The Nahua NewsletterWith support from the Department of Anthropology
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
Alan R. Sandstrom, Editor
A Publication of the Indiana University
Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
February 1993, Number 15
The Nahua Newsletter
With support from the Department
of Anthropology
Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
Alan R.
Sandstrom, Editor
A Publication of the Indiana
University
Center for Latin American
and Caribbean Studies
Welcome to the 15th issue of the Nahua Newsletter, your gateway to the Nahua Network, a loose-knit group from around the world that shares an interest in the culture, history, and language of Nahuatl speaking peoples. The Nahua Newsletter was founded by Brad R. Huber and the first issue was sent out in February 1986. Since that time our membership has grown to over 300 subscribers and we add new names with each issue.
In this edition you will find announcements of publications, offers of research materials, and news items of interest to Nahua specialists. We also have a number of book reviews contributed by Nahua Newsletter readers. The books cover a wide range of topics that are directly or indirectly linked to Nahua studies. Because of the extensive review section, I have decided to limit the Directory Update to changes that have occurred since publication of the entire list of names and addresses in the last issue. The complete directory will be printed in future issues.
As editor, I am happy to publish items that will keep Nahua specialists better informed, so take a minute to send me news to share about your current activities. Please forward to me any announcements, updates, requests for cooperation, assessments of our state of knowledge, recent achievements, or fighting words so that I can include them in the next issue. If you send anything longer than a few lines, please provide the text in hard copy as well as on a disk, preferably in 3.5-inch (either double- or high-density) format using WordPerfect software (otherwise send an ASCII-text file).
The Nahua Newsletter is distributed free of charge to interested persons and costs entailed in printing and mailing are subsidized by the Indiana University Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and by the Anthropology program of Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne. However, economic times are tough for higher education in the United States and donations from readers are most welcome. Since the last issue, several readers have generously sent checks to help offset the expense of producing the Newsletter. If you find the Newsletter to be a benefit in your work, please consider making a donation. Even a modest contribution is greatly appreciated and all gifts are tax deductible.
Three readers have responded to an offer made in the last issue by ordering the complete run of back issues of the Nahua Newsletter. The $10 fee has been applied toward printing and mailing the current issue. Anyone else who would like issues 1 through 14 to insure that your collection is complete should write to the editor and include a $10 check.
Please send all correspondence to:
Alan R. Sandstrom, Editor Nahua Newsletter Department of Anthropology Indiana-Purdue University 2101 Coliseum Blvd. East Fort Wayne, IN 46805
(1) Ricardo Salvador makes the following announcement: An electronic bibliographic database of the Index of Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl is available. The file contains all table-of-Index information (except forwards, necrology, and book review items) and is maintained as an EndNote file (this bibliographic management software from Niles and Associates is available for both Macintosh and DOS compatible computers running Windows). If a sufficient number of people are interested, the file could also be ported to Claris FileMaker Pro 2.0 format (database software also available for both Macintosh and DOS/Windows platforms). The file, which includes information from volumes 1-21 of Estudios, currently consists of 299 citations.
The advantage of the electronic edition of this listing is that quick searches for terms or parts of items can be performed, and data can be grouped, sorted, and exported by an number of convenient criteria. Those desiring the EndNote data file should mail a 3.5-inch formatted disk with a self-addressed, stamped disk mailer to the address given below. Those desiring a strict text dump of this file may obtain it electronically or by standard mail. Persons with access to the Internet may access a copy of the file named ECNIndex by anonymous FT to ISUMVS@IASTATE.EDU on the directory: A1$RJS.MEXICO. A disadvantage of this file format is that it omits diacritical marks. A self-dissolving binary-encoded version of the file including diacritical marks is available as file ECNBINHEX on the same directory and can be decoded by Macintosh users who have the StuffIt archiving utility.
Those desiring a printed version of the list (21 pages, sorted by author), should send a request including $2.00 U.S. to cover duplication and mailing to: Ricardo Salvador, 1126 Agronomy Hall, Iowa State University, Ames IA 50011-1010. E-mail: rjsalvad@iastate.edu. Phone: (515) 294-9595.
(2) Yolandra Lastra has sent notice that a series of otherwise unobtainable publications printed in Mexico and of interest to Nahua Newsletter readers are now available through mail order. This includes "Tlacuilo," an Aztec film (on VHS) in English. If you have been looking but have not been able to find material that would be an aid in your studies or teaching, please send your requests. All orders will be sent by registered mail or special delivery service. For information write to Braulio Suarez, Vertiz 1258-701, México, D.F. 03650 MEXICO.
(3) Fran Karttunen writes that she will be teaching a five-week course this summer that will concentrate on the basics of Nahuatl grammar. There will be daily written work and class size is limited to 15. If fewer than 15 enroll for credit the remaining places will be open to auditors. Dates of the course are July 12 to August 16, 1993. Persons interested in enrolling for credit should contact Ann Dibble at the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS), University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX 78712, (512) 471-5551. Persons who are interested in auditing should write to Fran Karttunen at ILAS.
The new four-volume critical edition of the Codex Mendoza from the University of California Press (1992) contains an alphabetical catalog of all the place-name glyphs, personal-name glyphs, and title glyphs in the document. Since Mendoza is a major source of Central Mexican glyphs, this catalog is of great importance. I have prepared a critique of the catalog which suggests alternative glosses of the Nahuatl names and separates morphemic analyses of the names from the glyphic elements used to represent them. Because my critique runs to over 100 pages, I am not offering it as hard copy, but I will make it available to anyone who sends me a 3.5-inch, double-density (not high density) disk. It will be readable with Microsoft Word on Macintosh. Send requests to Frances Karttunen, Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, P.O. Box 7247, Austin, TX 78713-7247.
