THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



9 



The reduction of population in southern Totona- 

 capan must be considered from two points of view : 

 the true decline, principally through epidemics; 

 and the apparent decline, through the flight of the 

 Indians from their ancient centers. The latter 

 presumably was a major factor in Atzalan (AGN, 

 No. 12), as it was in "Cempoala," where, between 

 1519 and 1529 (No. 5, table 14), an original popu- 

 lation, estimated at 80,000 to 120,000, apparently 

 dwindled to 80. Despite the gravity of the epi- 

 demics, such a drastic reduction, from disease 

 alone, seems unlikely, and flight of population to 

 more inaccessible points may have been more sig- 

 nificant than the sources imply (pp. 36-39). 



In general terms, the evident stability of popu- 

 lation between about 1550 and 1610 may be ex- 

 plained by the absence of factors which provoked 

 decimation. There seems to have been a lull in 

 epidemics; there was an improvement in general 

 conditions, owing to royal patronage ; and the peo- 

 ple had more or less accepted and had become 

 adapted to the political, social, and economic struc- 

 ture of the colonial era. 



NORTHERN TOTONACAPAN 



Information concerning the northwest nucleus, 

 and northern Totonacapan in general, is relatively 

 meager, owing to remoteness from main Spanish 

 routes of travel and to less intensive colonization 

 during the first century following the Conquest. 

 In large part, northern Totonacapan runs along 

 the fringes of the Sierra Madre, and there are early 

 references to its rugged character, its difficult com- 

 munications, and its lack of readily exploitable re- 

 sources. These features repelled Spanish coloni- 

 zation, and, at the same time, offered an asylum 

 for Totonac fleeing from other areas. 



This same topographic character may explain 

 the apparently low density of population in pre- 



plagues more cruel than those of Egypt" which afflicted New 

 Spain. According to him, the first started in "Cempoala" 

 through a Negro with smallpox, who accompanied Narvaez. This 

 heretofore unknown disease took a heavy toll, and "in some 

 provinces half the people died, and in others, somewhat fewer" 

 (p. 18). Eleven years later, there was an epidemic of measles, 

 although "not as many died as of smallpox" (p. 18). 



Considering that southern Totonacapan was the focal point 

 for the arrival of Spanish ships, it seems likely that it suffered 

 first from the ailments of the Old World, against which the 

 Indians had no immunity. 



In addition to disease, as a factor in decline of population, 

 Motolinfa (pp. 22-2G) cites the Conquest, hunger, the cn- 

 comendcros, tribute, service in mines, slavery of natives, and the 

 construction of the City of Mexico. 



white times. Although in parts of southern Toto- 

 nacapan, irrigation was practiced (p. 99) and pre- 

 sumably stimulated the growth of large urban 

 centers, the streams of northern Totonacapan are 

 deeply entrenched, with nearly vertical walls, and 

 irrigation is practically out of the question. In 

 any case, in northern Totonacapan as a whole, 

 native settlements at the time of the Conquest 

 seem to have been of modest size and, except for 

 Papantla, there is no suggestion of any really large 

 urban concentration. Unfortunately, with respect 

 to the population in 1519, there are estimates for 

 only three pueblos : 





Population 



Pueblo 



Ca. 1519 

 (from column 

 E, table 14) 



1565 



(after Cook 



and Simpson) 



Ca. 1550-1610 



(average, from 



column H, 



table 14) 



Chila (No. 42) » 



"Matlatlan" (No. 56). 

 Papantla (No. 29) 



8,000 



8,000 



60, 000 



} 2 6, 400 

 3 1, 200 



1, 561 

 1,400 

 1,361 



i Numbers refer to table 14, Appendix A. 

 J Chila with "Matlatlan." 

 3 With "Tuzapan." 



Although not much generalization is possible on 

 the basis of such scanty information, it is obvious 

 that the population of Chila and "Matlatlan," 

 apparently the largest of the highland settlements, 

 was relatively small when compared to pueblo 

 estimates in southern Totonacapan. 



However, there is no dearth of sixteenth-century 

 references to reduction of population. 22 The de- 

 cline is attributed to various causes, but mortality 

 in battle is not included. In some cases, illness 23 

 is mentioned but less emphasis is placed on it than 

 in southern Totonacapan. Although we do not 

 wish to underestimate the effects of the epidemics 

 which scourged New Spain between 1519 and 1576, 



22 When Diego Ramfrez visited Ixtepec, in 1552, he reduced the 

 tribute to a third, because of the decrease in population (Epis- 

 tolario 8: 154). For the same reason, in .Tonotla, he reduced It 

 nearly to half (Epistolario 8: 154-155); and he met similar 

 conditions in Zacatlan and Pahuatlan (Epistolario 8 : 4-5, 

 14-16). 



Moreover, by 1581, "Tuzapan" had been abandoned and Te- 

 nampulco had "hardly any Indians" (Relaci6n do Papantla). By 

 the early years of the seventeenth century, Hueytlalpan also 

 had been seriously affected (Mota y Escobar, p. 226). 



23 Of "Tonatico," it is said. ". . . no tiene gente por las muchas 

 calores y pestilencias que alii a avido ques tierra muy enferma 

 sobre nianera" (Relacion de Tapantla). And for "Matlatlan" 

 and Chila, the explanation Is similar: ". . . se han ido dis- 

 minuyendo con las grandes enfermedadea . . ." (Relacion de 

 "Matlatlan" y Chila). 





