplos sacados de los costumbres del campo. Bibliothèque National de France, Paris, Collection Pinart, Fonds Américain 70. Dávila, Caroll. 2019. “Wene ya’a, ‘quien habla con los cerros’: Memoria, mántica y paisaje sagrado en la Sierra Norte de Oaxaca.” PhD diss., Leiden University. Dehouve, Danièle. 2015. El imaginario de los números entre los antiguos mexicanos. Mexico City: La Casa Chata, CIESAS-CEMCA. Díaz, Gisele, and Alan Rodgers, eds. 1993. The Codex Borgia. Mineola, NY: Dover. Díaz Álvarez, Ana Guadalupe. 2014. “Venus más allá de las tablas astronómicas: Una relectura de las láminas 53–54 del Códice Borgia.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 48:89–128. ———, ed. 2020. Reshaping the World: Debates on Mesoamerican Cosmologies. Louisville: University of Colorado Press. Díaz del Castillo, Bernal. 1632. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Madrid: Emprenta del Reyno. ———. 2005. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Manuscrito Guatemala. Ed. José Barbón Rodríguez. Mexico City: Colegio de México, UNAM. Díaz Patri, Gabriel. 2009. “Poetry in the Latin Liturgy.” In The Genius of the Roman Rite, ed. Uwe Lang, 45–82. Chicago: Hillenbrand Books. Díaz Rubio, Elena, and Jesús Bustamante. 1983. “Carta de Pedro de San Buenaventura a fray Bernardino de Sahagún acerca del calendario solar mexicano.” Revista Española de Antropología Americana 13: 109–120. Dicks, D. R. 1970. Early Greek Astronomy to Aristotle. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Diel, Lori Boornazian. 2016. “The Codex Mexicanus: Time, Religion, History, and Health in Sixteenth-Century New Spain.” The Americas 73.4:427–458.

428

biblio gr aphy

Domenici, Davide. 2017. “The Descrittione dell’India occidentale, a Sixteenth-Century Source on the Italian Reception of Mesoamerican Material Culture.” Ethnohistory 64:497–527. ———. 2016. “The Wandering ‘Leg of an Indian King’: The Cultural Biography of a Friction Idiophone Now in the Pigorini Museum in Rome, Italy.” Journal de la Société des Américanistes 102.1:79–104. Dupey García, Élodie, and María Luisa Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual. 2019. Painting the Skin Pigments on Bodies and Codices in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Durán, Diego. 1967. Historia de las indias de Nueva España e islas de la tierra firme. Ed. Angel María Garibay. 2 vols. Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa. Duviols, Pierre. 1986. Cultura andina y represión: Procesos y visitas de idolatrías y hechicerías, Cajatambo, siglo XVII. Cuzco: Centro Bartolomé de las Casas. Easby, K. Elizabeth, and John Scott. 1970. Before Cortes: Sculpture of Middle America. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. Edmonson, Munro. 1988. The Book of the Year: Middle American Calendrical Systems. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. Farriss, Nancy. 2014. Libana: El discurso ceremonial mesoamericano y el sermón cristiano. Mexico City: Artes de México y del Mundo. ———. 2018. Tongues of Fire: Language and Evangelization in Colonial Mexico. New York: Oxford University Press. Feria, Pedro de. 1567. Doctrina christiana en lengua castellana y çapoteca. Mexico City: Pedro Ocharte. Flannery, Kent, and Joyce Marcus. 1983. The Cloud People: Divergent Evolution of the Zapotec and Mixtec Civilizations. New York: Academic Press. ———. 2003. “The Origin of War: New 14 C dates from Ancient Mexico.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 100 (20): 11801–11805. Foreman, John, and Brook D. Lillehaugen. 2017. “Positional Verbs in Colonial Valley Zapotec.” International Journal of American Linguistics 82.2:263–305. Fuente, Julio de la. 1949. “Documentos para la etnografía e historia zapotecas.” Anales del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia 3:175–197. ———. 1977. Yalálag, una villa zapoteca serrana [1949]. Mexico City: Museo Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Instituto Nacional Indigenista. Galant, Michael. 2006. Comparative Constructions in Spanish and San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec. Munich: LINCOM. Garone Gravier, Marina. 2019. “Las cátedras universitarias de lenguas indígenas y la producción editorial en la Nueva España: Una aproximación desde la historia del libro.” In De eruditione americana: Prácticas de lectura y escritura en los ámbitos académicos novohispanos, ed. Manuel Suárez Rivera, 127–174. Mexico City: UNAM. Gerhard, Peter. 1972. A Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Gillow, Eulogio. [1889] 1990. Apuntes históricos sobre la idolatría e introducción del cristianismo en Oaxaca, México. Mexico City: Ediciones Toledo. González Obregón, Luis. 1910. La Biblioteca nacional de México, 1833–1910: Reseña histórica. Mexico. González Pérez, Damián. 2019. Llover en la sierra: Ritualidad y cosmovisión en torno al Rayo y la lluvia entre los zapotecos del sur de Oaxaca. Mexico City: UNAM.

429

biblio gr aphy

Gould, Eliga H. 2007. “Entangled Histories, Entangled Worlds: The EnglishSpeaking Atlantic as a Spanish Periphery.” American Historical Review 112.3:764–786. Gramática y sermones en lengua Zapoteca. N.d. HSA NS 3-27. Granada, Luis de. 1554. Libro de la oración y meditación. Salamanca: Andrea Portonaris. Grant, Edward. 1996. Planets, Stars, and Orbs: The Medieval Cosmos, 1200–1687. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Graulich, Michel. 1990. Mitos y rituales del México antiguo. Madrid: Ediciones Istmo. ———. 1992. “Aztec Festivals of the Rain Gods.” Indiana 12:21–54. Greenleaf, Richard E. 1962. Zumárraga and the Mexican Inquisition, 1536–1543. Washington, DC: Academy of Franciscan History. Griffin, Clive. 1991. Los Cromberger: La historia de una imprenta del siglo XVI en Sevilla y Méjico. Madrid: Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, Cultura Hispánica. Gruzinski, Serge. 2010. What Time Is It There? America and Islam at the Dawn of Modern Times. Cambridge: Polity Press. Habermas, Jürgen. 1989. The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. Trans. Thomas Berger. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Hamann, Byron E. 2015. The Translations of Nebrija: Language, Culture, and Circulation in the Early Modern World. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. Hamy, E. T., ed. 1899. Codex Borbonicus: Manuscrit Mexicain de la Bibliothèque du Palais Bourbon. Paris: E. Leroux. Hanks, William F. 2010. Converting Words: Maya in the Age of the Cross. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hassig, Ross. 2001. Time, History, and Belief in Aztec and Colonial Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press. Heijnen, Ilona. 2020. “Here It Is. A Nahuatl Translation of European Cosmology: Context and Contents of the Izcatqui Manuscript in the Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam.” PhD diss., Leiden University. Hermann Lejarazu, Manuel. 2009. “La Serpiente de fuego o yahui en la Mixteca prehispánica: Iconografía y significado.” Anales del Museo de América 17:64–77. Jansen, Marten, and Aurora Pérez Jiménez. 2017. Time and the Ancestors: Aztec and Mixtec Ritual Art. Leiden: Brill. Jiménez Moreno, Wigberto. 1940. “Signos cronográficos del códice y calendario mixteco.” In Códice de Yanbuitlán, ed. Wigberto Jiménez Moreno and Salvador Mateos Higuera, 69–76. Mexico City: Museo Nacional. ———. 1961. “Diferente principio del año entre diversos pueblos y sus consecuencias para la cronología prehispánica.” El México Antiguo 9:137–155. Joyce, Arthur. 2004. “Sacred Space and Social Relations in the Valley of Oaxaca.” In Mesoamerican Archaeology: Theory and Practice, ed. Julia Hendon and Rosemary Joyce, 192–216. Oxford: Blackwell. Joyce, Arthur A., and Sarah B. Barber. 2015. “Ensoulment, Entrapment, and Political Centralization: A Comparative Study of Religion and Politics in Later Formative Oaxaca.” Current Anthropology 56.6:819–847. Joyce, Rosemary. 2018. “Religion in a Material World.” In Religion and Politics in

430

biblio gr aphy

the Ancient Americas, ed. Sarah Barber and Arthur Joyce, 141–164. New York: Routledge. Justeson, John, and David Tavárez. 2007. “The Correlation of the Colonial Northern Zapotec Calendar with European Chronology.” In Skywatching in the Ancient World: New Perspectives in Cultural Astronomy. Studies in Honor of Anthony F. Aveni, ed. Clive Ruggles and Gary Urton, 17–81. Niwot: University Press of Colorado. Karttunen, Frances E. 1992. An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Karttunen, Frances E., and James Lockhart. 1980. “La estructura de la poesía náhuatl vista por sus variantes.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 14:15–65. Kaufman, Terrence. 2015. “A Typologically Odd Phonological Reconstruction for Proto-Sapotekan: Stem-Final *k.” Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, University at Albany, State University of New York. ———. 2016. “Proto-Sapotek(an) Reconstructions.” Unpublished manuscript. http://www.albany.edu/ims/PDLMA_publications_new.html. Kellogg, Susan. 1995. Law and the Transformation of Aztec Culture, 1500–1700. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Kirchhoff, Paul. 2002. Escritos selectos, vol. 1. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Kirchhoff, Paul, Lina Odena Güemes, and Luis Reyes García, eds. and trans. 1989. Historia tolteca-chichimeca. Mexico City: CIESAS, Fondo de Cultura Económica. Klein, Cecelia. 1982. “Woven Heaven, Tangled Earth: A Weaver’s Paradigm of the Mesoamerican Cosmos.” In Ethnoastronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the American Tropics, ed. Anthony Aveni and Gary Urton, 1–35. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. New York: New York Academy of Sciences. Knowlton, Timothy, and Gabrielle Vail. 2010. “Hybrid Cosmologies in Mesoamerica: A Reevaluation of the Yax Cheel Cab, a Maya World Tree.” Ethnohistory 57.4:709–739. König, Viola. [1993] 2010. La batalla de Siete Flor: Conquistadores, caciques y conflictos en mapas antiguos de los zapotecos, chinantecos y mixes. Oaxaca: CONACULTASecretaría de Cultura-Fundación Harp Helú. [Translation of 1993 Germanlanguage edition.] Kubler, George, and Charles Gibson. 1951. The Tovar Calendar: An Illustrated Mexican Manuscript, ca. 1585. New Haven: Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Sciences. Laird, Andrew. 2018. “Universal History and New Spain’s Indian Past: Classical Knowledge in Nahua Chronicles.” Bulletin of Latin American Research 37:86–103. Lara Cisneros, Gerardo. 2014. ¿Ignorancia invencible? Superstición e idolatría ante el Provisorato de Indios y Chinos del Arzobispado de México en el siglo XVIII. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. León-Portilla, Miguel, ed. 2011. Cantares Mexicanos. 2 vols. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel. 1975. Montaillou, village occitan de 1294 à 1324. Paris: Éditions Gallimard. Levanto, fray Leonardo. 1766. Cathecismo de la lengua zaapoteca. Puebla: Viuda de Miguel de Ortega.

431

biblio gr aphy

Li, Andrés de. 1999. Repertorio de los tiempos [1495]. Ed. Laura Delbrugge. London: Tamesis. ———. 1510. Repertorio de los tiempos. Seville, Spain: Jacob Cromberger. Lillehaugen, Brook D., George Aaron Broadwell, Michel R. Oudijk, Laurie Allen, May Plumb, and Mike Zarafonetis. 2016. Ticha: A Digital Text Explorer for Colonial Zapotec, first edition. http://ticha.haverford.edu/. Limón Olvera, Silvia. 2001. “El Dios del fuego y la regeneración del mundo.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 32:51–68. Lind, Michael. 2015. Ancient Zapotec Religion: An Ethnohistorical and Archaeological Perspective. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. Lipp, Frank. 1991. The Mixe of Oaxaca: Religion, Ritual, and Healing. Austin: University of Texas Press. Lockhart, James. 1991. “Care, Ingenuity, and Irresponsibility: The Bierhorst Edition of the Cantares Mexicanos,” Reviews in Anthropology 16: 119–132. ———. 1992. The Nahuas after the Conquest. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ———, trans. and ed. 2004. We People Here: Nahuatl Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico. Eugene, OR: Wipfe and Stock. Long, Rebecca, and Sofronio Cruz. 2000. Diccionario zapoteco de San Bartolomé Zoogocho Oaxaca. 2nd ed. Coyoacán: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. López, Filemón, and Ronaldo Newberg. 2005. La conjugación del verbo zapoteco: Zapoteco de Yalálag. 2nd ed. Mexico City: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. López Austin, Alfredo. 1973. “Un ‘Repertorio de los tiempos’ en idioma náhuatl.” Anales de Antropología 10:285–296. ———. 2016. “La verticalidad del cosmos.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 52:119–150. López Austin, Alfredo, and Leonardo López Luján. 2009. Monte Sagrado—Templo Mayor. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. López de Gómara, Francisco. 1552. Historia de las Indias y Conquista de México, vol. 1. Zaragoza: Agustín Millán. ———. 1964. Cortés: The Life of the Conqueror by His Secretary, Francisco López de Gómara. Trans. and ed. Lesley Byrd Simpson. Berkeley: University of California Press. López Piñero, José María. 1981–1986. Los impresos científicos españoles de los siglos XV y XVI. Valencia: Universidad de Valencia. Lyman Boulden, Hilario. 2010. Gramática popular del zapoteco de Comaltepec, Choapan, Oaxaca. Mexico City: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. Magaloni Kerpel, Diana. 2014. The Colors of the New World: Artists, Materials, and the Creation of the Florentine Codex. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute. Marcus, Joyce. 1980. “Zapotec Writing.” Scientific American 242.2:50–54. ———. 1992. Mesoamerican Writing Systems: Propaganda, Myth, and History in Four Ancient Civilizations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Marcus, Joyce, and Kent Flannery. 1996. Zapotec Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson. Martín, Juan. 1696. Vocabulario de la lengua castellana y zapoteca nexitza. Newberry Library, Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection MS 1702. Martínez, Alonso. [1633] 1872. Manual breve y compendioso para empezar a aprender lengua zapoteca y administrar en caso de necesidad. Brown University, John Carter Brown Library, Codex Ind. 70.