(4) Manita Kleijer writes to announce the 1992 publication of two books in Dutch by Rudolf A.M. van Zantwijk:
'Met Mij is de Zon opgegaan,' De levensloop van Tlacayelel (1398-1478), stichter van het Azteekse Rijk = Course of the Life of Tlacayelel (1398-1478), Founder of the Aztec Empire. Prometheus, 1992. ISBN 90 5333-1166.
'De Oorlog tegen de Goden,' Azteekse kronieken over de Spaanse verovering = Aztec Chronicles of the Spanish Conquest. Meulenhoff Nederland B.V., Amsterdam, 1992. ISBN 90-290-26359.
(5) Terry Stocker wants to advise all friends that in June of this year the price of Volume 1 of the New World Figurine Project is going up to $75. Until that date the price of Volume 1 (1991) is still $23 ($25 outside the U.S.) (ISBN 0-934893-09-8 cloth). If you purchase Volume 2 (1992) before June 1st you will be placed on a list and receive the book for around $30. Thus, anyone can get the two volumes now cheaper than the price of one later. The reason for the price increase is that Research Press is going to target libraries in its marketing. The address for information or orders is Research Press, P.O. Box 7113, University Station, Provo, UT 84602. Their toll-free phone number is (800) 327-6715.
(6) From SUP-INFOR, Editions sur supports informatiques, comes the following updated listing of publications of their Mesoamerican Collection:
Texts
(paleographies of Amerindian texts with trilingual
introduction):
CASTILLO: Ecrits de Cristobal del Castillo.
Marc Thouvenot. 1990. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque
Nationale de Paris N° 263, 305 et 306. (62K) ISBN 2-908782-04-9:
FF. 90.
303PBN: BN 303 ou Anales Mexicanos. Marc
Thouvenot. 1990. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque Nationale
de Paris N° 303. (20K) ISBN 2-908782-05-7: FF. 60.
3CHIMAL: Troisième Relation de Chimalpahin.
Jacquelinede Durand-Forest avec la collaboration de Marc Thouvenot.
1990. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris
N° 74. (154K) ISBN 2-908782-06-5: FF. 150.
TECHIA: Corpus Techialoyan: Textes en caractères
latins. Joaquín Galarza avec la collaboration de Marc
Thouvenot. 1990. 43 Manuscrits nahuatl. (590K) ISBN 2-908782-07-3:
FF. 385.
P001A: Annotations du Codex Xolotl. Marc
Thouvenot. 1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque Nationale
de Paris N° 1-10. (31K) ISBN 2-908782-09-X: FF. 60.
P011A: Annotations de la Mapa Quinatzin.
Marc Thouvenot. 1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque
Nationale de Paris N° 11-12. (19K) ISBN 2-908782-10-3: FF.
60.
P022B: Annales de Tlatelolco. Marc Thouvenot.
1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris
N° 22bis. (125K) ISBN 2-908782-12-X: FF. 150.
P040A: Histoire mexicaine depuis 1221 jusqu'en
1594. Marc Thouvenot. 1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque
Nationale de Paris N° 40. (32K) ISBN 2-908782-13-8: FF. 60.
P085A: Fragment de l'histoire des anciens
mexicains. Marc Thouvenot. 1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque
Nationale de Paris N° 85. (24K) ISBN 2-908782-14-6: FF. 60.
P217A: Fragment d' histoire du Mexique. Marc
Thouvenot. 1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque Nationale
de Paris N° 217. (44K) ISBN 2-908782-15-4: FF. 60.
P311A: Crónica Mexicayotl. Marc Thouvenot.
1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris
N° 311. (160K) ISBN 2-908782-16-2: FF. 150.
P312A: Codex Chimalpopoca : Annales de Cuauhtitlan.
Marc Thouvenot. 1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque
Nationale de Paris N° 312. (215K) ISBN 2-908782-17-0: FF.
208.
P312B: Codex Chimalpopoca : Leyenda de los
Soles. Marc Thouvenot. 1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque
Nationale de Paris N° 312. (47K) ISBN 2-908782-18-9: FF.
60.
P373A: Annotations de la Mapa Tlotzin. Marc
Thouvenot. 1992. Manuscrit nahuatl: Bibliothèque Nationale
de Paris N° 373. (11K) ISBN 2-908782-11-1: FF. 60.
Studies:
XOLOTL: Codex Xolotl. Etude d'une des composantes de son écriture: les glyphes. Dictionnaire des éléments constitutifs des glyphes. Marc Thouvenot. 1990. Publication of the text part (around 1,000 pages) and of all the images, from a doctoral thesis (1987). (1.3 Mb of text + 3.8 Mb of images) ISBN 2-908782-02-2: FF. 780.
Database:
XOLOTL: This is the data base used in writing the text of the Xolotl Codex. Access to the data base is through a program that allows users to consult, search, and paginate the results. Online help (in French) is continuously available. 1990. (8.26 Mb + 3.8 Mb of images). ISBN 2-908782-03-0: FF. 1500
Programs:
TEMOA (2.1) is a trilingual (French, Spanish, and English) text editor that includes advanced searching functions of strings of characters, some of which are specific to the Nahuatl language. This editor only works with encrypted texts. It allows the user to search from one to three strings of characters in a given context (word, sentence, or paragraph), according to certain specifications relating to the spelling (original spelling, suppression of the difference between small and capital letters, or altered spelling adapted to the various ways of writing Nahuatl words), and according to the nature of the words (filters for toponyms, anthroponyms, absolute substantives, adjectives, and possessives).
Without any context, TEMOA can achieve searches on an infinite number of strings. It includes GENOR, a program that generates, for a given Nahuatl word, all its possible spellings. Thanks to GENOR, it is possible to find the word ihuan even if it is written: ihoan, jhoan, jhoâ, yhoan, yhoâ, ihuan, jhuan, jhuâ, ihvan, jhvan, jhvâ, yhuan, yhuâ, yhvan, ioan, joan, joâ, yoan, yoâ, iuan, juan, ivan, jvan, yuan, or yvan in the text. Moreover, the search would succeed even if it is written jh[u] an. TEMOA can ignore the segmentation of words and conventional characters introduced in paleographies.
