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"Pine Tree." They paid no attention. They passed
on. They came to Tz'akav 7Uk'um [River Fork].
The flow [of water] in the river kept being cut every
little while. They paid no attention at all. They came
on up. They arrived at Yav Ch'ivit [Market Site].
They found a large market, they entered to buy just
a little. They enjoyed themselves there, some disappeared
there. The others came on up. They arrived
at Jolob Na [Weaving House]. They found many
weavers, but they paid no attention to them. They
watched for a minute. They came on. They arrived
at Tz'ajom Pik'. At Tz'ajom Pik' there was a lake.
Many naked women were bathing there. That's why
[the place] is called "Submerged Clitoris." The soldiers
went as if they were herded, as far as Lach-chikin
[Pricked Up Ears]. That's why there are just
soldiers stuck in the earth there. They became Tutelary
Gods there. That's how the matter ended long
ago.
Because this legend conforms so closely to two other versions
(T25, T56), I have assigned the same title to all three, but in fact
when Romin recounted this legend to me, he was of the opinion
that it referred to the Mexican Revolution! Both his mother and
his aunt were astounded at his ignorance, assuring him that this
was dated back many, many years, but, of course, for Romin the
Revolution, too, was ancient history that he had only known of
by word of mouth.
Contemporary legends from Middle America, outside Zinacantan,
cast very little light on this tale. The Mixe speak of
enemy troops being swallowed up in the mountains (Miller,
1956, T6), but there the resemblance ceases. Turning to earlier
sources, both the Titulo de Totonicapdn and the Popol Vuh
present a scene of bathing girls sent to divert the enemy (Recinos
and Goetz, 1953; 220-221; Edmonson, 1971:194-197).
You are to go, our daughter.
Go and wash clothes by the river.
And if you see those three sons
Then undress yourself before them,
And if they desire you
You are to invite them so that we can come after you . . (Edmonson,
1971:195).
Searching elsewhere for clues, two of the place names, "Bowl
Spring" and "Market Site," are suggestive of early occupation.
When George Collier and I surreptitiously visited "Bowl
Spring," we discovered it to be a narrow cave. From the floor
protruded a sharp stake surrounded by candle drippings. Potsherds
littered the whole area. These later proved to be Late
Classic and post-Classic pottery similar to kinds made in Chiapa
de Corzo. At "Red Earth" Early-Middle post-Classic Ixtapa
Fine Buff sherds are heavily scattered in "a thin but dense
occupational strata [sic]" (McVicker, n.d.:13). "Market Site"
shows an abundance of obsidian, snail shells and sherds suggesting
a peak of occupation during the Middle to Late post-Classic.
The lack of structures and the presence of bones and the shells of
the fresh water snails that still today are considered a Lenten
delicacy suggests that this indeed was a bustling market
(McVicker, 12).
Turning now to written records, we find that the enmity
between the Zinacantecs and the Chiapanecs at the time of the
Spanish conquest was reported by Ximenez.
ROMIN TERATOL 79
muk', 7imuy tal, 7iyul ta Yav Ch'ivit 7ista 7ep muk'ta
ch'ivit, 7i7och manolajuk 7uk, 7iskux yo7onik te
yo7e, te 7ich'ay j-7o71ol, 7imuy tal j-7o71ol, 7iyul ta
Jolom Na, 7istaik 7epal jjalom pero muk' 7iyich'ik ta
muk', j-likel 7isk'elik, 7italik, 7iyul ta Tz'ajom Pik',
7a li Tz'ajom Pik'e 7oy te jun nab, ta x7atinik 7epal
7antzetik t'anajtik, yech'o ti Tz'ajom Pik' sbie, 7a ti
solteroetike makbil 7ibat k'alal Lach-chikin, yech'o
ti naka soltero te tik'il ta balamil te yo7e, 7ipasik ta
totil me7il te yo7e ja7 yech ilaj 7o ti k'op vo7nee.
[The Zinacantecs] were men of great valor in war, for it seemed that
the whole world was against them. They had constant war with Chiapa
over the salt works. Although at times they made peace and exchanged
presents, for Zinacantan lacked many things that were in abundance in
Chiapa, nevertheless soon they were enemies again, killing and sacrificing
each other [cited in Navarrete, 1966a; 99].
The route that the Chiapanecs allegedly followed was, until
construction of the Pan American Highway, the principal access
to Zinacantan from the north. By this route Bernal Diaz travelled
with two hundred Chiapanec Indians and two hundred
Zinacantec porters, spending the night by the salt works and
arriving in Zinacantan at noon the next day, Easter Sunday,
1524, where they rested before pressing on to the conquest of
Chamula.
Fray Alonso Ponce traversed this route in 1586 describing
with considerable feeling the torments that I too shared on this
same footpath four hundred and seventy-seven years later
(Ponce, 1948:/XM«m). Indeed the first friar to settle in Zinacantan,
Tomas de la Torre, arrived there on foot so sick and
exhausted after his trek up the mountain trail that he could
scarcely stand (Ximenez, 1929, 1:358).
Outsiders from the north funnelled continually up this trail.
Zinacantan Center was the last stop before San Cristobal on the
trade routes from Mexico City and Veracruz to the Chiapas
highlands. Armies marched up and down this trail many times.
In 1559 they passed muster in Zinacantan, gathering new forces
as they proceeded magnificantly towards the Peten. In 1823
when Chiapas was in a turmoil trying to decide whether to be a
part of Mexico or of Guatemela the general of the Tuxtla army
met in Zinacantan with the representatives of San Cristobal. Ten
years later, when an armed rebellion erupted in San Cristobal, a
hundred government troops poured into Zinacantan surprising
and routing the rebel infantry and cavalry—all one hundred and
fifty souls! In 1833 a biweekly mail coach was in service from
Chiapa to Palenque by way of Zinacantan. In 1848 troops
coming from Tuxtla and Chiapa were stopped in Zinacantan
upon receiving word that rumors of a native revolt in Palenque
were false. In 1863, 1864, and again in 1866 the liberal forces in
Tuxtla representing Benito Juarez were pitted against the imperialists
in San Cristobal. The liberals, forced to spend the night of
18 September 1866 in Zinacantan complained that no one would
sell them a single tortilla. Again in 1869 the governor's armies