THE TAJIN TOTONAC PART 1 — KELLY AND PALERM 



147 



dom, appear in Appendix C (Nos. 76, 83, 115, 117, 

 120, 129, 151, 153, 201, 256, 261, 270, 289, 308, 328, 

 344). 



REMAKKS 



Although southern Totonacapan bore the brunt 

 of early Spanish impact, northern Totonacapan 

 was relatively immune and continued pretty well 

 isolated until recent years. Nevertheless, it is 

 obvious that the Totonac of the Papantla area 

 must have had widespread, if indirect, contacts, 

 through which a large series of plants native to 

 both the New and Old Worlds reached them. 



Maize, the staple food, is an ancient American 

 cultivate, although its point of origin still is a 

 moot question. In general, the corn collected in 

 Taj in seems to have southern ties, and Dr. Ander- 

 son sees in it elements which suggest both the 

 Isthmus of Tehuantepec (ftn. 34, p. 103) and Gua- 

 temala (ftn. 41, p. 105) ; above all, he sees signifi- 

 cant "primitive South American influence" (p. 

 105 ) . Historically, a negative aspect may be im- 

 portant — namely that the Papantla area of Toto- 

 nacapan seems not to lie on the corridor by which 

 "the big butt, yellow kernel, broad kernel, big 

 shank, 8-row" maize 69 diffused from the Maya 

 zone to the eastern United States (p. 105). 



Vanilla, the chief cash crop of the Tajin Totonac, 

 undoubtedly is a native American cultivate, al- 

 though we suspect that its exploitation in the 

 Papantla area is not of great antiquity. Sugar- 

 cane, the companion cash crop, is of Old World 

 origin, but early was incorporated into the econ- 

 omy of the Gulf coast Indians. 



Of cultivated legumes, both native and intro- 

 duced forms are represented. Six kinds of beans 



69 Historically, another aspect of yellow corn is of considerable 

 interest. In the old Huasteca — at least, in the Tancanhuitz- 

 Tamazunchale stretch — yellow maize is preferred, and in the 

 markets, one sees three or four lots of it to every one of white. 

 Provided this preference for yellow corn proves to be general in 

 the Huasteca, the implications may be significant. 



In Mexico as a whole, yellow corn seldom is popular in the 

 lowlands, but to this rule, both the Maya and the Huasteca 

 present an exception. The linguistic relationship between the 

 two languages is generally accepted : moreover, at least one ear 

 of maize, collected by us in the southern part of the old Huasteca, 

 is matched by specimens from Yucatan (verdict of Dr. Edwin 

 Wellhausen). Accordingly, it is barely possible that we have the 

 survival of an old association between yellow maize and an 

 ancient linguistic or ethnic group. Since the Huasteca presum- 

 ably separated from their Mayan relatives before the efflorescence 

 of classic Mayan culture, a considerable antiquity is implied, with, 

 moreover, the possibility of approximate dating. 



Our several samples of yellow corn from the Huasteca have 

 been delivered for study to Dr. Edgar Anderson and Dr. Edwin 

 Wellhausen. 



and near-beans are grown by the Totonac, of 

 which three (Phaseolus) are native to the New 

 World; three others (Phaseolus, Vigna), to the 

 Old. 



The American beans include two kinds of Phase- 

 olus vulgaris L., and one of P. lunatus L., 

 There seems to be no general agreement concerning 

 the precise origin of either species, although Mc- 

 Bryde (pp. 135-136) makes a fairly good case for 

 Guatemala. 



Of intrusive forms, the presence of Vigna per- 

 haps is not surprising, for this genus has diffused 

 widely. However, the occurrence of the rice bean 

 (Phaseolus calearatus Roxb.) is less easily under- 

 stood. Believed to be of Asiatic origin, it is cul- 

 tivated "sparingly" in India and China (Bailey 

 3:2575). Even in its supposed native land, it 

 enjoys scant popularity and is not likely to have 

 reached Mexico through modern commercial 

 channels. It is not impossible that it may be a 

 casual byproduct of the Manila galleon trade. The 

 Totonac claim to have known this bean only 15 

 or 16 years and consider it intrusive from the 

 h ighlands. 



The pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) is 

 another member of the bean family which goes 

 back ultimately to an Old World source. It is 

 raised widely in tropical Africa and Asia and is 

 said to be a staple food in southern India. The 

 pigeon pea may be widespread in Mexico; it is 

 grown in central Chiapas 70 and specimens have 

 been collected in Tepoztlan, Morelos (Cravioto 

 and Miranda, No. 211). 



Other cultivated legumes include assorted vines, 

 shrubs, and trees. All these appear to be native, 

 except the common green pea, which is raised in 

 negligible quantity, and perhaps the -flor de 

 mechuda (Caesalpinia pulcherrima), which is 

 widespread "in the tropics of both hemispheres" 

 and whose native habitat has not been determined 

 ( Standi ey, p. 424). 



Likewise among the cucurbits, both native and 

 introduced forms occur. However, all the im- 

 portant ones — Cueurbita moschata Poiret, pre- 



70 Unpublished information from Efraim Hernandez Xolocotzl. 



The pigeon pea has become firmly established in the West 

 Indies (Bailey 1:613) and is important in parts of Central 

 America. Johnson (pp. 231-232, pi. 37) reports it for certain 

 groups of the "Talamanca division," although Stone makes no 

 mention of this cultivate among the Boruca. In Honduras, the 

 pigeon pea is sufficiently prominent to appear in a list of assayed 

 foods (Munsell et al., table 2). 





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