TEMOA allows searches on Corpuses (compilations
of documents) from the Thesaurus (lists of words that belong
to the same semantic field).
The results of the searches can be stored in a file that can
later be retrieved with any program. You can illustrate documents
containing images (boards, figures, charts, glyphs, or vignettes)
if equipped with a graphic card. 1992. (329K) ISBN 2-908782-08-1:
FF. 800. Update of TEMOA 1.0: FF. 100. Evaluation version of
TEMOA 2.1: FF. 100.
POHUA allows the user to create a data base for analysis of the glyphs or persons contained in any Aztec codex. Online help (in French) is continuously available (printed directions for use are not available). The program is structured around a main menu presenting six options: WRITE, CONSULT, SEARCH, LAY OUT, OTHERS, and HELP. 1990. (994K) ISBN 2-908782-00-6: FF. 2000.
Texts and studies are consulted through the
TEMOA text editor.
Programs run on PC/XT, PC/AT, PS/2 or any true IBM compatibles
in which the operating system is DOS 2.1 or greater and in which
RAM equals at least 512K. For the image display, a CGA, VGA or
Hercules graphic card and 640K of RAM with 570K free is necessary.
By simple request, you can obtain a complete documentary sheet
for each item.
For any order please indicate the desired floppy-disk format: 5-1/4 in. 360K, 5-1/4 in. 1.2 Mb, 3-1/2 in. 720K, or 3-1/2 in. 1.44 Mb.
Please send payment as follows:
- By bank transfer, payable to the Editions SUP-INFOR, Banque
Nationale de Paris, France, N° 30004 / 01657 / 00000736455
/ 35.
- By cheque made out in French francs, payable to Editions SUP-INFOR.
Items will be forwarded after receiving payment on our account.
There is a special discount of 50% for students (please include
a photocopy of student card).
Any interested persons are welcomed to get in touch with Marc Thouvenot, la Jasse d'Eyrolles, Russian, 30190 FRANCE. The address of SUP-INFOR is 28 rue Racine, 75006 Paris, FRANCE. Fax: (33) 66 63 16 50.
The Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations. By NORMAN YOFFEE and GEORGE L. COWGILL, eds. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991. Pp. v+333. $35.00 (cloth); $14.95 (paper). ISBN 0-8165-1049-0 (cloth); 0-8165-1249-3 (paper).
We should all thank Norman Yoffee, George Cowgill, and the School of American Research (as this book is an outcome of one of the school's advanced seminars) for bringing together such a distinguished group of scholars to ponder an important issue needing attention in our literature, namely the nature and causes of collapse of ancient states and civilizations. As is typically the case in such broad-ranging efforts, it was difficult to steer the seminar participants toward a unified conceptualization, problem-orientation, or theoretical framework. But the chapters contain abundant evidence of cross fertilization of ideas and comparative insights, owing to the intense interaction that takes place in these seminar settings.
Yoffee starts with a thoughtful orienting chapter, which is followed by a series of regionally-focused and problem-oriented chapters that I found appealing because they are so rich with historical and archaeological details. These include Robert McC. Adams and Yoffee, both on Mesopotamia, T. Patrick Culbert on the Classic Maya, René Millon on Teotihuacán, G.W. Bowersock on the Roman Empire, Cho yun Hsu on the fall of the Han Dynasty, and Bennet Bronson on the role of barbarians in the fall of states. Millon's lengthy chapter is particularly notable among this useful group of chapters, not only in the sense of its contribution to this volume, but as the best coverage of this topic available anywhere. Summary comments are then provided by Herbert Kaufman in his "The Collapse of Ancient States and Civilizations as an Organizational Problem," in Shmuel N. Eisenstadt's "Beyond Collapse," and in Cowgill's concluding chapter, titled "Onward and Upward with Collapse."
A central theme of the book is that collapse is less difficult to comprehend when it is realized that states are quite fragile, volatile, and prone to social breakdown and environmental problems. I find this a useful counter to the functionalism of systems-speak that dominates the current literature of anthropological archaeology. When the causes of breakdown are summarized, in the chapters by Kaufman and Cowgill, we get only dry, disconnected lists of all the things that can go wrong, but there is still much to be gained from adopting a theoretical position like this. Only Kaufman assumes that there are general benefits from states, and that when collapse occurs, people suffer, including a declining standard of living (e.g., p. 219). In my opinion this is always an empirical issue, not something we can assume, and overall Kaufman's implicit functionalist stance is at variance with most of the book's theoretical content.
The seminar organizers, Yoffee and Cowgill, had encouraged seminar participants to emphasize the process of political fragmentation rather than the larger problem of civilizational (i.e. "great tradition") dimensions of collapse, but, fortunately, most authors ignored their suggestion. Some of the most useful contributions, including Yoffee's on the decline of Mesopotamian civilization, highlight the complex relationships among political decline and cultural change, and allow us to better understand aspects of "...the causal connections between ideas and material phenomena" (Cowgill, p. 276). Cho-yun Hsu discusses at some length the growing antagonism between the Han court and the literati who controlled government administration. In this case, central government had decreed that demonstrated mastery of a cognitive system, based on Confucian thought, would provide access to positions in government administration, thus subverting competing power spheres based on traditional noble status, or military and commercial success. The failure of this strategy was clearly a major reason for the decline of the dynasty.
