32 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



tered (Doctrinas, p. 281) . With respect to Totona- 

 capan, Augustinian efforts were concentrated 

 along the borders of the present States of Puebla, 

 Hidalgo, and Veracruz. 



The Dominicans, who reached Mexico in 1526, 

 and the Jesuits, toward the end of the century, 

 were not active in Totonacapan, where proselytiz- 

 ing remained in the hands of the Franciscans and 

 Augustinians. 



The evangelical work of the religious orders was 

 supplemented by that of the secular clergy, and 

 all of Totonacapan fell within the bishopric of 

 Tlaxcala. The conflicts between the two main 

 bodies of religious workers during this epoch are 

 well known and undoubtedly retarded appreci- 

 ably the conversion of the natives (Ricard, pp. 

 293-301). 



Between 1567 and 1571, the secular clergy re- 

 placed the religious orders in most of Totonacapan 

 which lies within the present State of Veracruz. 60 

 A few Franciscans remained in Jalapa (Codice 

 franciscano, p. 27), to minister likewise in the 

 pueblo of Chiltoyac (Paso y Troncoso 5 : 119) , but 

 their main concern was a hospital for Spaniards 

 and Indians (Paso y Troncoso 5:105). Else- 

 where, administration was in the hands of the 

 clergy (map 4). Each priest tended the spiritual 

 needs of a group of Totonac, scattered in the sur- 

 rounding area, sometimes at a considerable dis- 

 tance. About this time, Papantla had no resident 

 priest and was visited at first by the vicario of 

 Chicontepec (Doctrinas, pp. 220-221). But the 

 latter complained so bitterly of the hardships in- 

 volved, that the duties eventually were passed to 

 the priest of Chichilintla (Epistolario 14:77; 

 Relacion de Papantla). Nevertheless, by 1610, 

 Papantla had its own priest (Mota y Escobar, 

 p. 232). 



Within the limits of the modern State of Puebla, 

 religious orders continued to be highly active in 

 Totonacapan, operating from the Augustinian 

 bases in Pahuatlan and Huauchinango (Doctrinas, 

 p. 280; Ricard, p. 94) and the Franciscan center 

 in Zacatlan (Codice franciscano, p. 26 ; Epistolario 

 14 : 73 ; Ponce 1 : 208) . However, resident priests 

 were found in parts of the area (map 4). 

 Although Chicontepec lies outside the limits both 



of Totonacapan and of the State of Puebla, its 

 priest must be mentioned here, since he served 

 the northernmost Totonac settlements — Ameluca, 

 Huitzila, Jalpan, "Tuzapan," Papantla, and 

 "Caxitlantongo" (Epistolario 14:74; Doctrinas, 

 pp. 219-220), most of which were in modern 

 Puebla. 



RESULTS OF EVANGELIZATION 



In spite of the fact that Totonacapan was the 

 first province to have considerable contact with 

 Spanish culture, and in spite of early missionary 

 activities in that area, the results were less appar- 

 ent than in many other parts of New Spain. 61 



This relative failure may have resulted in large 

 part from demographic conditions. During the 

 colonial era, the large Totonac centers of the coast 

 declined in importance ; through disease and as a 

 corollary of the colonial system, their native popu- 

 lations were all but exterminated, and the survivors 

 apparently took refuge in rugged areas difficult of 

 access. Efforts to concentrate the scattered popu- 

 lation of Totonacapan were, for the most part, 

 unsuccessful, and the disperse character of the 

 settlement probably added materially to the diffi- 

 culties of missionizing. 



There are concrete indications of a decrease in 

 population combined with diminishing intensity of 

 evangelical labors. Although, at the time of the 

 Conquest, Papantla reputedly was a sizable pueblo, 

 in 1581, it had only the services of a visiting curate 

 and vicar from Chichilintla (Relacion de Pa- 

 pantla). Moreover, by 1579, Misantla had been 

 abandoned by the missionaries of Jalapa, and the 

 Bishop of Tlaxcala provided a cleric (Relacion de 

 Misantla). Later, in the course of several visits 

 of Mota y Escobar, between 1608 and 1624, only 

 26 Totonac pueblos are mentioned, many innocent 

 of resident missionaries and visited from time to 

 time by clerics of neighboring towns. 



The scarcity of religious works translated into 

 Totonac and the small number of religious workers 

 equipped to minister in that language may be sug- 

 gestive, but probably are not significant, because 

 of the general use of Mexicano. However, much 

 later, the church fixed attention sporadically on 

 Totonacapan, and religious documents, translated 



60 The Franciscans had been active in Misantla, in 1557 (AGN, 

 No. 1), -where they founded a church; but by 1579, they had 

 abandoned the pueblo (Relaci6n de Misantla). 



01 In 1933, Ricard (p. 330) notes the "survivanee du paganisme 

 fl. cote et en dehors du catholicisme, valable pour les Popoloques, 

 les Totonaques . . ." 