432

biblio gr aphy

Martínez, Enrico. [1606] 1948. Reportorio de los tiempos e historia natural de Nueva España. Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública. Martínez, María Elena. 2008. Genealogical Fictions: Limpieza de Sangre, Religion, and Gender in Colonial Mexico. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Martínez Baracs, Andrea. 1993. “Colonizaciones tlaxcaltecas.” Historia Mexicana 43:195–250. Martos, Josep Lluís. 2014. “La editio princeps del Repertorio de los tiempos de Andrés de Li: El proyecto editorial y la recuperación del incunable.” In Texto, edición y público lector en los albores de la imprenta, ed. Marta Haro Cortés and José Luis Canet, 155–186. Valencia: Publicaciones de la Universitat de València. Matos Moctezuma, Eduardo. 1987. “Symbolism of the Templo Mayor.” In The Aztec Templo Mayor, ed. Elizabeth Boone, 185–209. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. Maxwell, Judith M., and Robert M. Hill II, trans. and eds. 2006. Kaqchikel Chronicles: The Definitive Edition. Austin: University of Texas Press. McCluskey, Stephen. 2000. Astronomies and Cultures in Early Medieval Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McDonough, Kelly. 2019. “Indigenous Technologies in the 1577 Relaciones geográficas of New Spain: Collective Land Memory, Natural Resources, and Herbal Medicine.” Ethnohistory 66.3: 465–487. Medina González, Xóchitl. 1998. Histoire mexicaine depuis 1221 jusqu’en 1594. Mexico City: INAH. Meer, Ron van. 2000. “Análisis e interpretación de un libro calendárico zapoteco: El manuscrito de San Antonio Huitepec.” Cuadernos del Sur 15 (6): 37–74. Megged, Amos, and Stephanie Wood, eds. 2012. Mesoamerican Memory: Enduring Systems of Remembrance. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Mengin, Ernest. 1952. “Commentaire du Codex Mexicanus nos. 23–24 de la Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris.” Journal de la Société des Americanistes 41:387–498. Milbrath, Susan. 2013. Heaven and Earth in Ancient Mexico: Astronomy and Seasonal Cycles in the Codex Borgia. Austin: University of Texas Press. Miller, Arthur. 1991. “Transformations of Time and Space: Oaxaca, Mexico, circa 1500–1700.” In Images of Memory: On Remembering and Representation, ed. Susanne Küchler and Walter Melion, 141–175. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. Molina, Alonso de. 1569. Confessionario mayor en la lengua mexicana y castellana. Mexico City: Antonio de Espinosa. ———. [1571] 1992. Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana. Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa. Monaghan, John. 1998. “The Person, Destiny, and the Construction of Difference in Mesoamerica.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics 33: 137–146. Motolinia, Toribio. 1903. Memoriales de Fray Toribio de Motolinia. Ed. Luis García Pimentel. Mexico City: Luis García Pimentel. Mundy, Barbara. 2015. The Death of Aztec Tenochtitlan, the Life of Mexico City. Austin: University of Texas Press. Munro, Pamela, and Aaron Sonnenschein. 2007. “Four Zapotec Number Systems.” Unpublished paper. Nájera Coronado, Martha. 2007. Los Cantares de Dzitbalché en la tradición religiosa mesoamericana. Mexico City: UNAM.

433

biblio gr aphy

Nesvig, Martin. 2018. Promiscuous Power: An Unorthodox History of New Spain. Austin: University of Texas Press. Nicholson, Henry B. 1971. “Religion in Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico.” In Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica, ed. Gordon F. Ekholm and Ignacio Bernal, 395– 446. Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 10. Austin: University of Texas Press. Nielsen, Jesper, and Toke Sellner Reunert. 2009. “Dante’s Heritage: Questioning the Multi-layered Model of the Mesoamerican Universe.” Antiquity 83 (320): 399–413. Nowotny, Karl. 2005. Tlacuilolli: Style and Contents of the Mexican Pictorial Manuscripts with a Catalog of the Borgia Group. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. [Translation of German-language edition, 1961.] Nuttall, Zelia. 1904. “The Periodical Adjustments of the Ancient Mexican Calendar.” American Anthropologist 6:486–500. Olivier, Guilhem. 2015. Cacería, sacrificio y poder en Mesoamérica: Tras las huellas de Mixcóatl, “Serpiente de Nube.” Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Fondo de Cultura Económica, CEMCA. Olko, Justyna, and Agnieszka Brylak. 2018. “Defending Local Autonomy and Facing Cultural Trauma: A Nahua Order against Idolatry, Tlaxcala, 1543.” Hispanic American Historical Review 98.4:573–604. Operstein, Natalie. 2003. “Personal Pronouns in Zapotec and Zapotecan.” International Journal of American Linguistics 69(2):154–185. Oudijk, Michel. 2000. Historiography of the Bènizàa: The Postclassic and Early Colonial Periods (1000–1600 AD). Leiden: CNWS Publications, vol. 84. ———. 2008. “The Postclassic Period in the Valley of Oaxaca: The Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Records.” In After Monte Alban: Transformation and Negotiation in Oaxaca, Mexico, ed. Jeffrey Blomster, 95–118. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. ———, ed. 2015. Diccionario Zapoteco–Español, Español–Zapoteco basado en el Vocabvlario en lengva çapoteca de fray Juan de Córdova (1578). http://www .iifi lologicas.unam.mx/cordova/. ———. 2016. “Zapoteco (ticha zaa).” Wiki-Filología. http://www.iifi lologicas.unam .mx/wikfi l/index.php/Zapoteco_(ticha_zaa). Owensby, Brian P. 2008. Empire of Law and Indian Justice in Colonial Mexico. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Pacheco de Silva, Francisco. 1687. Doctrina christiana, traducida de la lengua castellana, en lengua zapoteca nexitza. Mexico City: Francisco Sánchez. Palomera, Esteban J. 1988. Fray Diego Valadés, O.F.M., evangelizador humanista de la Nueva España. Mexico City: Universidad Iberoamericana. Parsons, Elsie. 1932. “Zapoteca and Spanish Tales of Mitla, Oaxaca.” Journal of American Folklore 45 (177): 277–317. Paso y Troncoso, Fernando del. 1898. Descripción, historia y exposición del códice pictórico de los antiguos Náuas que se conserva en la biblioteca de la Cámara de Diputados de París. Florence: Salvador Landi. Peñafiel, Antonio, ed. [1886] 1981. Gramática zapoteca de autor anónimo. Oaxaca: Ediciones Toledo. Piazza, Rosalba. 2016. La conciencia oscura de los naturales: Procesos de idolatría en

434

biblio gr aphy

la diócesis de Oaxaca (Nueva España), siglos XVI–XVIII. Mexico City: Colegio de México. Pickett, Velma. 1976. “Further Comments on Zapotec Motion Verbs.” International Journal of American Linguistics 42.2:162–164. Piña Chan, Román. 1992. El lenguaje de las piedras. Campeche: Universidad Autónoma de Campeche. Pizzigoni, Caterina. 2012. The Life Within: Local Indigenous Society in Mexico’s Toluca Valley, 1650–1800. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Poole, Stafford. 1995. Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531–1797. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Prem, Hanns J. 1978. “Comentario a las partes calendáricas del Codex Mexicanus 23–24.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 13:267–288. ———. 2008. Manual de la antigua cronología mexicana. Mexico City: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios en Antropología Social, Miguel Porrúa. Quaderno de Ydioma Zapoteco del Valle. n.d. Brown University, John Carter Brown, Codex Ind. 22. Quiñones Keber, Eloise. 1995. Codex Telleriano-Remensis: Ritual, Divination, and History in a Pictorial Aztec Manuscript. Austin: University of Texas Press. Rappaport, Joanne, and Thomas Cummins. 2011. Beyond the Lettered City: Indigenous Literacies in the Andes. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Read, Kay, and Jane Rosenthal. 2006. “The Chalcan Woman’s Song: Sex as a Political Metaphor in Fifteenth-Century Mexico.” The Americas 62.3:313–348. Rendón Sandoval, Javier. 2014. “Los mecanismos de trepado de las lianas nativas de México.” MA thesis, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Reyes, fray Gaspar de los. [1704] 1891. Gramática de las lemguas Zapoteca-serrana y Zapoteca del Valle. Oaxaca: Imprenta del Estado. Reyes García, Luis, Eustaquio Celestino Solís, and Armando Valencia Ríos, trans. and eds. 1996. Documentos nahuas de la ciudad de México del siglo XVI. Mexico City: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios en Antropología Social. Reyes Gómez, Juan Carlos. 2017. “Tiempo, cosmos y religión del pueblo ayuuk (México).” PhD diss., University of Leiden. Ricard, Robert. 1966. The Spiritual Conquest of Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press. Ríos Morales, Manuel. 2013. Béné Wha Lhall, Béné lo Ya’a: Identidad y etnicidad en la Sierra Norte Zapoteca. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Robertson, Donald. 1959. Mexican Manuscript Painting of the Early Colonial Period: The Metropolitan Schools. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Rodys, Ryszard. 2013. “Capilla musical de la Catedral de Oaxaca.” In Ritual sonoro en catedral y parroquias, ed. Sergio Navarrete Pellicer, 75–129. Mexico City: CIESAS. Rojas Rabiela, Teresa, Elsa Leticia Rea López, Enrique Nieto, Mercedes de los Santos Ortega, and Constantino Medina Lima. 1999–2004. Vidas y bienes olvidados. 5 vols. Mexico City: CIESAS. Romero Frizzi, María de los Ángeles. 2012. “The Transformation of Historical Memory as Revealed in Two Zapotec Primordial Titles.” In Mesoamerican Memory: Enduring Systems of Remembrance, ed. Amos Megged and Stephanie Wood, 91–112. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

435

biblio gr aphy

Romero Frizzi, María de los Ángeles, and Juana Vásquez Vásquez. 2003. “Memoria y escritura: La memoria de Juquila.” In Escritura zapoteca: 2,500 años de historia, ed. María de los Ángeles Romero Frizzi, 393–448. Mexico City: CIESAS, INAH, Porrúa, CONACULTA. ———. 2013. “Un título primordial de San Francisco Yatee, Oaxaca.” Tlalocan 17:87–120. Romero Frizzi, María de los Ángeles, and Michel Oudijk. 2003. “Los títulos primordiales: Un género de tradición mesoamericana del mundo prehispánico al siglo XXI.” Relaciones. Estudios de historia y sociedad 24(95): 19–48. Ruiz de Alarcón, Hernando. 1984. Treatise on the Heathen Institutions That Today Live among the Indians Native to This New Spain (1629). Trans. and ed. J. Richard Andrews and Ross Hassig. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Ruiz Medrano, Ethelia. 2011. Mexico’s Indigenous Communities: Their Lands and Histories, 1500–2010. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. Ruiz-Sanchez, Eduardo, Lynn G. Clark, Ximena Londoño, Teresa Mejía-Saulés, and Gilberto Cortés Rodríguez. 2015. “Morphological Keys to the Genera and Species of Bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) of Mexico.” Phytotaxa 236.1:1–24. Sahagún, Bernardino de. 1950–1982. The Florentine Codex. 13 vols. Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble, trans. and eds. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. Sánchez Santiago, Gonzalo, and Ricardo Higelin Ponce de León. 2014. “El quego xilla en la antigua Oaxaca: Una aproximación a los idiófonos de ludimiento. In Flower World: Music Archaeology of the Americas, vol. 3, ed. Matthias Stöckli and Mark Howell, 101–122. Berlin: Ekho Verlag. Satterthwaite, Linton. 1965. “Calendrics of the Maya Lowlands” In Handbook of Middle American Indians, vols. 2–3: Archaeology, ed. Gordon R. Willey, 603–631. Austin: University of Texas Press. Schiebinger, Londa. 2017. Secret Cures of Slaves: People, Plants, and Medicine in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Schwaller, John F. 2019. Panquetzaliztli: Aztec History as Seen in the Rituals of One Month. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Schwaller, Robert C., ed. 2012. A Language of Empire, a Quotidian Tongue: The Uses of Nahuatl in Colonial Mexico. Special issue, Ethnohistory 59.4. Schwartz, Stuart B. 2008. All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World. New Haven: Yale University Press. Secretaría de la Reforma Agraria en Oaxaca. 1997. Memorial de linderos, gráfica agraria de Oaxaca: Documentos del Archivo Histórico de la Secretaría de la Reforma Agraria en Oaxaca. Oaxaca: Instituto de Artes Gráficas de Oaxaca. Seler, Eduard. 1901–1902. Codex Fejérváry-Mayer. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable. ———. 1903. “Die Korrecturen der Jahreslänge und der Länge der Venusperiode in den mexikanischen Bilderschriften.” Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 35:27–49. ———. 1980. Comentarios al Códice Borgia. 2 vols. Mexico City: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Sellen, Adam T. 2007. El cielo compartido: Deidades y ancestros en la vasijas efigie zapotecas. Mérida: Centro Peninsular en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales, UNAM. ———. 2011. “Sowing the Blood with the Maize: Zapotec Effigy Vessels and Agricultural Ritual.” Ancient Mesoamerica 22.1:71–89. Serna, Jacinto de la. 1892. Manual de Ministros de Indios para el conocimiento de sus 436

