THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



17 



from the west or north. Nor can the Olmeca- 

 Zacateca be identified with the original Totonac 

 settlers M mentioned in the traditions quoted be- 

 low, for their appearance on the scene was essen- 

 tially late, subsequent to the fall of Tula. Such 

 a possibility has been considered by Krickeberg 

 (pp. 138-139) but discarded by him on linguistic 

 grounds. Despite the silence of the Totonac 

 sources concerning the Olmeca-Zacateca, it must 

 be assumed, owing to the time element, that they 

 moved to Zacatlan when the latter already was 

 populated by the Totonac. 



The identity of the Olmeca-Zacateca has been 

 discussed by Jimenez Moreno (1942 b, pp. 127- 

 129). He regards them as originally of Popo- 

 loca-Mixteca speech, profoundly influenced by 

 Nahua, and suggests that their migration to 

 Zacatlan may explain the presence of Nahuat 35 

 in that area today. 



With the destruction of Toltec power and with 

 the arrival on the scene of the Chichimecs, a new 

 cycle of traditions is started; legendary history 

 becomes somewhat fuller, and there are data from 

 local sources, as well as from the central high- 

 lands. In them we find persistent mention of a 

 Chichimec colonization, often described as an 

 overlay on an earlier population. 



Such an account comes from two pueblos, 

 Cuautenco and Totutla, subject to Tetela, in the 

 Sierra de Puebla. Although in the sixteenth cen- 

 tury, both pueblos were Mexicano in speech, both 

 reported an ancient Totonac substratum. Sum- 

 maries follow : 



Cuautenco. This pueblo was occupied by Totonac — 

 so-called because "they came from where the sun rises" — 

 over 703 years ago [that is, prior to 15S1]. Then came 

 four individuals who conquered the Totonac; they were 

 the same as those who peopled Tetela ; elsewhere (5 : 145) 

 it is said that the settlers at Tetela were from the west, 

 from a province of Chichimecs. Once subjugated by the 

 intruders, most of the Totonac left; a few, with their 

 wives, remained as subjects of the Chichimecs. The ar- 

 rival of the latter was said to have taken place more than 

 303 years before [1581] (Paso y Troncoso 5:152). 



M However, there is a suspicious similarity in the name of 

 Ulmecatl, the chief of the Olmeea (Veytia 1 : 107) and Umeacatl, 

 the chief of the original Totonac settlers at Zacatlan (Tor- 

 quemada 1:278). But since the chief of another group, the 

 Olmeca-Uixtotli, was called Olmecatl Uixtotli (Sahagun 3: 139), 

 it would appear that this calendar-derived name (translated Two- 

 cane) enjoyed great popularity. It was also the name of the 

 Mexican god of fiestas (Sahagun 1 : 35). 



35 That is, the form which uses "t" instead of the more 

 common "tl." 



Totutla informants made substantially the same state- 

 ment. One of the descendants of the four Chichimec 

 conquerors came to Totutla to find the site heavily popu- 

 lated "by a great quantity of people who today are called 

 Totonac." For the latter term, the same derivation was 

 given, also the same date for the original Totonac occu- 

 pation. After the conquest, the Totonac withdrew grad- 

 ually, but some remained and intermingled with the new 

 settlers. Totutla informants placed the date of the Chichi- 

 mec incursion at "more than three hundred years" before 

 [1581] (Paso y Troncoso 5: 167-108). 



In 1580, Totonac informants at Tlacolulan, near 

 Jalapa, gave a somewhat similar account : 



The original Totonac were four. They emerged from 

 the sea and, as their numbers increased, they founded 

 13 settlements within a range of 6 leagues. This To- 

 tonac population enjoyed 400 years of peaceful existence 

 before it was conquered by the Chichimecs. The latter 

 occupied a dominant position for 109 years, until the 

 arrival of the "ambassadors" of Moctezuma, to whom 

 they gave tribute and "obedience." Mexican suprem- 

 acy endured until terminated by the Spanish Conquest 

 (Paso y Troncoso 5 : 108). 



In 1600, Torquemada (1 : 281), who at one time 

 was head of the Franciscan station in Zacatlan 

 (3: 203), conferred personally with Totonac in- 

 formants and recorded a distinct version (1 : 278- 

 280). Krickeberg (pp. 63, 133) is inclined to 

 consider this tradition of scant importance, be- 

 cause it is essentially local and concerns a re- 

 stricted area in the immediate environs of Zaca- 

 tlan. Nevertheless, it seems to represent a sort of 

 general pattern, which is applicable to much of 

 Totonacapan. A summary of Torquemada's ac- 

 count follows: 



The Totonac emerged from the famous site of Chico- 

 moztoc, or Seven caves, in company with the Xalpaneca, 

 leaving the Chichimecs within the cavern. They pro- 

 ceeded to Teotihuacan, where they remained sufficiently 

 long to construct the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon ; 

 they then continued to "Atenamitic," said to be at the 

 site of historic Zacatlan. 350 Four leagues beyond, they 



35a We questioned about a dozen Zacatlan residents concern- 

 ing "Atenamitic." Most did not recognize the word. However, 

 two were under the impression that Atenamitli is an alternate 

 name for the small archeological site generally known as San 

 Pedro. 



The site is a short distance upstream from modern Zacatlan 

 and, like the latter, is perched perilously on the edge of the 

 great barranca. It is said to be situated at the confluence of 

 two tributary streams, the San Pedro and the San Miguel. Un- 

 fortunately, time did not permit first-hand inspection of the 

 archeological zone, and we viewed it from the road, a few 

 hundred meters distant, it apparently consists of a small ar- 

 tificial mound, topped by a cross, and adjacent are the ruins 

 of what must have been a sizable masonry building, presumably 

 colonial. 