In his concluding comments, however, Cowgill claims that Hsu has taken a "strongly idealist position" by emphasizing differences between the Confucian bureaucracy and the Han emperors (p. 271). This kind of paradigm-driven accusation indicates to me that less progress was made in understanding causal connections among ideas and material phenomena than the conference aimed for. A more productive line of inquiry, in my opinion, would be a consideration of why some whole civilizational traditions embraced powerful cognitive structures (like China and Islam), while others, like the Romans, were "...successful empire builders on a much lower ideological plane" (Cowgill, p. 276). Cowgill asks a pertinent question when he writes: "Was strong dependence on ideology one reason some empires were short-lived, since there may be little else to hold things together if ideological fervor wanes?" (p. 276), but the issue is not systematically pursued, leaving this reader wanting to know more.
RICHARD E. BLANTON
Purdue University
Hassig has written several books concerning the interactions of economics, war, and society in Mesoamerica, including Trade, Tribute and Transportation: The Sixteenth-Century Political Economy of the Valley of Mexico (Oklahoma, 1985) and Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control (Oklahoma, 1988). In the present volume, Hassig has three stated purposes: to clarify the military history of Mesoamerica, to explain the role of warfare in Mesoamerican society, and to show that military matters played a role in creating and maintaining Mesoamerica as a culture area "providing the indispensable basis for linking and integrating much of the region" (p. 1). He attains these goals with varying degrees of success.
Chapter 1 in the book is a very brief and sketchy overview of theoretical approaches to warfare study, justification for the organization of the book, the nature of the data, and Hassig's reasons for using military data to infer social interactions. The book is organized chronologically, with an emphasis on the sequential development of military technology, tactics, and social organization. The data used to infer these developments come from archaeological recovery of artifacts, but more importantly, on artistic representations of warriors and rulers. Hassig makes several important points here, including the fact that while military technology is important, it is not the engine of war. Social organization and ideology are what allow technology, tactics and strategies to be adopted or abandoned depending upon culturally derived goals.
In Chapter 2, Hassig sets out the rise of warfare in Mesoamerica, starting with the Olmecs. He brings in some useful concepts such as specialized weapons versus utilitarian tools adapted for warfare. He also discusses the logistical and demographic constraints on fielding and feeding an army as well as the potential size of the military given a general population size and social organization. Two inventions of the Olmecs turn out to be important in the evolution of warfare. The invention of the tortilla, denoted by the appearance of comales in the archaeological record, enabled more efficient movement of troops because of their portability. The invention (or at least the highly visible use) of the sling, provided the Olmec with a long-range projectile that could be effectively used against smaller, less organized military groups. The use of the sling is signaled in the archaeological record by the abundance of smooth ceramic balls, 2 to 4 cm in diameter. Olmec elites used these inventions to project military force in order to protect trade networks and traders, rather than to expand political control over other polities. True expansionist military operations do not begin until long after the Olmec decline.
In Chapter 3, Hassig discusses the Late Formative period in Central Mexico, the Maya Lowlands, and the Valley of Oaxaca. He spends some time discussing the rise of Monte Albán. A number of military sophistications occur during this period, most notably professional weapons such as thrusting spears and heavy shields. These inventions spread across polities, making it difficult for any one group to gain dominance over the others at this time.
Chapter 4 introduces Teotihuacán as the first great empire of Mesoamerica. Here Hassig makes a number of interesting points, such as the expansionist state's need to change military ideology from personal glory to achieving state goals. He also points out the limitations inherent in military activities by agricultural societies, even for a state-level society such as Teotihuacán. Time constraints were major problems facing any military campaign. Planting and harvesting of crops required major manpower employment, limiting the number of individuals free for military duty. The lack of major roads slowed troop movements and weather conditions hampered operations in the rainy season. While military expeditions near Teotihuacán were logistically feasible, long-range expeditions in ecosystems with different climates and food supplies required considerable planning and support.
Also, the ability to project power declined rapidly with distance: distant cities and regions that could put up even moderate struggles were expanded around, rather than confronted militarily. By garnering surrounding areas, Teotihuacán could thus dominate cities such as Cholula economically and culturally, rather than militarily. A second effect of logistical supply problems, according to Hassig, is that Teotihuacán did not expand out uniformly -- long-distance exchange was largely carried on in resource-rich areas, while resource-poor areas were ignored. A map of Teotihuacán "influence [would be] highly discontinuous, with zones of influence sandwiched between areas showing little impact" (p. 56).
In order to maintain its long-distance empire, Teotihuacán followed a strategy of hegemonic, rather than territorial, expansion. Territorial empires, as defined by Hassig, control their peripheries with troops. These garrisons are expensive and territorial empires are small. Hegemonic empires maintain control by coercing local elites to maintain local control, with the threat and/or protection of imperial power used to deter aggression between local populations. In addition, a meritocratic, rather than aristocratic, military system allowed for a greater proportion of the population to enhance their social standing through the military, fostering more involvement by local groups in the imperial system.
Finally, Teotihuacán complimented its limited ability to expand militarily by colonizing distant, yet strategically important, regions. Colonization was a relatively cheap way to maintain control of an area by moving groups of colonists as needed into the region to displace the local population.
Chapter 5 looks at regions beyond the Teotihuacán empire such as Monte Albán and the lowland Maya. The Maya fought constantly among themselves, but were limited to relatively small armies due to their aristocratic organization of the military. The aristocratic system ensured that most Maya cities were safe from other Maya armies; not enough offensive soldiers could be placed in the field to besiege a fortified city successfully. According to Hassig, Maya military activities appear to have been centered on raiding hinterland areas between cities in order to control necessary resources. Once a city controlled a hinterland area too large for efficient transportation of goods back to the city, expansion was curtailed. Teotihuacán had contact with Mayan cities, notably at Tikal. The aristocratic nature of cities such as Tikal, and non-Maya cities such as Monte Albán, meant that they posed little danger to Teotihuacán, even if logistics kept Teotihuacán from directly controlling them through military means. Teotihuacán's interest in these regions was thus largely from a mercantile standpoint.