biblio gr aphy

idolatrías y extirpación de ellas. Anales del Museo Nacional de México (Primera época) 6: 261–475. Smith-Stark, Thomas C. 1999. “Dioses, sacerdotes y sacrificio: Una mirada a la religion zapoteca a través del Vocabulario en lengua çapoteca (1578) de Juan de Córdova.” In La religión de los Binnigula’sa’, ed. Víctor de la Cruz and Marcus C. Winter, 89–195. Oaxaca: Instituto Estatal de Educación Pública de Oaxaca, Instituto Oaxaqueño de las Culturas. ———. 2003. “La ortografía del zapoteco en el vocabulario de fray Juan de Córdova.” In Escritura zapoteca: 2,500 años de historia, ed. María de los Ángeles Romero Frizzi, 173–239. Mexico City: CIESAS, INAH, Porrúa, CONACULTA. ———. 2007. “Algunas isoglosas zapotecas.” In Memorias del III Coloquio Internacional de Lingüística Mauricio Swadesh, ed. Christina Buenrostro et al., 69–134. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-INI. ———. 2008. “La flexión de tiempo, aspecto y modo en el verbo del zapoteco colonial del valle de Oaxaca.” In Memorias del Coloquio Francisco Belmar, ed. Áurea López Cruz and Michael Swanton, 377–419. Oaxaca: Biblioteca Francisco de Burgoa, CSEIIO, Fundación Harp Helú, INALI. ———. 2009. “Lexicography in New Spain (1492–1611).” Missionary Linguistics IV / Lingüística misionera IV, ed. Otto Zwartjes, Ramón Arzápalo, and Thomas Smith Stark, 3–82. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Smith-Stark, Thomas C., Sergio Bogard, and Ausencia López Cruz. 1993. Electronic Archive of the Vocabvlario en lengva çapoteca by Juan de Córdova. Word Perfect 8, 7.7 MB. Smith-Stark, Thomas C., Áurea López Cruz, Mercedes Montes de Oca Vega, Laura Rodríguez Cano, Adam Sellen, and Alfonso Torres Rodríguez. 2008. “Tres documentos zapotecos coloniales de San Antonino Ocotlán.” In Pictografía y escritura alfabética en Oaxaca, ed. Sebastián van Doesburg, 287–350. Oaxaca: CSEIIO, SAI, CEDELIO, FAHHO. Sonnenschein, Aaron. 2005. A Descriptive Grammar of San Bartolomé Zoogocho Zapotec. Munich: LINCOM Publishers. Sousa, Lisa. 2017. The Woman Who Turned Into a Jaguar, and Other Narratives of Native Women in Archives of Colonial Mexico. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Sparks, Garry. 2019. Rewriting Maya Religion: Domingo de Vico, K’iche’ Maya Intellectuals, and the Theologia Indorum. Louisville: University Press of Colorado. Speck, Charles, and Velma Pickett. 1976. “Some Properties of the Texmelucan Zapotec Verbs Go, Come, and Arrive.” International Journal of American Linguistics 42(1): 58–64. Spitler, Susan. 2005. “Nahua Intellectual Responses to the Spanish: The Incorporation of European Ideas into the Central Mexican Calendar.” PhD diss., Tulane University. Šprajc, Ivan. 2000. “Problema de ajustes del año calendárico mesoamericano al año trópico.” Anales de Antropología 34.1: 133–160. Steinmetz, Dirk. 2011. Die Gregorianische Kalenderreform von 1582: Korrektur der christlichen Zeitrechnung in der frühen Neuzeit. Oftersheim: Steinmetz. Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. 2014. Aux origines de l’histoire globale. Paris: Fayard, Collège de France. Tavárez, David. 2000. “De cantares zapotecas a ‘libros del demonio’: La extirpación 437

biblio gr aphy

de discursos doctrinales híbridos en Villa Alta.” Acervos: Boletín de los Archivos y Bibliotecas de Oaxaca 17:19–27. ———. 2006. “The Passion according to the Wooden Drum: The Christian Appropriation of a Zapotec Ritual Genre in New Spain.” The Americas 62.3:413–444. ———. 2008. “Una aproximación a la cosmología colonial zapoteca a través de los cantares de Villa Alta.” In Memorias del Coloquio Francisco Belmar, ed. Áurea López Cruz and Michael Swanton, 35–57. Oaxaca: Biblioteca Burgoa-CSEIIO-INALI. ———. 2009. “Los cantos zapotecos de Villa Alta: Dos géneros rituales indígenas y sus correspondencias con los Cantares Mexicanos.” Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl 39:87–126. ———. 2011. The Invisible War: Indigenous Devotions, Discipline, and Dissent in Colonial Mexico. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ———. 2017. “Performing the Zaachila Word: The Dominican Invention of Zapotec Christianity.” In Words and Worlds Turned Around: Indigenous Christianities in Latin America, ed. David Tavárez, 29–62. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. ———. 2019. “La refracción de la memoria: Dos narrativas coloniales zapotecas sobre la conquista.” Iberoamericana 19 (71): 99–122. ———. 2020. “Zapotec Travels in Time and Space: The Correlation between the 260-Day Cycle and a Multilevel Cosmological Model.” In Reshaping the World: Debates on Mesoamerican Cosmologies, ed. Ana Díaz Álvarez, 180–208. Louisville: University Press of Colorado. ———, ed. 2021. Biyee: Zapotec Word, Time, and History. http://biyee.vassar.edu; http://zapotectime.vassar.edu. Tavárez, David, and John Justeson. 2008. “Eclipse Records in a Corpus of Colonial Zapotec 260-day Calendars.” Ancient Mesoamerica 19 (1): 67–81. Taylor, William B. 1996. Magistrates of the Sacred: Priests and Parishioners in Eighteenth- Century Mexico. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ———. 2016. Theater of a Thousand Wonders: A History of Miraculous Images and Shrines in New Spain. New York: Cambridge University Press. Tedlock, Dennis, ed. and trans. 1996. Popol Vuh. New York: Touchstone. Tena, Rafael. 1987. El calendario mexica y la cronografía. Mexico City: INAH. Terraciano, Kevin. 2001. The Mixtecs of Colonial Oaxaca. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Terraciano, Kevin, Pamela Munro, and the UCLA Zapotec Texts Group. 2005. “Zapotec Land Transfer from Zimatlan, 1565.” In Mesoamerican Voices, ed. Matthew Restall, Lisa Sousa, and Kevin Terraciano. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Tornamira, Francisco Vicente de. 1585. Chronographia y repertorio de los tiempos, a lo moderno. Pamplona: Thomas Porràlis. Torralba, Juan Francisco. 1800. Arte Zaapoteco, confessonario [sic], administración de los santos sacramentos. Newberry Library, Edward E. Ayer Manuscript Collection MS 1699. Torres Cisneros, Gustavo. 2003. Mëj xëëw, la gran fiesta del Señor de Alotepec. Mexico City: Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas. Townsend, Camilla. 2016. Annals of Native America: How the Nahuas of Colonial Mexico Kept Their History Alive. New York: Oxford University Press. Tránsito Leal, César Aníbal. 2020. “Tääy Jëkëëny, una cuenta ritual y mántica: Co-

438

biblio gr aphy

municación con entidades sagradas entre los ayuuk (mixes) de San Juan Cotzocón.” Ciencia y Mar 24 (70), 67–90. Truitt, Jonathan, and Mark Christensen. 2015. Native Wills from the Colonial Americas: Dead Giveaways in a New World. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. Urcid, Javier. 2000. “La lápida grabada de Noriega: Tres rituales en la vida de un noble zapoteca.” Indiana 16: 211–264. ———. 2001. Zapotec Hieroglyphic Writing. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology 34. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC. ———. 2005. “Zapotec Writing: Knowledge, Power, and Memory in Ancient Oaxaca.” Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies. http://www .famsi.org/zapotecwriting (accessed August 10, 2018). ———. 2011. “The Written Surface as a Cultural Code: A Comparative Perspective of Scribal Traditions from Southwestern Mesoamerica.” In Their Way of Writing: Scripts, Signs, and Notational Systems in Pre-Columbian America, ed. Elizabeth Boone and Gary Urton, 111–148. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks. ———. 2014. “Al pie de la Montaña Sagrada: Una historia más antigua de Zaachila.” In Zaachila y su historia prehispánica, ed. Ismael Vicente Cruz and Gonzalo Sánchez Santiago, 20–62. Oaxaca: Secretaría de Culturas y Artes de Oaxaca. Urcid, Javier, and Elbis Domínguez Covarrubias. 2013. “La casa de la tierra, la casa del cielo: Los murales en el edificio A de Cacaxtla.” In La pintura mural prehispánica en México V: Cacaxtla, Tomo III: Estudios, ed. María Teresa Uriarte Castañeda and Fernanda Salazar Gil, 609–675. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Urcid, Javier, and Sebastian van Doesburg. 2017. “Two Fragments of an Ancient Mantic Manuscript in San Bartolo Yautepec, Oaxaca.” Ancient Mesoamerica 28.2:403–421. Vail, Gabrielle. 2000. “Pre-Hispanic Maya Religion: Conceptions of Divinity in the Postclassic Maya Codices.” Ancient Mesoamerica 11.1:123–147. ———. 2015. “Scribal Interaction and the Transmission of Traditional Knowledge: A Postclassic Maya Perspective.” Ethnohistory 62.3:445–468. Valls i Subirà, Oriol. 1980. La historia del papel en España. vol 1: Siglos XV–XVI. Madrid: Empresa Nacional de Celulosas. Villella, Peter. 2016. Indigenous Elites and Creole Identity in Colonial Mexico, 1500– 1800. New York: Cambridge University Press. Voorburg, René, ed. 2007. Aztec and Maya Calendar. https://www.azteccalendar .com/. Weeks, John, Frauke Sachse, and Christian M. Prager. 2009. Maya Daykeeping: Three Calendars from Highland Guatemala. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. Weitlaner, Roberto J., and Irmgard Weitlaner. 1946. “The Mazatec Calendar.” American Antiquity 11.3:194–197. Weitlaner, Roberto J., and Gabriel De Cicco. 1961. “La jerarquía de los dioses zapotecos del sur.” Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth International Congress of Americanists, 695–710. Vienna. Weitlaner, Roberto J. 1958. “Calendario de los zapotecos del sur.” Proceedings of the Thirty-Second International Congress of Americanists, 296–299. Munksgaard. Whitecotton, Joseph. 1990. Zapotec Elite Ethnohistory: Pictorial Genealogies from

439

biblio gr aphy

Eastern Oaxaca. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology 39. ———. 2003. “Las genealogías del valle de Oaxaca: Época Colonial.” In Escritura zapoteca: 2500 años de historia, ed. M. Romero Frizzi, 305–339. Mexico City: INAH, CIESAS. Winter, Marcus, Robert Markens, Cira Martínez López, and Alicia Herrera Muzgo. 2016. “Shrines, Offerings, and Postclassic Continuity in Zapotec Religion.” In Commoner Ritual and Ideology in Ancient Mesoamerica, ed. Nancy Gonlin and Jon C. Lohse, 185–212. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. Wood, Stephanie, ed. 2000–2020. Online Nahuatl Dictionary. Wired Humanities Projects, University of Oregon. https://nahuatl.uoregon.edu/. ———. 2003. Transcending Conquest: Nahua Views of Spanish Colonial Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Yannakakis, Yanna. 2008. The Art of Being In-Between: Native Intermediaries, Indian Identity, and Local Rule in Colonial Oaxaca. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Yannakakis, Yanna, and Martina Schrader-Kniff ki. 2016. “Between the ‘Old Law’ and the New: Christian Translation, Indian Jurisdiction, and Criminal Justice in Colonial Oaxaca.” Hispanic American Historical Review 96 (3): 517–548. Zeitlin, Judith. 2005. Cultural Politics in Colonial Tehuantepec: Community and State among the Isthmus Zapotec, 1500–1750. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Zilbermann, Cristina. 1966. “Idolatrías de Oaxaca en el siglo XVIII.” Actas del XXXVI Congreso Internacional de Americanistas 2:111–123. Seville.

440

index

Note: Page numbers in italics denote images and associated captions. 1- Caiman (date): Christian entities in Zapotec observances, 251; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 22; and cycle-renewing observances, 155, 156, 160, 162; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 170 1- Caiman (name): and ancestral worship protocols, 217; apotheosis of, 202–208; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 143; creation acts in Codex Borgia 30, 128–129; and cycle-renewing observances, 160, 164; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and purpose of ritual labor, 178; and the Quiaviní Genealogy, 235–238, 236; and rhetorical devices in Zapotec songs, 67–69; and structure of Nahua year, 44; and veneration of founding ancestors, 209, 211–212 1-Death (date), 22, 215 1-Death (name), 151 1-Death Great Eagle (name), 211, 237 1-Deer (date), 44 1-Dew (date), 215 1-Earthquake (date), 23, 174, 203 1-Earthquake (name), 147 1-Face (name), 237 1-Field (date), 175 1-Flint (date), 38 1-Jaguar (date), 155, 171

1-Jaguar (name), 140, 141, 143–147, 145, 146, 149, 206 1-Monkey (date), 22, 174 1-Monkey (name), 190 1-Monkey/Crow Sun (name), 187 1-Night (date), 175 1-Rabbit (date), 37–38, 39 1-Rabbit (name), 213, 220, 226 1-Rain (date), 173 1-Reed (date), 35, 173 1-Reed (name), 141, 149–153, 157, 217, 226 1-Snake (date), 35, 41, 42 1-Snake (name), 228–230 1-Soaproot (date), 26, 166 1-Soaproot (name), 162, 207, 232, 250 1-Vulture/Crow (date), 22 1-Water (date), 175 1-Wind (date), 36, 38, 39 2/3/9-Snake (name), 179 2-Acatl (date), 39 2- Cornfield (date), 107 2- Cornfield (name), 149 2-Dew (date), 174 2-Earthquake (date), 175 2-Face (name), 141, 148, 184, 186– 187, 219, 239, P–7 2-Field (date), 171, 173 2-Field (name), 141, 144–146, 145 2-Flint (date), 38, 41, 42 2-Jaguar (date), 24, 173, 216–217 2-Knot (date), 175 2-Night (date), 25, 215 2-Night (name), 56 2-Rabbit (date), 173

2-Rain (date), 38 2-Reed (date), 37–38 2-Snake (date), 174 2-Soaproot (date), 174 2-Soaproot (name), 228 2-Water (name), 228, 230 2-Wind (date): and ancestral worship protocols, 218; and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 205; Christian entities in Zapotec observances, 251; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 23; and cyclerenewing observances, 160, 162, 166–167; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 198; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 170; and propitious/unpropitious dates, 173; and veneration of founding ancestors, 209; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 194 2-Wind (name), 156 3/11 Wind (name), 179 3- Crow (date), 171, 173 3-Deer (date), 23 3-Earthquake (date), 175 3-Field (date), 173 3-Flint (date), 37 3-House (date), 35 3-Jaguar (date), 38 3-Lizard (date), 25 3-Monkey (date), 175 3-Night (date), 162, 170, 173, 251 3-Rabbit (date), 173

inde x

3-Rain (date), 174 3-Reed (date), 242 3-Reed (name), 152, 200, 201, 219, 220 3-Snake (date), 175 3-Soaproot (date), 175 3-Vulture (date), 155 3-Water (date), 173 3-Wind (name), 209, 225, 226, 233, 239 4/8/11-Rain (name), 179. See also Chávez, Bartolomé de (Tia Lapag) 4/11- Caiman (name), 179 4-Earthquake (date): and cyclerenewing observances, 160; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 169, 171, 173. See also Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake 4-Earthquake (name), 141; and ancestral/sacred bundles, 214; and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 206–207; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 147, 149; creation acts in Codex Borgia 30, 127–129; and gifts from ancestors, 226; and the Lienzo de San Juan Comaltepec map, 190 4-Jaguar (date), 174 4-Knot (date), 53, 173 4-Lizard (date), 159–160, 170, 215, 251 4-Lizard (name), 250 4-Movement (date), 156 4-Night (date), 28 4-Rabbit (date), 174 4-Snake (name), 157 4-Soaproot (date), 31 4-Water (date), 173 4-Wind (name), 209 5-Death (name), 149–150, 234 5-Dew (date), 107, 171 5-Earthquake (date), 24, 31 5-Field (date), 174 5-Monkey (date), 53 5-Night (date), 107, 174 5-Rabbit (date), 107, 174

