THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 KELLY AND PALERM 



examined is there the slightest indication that 

 Totonacapan should be extended south to Cotaxtla, 

 as Melgarejo (1943, p. 11) apparently contends. 

 However, between Jalacingo (No. 17) and Zacat- 

 lan (No. 69), tradition recorded in the late six- 

 teenth century (Paso y Troncoso 5 : 152, 168) 

 would have Totonac once current in Cuautenco 

 (No. 44) and Totutla (No. 65). 



Along the western boundary, Mexicano and 

 Otomi are reported, together with Totonac; far- 

 ther west, the sources give only Mexicano and 

 Otomi. However, it is possible that Totonac 

 speech once extended slightly more to the west 

 than our map indicates. For example, Torque- 

 mada (1 : 287) remarks that the Totonac abut on 

 Tulancingo, just west of Acaxochitlan (No. 72), 

 from which latter area there are definite reports 

 of Totonac speech. Moreover, we know that there 

 were active political, commercial, and even mili- 

 tary ties between the Totonac and Tlaxcala, and 

 that one of the principal objectives of the Triple 

 Alliance was to open a separating wedge between 

 the two peoples and to disrupt Tlaxcalan com- 

 merce (p. 21). 



One problem concerning the western boundary 

 revolves about the apparent non-Totonac enclave 

 between Pahuatlan (No. 58), Huauchinango (No. 

 47), and Acaxochitlan (No. 72), on the one hand, 

 and Zacatlan (No. 69) , on the other. For this par- 

 ticular area, we have found no sixteenth- century 

 records of linguistic affiliation. However, later 

 reports indicate Totonac speech in precisely this 

 zone — in Ahuacatlan, Amixtlan, Camocuautla, 

 Coatepec, Huehuetla, Nanacatlan, Tonalixco, 

 Tuxtla (AGN, No. 2), and Jalostoc (AGN, No. 

 4). Moreover, since the majority of these pueblos 

 has retained the Totonac language until the present 

 it appears justifiable to assume that Acaxochitlan 

 and Zacatlan actually are not salient points west- 

 ward, separated by non-Totonac territory. 



The northern border presents greater difficul- 

 ties. Here, Totonac speech presumably is bounded 

 by the closely related Tepehua and by Huasteca. 

 The northernmost pueblo for which Totonac is 

 reported in the sixteenth century is Huitzila (map 

 1, No. 49), where, as a matter of fact, Mexicano 

 is said to be dominant. 



The Tepehua language receives little mention 

 in the old records, although it is noted for Chi- 



contepec, together with Otomi and Mexicano 

 (Doctrinas, p. 219) ; for Huejutla, along with 

 Mexicano (Paso y Troncoso 6 : 185) ; and for Hua- 

 yacocotla (Garcia Pimentel, 1897, pp. 248-254). 

 Presumably, Tepehua also was current in "Con- 

 zoquitlan," near modern Tutotepec, in Hidalgo 

 (Ixtlilxochitl 1:60). In present times (map 2), 

 Tepehua is concentrated adjacent to the ancient 

 northern peak of Totonac and, in Pantepec, over- 

 laps with it. The sixteenth-century situation pre- 

 sumably was parallel. 



On the coast, we have been unable to find any 

 early records concerning the speech current in the 

 zone immediately north of Papantla, although in 

 the latter vicinity, the presence of Totonac is re- 

 inforced by a late reference to that language in 

 Coatzintla (AGN, No. 8). Nevertheless, the na- 

 tive language of Tuxpan, in the days of the elder 

 Moctezuma, evidently was Huasteca (Tezozomoc, 

 pp. 105-110; Duran 1 : 165-171), hence the north- 

 ern boundary of Totonacapan clearly lies some- 

 where between that point and Papantla (No. 29) . u 

 Here again, we must rely on modern evidence. 

 Since in Tihuatlan and Cazones today, there is a 

 considerable Totonac element (map 2) , it seems not 

 unreasonable to place the northern boundary some- 

 what north of Papantla, roughly at the Rio 

 Cazones. . 



South of Papantla (No. 29), between it and 

 Misantla (No. 24), is a great expanse of territory 

 for which there are no sixteenth-century records 

 concerning speech. To be sure, Nautla (No. 27) 

 lies at an intermediate point, although farther 

 east, on the Gulf shore. Prior to the Spanish Con- 

 quest, a Mexican garrison had been established at 

 Nautla, and it is quite possible that the Totonac 

 withdrew from the immediate environs of the 

 enemy post. Moreover, this whole strip of coast, 

 from "Cempoala" (No. 5), north to Nautla (No. 

 27) , and on to Tecolutla and Tuxpan, was appro- 

 priated by early Spanish settlers for cattle ranches 

 (ftn. 67, p. 37). This likewise may have caused 

 dislocation of any Totonac population. In any 



11 The Suma (No. 449) states that Papantla and Tuxpan com- 

 prise a single zone (tierra), and both pueblos were held by the 

 same cnco mender o. The fusion by the Suma presumably does not 

 rest on linguistic or ethnic grounds ; more likely, it reflects the 

 political organization found by the early Spaniards, for we know 

 that Tuxpan and Papantla paid their tribute jointly to the 

 Mexicans (Colecci6u de Mendoza 5:871. 