In Chapter 6, Hassig documents how Teotihuacán's success bred competition, with local elites setting themselves up as their towns became trade centers within the Teotihuacán mercantile system. Eventually, Teotihuacán's ability to intimidate militarily any one polity was not supportable, as distant centers no longer provided the city with the resources necessary to mount long-distance military offensives. Eventually, the city could not sustain its large population either physically or politically, and it was ritually destroyed and abandoned.
Chapter 7 is a brief description of several powerful local polities that arose after the demise of Teotihuacán, and a few changes in military technology and tactics during the Late Classic.
Chapter 8 is largely the story of the Toltecs, who reintegrated Mesoamerica using a meritocratic military, a system of trader-warriors similar to the Aztec pochteca, and a hegemonic type of expansion. Like Teotihuacán, the Toltecs did not take on difficult targets, but expanded around potential threats, eventually economically and politically undermining them. According to Hassig, the eventual downfall of the Toltecs was the use of the bow and arrow by Chichimec invaders and the hegemonic aspects of the empire. Chichimec warriors armed with this new weapon were able to attack distant cities successfully, while Tollan could not exert sufficient power quickly enough to keep the distant trade centers functioning smoothly. Weakened by its loss of distant resources, eventually Tollan itself fell to the invaders. Hassig also includes a discussion of the Mixtecs, Chichén Itzá, and Cobá at this time.
Chapter 9 focuses on the Aztecs, covered in great detail in Hassig's previous book on Aztec warfare. Here, Hassig recaps how the Aztecs used the ritual flower wars to occupy and wear down stubborn adversaries, softening them up for eventual conquest after Aztec subjugation of surrounding areas. The Tlaxcalans and Tarascans were both apparently undergoing this process at the time of the Spanish contact. He also provides some detail about the organization of the Aztec tribute empire, with its ties to ideology and marriage alliances.
One interesting aspect of the empire is where Aztec expansion was limited. The northern Chichimecs, with their nomadic lifestyle and relatively simple social organization were poor targets for Aztec domination. With no political elites to coopt and no major centers of trade to control, the Aztecs could not expand north out of Mesoamerica. Even within Mesoamerica, Aztec expansion was limited in some areas. The Yopes in central Mexico presented problems similar to the Chichimecs: no central political authority and a good knowledge of the use of the bow and arrow.
Unlike the Chichimecs and Yopes, the Tarascans, Tlaxcalans, and Maya city states all had resisted, at least temporarily, the Aztecs through force of arms. The Tarascans and Tlaxcalans held because of their size and social organization. The Maya, however, had remained safe because of their distance from Tenochtitlán. Although the Aztecs did have some presence in the Yucatán, that presence was cut short by the Spaniards. The Spaniards and their technology did not by themselves overthrow the Aztecs: the Aztecs were able to adapt quickly to neutralize most of the Spanish tactics and arms. However, the disruption of the Aztec political machine was fatal. Tributary states allied with the Spanish against their oppressor; the loss of forces and resources forced the Aztecs into defending Tenochtitlán, which eventually fell due to famine. "Although Spanish weapons technology did play a role, Cortés's victory was more political than military, disrupting Aztec allegiances through the death of two kings and augmenting his own meager forces with tens of thousands of native troops while undercutting the Aztecs...[T]he Spanish conquest effectively brought large-scale indigenous warfare to an end" (p. 164).
Finally, in Chapter 10, Hassig restates and expands on many of the points he makes throughout the book: the nature of arms and economy in expansion, a description of historical trends in Mesoamerican military patterns, and the cyclic nature of the rise and fall of Mesoamerican expansionist polities. He describes four types of empire: aristocratic hegemonic, aristocratic territorial, meritocratic hegemonic, and meritocratic territorial. He points out that these differing types have spatial correlations in Mesoamerica and had varying limitations and successes. The Classic Maya (aristocratic hegemonic) were small. Monte Albán (aristocratic territorial) likewise could not control a very large region. The three largest empires, Teotihuacán, Toltec, and Aztec, were all meritocratic hegemonic. However, Hassig does not dwell on the implications of these patterns, nor does he attempt to elucidate why one group adopts one system versus the other.
From a reader's point of view, the book is difficult. Hassig's writing style is best described as yeoman-like, with little personality or levity to break the serious discourse. The eight pages of plates displaying artifacts, details from lintels and stelae, and portions of codices, are not referred to in the text. Moreover, the liberal use of endnotes to bring in details that should be included in the text itself is irritating. The book contains 80 pages of detailed notes, compared to 179 pages of text, which means that the reader is constantly paging back and forth from text to notes and back again. This format is particularly inconvenient in terms of references cited in the text: the reader must go from the text to the notes to find the author/date, then to the references section to see what that citation is. A straightforward author-date reference system and a better attempt to incorporate useful information into the text rather than in notes would make the book a much better read.
As a whole, Hassig's book achieves well his first goal of clarifying the nature of Mesoamerican warfare. Taking into account the nature of the data, the book gives detailed discussion of arms, tactics, and fortifications. His second goal, placing warfare into the general context of Mesoamerican society, meets with qualified success. He discusses warfare and marital alliances glancingly, but does make some good points about meritocratic verses aristocratic organization as well as how hegemonic versus territorial organization affects the nature of warfare and conflict. His third goal, to show that military matters created and maintained Mesoamerica as a culture area, is not met well. First, Hassig does not discuss clearly what he means by culture area. Second, he fails to make the case that Mesoamerica would not have been a culture area without expansionist states. This book is a description of historical occurrences, but offers little by way of explanation. In the end, it is unsatisfying.