442

5-Reed (date), 25, 107 5-Snake (date), 160, 162, 166, 167, 170, 173, 215, 251 5-Snake (name), 156, 250 5-Soaproot (date), 175 6-Death (date): Christian entities in Zapotec observances, 251; and cycle-renewing observances, 160, 162; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 195; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 135; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 170; and propitious/unpropitious dates, 173 6-Eye/Crow (name), 222 6-Face (name), 151 6-Jaguar (date), 107 6-Jaguar/Lizard (name), 181 6-Lizard (date), 107 6- Owl (name), 228 6-Rain (date), 107, 184 6-Water (date), 25, 107 6-Water (name), 209 6-Wind (date), 31 7- Caiman (date), 175, 178 7- Caiman (name), 141, 147–149, 151, 206 7- Cornfield (date), 107 7-Deer (date): and ancestral/sacred bundles, 215; and ancestral worship practices, 217; Christian entities in Zapotec observances, 251; and cycle-renewing observances, 160, 162; and depictions of turtle-shaped ancestor, 235; and gifts from ancestors, 225; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 170; and propitious/unpropitious dates, 173; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 195 7-Deer (name), 179 7-Dew (name), 187 7-Earthquake (date), 215 7-Face (date), 107

7-Face (name), 232 7-Field (date), 235 7-Flint (date), 38 7-Knot (date), 107 7-Knot (name), 181, 208, 212, 214, 235, 239 7-Lizard (name), 148 7-Night (name), 151 7-Rabbit (date), 175 7-Rain Laguiag (name), 179, 181, 182, 237, 259 7-Reed (date), 36 7-Reed/Wind (name), 179 7-Snake (date), 107 7-Snake (name), 157 7-Water (name), 179 7-Wind (name), 228 8- Caiman (date), 107 8- Crow (date), 107 8-Death (date), 107, 174 8-Death (name), 230 8-Deer (date), 166, 173, 217 8-Deer (name), 162 8-Face (date), 217 8-Flint (date), 38 8-Jaguar (date), 215 8-Lizard (date), 215 8-Monkey (date), 107 8-Rabbit (date): and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 204; Christian entities in Zapotec observances, 251; and cycle-renewing observances, 164, 167; and day sign/ deity pairings, 166; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 195, 198, 202; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 170, 176; and nicachi drums, 193; and propitious/unpropitious dates, 173; and veneration of founding ancestors, 209–210; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 192, 194 8-Rain (date), 38, 174 8-Reed (date), 36 8-Snake (date), 174 8-Snake (name), 147, 219

inde x

8-Soaproot (date), 174 8-Soaproot (name), 222 8-Water (date), 175 8-Water (name), 228 8-Wind (date), 35–36, 38–39 9- Caiman (date), 169 9- Caiman (name), 148–149 9-Deer (date), 107 9-Deer (name), 228–230 9-Earthquake (date), 107 9-Jaguar (date), 38 9-Knot (date), 175 9-Lizard (name), 148 9-Rabbit (date), 173 9-Rain (date), 38 9-Reed (name), 179 9-Soaproot (date), 107, 174 9-Water (date): and Christian entities in Zapotec observances, 251, 251; and cycle-renewing observances, 154, 160, 164, 177; and cycles-renewing feasts, 167; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 134; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 171; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 194 9-Water (name), 156, 228 9-Wind (date), 53, 107 9-Wind (name), 150, 151 10-Dew (date), 107 10-Dog/Knot (date), 166 10-Earthquake (date): and antiChristian/anti- colonial strategies, 241, 243–244; and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 206; and cycle-renewing observances, 154, 157–159, 158; and day sign/ deity pairings, 166; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 195 10-Earthquake (name), 199, 234 10-Face (date), 166, 217 10-Face (name), 162, 182, 200–201, 209, 226, 227, 235 10-Face Puma (date), 242 10-Face Puma (name), 208–211, 239

443

10-Knot (date), 152, 160, 164, 166, 171, 173 10-Monkey (date), 175 10-Movement (date), 154–159, 158, 166, 167. See also 10-Earthquake (date) 10-Movement (name), 154–159 10-Night (date), 107 10-Night (name), 151 10-Rabbit (date), 107, 174 10-Reed (date), 37, 107 10-Water (name), 228 11-Deer (date), 166, 217 11-Deer (name), 162 11-Deer Eight (name), 179, 180–181 11-Dew (name), 141, 202, 204–205 11-Earthquake (date), 24, 173 11-Flint (date), 155 11-Jaguar (date), 107 11-Jaguar (name), 226 11-Knot (name), 152, 200, 201, 209, 219, 233, 239 11-Lizard (date), 107 11-Monkey (date): and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 204; and cyclerenewing observances, 160, 164, 167; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 202; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 171, 176; and propitious/unpropitious dates, 173; and time-space correlations, 152; and veneration of founding ancestors, 210; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 192, 194 11-Monkey (name), 156, 190, 222 11-Night (date), 28 11-Rabbit (date), 174 11-Rain (date), 107 11-Water (date), 107, 166 11-Water (name), 164, 208–209, 221, 239 12- Cornfield (date), 107 12-Face (date), 107 12- Grass/Soaproot (date), 166 12-Knot (date), 107 12-Lizard/Jaguar (name), 179

12-Monkey (date), 173 12-Rabbit (date), 175 12-Rain (date), 155 12-Snake (date), 44, 107 12-Soaproot (date), 164, 171 12-Wind (date), 24 13- Caiman (date), 107 13- Crow (date), 107 13-Death (date), 107 13-Death (name), 237 13-Deer (date), 24 13-Earthquake (date), 174 13-Flower (date), 155 13-Jaguar (date), 242 13-Jaguar (name), 220, 225 13-Knot (name), 222 13-Lizard (date), 174 13-Monkey (date), 107 13-Rain (date), 215 13-Reed (date), 155, 160, 164, 171, 173 13-Snake (name), 237 13-Soaproot (date), 24, 25, 166 13-Soaproot (name), 147 16- day ritual labor cycle: and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 147–148; creation acts in Codex Borgia 30, 130; and cycle-renewing observances, 154; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 124; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 112; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 92, 101; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 117–122, 118–119, 138 52-year cycles: and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 103– 108, 104, 107; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 147; and cycle-renewing observances, 157; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 130; and Mexica calendrical reform, 37–39; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 34; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 195; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 92

inde x

260- day divinatory counts: and ancestral worship protocols, 218; and anti- Christian/anti- colonial strategies, 244; and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 203; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 105–107; and confl icts between Zapotec communities, 2; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 21–24; and cycle-renewing observances, 155, 157, 160, 167; European influences in Northern Zapotec texts, 87, 89; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 198; and the “fallacy of fi xity,” 45; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 123; and Historia de la nación chichimeca, 44; and hybrid cosmological models, 248; instructions for days 1–18, 170–171; and lineage prefi xes, 47; main festivities, 172; and major celebrations and auguries, 169; and Mexica calendrical reform, 38; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 35–36; and overview of AGI México 882, 10–11; positional prefi xes, 20; and propitious/unpropitious dates, 173– 175; and scope/purpose of study, 7, 12, 13; and structure of AGI México 882, 85; and structure of Nahua year, 40; and structure of the yza, 28, 30; structure of Zapotec divinatory count, 14–19; twenty day signs in Zapotec and Nahua, 16; variants of, 268; and veneration of founding ancestors, 209; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 194–195, 199; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 116–117; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 93–94, 99, 103; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 117–118; and Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 139, 144–145; and Zapotec four-place

444

cycle, 109. See also specific dates/ calendrical names abstinence, 122 adiuino, 14 age norms and divisions, 12, 92– 93, 101, 117, 118–121, 120, 122, 266 AGI Estampas 219, 183, 184–185, 188, P–7 AGI México 882: and ancestor worship protocols, 190; authors and origins, 69–87; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 104, 107; Christian entities in Zapotec observances, 251; contents and structure of, 69–87, 71–72, 74–84, 86, 88, 90; creation narrative excerpt, 90; and cycle-renewing observances, 158, 164, 168; false covers, 86, 86–87, 94–95, 255; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 126, 131, 133, 135–137; origins of, 1; overview of, 9–12; and propitious/unpropitious dates, 173–175; and sacred beings and offering arrays, 252; sacred bundle depicted, 213; and scope/purpose of study, 264; signatures of ritual specialists, 191; Songbooks 102 and 103, 254; and structure of the yza, 30; twenty day signs in Zapotec and Nahua, 16–17; Yalalag idolatry confession, 260, 260–261; and Zapotec/Central Mexican pantheon co-beings, 141–142; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 113, 114–115; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 95, 97, 99; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 118–119, 120–121; and Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 146; and Zapotec/Nahuatl festival correlates, 26–27. See also specific manual numbers Agüero, Cristóbal de, 49, 63, 66, 117

Alarcón, Ruiz de, 43 Albuquerque, Bernardo de, 48, 49, 52, 253 Alcina Franch, José, 10, 122, 263–264 Aldana, Francisco de, 265 almanacs: and Calendar of the Most Ancient Galván, 268; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 103; and cyclerenewing observances, 155; and European cosmological models, 246; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 123; and hybrid cosmological models, 248, 250; and Itztli depictions, 153; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 34; and Yalalag idolatry confession, 262 alphabetic writing/texts, 4–5, 11, 25, 47, 53, 87, 139 Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Fernando de, 4, 44, 248 Ambrosian Rite, 87 Ambrosio, Ricardo, 19, 210 Amicus, Bartholomeus, 248 Analco Papers, 53–54, 54 Anales de Tecamachalco, 36–37, 44 Anales Históricos, Anales de Tula, 35 ancestor veneration/worship: and 1-Reed’s torch, 150; ancestral/sacred bundles, 207, 213, 213–215, 217, 220, 224, 226, 239, 266; apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 202– 208; and Aquinas’s dispositiva, 265; communal protocols for, 215–216; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 23–24; depictions of turtle-shaped ancestor, 228–235, 229; and depictions of turtle-shaped ancestors, 228– 235; exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 195– 202; foundational narratives, 178–183; and gifts from ancestors, 221–228; and logquechi document, 183–190; and over-

inde x

view of AGI México 882, 12; and Quiaviní genealogy, 235–238; stone carvings/monuments, 217–221; and turtle-shaped sacrificers, 231; veneration of founding ancestors, 208–212; and the yagtao, 212–217; Zapotec Songbooks 100 and 101, 190– 195; and Zapotec wills, 53–57 Anders, Ferdinand, 124, 156 Ángeles, Juan de los, 58–59 animal lineages, 60–62. See also specific animal day signs/calendrical names Animal of the Lords, 234 anticolonial discourses, 12, 241–246 Apian, Peter, 247, 248, 250 Aquinas, Thomas, 264 Aragón, Miguel de, 25 Aragón y Alcántara, Joseph de, 9, 190, 212–213 Archivo General de Indias (AGI), 1, 9–12, 71–72, 186. See also AGI México 882 Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico) (AGN), 11, 142 Archivo Histórico del Poder Judicial de Oaxaca (Mexico) (AHJO), 10–11, 55, 59, p–2 Archivo Histórico Judicial de Oaxaca, 10 Archivo Parroquial de Villa Alta (Mexico) (APVA), 10, 54 Arichaga, Sebastián de Aziburu, 1 Aristotle, 246–247 Arte en lengua zapoteca (Córdova), 3, 49, 103 Ash River, 151–152 astrology, 13, 263 astronomical observations: and cycle-renewing observances, 155–157, 161; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 123, 132–134, 133; and hybrid cosmological models, 247; and Mexica calendrical reform, 39; and quela li, 263

445

Atemoztli: and colonial Nahua calendars, 42; and Historia de la nación chichimeca, 44; and Nahua year’s festivals, 33; and structure of Nahua year, 41; Zapotec/Nahuatl festival correlates, 27 Atl Cahualo, 32, 38 Atlcahualo (Water Was Abandoned), 26 Atl Cahualo/Cuahuitlehua, 33, 35, 38–39, 42 Atzaqualco Catechism, 44 Audiencias, 55, 58, 60 auguries, 11, 14. See also divination Aveni, Anthony, 123, 156 Axayacatl, 62–63 Ayocuan, 62 Ayuuk people, 9, 268, 394n17 Baadella, Juan Martín, 182 Bala Yao Hueda, 141, 153, 234 Baptista, Gaspar, 3 Bartolomé de Chávez II Re Yagquelao, 56 Basque witch trials, 9 Bautista, Domingo, 259 Bautista, Felipe, 51, 258 Bautista, Juan, 97, 241 Bautista, Juliana, 266 Bautista, Pedro, 51, 97 Bea Bilao of Yatte, 209 Beala Xila Laxoo Quela Rene, 190 bea zoo, 221 Be Bilao Bia, 10-Face Puma, 182 Becelao, Lord of the Underworld, 159, 165, 166, 231, 260 Becelao Tao, 142 Becerra Tanco, Luis, 43–44 Bedao Huehe, Deity of Illness, 159 Bee Bilao Bia, 10-Face Puma, 201, 209 beegalae xo, “dreams of the ancestors,” 219, 266 begala (“dreams”), 218–219 Belasco, Gabriel, 219

