Outsiders and Outcasts in the Mexica World - Numilog

Introduction
The Mexica 1 made up one of the most significant groups of people in ancient
Mexico. The consolidation and expansion of this group dates to the
Late Postclassic (A.D. 1200–1521), the period preceding the conquest of Tenochtitlan.
The Mexica arrived in the basin of Mexico after other Nahua tribes had
already occupied the best lands. They settled temporarily in various places
until, free of all subjugation, they established their definitive settlement on
a small islet that Huitzilopochtli, their tutelary god, had designated for them.
Huitzilopochtli, tutelary god of the Mexica, ordering
them to abandon Aztlan. Tira de la peregrinación.
In spite of their precarious beginnings, they achieved great strength in a
short time and became one of the major powers of pre-Hispanic Mexico. The
warring and expansionism of the Mexica state, along with the systematic
practice of sacrificing foreign captives, enabled them to come into contact
* In Nahuatl all words are naturally stressed on the penultimate syllable, making the addition
of accents (generally used in Span ish transcriptions of Nahuatl) unnecessary. This work omits
the accents accordingly.
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with a great variety of people having different languages and customs, on
whom they imposed tribute. War and tributary subjection were among the
catalysts for interethnic relations among Nahua groups 2 —those who lived in
the basin—and foreign-speaking people.
Expansion of the Mexica Empire (based on López Austin and López Luján).
MEXICO
Tuxpan
MEXICO
METZTITLÁN
Texcoco
Tlacopan
Tzintzuntzán
MICHOACÁN
Tenochtitlan
TLAXCALA
Tlaxcala
TEOTITLÁN
DEL CAMINO
Gulf of Mexico
YOPITZINCO
MIXTEC
LORDLY
DOMAINS
COATLICÁMAC
Oaxaca
Pacific Ocean
TUTUTEPEC
SOCONUSCO
Mexica Empire
Triple Alliance
Independent political units
Road to Soconusco
But these peripheral cultures presented a great many customs that were not
in keeping with Mexica practices: those concerning food, bodily treatment,
styles of dress and adornment, and the characteristics of sacrifices, among
other features. The fact that foreigners spoke a language other than Nahuatl
was one of the essential criteria that formed their alterity. We need only read
Introduction
Contents
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ook 10, chapter 29, of the Florentine Codex—compiled by the Franciscan friar
Bernardino de Sahagún in the second half of the sixteenth century, with the
collaboration of Nahua informants—to see what the Mexica, and the Nahuas
in general, thought of their foreign neighbors, both near and far. This text
exposes their Nahuacentric view of different ethnic groups, for it does not
stop at describing the physical characteristics and cultural ways of these
people but also criticizes them, measuring them against the Mexica’s own
ideals. This can be seen very clearly and schematically in references to the
Otomi and the Cuextecs. 3 While pointing out their supposed faults, instead of
giving an objective description of those aspects, the text exalts the Mexica
moral system. Everything that does not agree with that system becomes a
transgression. Thus, the foreigner was made out to be an immoral being,
moreover characterized by dullness and ineptitude. 4 At the same time, the
way in which the Mexica spoke of non-Nahua foreigners reflected the wars
they waged against them, since all were considered enemies of the Empire
for continually countering their military attacks and resisting their tribute.
Foreigners were incorporated not only in the moral system but also in rituals,
myths, and war; they played important religious and social roles.
Human sacrifice through heart extraction.
Florentine Codex.
Introduction
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The Otomi were portrayed with long hair and cloaks made of wild animal skins.
Florentine Codex.
But the Mexica also recognized and repudiated those in their own community
who did not completely satisfy their social and moral requirements, such as
youths who failed to respect parental orders, or heavy drinkers, vagabonds,
lunatics, and women of loose or “happy” ways.
Foreigners and socially marginalized figures shared many traits of immorality;
indeed, their identities could be merged into one: the Cuextec man
resembled the drunkard and the lunatic; the Otomi woman and man, the
prostitute and vagabond, respectively. They constituted the Mexica counterideal,
a common element in the general process of self-definition through
negative identification—that is, through what one is not.