While he attempts to view warfare in Mesoamerica as an integral part of cultural norms and values, Hassig does not even come close to linking imperialism to the rest of social organization and ideology. The problem lies in Chapter 1, where he presents his theoretical perspective. This chapter contains only seven pages of text, and is woefully inadequate to set the stage for the rest of the book. For example, Hassig wishes us to accept that warfare and imperialism are integral to understanding Mesoamerican culture, yet he claims that a thorough analysis of how imperialism is defined and used in the literature of empires is "beyond the scope of this book" (p. 3). He then gives us two-sentence descriptions of two theories for imperial establishment and maintenance. Although Hassig tells us that both theories have some merit, he gives us a six-sentence description of a third theory that he accepts as most appropriate for Mesoamerica. The crux of this theory is that "expansion is seen as a natural consequence of power differences between polities rather than as arising from a particular social structure....[I]mperialism springs from the existence of competing national sovereignties that expand in relation to their relative power....In the Mesoamerican case, many political developments can be seen as attempts to gain control over external resources" (p. 3). In short, polities (of an unspecified nature) will naturally and inexorably expand to control external resources deemed important until they meet logistical and/or competitive constraints.
This argument as sketched by Hassig is nothing new, nor is it entirely acceptable. The same unspecified political events cited by Hassig to demonstrate a need to control external resources might be explained in many cases as an attempt by competing elites to maintain control over others in society; expansion may be a result of internal conflict and competition. For example, can the rise of Teotihuacán be explained in terms of the need to control obsidian, as some would suggest? Hassig does not discuss what Teotihuacán needed to control, he simply assumes that the city expanded as a result of the need to control something. It might be argued, however, that problems inherent in craft specialization (e.g., maintaining internal as well as external trade, regulating social relations among competing economic groups) as well as competition for prestige and internal political control pressure elite rulers into expansionistic policies as a means to solidify their own political and economic bases. We'll never know, because there is no theoretical discussion to provide support for Hassig's assumptions about why empires are established and expand.
This lack of theoretical discussion and simplistic approach to expansion and imperialism is a serious detraction from the chapters that follow. It seems hard to accept that all of the expansionist polities over 3,500 years in Mesoamerica were propelled by the same monolithic forces, with little effect from internal social and political structures. Surely, not all polities at all times in Mesoamerica were expansionistic? Or would they have been expansionistic if competing polities had not constrained them? Why were some able to expand while others could not? For example, Hassig (p. 118) poses two possible reasons for Toltec expansion: the need to control a vast trading empire, or the need for nobles to "achieve greater societal complexity and continue to maintain an adequate standard of living for the people, who ultimately support the elites." He does not attempt to evaluate either of these possibilities. Indeed, he does not even equip the reader with the ability to evaluate them. Without a more detailed discussion of the theoretical conditions under which we might expect political and military expansion, explanation of imperialism in Mesoamerica is difficult, if not impossible.
This lack of explanatory power leaves the rest of the book a simple chronicle of the evolution of military technology and tactics derived from scant archaeological and artistic data. While the book contains many details of interest, the overall framework and driving forces of warfare in Mesoamerica still remain a mystery.
ROBERT J. JESKE
Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne
This book updates, reassesses, and expands the thoughts expressed in León-Portilla's 1961 book, Los antiguos mexicanos a través de sus crónicas y cantares. It is a chronological and historical synthesis based on his interpretations of codices, early manuscripts (primarily Aztec poetry), and post-Conquest documents, relating these to other Nahua scholarship.
To quote the introduction, "This book has two purposes. The first is to introduce English speakers to the culture of the Nahuas of preconquest Mexico as described in their own words. The second is to make the indigenous observations more intelligible than might otherwise be possible," and to relate these to broader areas.
Chapter 1, entitled "The Millennia of Ancient Mexico," presents history and myth of what and who came before the Aztecs. León Portilla begins with a short interpretation of the Five Suns, emphasizing that each succeeding Sun was a better form of life. Quetzalcoatl, as the symbol of ancient Mexican wisdom, is introduced early and referred to throughout the book. Aztec history is presented, including origins in Teotihuacán, Tula, and later Nahua sites in the Valley of Mexico. The toltecayotl ("the quality of being Toltec") is explored. In the section, "The Mexica: The People Whose Face Nobody Knew," the author historically describes the early Aztecs. This leads to "Tlacaelel: The Man Who Made the Aztecs Imperial."
Chapter 2 is entitled "Ihtoloca and Xiuhmatl: 'Tradition' and 'Annals' in Ancient Mexico." León-Portilla's analyses give valuable insights into the validity of, relationships among, and approaches to the codices. This leads to a summary, "The Documentary Legacy from Ancient Mexico."
Chapter 3, "The Hundred Years of the People of the Sun," presents the origin, history, and concept development of the Mexica, including "Toltecization." The ascent of the Mexica emphasizes the role of Tlacaelel in the imperial expansions of the last four rulers. This discussion outlines the development of "mystico-military practice" transforming the Mexica into the "people chosen by the sun to lead and survive."
Chapter 4, "Society and Economy," begins with a discussion of kinship and community organization. The primary content of this chapter is an extensive description and evaluation of pipiltin ("nobility") and macehualtin ("commoners") with a closing section entitled, "The Extreme Social Contrast." Documentation is well provided.
Chapter 5, "Art, Tradition, and Worldview,"
opens with one of the most interesting insights of the book:
León-Portilla presents an extensive discussion of disagreements
expressed by other Nahuas from Texcoco, Huexotzinco, Tlaxcala,
and Tenochtitlán itself over the martial attitude of the
Mexicas. A long dialogue (in translation) is presented from a
conferences of sages to illustrate this view. This chapter and
the book end with León-Portilla's views of the spiritual
legacy of ancient Mexico in "Face and Heart: The Nahua Concept
of Self," as well as with a treatment of the artistic legacy.
Klor de Alva's introduction is substantive and deserves attention.