Bela Xila Laxoo (Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake), 127–129, 141, 206–207 Bela Yati Yagcueo (White Serpent 1-Soaproot), 129–130, 208 Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, 255–256 bene guechea (ritual specialists), 14 bene walla (Northern Zapotec ritual specialists), 14 bene xan, 47. See also Bixano Zapotecs bene xhon, 47. See also Caxono Zapotecs bene xidza, 47. See also Nexitzo Zapotecs Berrio, Luis de, 53 Betanzos, Domingo de, 123 Betaza, 3, 181, 190, 191, 206, 228, 251, 266 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 100, 102, P–5, P–6 Bibliothèque Nationale (France) (BNF), 131–132 Bichitog, 129, 190, 196, 226, 232 Bichitog Calachi, 181, 206 bidodo bego, “mottled turtles,” 234 Bierhorst, John, 66, 192 Bilaa (7-Reed/Wind), 179 Bilachila, 141, 147 Bilao, 10-Face, 190 Bilao Niza, 10-Face Water, 199, 211 Bilapag (7-Rain) Laguiag, 179 Bilatela Tao, Great 7-Knot, 212 Bille Gaa/Billehe Gache (“Cave Nine/Cave Seven”), 193 Binechi (12-Lizard/Jaguar), 179 Bixanos Zapotecs: and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 49; and contents of AGI México 882, 70; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 24; manuals surrendered, 71; and Northern Zapotec writing, 47; and overview of AGI México 882, 9; territorial divisions, 8 Bixeag Lachi, 181, 196, 206–207, 238

inde x

Bixea Guxio, 206 biyee (feast day divinatory count): and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 204; and calendrical naming practices, 60; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 104; and conflicts between Zapotec communities, 2; and depictions of turtle-shaped ancestor, 234; and European influences, 89–91; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 125, 126; and overview of AGI México 882, 10–11; and scope/ purpose of study, 268; and structure of the yza, 28, 31; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 112– 113; and Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 147. See also 260day divinatory counts Blas, Juan, 253 Blood Field, 125, 126, 127, 130–131 Blood Jaguar, 69, 199 Blood Lake: and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 206–207; and the Comaltepec/Yachialag Map, 189–190; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 149; creation acts in Codex Borgia 30, 127–130; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 199; and gifts from ancestors, 226; and the Quiaviní Genealogy, 235–237; and rhetorical devices in Zapotec songs, 69; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 196, 199 Blood Palace, 200–201 blood sacrifice, 149–150, 152–153, 200–201, 209, 226 BNF Mexicain 20, 131–132 Book of Prayer and Meditation (Granada), 253 Books of the Chilam Balam, 6 Boone, Elizabeth, 123 Botello, Blas, 13 Boturini, Lorenzo, 4, 5, 34 Bricker, Victoria, 123, 156 Broadwell, George Aaron, 51–52

446

Broda, Johanna, 34 Brumfiel, Elizabeth, 15 Building A site, 204 Burgoa, Francisco de, 30–31, 34, 201 Burial Field, 125, 126 Bustamante, Carlos María, 4 Butler, Ines, 51 Buzzard day sign, 17, 18 Bvcabulario de la lengua castellana y zapoteca nexitza (Martín), 49, 85–86 Byland, Bruce, 156 cabildos, 53–55, 261, 406n64 Cabrera, Antonio de, 216–217 Cacaxtla, 123, 148, 204 Caiman day sign, 16, 18, 21. See also 1- Caiman (date) Calachi, 181, 206 Calendar of the Most Ancient Galván, 268 Calendar Round, 39 calendar wheels, 23 Calnek, Edward, 31, 38–40, 45 Calvo, Thomas, 55 Camino del cielo (León), 43 cannibalism, 261 Cano, Aurelia, 226–227 Cantares de Dzitbalché, 6 Cantares Mexicanos, 6, 62, 66–67, 192, 194 Canticle of Simeon, 255 cardinal directions, 103–108, 104 Cardona, Diego de, 9 Carmagnani, Marcello, 7 Carrasco, Julián, 89 Caso, Alfonso: and context of Northern Zapotec year, 23–24; and Mexica calendrical reform, 36–38; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 31, 35– 36; and overview of AGI México 882, 14; and structure of Nahua year, 40–41, 43, 44, 45; study of stone monuments, 222 Castellanos, Javier, 189 Castillo, Cristóbal del, 14, 35–36, 40–44, 42

Castillo calendar, 42 Catechismo (Levanto), 49 catechisms, 5, 253–256 Cave Nine (Bille Gaa), 193, 235, 236 Cave Seven (Billehe Gache), 189, 193, 235, 236 Caxonos Zapotecs: and ancestral/ sacred bundles, 214; and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 50–52; and the Comaltepec/Yachialag Map, 189; and contents of AGI México 882, 70–73, 71, 84–85; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 200; and narratives of founding ancestors, 179; and Northern Zapotec writing, 47; and overview of AGI México 882, 9; and Quetzalcoatl depictions, 152–153; territorial divisions, 8; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 96; and Zapotec four-place cycle, 109; and Zapotec wills and confessions, 212–215, 257, 266 cee, 134 cehe, 134 celestial spheres, 246–251, 247 Centeotl, 68, 142 ceramic drums, 192, 193 Certeau, Michel de, 265 Chalcacihuacuicatl (“Song of the Women of Chalco”), 62–66 Chalcatongo, 201 Chalchihuitl/Chalchihuitl Icue, 142, 161, 166, 166 Chance, John K., 7 Chávez, Bartolomé de (Tia Lapag), 46–47, 56, 56–58, 178–182, 212, 222, P–2 Chávez, Gerónimo de, 56, 56, 58, 182, 259 Chávez, Lorenzo de, 56 Chávez II Re Yagquelao, Bartolomé de (Deer 1-Eye), 57 Cheag/Tieag, 26, 30 Chhua Zin, 268 Chiapas, 2 Chichimecateuctli, Carlos, 267 Chicomoztoc, 218

inde x

Chila Ia Gobitsa, Diviner of Sun Mountain, 228 child sacrifice, 25, 261 Chimalpahin: and connected histories, 4; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 19; on founding of Tenochtitlan, 218; and hybrid cosmological models, 248; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 35–36; and overview of AGI México 882, 14; and rhetorical devices in Zapotec songs, 62–66; and structure of Nahua year, 40–41, 42; and structure of the yza, 30. See also Codex Chimalpahin Chimalpahin calendar, 42 Christianity: and anticolonial discourses, 241–246; Christian entities and Zapotec observances, 12, 251; Christian festival days, 28; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 23, 24– 25; and Dominican catechesis, 253–256; influence on Zapotec cosmology, 246–253; and Zapotec/Central Mexican pantheon co-beings, 143; and Zapotec cosmology, 247, 251; Zapotec engagement with Christian devotions, 240–241; and Zapotec wills and confessions, 257–261. See also Dominicans Chronographia y repertorio de los tiempos (Vicente de Tornamira), 248 Cihuailhuitl, 26, 33, 42 Cipactonal, 141, 145, 146, 149 Clement X, Pope, 257 Cline, Howard, 31, 35–36, 38, 45 Coatepec, 205 Coauitleuac, 33 Cobechi: and ancestral worship protocols, 217; and antiChristian/anti- colonial strategies, 243; and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 204; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 140–144, 141, 142, 149;

447

creation acts in Codex Borgia 30, 129; and cycle-renewing observances, 159–160, 162–164; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; depictions of turtle-shaped ancestor, 230; and depictions of turtle-shaped ancestors, 232– 233; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 201– 202; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 170, 176; and the Quiaviní Genealogy, 238; and veneration of founding ancestors, 209; and Zapotec divination practices, 221 çobi, 108–109, 111 Cobicha, 140, 141, 157, 165, 166, 199, 222 cocii/cocio (65- day time span): and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 103–108; and conflicts between Zapotec communities, 2; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 22; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 130, 132; and Zapotec 260-feast day divinatory count, 15; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 115–116; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 92, 97; and Zapotec divination practices, 89 Cocijo, 140–142, 142, 197, 230, 232 Codex Aubin, 44 Codex Borbonicus, 30, 37, 37–40, 124, 145, 153 Codex Borgia, P–5, P–6; and ancestral/sacred bundles, 214; and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 203, 207, 208; on “blue roads,” 220; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 105–108; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 22; and convergences in Northern Zapotec corpus, 7; cosmological theories, 92– 93, 98; creation acts in, 127– 130; and cycle-renewing observances, 154–161, 155, 161, 166, 167; fields of Zapotec creation

cosmology, 123–127, 132; and hybrid cosmological models, 252; Quetzalcoatl depictions, 150, 152–153; and scope/purpose of study, 12, 264; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 194; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 116; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 122; and Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 139, 149; and Zapotec four-place cycle, 108 Codex Chimalpahin, 40 Codex Cospi, 93, 105, 122, 139, 396n82 Codex Cozcatzin, 249 Codex Dresden, 156 Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, P–3; cardinal/intercardinal directions, 111; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 92, 103, 105; and contents of AGI México 882, 7; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 22; and cosmic geography, 116; and cosmic geography and ritual labor, 112; cosmological theories, 93, 97; and creation cosmology, 123–124, 132; and European cosmological models, 246; and hybrid cosmological models, 252–253; Itztli depictions, 153; offering cycles, 105; and scope/purpose of study, 264; and symbolism of white hues, 218; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 93–94; Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 139; and Zapotec four-place cycle, 108–110 Codex Laud, 124 Codex Mexicanus, 248–249 Codex Selden, 208 Codex Telleriano-Remensis, 21, 23– 24, 37 Codex Tovar, 31–33 Codex Vaticanus B: and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 207; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 105; and context of

inde x

Codex Vaticanus B (continued) Northern Zapotec year, 22; and convergences in Northern Zapotec corpus, 7; cosmological theories, 92, 99, 100, 101–103, 102; creation acts in Codex Borgia 30, 130; and cycle-renewing observances, 154–155, 156; fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 123–124, 132; and hybrid cosmological models, 252–253; and scope/purpose of study, 264; Zapotec cosmic geography, 116; Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 118, 122; Zapotec four-place cycle, 108 Codex Vienna, 124, 150, 157 Codex Zouche-Nuttall, 157, 208 Cohn, Bernard, 5 colanij (“one who casts the feasts”), 14 Colegio de Santa Cruz, 4 Colhua II tradition, 33 Coliuhquitepetl Icatcan, 218 Colonial Northern Zapotec (CNZ): and chia teeye term, 199, 402n53; and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 47–52, 48, 51, 51–52, 389n19, 390n20; European influences in Northern Zapotec texts, 89; and overview of AGI México 882, 11; and progressive movement markers, 52, 389n19; and scope/purpose of study, 12; and Zapotec 260-feast day divinatory count, 14, 15; and Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 144 Colonial Valley Zapotec (CVZ), 3, 7, 16–17, 17–18, 51 Comaltepec/Yachialag Map, 71, 77– 78, 148, 183–184, 186, 187, 187– 190, 188 confessions: and ancestral sacred bundles, 212–215; and contents of AGI México 882, 47, 70, 71– 72, 73, 74–85, 86; and cyclerenewing observances, 167; and “dreams of the ancestors,” 219; and hybrid Dominican cateche448

sis, 254; and logquechi document, 184; and overview of AGI México 882, 1, 9; on sacred sites, 226; and writing comparisons, 191; Yalalag idolatry confession, 260; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 94–97; Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 122; and Zapotec wills and confessions, 257–261 constellations, 132–134. See also astronomical observations consummativa, 264–265 Contreras Latzageag, Miguel, 50 conversos, 249 coo pà tào mushrooms, 221 copal, 69, 127, 150, 157, 215, 221, 231– 232, 255–256 Coquee Laa, 141 Coquie Cabila, 142 Coquì xee coquì cìlla, 141 Córdova, Juan de: and ancestral worship protocols, 217; and antiChristian/anti- colonial strategies, 243, 245; caiman references, 384n26; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 103; and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 48–49, 51, 51–52; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 23, 24; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 201; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 123, 132, 134; and logquechi document, 183; and structure of the yza, 30; twenty day signs in Zapotec and Nahua, 16–17; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 192, 194; and Zapotec 260-feast day divinatory count, 14–19, 25; and Zapotec/Central Mexican pantheon co-beings, 141–142, 142; and Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 140; and Zapotec dictionary and grammar, 3, 7, 14, 30, 49, 57, 60–61, 386n78, 389n19; and Zapotec four-place cycle, 109–110 Cortés, Hernán, 13, 35, 44, 190

Cosana, 142. See also Coxana Cosmographicus Liber (Apian), 247, 248 cosmology and cosmological theory: and ancestral worship protocols, 216; and conflicts between Zapotec communities, 2; cosmic geographies, 112–117, 113, 114; cosmological diagrams, 11, 133, 247; Cosmological Theory A, 94–95, 95, 97, 105, 137, 246, 253; Cosmological Theory B, 95, 98–99, 99, 101, 103, 105, 109, 134–135, 137, 217, 246, 252– 253, P–4; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 123–127, 126; hybrid cosmological models, 246–253; and narratives of founding ancestors, 181; and overview of AGI México 882, 12; and Zapotec four-place cycle, 109 Council of the Indies, 3 Council of Trent, 34 couplets, 62, 64–65, 66–67 Coxana, 142, 143, 176, 201 Cozàana tào, 142 Cozobi, 109 creation accounts and narratives, 12, 90, 123–127, 149–150, 194 Creole historians, 4 Cromberger, Jacobo, 249 Cromberger, Juan, 249 Crow day sign, 21 Cruz, Víctor de la, 395n54 Cruz Santiago, Emiliano, 268 cuadernos (notebooks), 11 Cuahuitlehua, 32 Cuahuitl Eua (Tree Rises), 26, 32, 33, 36 Cualachi (6-Jaguar/Lizard), 181 cuana betao (Deity Plant), 206, 221 Cuitlahuac, 33, 39 Cumbre de Cervatillos (Summit of Little Deer), 201 cured tobacco offerings, 128, 147, 149, 199, 208, 259, 268 cycle-renewing feasts, 139, 152, 154–167 cycles- of- cycles, 21, 117–118

inde x

daykeepers, 24 day-sign/deity pairings, 166 Death day sign, 16, 18–19, 21 Deer day sign, 16, 18, 21, 23 deeye/teeye, 199–200 deity lists, 11–12 Deity Plant, 221 Deity Thirteen: and ancestral worship protocols, 217; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 140, 141, 143– 144; and cycle-renewing observances, 160, 165; and day sign/ deity pairings, 166; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 170; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 194 de la Cruz, María, 52, 56 de la Cruz, Pergentino, 268 de la Fuente, Julio, 179, 268 de la Torre, Lucía, 266 del común ceremonies, 9 de los Ángeles, María, 249 de los Ríos, Pedro, 23, 30–31 De natura rerum (Isidore of Seville), 247 de particulares ceremonies, 9 Dew day sign, 21 Díaz Álvarez, Ana, 156 difrasismos, 62 directional trees, 214 dispositiva, 264–265 Disturber, 244 divination, 11, 214, 215, 263, 266 Doctrina christiana (Gante), 249 Doctrina christiana en lengua castellana y çapoteca (Feria and Albuquerque), 1, 47–48, 52, 55, 96, 253, 264–265 Doctrina christiana . . . en lengua zapoteca nexitza (Pacheco de Silva), 49 Dog day sign, 16, 21 Domínguez, Elbis, 148, 193, 205, 223, 229, 231 Domínguez, Joseph, 140, 215 Dominicans: and anti- Christian/ anti- colonial strategies, 243; col449

lection of Zapotec ritual materials, 123; and collective confession campaigns, 9; and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 47– 48; and contents of AGI México 882, 86; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 23; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 143; desecration of shrines, 267; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 137; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; hybrid Dominican catechesis, 253–256, 257–261; and rhetorical devices in Zapotec songs, 63, 66; and Zapotec agegroup ordering, 117; and Zapotec day- counting, 30; Zapotec documents as evidence against, 3, 10; and Zapotec engagement with Christian devotions, 240– 241, 264, 265–266; and Zapotec idolatry, 1 “dreams of the lords of stone,” 217–221 Drop day sign, 18 drums, 190, 192, 193, 251 Durán, Diego, 23 Eagle day sign, 17, 21 Earthquake day sign, 18–19, 21, 23 Eci, 141, 159–160, 165, 166, 169 eclipses, 12, 24, 132 Empyreum, 247–248, 250 Espina Arasena, Nicolás de, 234 Etzalcualiztli (Eating of Bean Stew), 26, 29, 42 Etzalli, 42 Etzalqualiztli, 32 Eucharist, 250 European divination practices, 13 exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 195–202 Ezalcoaliztli, 32