Introduction
Prostitute holding flowers and shown with
sea motifs. Florentine Codex.
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Mexica Moral
and Behavioral Systems
Mexica moral ideals can be summed up by the adage tlacoqualli in
monequi, “the good medium is necessary,” 5 exhorting moderation
in one’s dress, bearing, speech, eating, and sexual behavior. This principle was
expressed through a series of admonitory speeches called hue huetlatolli, or
“ancient word.” Such speeches were an everyday part of family life, among
not only nobles but also artisans and macehuales. They included courtesy
formulas along with advice, exhortations, and warnings that parents would
give to their children. 6
There were surely differences among
the huehuetlatolli for different classes,
and not merely in terms of rhetoric.
For example, although moderation was
urged at every social level, the ruling
Mexica goddess in the typical female
posture: resting on her knees.
FCAS collection. INAH 1041-210.
Mexica man in the typical male
posture: standing.
Museo Nacional de Antropología.
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A ruler exhorts his people. Florentine Codex.
class enforced the most stringent limits on
behavior in order to justify their superior
status before the macehual masses. In
this way the noble distinguished himself
from the peasant, while, on another level,
this behavioral code distinguished the
Mexica ethnic group from all others and
positioned the foreigner at the opposite
extreme in terms of correct behavior.
A father exhorts his son to good
behavior. Florentine Codex.
The Proper Way to Walk
A father instructs his son:
You must be prudent in your travels;
peacefully, calmly, tranquilly […] are you
to go, to take to the road, to travel. Do not
throw your feet much, nor raise them
high, nor go jumping, lest you be called
foolish, shameless. Nor are you to go very
slowly, or drag your feet. 7 […] neither too
hurriedly nor too leisurely, but with honesty
and maturity [are you to go]. 8
Otherwise, as Sahagún indicates, one
would be called ixtotomac cuecuetz.
The young noblewoman was told to walk
without haste, that is, without restlessness
(cuecuetzyotl), 9 and without wandering,
so as not to seem ostentatious;
she was to keep her head lowered as
she walked, showing no pride; and she
was not supposed to look up or from
side to side, since that would indicate
Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems
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hypocrisy. Nor should she behave
sheepishly or cover her mouth, and
by no means could she look someone
directly in the eye. 10 She was to walk
neither hurriedly nor slowly, neither
lifting her feet high nor dragging them;
moving in a straight line, with no swaying
motion.
Noblewoman. Florentine Codex.
Clothing and Personal Grooming
The type of clothing a person wore constituted
a language that communicated
his or her status: social class, ethnicity,
and age; it also indicated how to
act and what attitude to take toward a
particular individual. It is possible that
the Nahuas related certain attire and
adornments with specific behaviors,
since moderation in dress prevailed
over excess and ostentation. Neither
men nor woman were to wear gaudy
clothes (topallotl), garments covered
in adornment, because doing so would
imply vanity, “little sense and folly”;
but nor were they to dress in tatters
(tzotzomatli), “a sign of poverty and
baseness” for nobles and of ridicule for
the rest of society. 11
There were quite precise instructions
on how to wear a cape or cloak correctly.
A young pilli was forbidden to
let it drag on the ground or to wear it
hanging so far down that he would trip
on it while walking. Nor was he to knot
it so short that it would sit very high, or
Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems
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Noblewomen displaying different hairstyles, based on their social status. Florentine Codex.
Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems
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to tie it at the armpits. Instead, it was to
be tied in such a way that the shoulders
would be kept covered. 12
Young men were also persuaded to
shun adornment:
Do not comb your hair constantly; don’t
keep looking at yourself in the mirror;
don’t continually adorn yourself; don’t
groom yourself all the time; do not frequently
desire ornament, because it is
nothing more than the devil’s way to trap
people. 13
An old man with his cape knotted at armpit level. Codex Mendoza.
Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems
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