Entitled "Nahua Studies, the Allure of the 'Aztecs,' and
Miguel León Portilla," he organizes chronologically
the state of Nahua scholarship, relating and referring to the
works of the increasing number of scholars in the field. This
introduction presents an excellent perspective on León-Portilla's
thinking and contributions. The bibliography and Index are extensive.
This is a potent book that provides a significant synthesis valuable to any worker in this field. One can learn, rethink, and find areas of agreement and disagreement. It is good reading and I recommend it highly.
HAROLD B. HALEY
Houston, Texas
The Worlds of Christopher Columbus is excellent history and should be read by all those interested in the question: Who is Christopher Columbus and why is everybody talking about him?
It is probably fair to say that Columbus is the most international of World Heroes: there are towns and cities throughout the world named in his honor, he has the rare honor of having an entire country named after him, and he even has the accolade of having holidays dedicated to him by general acclaim. Aside from the famous question: Who is buried in Grant's tomb?, the names of his three small ships -- the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María -- are probably known to more people worldwide than any other similar piece of historical trivia.
Yet despite his international fame, posterity does not possess one actual portrait of the man, nor know much about his life, nor even know where he is really buried. Furthermore, controversy reigns over whether he was a villain, hero, or bumbler. So for the average person the problem that remains is: What is the real scoop on C. Columbus?
Phillips and Phillips have put together a comprehensive and delightfully informative picture that enlightens the reader not only about Columbus the man but also, more importantly I feel, about the times and milieu in which he lived and dreamed. In fact, of all the recent news articles, television shows, books, and movies that I have seen about Columbus, I would say this book was by far the most informative for the general reader.
It would not be much of an exaggeration to say that Christopher Columbus is today the most famous man of history. The consequences of his actions set in motion the birth of the international age we live in, the culturally mixed continent we live on, and even the cosmopolitan food that we dine on. Aside from certain religious figures, Columbus has been admired in more countries and for a longer time than any other comparable figure. The school rhyme, "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue..." is known to legions of school children the world over.
I think that the main reason Columbus is so admired is because his actions were typically not framed as acts of conquest or domination but those of an independent-minded pioneer whose convictions flouted the traditional conventions of his times. He is portrayed as a maverick whose determination and commitment to noble beliefs finally won him recognition in the end. This virtuous and simplistic portrait of Columbus was shown to generations of school children and served as the backdrop for such honor societies as the Knights of Columbus.
But as Phillips and Phillips show, that is not the picture of the real Columbus. Coming from a family of working merchants, Columbus was driven to achieve financial and social gains. Of the few remaining documents actually in his hand or concerning him in his lifetime, a majority complained about the money that others owed him. He was petty about it too. Queen Isabella had offered a cash reward to the first seaman that sighted landfall. Although this act was achieved by a nameless seaman, Columbus claimed the prize for himself. Furthermore, he felt that the goal of his explorations was to make enough money to fund a military reconquest of Jerusalem. Against the wishes of the Spanish monarchs, Columbus actively fostered and engaged in the slave trade as a way of accumulating capital to achieve this end. Columbus was such a cruel administrator of the early Spanish colonies that he was recalled to Spain in chains. This and more about Columbus opens the eyes of the general reader as to the real nature of Columbus as a person. It was for me disconcerting to learn that Columbus was more of a medieval man living in the Renaissance than an avant-garde pioneer seeking to open his age to the future. Rather, even by standards of the times, Columbus was a man of the past, hoping for a new Crusade, looking for the Garden of Eden, seeking Prestor John's Oriental Empire.
Columbus' plan to explore the Atlantic was downright incompetent. Columbus used mathematical calculations that were antiquated and incorrect. By 1492 everybody knew that the earth was round and that Asia lay over a vast Atlantic Ocean in the West. But Columbus proposed that the earth was made of 360 degrees that were 56 miles in length. This figure had not been used since Roman times and was in direct conflict with the more correct assessment of 69 miles by geographers of the time. According to Columbus, Japan was located where California is. To put this modern terms, it would be like proposing a trip to the moon and then suggesting to go in a four-wheel drive jeep. In short, it was a harebrained scheme.
The Columbus of history, as opposed to the Columbus hero of our childhood myths, thought that Cuba was a continent and that Venezuela was an island. He died thinking he landed in Japan and was still hoping to find the Garden of Eden. While much of Europe was breathing the fresh air of the Renaissance, Columbus was intoxicated with medieval goals such as the second coming of Christ, a Crusade against the Infidel, and conquering Jerusalem. Frankly, Columbus was a very common man with many weaknesses, hardly the hero I saw in my high school textbooks or on the movie screen.
Phillips and Phillips point out that Columbus was a great sailor and had been around the sea lanes of his world. Furthermore, he was the first person to suggest using, and actually to use successfully, the trade winds to circumnavigate the Atlantic Ocean. These routes are still used today in trans-oceanic crossings. This is no mean accomplishment for any pioneer and one for which Columbus will always be remembered.
As the authors show, the world of Columbus was a world in flux. The milieu of the medieval period was still the breath of the times although a new age was dawning with every year that passed. Leaders in Europe, long isolated from the trade networks of the East, were seeking a way to achieve direct access to the gold, spices, silks, and luxury items from China, Japan and India. Europeans knew that the earth was round but calculations for the distance across the vast Atlantic in small European caravels meant that the trip was too long for conventional sailing vessels. Some scholars suggested that there might be islands all along the way but no one knew what was actually out there in that vast expanse of unknown ocean.