Feathered Serpent 4-Earthquake: and ancestral/sacred bundles, 214; and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 206–207; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 141, 147, 149; creation acts in Codex Borgia 30, 127–129; depictions of turtleshaped ancestor, 230; and the Lienzo de San Juan Comaltepec map, 190 Felicidad de Mexico (Becerra Tanco), 43 Feria, Pedro de, 1, 47–48, 49, 52, 97, 253, 265 Fernández del Castillo, Juan, 13 Field day sign, 18, 21 Field of Sharpness, 125, 126 Field of Sucklings, 125, 126 Field of the Burial, 166 Figueroa, Diego de, 53 five-position series, 22, 92, 106– 108, 116, 132 Flint day sign, 17, 21 Florentine Codex: and contents of AGI México 882, 6; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 19; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 145; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 124, 137; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 32–33, 35–36; and rhetorical devices in Zapotec songs, 67; and structure of the yza, 30–31 Flores, Gerónimo, 46, 57 Flores, Gregorio, 181, 258 Flores, José, 241 Flower day sign, 17, 21 founding ancestors, 178–183, 208–212 Fournier, Jacques, 9 Fourteen Articles of the Faith, 258 Francis, Saint, 256, 266 Franciscans, 4, 6

Face day sign, 18, 21 fallacy of fi xity, 45 fasting, 121–122 feast movements, 97–103, 99

gaa bela pa tao (Nine Serpent Princes), 129 Gabenàa (They Will Keep a Vigil), 26, 29

inde x

Gaha/Gaa (Fruit), 2, 26, 29, 241 Gante, Pedro de, 44, 249 García, Agustín, 58, 181, 259 Garibay, Ángel María, 62 gender norms and divisions, 2, 12, 92–93, 101, 118–121, 120, 266–267 gender pronouns, 52 geocentric celestial spheres, 246–247 Geográfi descripción (Burgoa), 30– 31 Gerónimo de Chávez Pea Quiçoba I, 56 Gibson, Charles, 39 gifts from ancestors, 221–228 glyphs, 37, 40, 110, 117, 222, 228, 384n26, 397n96 Gobechi, 158, 250 Gobena, 232 Gobicha, Lord of the Sky, 158, 159 gobilayee, 108 Gocio, 142 Gogaa (Nine), 26, 30 Gohuecha, Day Giver, 157 Gohui (Exchange), 27, 30, 195 Golagoo (Nurturer, Sustainer), 26, 29 Golana, 166 Gómara, López de, 16–17, 23, 31–35, 32–33, 35, 39 Gonaa/Gona (Offering), 26, 29 Góngora, Luis de, 66 Gonsalo, Juan, 56 Gonsalo, Nicolás, 56 González, Moisés, 209, 210 González, Pedro, 31, 33, 190 Gonzalo, Andrés, 86 Gonzalo, Pedro, 190 goque xuana, 55 Gozobi: and ancestral worship protocols, 217, 266; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 140, 142; and cyclerenewing observances, 160, 162, 167; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; and depictions of turtleshaped ancestor, 232; and hybrid cosmological models, 250;

450

and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 170; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 196, 198 Gramática (Nebrija), 49 Granada, Luis de, 253 Granollach, Bernat de, 249 Grass day sign, 17, 21 Graulich, Michel, 31, 34 Great Eagle, 208, 211, 214–215, 226, 232, 235–239, 236 Great Hill, 189 Great Jaguar, 232–233 Great Lexee, 112 Gregorian calendar, 25, 34–35, 41– 43, 249 Gregorian chant, 87 Gregory VIII, Pope, 34 Gregory XIII, Pope, 249 Guecee, Cecilia (13-Reed), 56, 57 Guielana Picia Tao, 1-Death Great Eagle, 237 Guiolala, María (2-Night), 56, 57 Guraya Lezama, Antonio de, 60 Gutiérrez, Francisco, 216 Gutiérrez Xijón, Thomás, 215 Habermas, Jürgen, 5 Hacas Poma, Hernando, 267 hallucinogens, 206, 215, 220– 221 harvests, 109–110, 142, 184, 228. See also Place of Harvest Hassig, Ross, 31, 39 Hatemuztli, 33 Haumé, 30 healing rites, 4, 6 He[c]oztli, 32 Hernándes, Sebastián, 73 Hernández, Benito, 201 Hernández, Joseph, 215 Hernández, Miguel, 58, 59 Hernández Lao, Domingo (8-Face), 57 Hernández Latza, Miguel, 25, 27, 28 Histoire mexicaine, 44 Historia de la nación chichimeca (Alva Ixtlilxochitl), 44

Historia de la venida de los mexicanos (Castillo), 41 Historia Tolteca- Chichimeca, 44, 218 homonyms, 68–69 House day sign, 16, 21 House of Sky, 251 House of the Turtle Cloud, 195 Huachaa, 160, 165, 166 Hualopa, 181 huatee lao, 242 Huechaa, 141, 154, 206, 234, 244 huechijlla (huechilla), 14 Hueci, 140, 141 Huehe, 142, 158, 159, 166 huehue, “elder,” 200 Huehue Ayocuan, 62 Huehueteotl, the Old Deity, 200 Huei Pachtli, 33, 42 Huei Tozoztli, 42 huesog quitzi, 47 Huey Micailhuitl, 26, 32, 42 Huey Pachtli, 27 Huey Tecuilhuitl, 26, 32 Huey Teucilhuitl, 42, 44 Huey Tozoztli, 26, 29, 32 huía tào (pope or priest of the Devil), 14–15 Huichana: and ancestral/sacred bundles, 214; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 140, 142, 143–144, 146, 149; cosmological sites associated with, 152; and cyclerenewing observances, 158, 159– 160, 162–164; and day sign/ deity pairings, 166; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 201–202; and gender norms in ritual labor, 266; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 176; and veneration of founding ancestors, 212; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 196 Huichana Tao, 142 Huilag, Disrupters, 200

inde x

Hui Tao (Great Humidity, or Great Illness), 26, 28, 30 Huitzilopochtli, 36, 207 hybrid cosmological models, 246–253 Ichino betao, 141 iconography, 204 Icue, 166 idolatry, 1, 3, 60, 214, 216, 241, 257– 261, 264–265 ilhuitl (“day” or “festivity”), 15 inquisitorial campaigns, 6, 9, 13, 89 intercardinal directions, 108–110 interdisciplinary approaches, 7 Inter gravissimas (papal bull), 34 International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), 48 Isidore of Seville, 247 isoglosses, 47, 49, 70, 73 It Moved day sign, 17 Itztapaltotec, 149, 153 Itztli, 141, 149, 153, 176, 220, 264 Iya Camaa, 151 Izcalli: and amaranth tamales, 387n126; and colonial Nahua calendars, 42; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 23; and Mexica calendrical reform, 36– 40, 37, 45, 388n142; and Nahua year’s festivals, 33; and scope/ purpose of study, 14; and structure of Nahua year, 40–43; and structure of the yza, 29–30; Zapotec/Nahuatl festival correlates, 26 Iztacacatl, White Reed, 218 Iztacaxalli, White Water Sand, 218 Iztachuexotl, White Willow, 218 Iztactollin, White Cattails, 218 Jacinto de los Ángeles, 241 Jaguar Cobechi, 226 Jaguar day sign, 17, 18, 21 jaguar-spotted serpents, 204, 205, 237, 264 jaguar-spotted turtles, 235, 238–239 Jansen, Maarten, 123, 124

451

Jesuits, 248 Jesus Christ, 250, 256 jewel strings/gifts, 195, 217, 224, 228, 250 Jiménez Moreno, Wigberto, 23, 33, 39 John Carter Brown Library (USA) (JCB), 97 John the Baptist, 249–250, 256 Juan, Sánchez, 2 Julian calendar, 33, 34, 39, 41 Justeson, John, 24 Kaqchikel Maya culture, 6 Karttunen, Frances, 192 Kaufman, Terry, 18–19, 49 K’iche’ Maya culture, 6 Kirchhoff, Paul, 31, 36, 38, 39, 45 Knot day sign, 18, 21 König, Viola, 190 Kubler, George, 39 Laa, Juan, 57 Lachag Bela, Small Hill of the Serpent, 205 Lachila, Juan (4/11- Caiman), 179 Lachi Lutzo (Sharp-Pointed Valley), 189 Lachirioag, 3, 51, 212–217, 239, 240 Lachitaa, 1–3, 11 lacho, 244–245 Lady of Remedies, 259 Lagqueche, 179 la gulasion Sa[n] Jua[n], 249–250 Lao Gui, 25 Lapag. See Chávez, Bartolomé de (Tia Lapag) Lauds, 255–256 lawsuits, 215, 221, 266 Lazehe, 181 leap-year corrections, 33–34, 43 legal disputes, 41, 58–59 leni yagtao, 215 León, Martín de, 43 León-Portilla, Miguel, 62, 192 León y Gama, Antonio de, 5 Leraa Huila, 142 Leraa Huisi, 141 Leraa queche, 142

leto la quiag (“next to the rock”), 112 Levanto, Leonardo, 49 Lexee, 112, 113, 140, 142, 170–171 Leyenda de los Soles, 149 Li, Andrés de, 249–250 liana species, 110, 111 libana, 66 lichi Rey (house of the king), 55 Licuicha Niyoa, 141 Lienzo de San Juan Comaltepec, 190 limpieza de sangre (purity of blood), 89 lineages, 55–60, 56 Lira Cuee, 142, 143 Lira Quitzino, 141 literacy, 3, 5, 85 Lizard day sign, 16, 18, 21 Loçio, 142 Lockhart, James, 192 Loçucui, 142 logquechi (“Paper of the Roots/Origins”), 183–187, P–7 Lohuee/Lohue (Parrot Feathers), 26, 29 Lopa, Bayo, 57 Lopes, Bartolomé, 56 Lopes, Fernando de, 3, 190, 216 López, Domingo, 59–60 López, Gabriel, 73, 84 López, Gerónimo, 60 López, María, 59 López, Patricio Antonio, 257 López Queçelao, Bartolomé (13-Monkey/Crow/Face), 57 López Quecetzina, Juan (13-Deer), 57 López Tia Laa, Thomás (4/8/11-Wind/8/11-Reed), 57 López Yalachi, Bartolomé (5/9-Jaguar/Lizard), 57 Lords of the Day/Night, 139 Luis, Diego, 112, 140 Luis, Fabián, 3 Luis, Joseph, 267 Luis, Juan, 56, 56–57 Luna, Juan de, 25, 27, 28 lunar eclipses, 24

inde x

macuiltonaleque, 131–132 Macuilxochitl, 5-Flower, 131–132 maestro de idolatrías, 3 Magdalena Tio Galag, María, 56, 56–58, 61 Maguey, 194, 195, 196–197, 211, 219–220 maize, 208, 232, 268 maize deities, 68, 109, 119, 204–205 Maldonado, Ángel: and confiscation of Zapotec manuals, 1, 3, 4; and contents of AGI México 882, 9, 10, 70; and Dominican penance and catechesis, 259– 260; and erosion of traditional Zapotec knowledge, 267; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 121; and Zapotec wills and confessions, 257 Manual 1, 169; analytical translations, 376–380; and ancestral/ sacred bundles, 214; and ancestral worship protocols, 217; on anti- Christian/anti- colonial strategies, 241; and cyclerenewing observances, 162, 164, 166–167; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; European influences in Northern Zapotec texts, 89; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; instructions for days 1-18, 170–171; origins and authorship of AGI México 882, 73; and veneration of founding ancestors, 209; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 190; and Zapotec/Central Mexican pantheon co-beings, 142; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 118–119, 122 Manual 2, 145 Manual 3, 162, 164 Manual 5, 84, 95–96, 125, 130, 131, 203 Manual 6, 84, 95–96, 98, 125, 130, 131, 203, P–4 Manual 7, 241 Manual 8, 89–90

452

Manual 11: and cosmic geography and ritual labor, 112; and cyclerenewing observances, 157, 160; and depictions of turtle-shaped ancestor, 235; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 125, 126; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 96–97, 97, 103, P–4; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 117, 118–119, 119, 121–122 Manual 12, 97, 143–144, 149, 157, 206, 214 Manual 13: and cosmic geography and ritual labor, 114; and cyclerenewing observances, 159, 162, 164; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 195; false covers, 86, 87, 94; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 117; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 93, 97 Manual 14, 84–85, 93, 97 Manual 15, 84–85, 93, 97 Manual 16, 97, 104 Manual 17, 89, 93, 114–115, 235 Manual 18, 104 Manual 21, 108 Manual 22, 93 Manual 23, 94, 95, 95 Manual 24, 85, 90 Manual 25, 85 Manual 26, 85 Manual 31, 90, 90 Manual 32, 90 Manual 37: and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 145, 146, 146, 149; and cyclerenewing observances, 162, 164; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 195; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 134–135, 136; sacred beings and offering arrays, 252; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 120, 121–122 Manual 39, 87, 103 Manual 41, 73 Manual 42, 53, 104, 105, 123, 130, 131, 134

