on the banks of a swift-flowing river named Chinantla, 
rising eleven leagues from the town in a hill where was 
formerly situated a village named Chinantla, abandoned 
as the results of wars, and (finally) because the site was 
similar they called it, (the new town), Chinantla.’’ Each 
village of the region comprising the Chinantla had a lord 
who in turn ‘‘recognized the authority of the lord of the 
-abecera of Chinantla, and to him they paid tribute.... 
and this lord recognized Motecuma....’’, who kept a 
garrison at the nearby town of San Juan Bautista Tux- 
tepec (long. 96°07’, lat. 18°06’). 
The Relacion de Chinantla was a governmental report, 
and its statements, though sometimes vague, are usu- 
ally reliable. The Re/aci6n makes it clear that, in 1579, 
the term Chinantla referred in its widest sense to a region 
of northeastern Oaxaca which now comprises the south- 
ern edge of the District of ‘Tuxtepec, the northern part 
of the District of Choapam, and the northeastern edge 
of the District of Villa Alta. This region is shaded on 
the map accompanying the present article. The Relacion 
does not specify the southern limit of this area, but later 
usage seems to indicate that it was delimited by the 
southernmost Chinantee towns—San Juan Teotalcingo 
(long. 95°58’, lat. 17°25’) and Santo Domingo Latani 
(long. 95°52’, lat. 17°23’). We may assume that the 
Chinantla did not extend west beyond Cuasimulco be- 
‘ause, in 1579, simultaneously with the Relacion de 
Chinantla, a Relacién de Ucila (26) was compiled. This 
Relacién de Ucila pertained to the vicinity surrounding 
San Felipe Usila (long. 96°34’, lat. 17°55’) in the south- 
western part of the District of Tuxtepec and immediately 
west of the Chinantla. 
That Chinantla was a settlement of some importance 
in the early years after the Conquest is indicated by an 
old map which was published as a frontispiece in several 
[ 105 | 