Manual 42-2, 163 Manual 44, 144 Manual 45, 104 Manual 46, 73, 88, 99, 104 Manual 47-1, 70, 78, 99, 104, 106 Manual 47-2, 70, 114, 163, 165, 176, 215 Manual 48, 104 Manual 49, 104, 106 Manual 51, 250 Manual 52, 104, 121 Manual 53: Christian entities in Zapotec observances, 251; and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 50; and cosmic geography and ritual labor, 112, 114, 114; and cycle-renewing observances, 157–160, 158, 163, 165, 167, 168; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and major celebrations and auguries, 176; sacred beings and offering arrays, 252; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 114–115, 117; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 118, 118–119, 120–121, 121–122 Manual 54: and cosmic geography and ritual labor, 112, 114; and cycle-renewing observances, 159, 163, 165; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 119, 121–122 Manual 55, 106 Manual 56, 73 Manual 62, 84, 95–96, 104, 125, 130–131, 203 Manual 63, 24–25, 28, 103, 112, 249–250 Manual 66-1, 70, 84, 95–96, 125, 126, 131, 203 Manual 66-2, 70, 80, 99, 104 Manual 70, 134, 136, 137 Manual 71, 73, 78, 80, 88, 99, 104 Manual 72, 134, 136, 137 Manual 75, 104 Manual 76, 147, 148, 149 Manual 78, 103

inde x

Manual 81, 24–25, 87, 116, 169, 385n57 Manual 82, 89, 104 Manual 84, 117 Manual 85-1: and contents of AGI México 882, 70; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 24; and cycle-renewing observances, 160, 163, 165; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 134, 135; first two trecenas, 21; and hybrid cosmological models, 250; and structure of the yza, 25; Tiltepec Year Count, P–1; and Zapotec 260-feast day divinatory count, 19; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 97; Zapotec/Nahuatl festival correlates, 26–27 Manual 85-2, 25, 70, 250 Manual 88, 104 Manual 89, 104 Manual 90, 104 Manual 92, 104 Manual 93, 104 Manual 94: and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 207; and cosmic geography and ritual labor, 112; and cycle-renewing observances, 158, 159, 167, 168; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 131–134, 133, 135; and major celebrations and auguries, 176; origins and authorship of AGI México 882, 70; and structure of the yza, 25, 31; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 114– 115, 115–117; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 118–119, 119 Manual 95, 104 Manual 96, 103 Manual 97: and cycle-renewing observances, 157–160, 158, 167; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 131, 134, 135; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 114–115, 115–116; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 118–119, 119; and Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 149

453

Manual 98, 25, 26–27, 28, 29, 30– 31, 70 Manual 99, 86 Manual 100, 28 Manual de ministros de Indias (Serna), 34 Manuscript 3523-2, 249 Marcial, Juan, 73 Marco Dorta, Enrique, 10 Marcus, Joyce, 230 María, Catharina, 2 María, Juana (Solaga), 267 María, Juana (Yalálag), 56, 253 María, Nicolasa, 56, 56–57 María 6-Rabbit, 181 Mariana, Martín, 2, 3 Marian devotions, 258–259 Martín, Cristóbal (1-Rabbit), 214, 215, 220, 239 Martín, Diego, 60–61, 216 Martín, Fabián, 228 Martín, Francisco, 215 Martín, Gaspar, 94–95 Martín, Juan: and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 49; and contents of AGI México 882, 71–72, 77, 83, 85, 85–86; and cycle-renewing observances, 167; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 199; and the Lachirioag confession, 214–216; and Marian devotions, 258; and Zapotec wills and confessions, 212 Martín, Juan, the Elder, 216–217 Martín, Juan, the Younger, 216 Martín, Melchora, 2 Martín, Pedro, 215, 258 Martín Balalachila, Juan, 57 Martín Bilagniza, Juan, 61 Martínez, Enrico, 248 Martínez, Henrico, 34 Martínez, María Elena, 89 Martínez de Escapa, Juan, 2 Mathías, Juan, 24, 86 Memoria de Juquila, 179 memorias, 87, 181, 238 Mendoza, Antonio de, 89 Mendoza, Cecilia, 266

Mendoza, Francisco, 89 Mendoza, Vizente, 254 mestizos, 4, 9, 24, 245, 248, 388n133 metaphors, 62, 66, 67 Metaphysics (Aristotle), 246–247 metztli, metztlapohualli (moon, moon count), 19, 137 Mexía, Domingo, 60, 257–258 Mexica calendrical reform, 14, 36–40 Mexicain 381, 249 Mexican Inquisition, 6 Mexicatl, Francisco Martín, 41 Mexicatl, Lorenzo Tomás, 41 Mexicatl, Martín, 41 Micailhuitontli, 42 Micailhuitzintli, 42 Micaylhuitontli, 32 Miccailhuitontli (Little Feast of the Dead), 26, 32, 42 Mictlanteuctli, 142, 149 Milbrath, Susan, 123 Miller, Arthur, 10 Miscelaneo espiritval (Agüero), 49, 64–65, 66–67, 117 Mitla, 268 Mixcoatl, 156–157, 161, 166 Mixtecs, 21, 68, 151 MNA- 6- 6059, 179, 221, 223, 224, 228 Molina, Alonso de, 257, 258 Monkey day sign, 16, 18, 21 Monte Albán (dynasty and site): and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 144, 397n96; depictions of turtleshaped ancestor, 230, 231; and gifts from ancestors, 221; glyphs depicting intercardinal directions, 110; and jaguar-spotted serpent imagery, 204, 205; and sixteen- day ritual labor cycle, 117; and Zapotec 260-feast day divinatory count, 18; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 96 Monterroso, Tomás de, 257 “Montezumas” (primeval beings), 268

inde x

Moteuczoma, 31, 35 Moteuczoma (the Younger), 37–38, 39, 44 Motolinia, Toribio, 23, 33–34 Movement day sign, 21 Moya de Contreras, Pedro, 34, 43 Museo Nacional de Antropología (Mexico) (MNA), 179, 221–226, 223, 228 mushrooms, 220–221 musical scores, 86, 86–87, 184, 187 Muzzled Entity, 159, 166 Nahua festival calendar, 21, 26–27, 40–43 nahualtocaitl “Nahual Names,” 68 Nahuatl, 16–17, 62, 68 Nazareo, Pablo, 4 Nebrija, 14, 49 Nemontemi (They Are Full in Vain): and Chimalpahin’s calendar, 40–41; and colonial Nahua calendars, 42; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 19; and Mexica calendrical reform, 36, 38–39; and Nahua calendars and correlations, 41, 42, 388n142; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 34; and Nahua year’s festivals, 33; and overview of AGI México 882, 11; Zapotec/Nahuatl festival correlates, 27 New Fire ceremony, 150 New Philology, 5, 257 Nexitzo Zapotecs, 8, 9, 47, 49, 70, 71–72, 73 Nexochimaco (Flowers Are Given to Someone), 26 Nezahualcoyotl, 44, 248 nicachi songs, 3, 193, 266 Nicholson, Henry B., 36, 38 Night day sign, 18, 21 night deities, 161 Nini, Eternal One, 227 niti, 108–110, 111 Ni Xee Tao Lopa (Nixee Lopa), 141, 143 Noche Triste, 13

454

Nogales, Román de, 58 Nohuichana, 142 Nonachi, 142, 143 Noriega Stela 1, 228–230, 229 Northern Oaxaca, 18 Northern Zapotec (written Colonial Northen Zapotec): and AGI México 882 Manuals, 69– 87; animal lineages, calendrical, and personal names, 60– 62; and contents of AGI México 882, 11; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 19–25; and convergences in Northern Zapotec corpus, 7; defined, 47; ethnolinguistic and territorial divisions, 8, 9; orthography, 47–52, 48; positional prefi xes, 20; and rhetorical devices in Zapotec songs, 62–69; twenty day signs, 16–17, 17–18; and Zapotec divination practices, 87–91; and Zapotec wills, 53–60 notaries, 258 Nowotny, Karl, 122, 123, 156 Ñumbi (Plant Maguey), 30 Oaxaca, New Spain, 1, 18 obsidian, 153 Obsidian Blade, 153 Ocharte, Pedro de, 96 Ochpaniztli, 27, 29, 32, 37, 42 offerings, 220, 266, 268 Ohxomoco, 141, 141, 145, 146, 149 Old Period/Young Period cycle, 117, 118, 121–122 Olmeca refl exa, 110 Olmedo, Bartolomé de, 53 ololiuhqui, 221 Our Lord the Flat Obsidian Stone, 153 Pablo, Gabriel, 157 Pacheco, Marcial, 27 Pacheco de Silva, Francisco, 49, 52, 259 Pachtli, 32 Pachtli Ecoztli, 27, 42 Pachtontli, 42

Panquetzaliztli, 27, 33, 36–37, 42 Papabuco Zapotec, 18 Parsons, Elsie, 268 Paso y Troncoso, Fernando del, 39 Pelachina (7-Deer), 179 People of Hill Slope, 165, 166 Peres, Domingo 7/10 Storm, 259 Pérez, Agustín, 89 Perez, Juan, 52 Pérez, Magdalena, 58 Pérez, María, 58 Pérez, Pedro, 219 Pérez Jiménez, Aurora, 123 Perez Tia Lala, Pedro (4/8/11-Night), 57 personal names, 60–62 Philip II, 34 piciyetl, 149 pictograms and pictographs, 39– 40, 87, 110, 123, 204 Pijzi, Pèeci, Pijze, 14, 19, 140, 141 Pilapag (7-Rain), 179 Piltzinteuctli, 153 Pitào Cozàana, 142 Pitào cozòbi, 142 Pitào huichàana, 142 Pitào pezèelào, 142 Pitào quille pitào yàge, 141 Pitòo copijcha, 141 piyè (“time” or “interval”), 15 Piyè tào, piyè xòo, 141 Place of Cane, 110, 111, 136, 137, 170–171 Place of Harvest, 111, 137, 170–171 Place of Sharpness, 111, 137 Place of Weaving, 110, 111, 137, 170–171 Ponce de León, Pedro, 43 Popol Vuh culture, 6 positional prefi xes, 15, 18–19, 20 Postclassic Zapotec, 21 Precious Hill, 189 Precious Mountain, 237 Prem, Hanns, 31, 35, 39–40, 43 Primeros memoriales (Sahagún), 31, 32–33, 35 Primordial Title of Yatee, 182 printing, 48–49, 96 Probanza de Yelabichi, 189, 190

inde x

probanzas: and the Comaltepec/ Yachialag Map, 189–190; and contents of AGI México 882, 88, 89–91; on lakes as places of origin, 268; and narratives of founding ancestors, 179, 181, 238 Psalmodia Christiana (Sahagún), 249 Psalms, 248 pueblos de indios, 9 Quahuitlehua, 33, 42 Quauitleoa, 32 Queag Bichina, Deer Mountain, 201 queche, 2 Queche Bechina, Town of Deer, 201 Quecholcohuatzin, 62 Quecholli: and colonial Nahua calendars, 42; and Mexica calendrical reform, 39; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 35–36; and Nahua year’s festivals, 33; and structure of the yza, 29; Zapotec/Nahuatl festival correlates, 27 quègo xìlla, “Sharp River,” 193 quela bilaxo, 244 Quela Li, 268 quela li, “true custom,” 263, 267–268 Quetzalcoatl, 141, 149–151, 157, 176, 200, 217, 226, 264 queya, “equal exchange,” 195–198, 209 queza, yeza, 149 Queza Li, 268 queza li “the straight flint,” 243 Quiaglao, 1-Face, 221 Quiag Lao, First Mountain, 152 quiag xee, 112 Quia Quiog, Male Mountain, 232 Quia Tee, Ash Mountain, 206 Quiaviní Genealogy, 182, 189, 193– 194, 211, 235–238, 236 Quia Xitza Dao, 190 Quichijño Betao “Deity Thirteen,” 194

455

quichino, 141. See also Deity Thirteen Quicholla quieainij (They Will Be Disconcerted and Angry), 11, 27 Quiçoba, 56 Quiha Gaa Quia Cachi, “Mountain Nine, Mountain Seven,” 193 quina, 22 Quiolaoo/Yolao, 141 Quiyauhtzin Cuauhquiyauhcatzintli, 62 Rabbit day sign, 16, 18, 19, 21 Rain day sign, 17, 21 Rama, Ángel, 5 Ramírez, Aurora, 268 Ramos, Joseph de, 9 Rangel, Rodrigo, 53 Ratdolt, Erhart, 96 Reed day sign, 17, 18, 21 Repertorio nuevamente corregido (Salaya), 249 Reportorio de los tiempos (Li), 248–250 Reyes, Antonio de los, 230, 242 Reyes, Gaspar de los, 49–50, 52, 241, 242 Reyes García, Luis, 124 rhetorical structures, 62–69 Ribera y Cotes, Diego, 58, 260 ritual practices and labor: and ancestor worship, 178; and cosmic geography, 112–117, 113, 114, 115; depictions of turtle-shaped ancestor, 231; and gender/age divisions, 266; and overview of AGI México 882, 11–12; 16- day ritual labor cycle, 148; songs and singers, 3, 9–10, 11; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 101; Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 117– 122, 118–119, 120 Romances de los Señores de la Nueva España, 192 Romero Frizzi, María de los Ángeles, 7 Rosary, 258 Ruis, Nicolás, 73

Ruiz de Alarcón, Hernando, 6, 14, 43, 68 sacred ancestral bundles: and absence of ancestral bodies, 266; and apotheosis of 1- Caiman, 207; and “dreams of the ancestors,” 217, 220; and gifts from ancestors, 224, 226; and the Lachirioag confession, 213, 213– 215; and stone carvings/monuments, 217 sacred labor, 112–117 sacrifices, 25, 94, 109–110, 208, 214, 219, 261 Sahagún, Bernardino de: and Caso’s correlation, 35–36; and contents of AGI México 882, 43; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 23, 45; and hybrid cosmological models, 249; and Mexica calendrical reform, 37; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 31–34, 32–33; and Zapotec 260-feast day divinatory count, 14 Saint Ildephonsus, 53 Saint Mary of the Rosary, 259 Saint Matthias’s Day, 28 Salas Orozco, Agustín, 57 Salaya, Sancho de, 249–250 San Andrés Yaa, 268 San Buenaventura calendar, 32–33 Sánchez, Joseph, 61–62, 258 Sánchez, Nicolás, 51 Sánchez, Pablo, 57–58, 61, 182–183 Sánchez, Pedro, 51 Sánchez Tio Belagneza, Pedro (Puma 7-Water), 57, 61 San Francisco Caxonos, 9, 240 San Ildefonso Villa Alta, 2, 9, 53, 257, 259 San Juan Marinaltepeque (Malinaltepec), 24 Santiago, Bartolomé de, 61–62, 182, 257 Santiago, Felipe de, 249 Santiago, Juan de, 2, 28, 31, 131, 134, 221

inde x

Santiago, Miguel de, I, 59 Santiago, Miguel de, II, 58 Santiago, Miguel de, III, 58–60 Santiago, Nicolás de, 28, 212 Santiago, Simón de, 2, 206 Santiago Choapa, 257 Santiago Thio Binela, Juan de, 61–62 Sariñana, Isidro, 257 Scriptures, 248 sculpture, 205, 222 secularization, 267 Seed Mountain, 237 Seler, Eduard: and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 105, 107; and cycle-renewing observances, 155–156, 159, 161, 166; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 124; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 93, 99– 103, 102; and Zapotec cycles of ritual obligation, 122 self-sacrifice, 121–122, 266 Selis, Nicolás de, 3 Serna, Jacinto de la, 23, 34, 43–44 Serna calendar, 42 Serpent 4-Earthquake, 207 seven- day cycles, 120 Sierra Juárez, 47 Sigüenza y Góngora, Carlos de, 4–5, 43 Slab 30-3.1211–12, 222 Smith-Stark, Thomas, 3, 7, 47, 48, 51, 140 Snake day sign, 16, 18–19, 21 Soaproot day sign, 18, 21 solar diety, 156–157 solar eclipses, 24 solar year cycle, 11. See also xihuitl (Nahua solar year cycle); yza (Zapotec solar year cycle) Songbook 100 (Vargas-Lopes songbook): analytical translations, 270–336; and ancestral/sacred bundles, 214; and ancestral worship protocols, 216; and anti- Christian/anticolonial strategies, 242–244; and the Comaltepec/Yachialag

456

Map, 189; and contents of AGI México 882, 74; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 140, 143, 144–145; creation acts in Codex Borgia 30, 127, 129; and cycle-renewing observances, 167; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; depictions of turtle-shaped ancestor, 231; and depictions of turtle-shaped ancestors, 232; described, 190– 195; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 199, 201; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 131; first folio, P–8; and hybrid Dominican catechesis, 254; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 172; and the Quiaviní Genealogy, 235, 237–238; and rhetorical devices in Zapotec songs, 68–69; on sacred sites, 227; and scope/ purpose of study, 264; and veneration of founding ancestors, 208, 210; worship protocols in, 196, 198; and Zapotec four-place cycle, 109 Songbook 101 (Gonzalo songbook): analytical translations, 336–376; and ancestral/sacred bundles, 214; and anti- Christian/anticolonial strategies, 242–245; and the Comaltepec/Yachialag Map, 186–187, 189; and contents of AGI México 882, 74; and correspondences among Zapotec sacred beings, 140, 144; and day sign/deity pairings, 166; and depictions of turtle-shaped ancestor, 233, 234; described, 190– 195; and dreams of the lords of stone, 217–219; and exchanges between humans and sacred beings, 199; first folio, P–8; and hybrid Dominican catechesis, 254; and Itztli depictions, 153; and major celebrations in the 260- day count, 172; and the Quiaviní Genealogy, 235, 237–

238; on sacred sites, 227; and scope/purpose of study, 264; and veneration of founding ancestors, 208; worship protocols in, 197 Songbook 102, 73, 76, 254, 254–256 Songbook 103, 76–77, 254, 254–256 song cycles, 3 sortílego, 14 Spanish mysticism, 265–266 Spitler, Susan, 249 stone carvings/monuments, 217–222 Stone Shadow Flayer, 149, 153–154, 164, 166, 220, 234, 244 Straight (True) Custom, 268 Straight Flint, 268 Subrahmanyam, Sanjay, 4 Sumari d’astrologia (Granollach), 249 Summa Theological (Aquinas), 264 Tabaa Genealogy, 235, 238 Tabaa Lienzo 1, 50, 179, 182, 206, 209, 212, 235 Tabaa Primordial Title, 211 Taylor, William B., 382n20, 392n107, 405n2 Tecuilhuitontli, 26, 32 Tehuantepec rebellion, 7 Templo Mayor, 36, 39 Tenahuatiliztli (Commanding Someone), 27, 32 Ten Commandments, 258 Tenochtitlan, 13, 35, 36, 38, 151, 189 Tenochtitlan calendar, 38–39 Teotihuacan, 200 Teotl Eco, 27, 32, 33 Tepeilhuitl, 27, 33 Tepupochuliztli (Perfuming Someone with Incense), 26, 32 testaments, 181, 258, P–2 Teteu Heco, 33 Tetzcoco, 39, 248, 267 Teucilhuitontli, 42 Teucilhuitzintli, 42 Teyacapan, Magdalena, 41 Tezcatlipoca, 110, 141

inde x

Tezozomoc, 4 Thabit ibn Qurra, 247 Theresa, Saint, 265 third-person pronouns, 68 Thompson, J. Eric, 24 Tia Lapag. See Chávez, Bartolomé de (Tia Lapag) ticijquèlalija, 243 Tiene Lachina Xono (11-Deer Eight), 181 Tiltepec Year Count, 25, 27–28, 30–31, 34, P–1 timekeeping technology and practices, 13, 246 Tina/Dina (It Will Be Cleaned, or It Will Wrinkle), 27, 28, 29 Tititl/Tititlh (Wrinkled, Stretched Out): and Becerra Tanco’s calendar, 44; and colonial Nahua calendars, 42; and Mexica calendrical reform, 36, 38–39; and Nahua year’s festivals, 33; and structure of Nahua year, 41; Zapotec/Nahuatl festival correlates, 27 Tiylaa Taquela, 179 Tlacaxipehualiztli: and Becerra Tanco’s correlation dates, 44; and colonial Nahua calendars, 42; and Mexica calendrical reform, 36, 38, 39; and Nahua/European calendar correlations, 33, 35; and Nahua year’s festivals, 32; and structure of Nahua year, 43; Zapotec/Nahuatl festival correlates, 26 Tlacaxipeualiztli, 32 Tlaloc, 140, 142, 156, 166, 167, 177 Tlatelolco calendar, 38 Tlaxochimaco, 26, 29, 32 Tloque Nahuaque, Lord of the Near and the Nigh, 248 tobacco offerings, 128, 147, 149, 199, 208, 259, 268 Tochcatl, 42 Tochtli Mexicatl, Martín, 40–41 Toçoztontli, 32, 39 Tojo, Juan de Mier del, 241 Tomb 104, 110

457

Tomb 125, 204, 205, 230 tonalpohualli (Nahua 260- day cycle), 15, 40, 248 Tonatiuh, 141 Toohuà (Maguey, or Entrance), 26, 194 Tornamira, Francisco Vicente de, 248 Tovar Calendar, 32–33, 34–35, 39 Toxca/Toxcatl (Drought), 26, 32 Tozçuztli/Tozoztontli (Little Vigil), 26, 32 transcriptions and translations, 10 trecenas: and anti- Christian/anticolonial strategies, 241; and cardinal orientations and offering cycles, 103, 105–107, 107; and context of Northern Zapotec year, 22–23; and cycle-renewing observances, 157, 160, 162, 166; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 132; and hybrid cosmological models, 250, 253; in Manual 85-1, 21; and Zapotec 260-feast day divinatory count, 15, 19; and Zapotec cosmic geography, 112, 117; and Zapotec cosmological theories, 94, 97–99, 101; and Zapotec four-place cycle, 109 Trinity, 143, 257–258 Turtle Dances, 194, 226 turtle-shaped sacrificers, 228–235; and ancestral/sacred bundles, 214; and anti- Christian/anticolonial strategies, 244–245; depicted at Monte Albán site, 231; depicted on Noriega Stela 1, 229; and gifts from ancestors, 225– 226; and purpose of ritual labor, 178; and stone carvings/ monuments, 217; and worship protocols in Zapotec songbooks, 194–195, 196–198 tzaba/chaba, 108, 111 tze, 134 Tzegag/Tzeag (It Sprouts/It Becomes Green), 26, 29, 205

Uchpaniztli (Sweeping of Roads), 32 Urcid, Javier, 18, 117, 148, 221, 222, 228, 230 Valeriano, Antonio, 41 Valley Zapotec: and animal lineages, 61; Aquinas’s dispositiva, 265; and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 48–50, 57; and Córdova’s dictionary and grammar, 7; and cycle-renewing observances, 159; and Dominican catechesis, 253; and fields of Zapotec creation cosmology, 132; key resources on, 382nn36– 37; and overview of AGI México 882, 11; positional prefi xes, 20; and rhetorical devices in Zapotec songs, 62; and ritual songs, 3; and ritual specialists, 14–15; terms suggesting sorcery, 219; twenty day signs in Zapotec and Nahua, 16–17; and veneration of founding ancestors, 209; and Zapotec/Central Mexican pantheon co-beings, 141–142; and Zapotec deities and sacred beings, 140; and Zapotec fourplace cycle, 109. See also Colonial Valley Zapotec (CVZ) Vargas, Alonso de, 241 Vargas, Fabián de, 192, 214 Vargas, Gaspar de, 94–95 Vargas, Juan de, 89, 94–95, 137 Vargas, Pedro de, 3, 190–192, 214 Vásquez, Juana Vásquez, 393n114 Velasco, Cristóbal de, 61–62 Velasco, Juan de, 27, 28, 54 Venus, 39, 123, 132, 155–157, 161, 247 Villa Alta, Oaxaca, 1–2, 7, 8, 10, 53, 189, 257, 267 Villegas y Sandoval, 216 Viloria, Gerónimo Manuel de, 190–191 Virgin in Extremadura, 43 Virgin of Guadalupe, 257 Virgin of the Rosary, 3 Vocabulario (Nebrija), 14

inde x

Vocabulario en lengua Çapoteca (Córdova), 3, 48, 49 Vulture day sign, 21, 22 Water day sign, 16, 18, 21 watermarks, 69–70 Watery Sky/Crystal Sky, 248 Weitlaner, Roberto, 268 Whitecotton, Joseph, 7 White Serpent 1-Soaproot, 129– 130, 208 wills, 55–60, 62, 178–183 Wind day sign, 16, 21, 23 xihuitl (Nahua solar year cycle), 11, 19, 35, 37–40 xila/xilla, 109–110, 111 xilepi biquio, 121 Xilomaniztli, 26, 39, 42, 43 Ximénez, Antonio, 95 Ximénez, Juan, 94–95 Xipe Totec, 153, 156, 166 Xiuhcoatl, Fire Serpent, 230 xiuhmolpilli (“bundle of years”), 20 Xiuhteuctli, 93–94, 150 Xochilhuitl, 39, 43, 44 Xochipilli, 161, 166, 220 Xocotlhuetzi, 2, 26, 29, 32 Xolotl, 220 Xonag, 237 Xonatzi Huilia, 142 Xonaxi, 142 Xonaxi Cualapag, Lady 6-Rain, 184 xua yoho gobana (Lords of the Stolen House), 121 Ya Be, Spirit Hill, 226–228 Ya Be Soa, 212–213, 243 Yachialag Paper of the Roots, 183– 190, 186, 187, 188, P–7 yaeche yao yoo “Temple of Stone of Earth,” 243 Yagallao Gueba Gobitza, 190

458

Yagìlao Cobitzaha, 187, 189 Yagquechi Huicila, 141 Yagquee, 157 Yagquee Xo Cila, 141 Yagqueo/Yaggueo (1-Soaproot), 26 yagtao, 212–217 Yaguila, 18 Yaguisi, 216, 217, 243 yaha yahui, 230 Ya Huiz, 216, 226, 227, 268 Yala (3/11-Wind; 9-Reed), 179 Yalahui, 254–256 Yalalag idolatry confession, 259– 261, 260 Yalao, Francisco, 182 Yan Tonihi (High/Long Hill), 189 Yaolau (11-Monkey), 190 Yatee: and 1-Reed’s identity, 152; and the Comaltepec/Yachialag Map, 190–191; and contents of AGI México 882, 70, 73; and cyclerenewing observances, 163, 165; and lineage disputes, 216; and narratives of founding ancestors, 182; signatures of ritual specialists, 191; and veneration of founding ancestors, 209 Yatzachi Zapotec, 51, 61 Yatzona, 94 Ya Xitza Tao (Sacred Xitza Hill), 189 yaza, “long leaves,” 217 year-bearer pattern, 22 yeche, 2 Yecho/Yutila (Blister), 27, 28, 30 Yehui Quia Tini, “Mountain Slope Palace,” 129 Yelabichi, Probanza de, 179 Yela Lao, 142 Yetilla (It Will Fight Again), 27, 30 Yetzalcualiztli, 32 yetze, 2 Yiaj Bilo, “Rock of Bilo,” 209, 210 Yiaj Che Da Gulhas, Rock of the Ancient Father(s), 209

Ylao Naa Yeche, Before the Mother of the Town, 228 Yllescas, Juan de, 259 Yohollao, 184 Yoho Quidi, House of Skins, 154, 244 Yojovi, 189 Yolana (5-Death), 190 Yolao, 184 Yolina, 141 Yolosoo (2/3/9-Snake), 179 yoo comun (communal lands), 56 Yoo Goti, House of the Dead, 154 yoo lahui (communal house), 55 Yucatec Maya language, 6 yza (Zapotec solar year cycle), 2, 11, 25–31, 104, 105, 194 Yzcalli, 33, 39, 42. See also Izcalli Zaachila, 63 Zachi/Zaxi (Fat), 27, 28, 30 Zaha/Çaa (Beans), 27, 28, 29 Zapata y Mendoza, Juan Buenaventura, 4 Zapotec cosmology, 246–253, 247, 251, 252 Zapotec festival calendar, 26–27, 68 Zechariah, prophet, 255–256 Zeitlin, Judith, 7 Zilbermann, Cristina, 10 Zohuao/Çogao (It Can Eat/It Can Be Bloody), 27, 28 zona lao bia, 243 Zoogocho: and Colonial Valley Zapotec orthography, 50; and contents of AGI México 882, 73, 84; and cycle-renewing observances, 163, 165; and lineage disputes, 216; and narratives of founding ancestors, 181–183; will and testament documents, 46, 56–58; and Zapotec calendrical names, 61; and Zapotec motion verbs, 389n19 Zumárraga, Juan de, 9