So Europeans explored down the coast of Africa hoping to break the Moslem blockade on eastern trade routes. The Columbus scheme as put before the royal court of Spain was to cross the Atlantic Ocean directly, hoping to island-hop on his way to Japan. Columbus assured the Spanish monarch that such an island lay only 3,000 miles west of the coast of Portugal, an utterly wrong assessment. The plan to sail to Japan failed miserably but history has forgotten this little oversight because Columbus' voyages opened up continents to exploration, exploitation, and expansion. The results of this serendipitous discovery included maize, chocolate, potatoes, tobacco, tomatoes, peanuts, pineapples, pumpkins, turkeys, and more gold and silver ingots than Europe had seen since Roman days. In a sense, the results of Columbus' discovery shattered his world and set in motion the beginnings of our own. These were not, in any sense of our understanding of Columbus, his own intentions in setting out for the Orient. His goals were rooted in the medieval desire to trade with the East and conquer the Infidels in the Holy Land. It is interesting to speculate if one could travel back in time and inform the young Columbus of what was to result from his discoveries, whether he would have then so eagerly pursued Western oceanic exploration.
The Worlds of Christopher Columbus is well worth exploring and the interested reader will discover many new and insightful facts about the the life and times of Columbus. However, I found the authors only confuse matters by using the sometimes unknown birth names of certain famous historical contemporaries, but not those of others. For example, John Cabot becomes Jacobo Coboto and Ferdinand Magellan becomes Ferñao Magalhaes, while Cristobal Colon becomes Christopher Columbus.
The main problem that I found with this book was that it was cartographically inadequate: the maps were too few and too small. A book about the voyages and sojourns of Columbus should have more maps about the world that he explored. Also the maps should be printed to the full size of the page for easier viewing. The book has one map that has all four voyages of Columbus delineated on it, but due to the small size and the baffling array of criss-crossing dots, spaced lines, and arrows it was too confusing to give the inexperienced any idea about where Columbus went and when. Notwithstanding this criticism, I highly recommend this book to all those interested in Columbus and his worlds.
PAUL JEAN PROVOST
Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne
John Bierhorst, a leading figure among students of American Indian traditions, introduces his book with the statement that it "is intended as a first step toward establishing a body of standard works, a canon, of native American literature." The four pieces selected on this occasion are texts well-known to scholars who are familiar with the respective indigenous societies: Aztec, Iroquois, Maya, and Navajo.
The Navajo "Night Chant," or creation story, is part of a dramatic ceremony that includes songs and prayers. Bierhorst uses the old translations by Washington Matthews (Memoirs of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 6, 1902). The more recent translation by Paul G. Zolbrod (Dine Bahane, 1984) was not available by the time of the first edition of Four Masterworks (1974).
"Cuceb" ("that which revolves," an allusion to cyclical time) is a Maya prophecy of war, drought, etc., of the last years of the 16th century, preserved in the "Chilam Balam of Tizimin," and with some variations, in the "Chilam Balam of Mani." In the volume under review it is given in the translation by Ralph L. Roys (The Prophecies of the Maya Tuns or Years in the Books of Chilam Balam of Tizimin and Mani, 1949), which is considered preferable to Maud W. Makemson's translation in The Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin (1951). Roys' translation, however, has now been revised by Bierhorst.
The "Ritual of Condolence" is offered with ritual texts translated from the Mohawk Iroquois by Horatio Hale and from the Onondaga Iroquois by J.N.B. Hewitt, with supplementary texts translated by William N. Fenton. John Bierhorst paraphrases descriptions of ritual procedures after Hale, Fenton, Hewitt, and others. "The Ritual of Condolence" deals with the mourning of a dead chief and expresses many religious, psychological, and cosmological ideas associated with the tragic event.
Myths and rituals related to Quetzalcoatl, perhaps the greatest religious personage of Mesoamerica, are reconstructed by Bierhorst through his own translations of the following fragments (with indication of their sources): 1) "The Restoration of Life" ("Legend of the Sun"); 2) "The Ceremonial Fire" ("Legend of the Sun"); 3) "A Cycle of Transformations" ("Annals of Cuauhtitlan"); 4) "The Fall of Tollan" (Florentine Codex); and 5) "A Song of Survival" ("Cantares Mexicanos"). I shall try to summarize the first three texts, turning into compact prose the poetic renderings of Bierhorst.
"The Restoration of Life" -- After the fourth world destruction the gods are troubled since there are no men to perform the rites they require. As Quetzalcoatl steals from the Land of the Dead the bones of the departed, the Lord of the Land of the Dead orders his subjects to stop him. They cause Quetzalcoatl to fall into a crypt and become unconscious. The quail bites into the bones (origin of man's mentality). Quetzalcoatl reassembles the bones and brings them to Tamoanchan (Aztec Paradise) where Cihuacoatl (Serpent Woman, one of the names of the Earth Mother) grinds them to powder. Quetzalcoatl bleeds his member over them. The gods do penance and the new men (servants of the gods) are born. Their nourishment is discovered by the ant inside Food Mountain, whereupon Quetzalcoatl transforms himself into an ant and takes the kernel of maize to Tamoanchan where the gods chew it and place it upon the lips of men to make them strong. Quetzalcoatl fails in his attempt to carry away Food Mountain but Cipactonal (Aztec Eve) divines that Nanahuatl is to break it open, and he does it, letting the rain gods steal the food: maize, beans, etc.
"The Ceremonial Fire" -- After four days of his mother's difficult labor, One-Reed is born, but she dies. He is raised by Serpent Woman (Serpent, symbol of Wisdom). When grown up, he follows his father in war and takes captives in Xihuacan. One-Reed's uncles, who hate his father, kill him and bury his body in the sand. One-Reed looks for his father and a vulture tells him where the body lies. One-Reed retrieves it and places it in a temple called Cloud Serpent Mountain. He wants to sacrifice in the temple a rabbit or a snake, but his uncles tell him to kill a jaguar, an eagle, and a wolf. One-Reed confides to the wild animals that he will act as if he were going to sacrifice them but actually they shall devour the bad uncles. Moles dig a passage in the temple and One-Reed lights a fire, much to the anger of the uncles who want to do it themselves. They scale the temple and Quetzalcoatl strikes the first and sends him tumbling down. He then tortures and kills the other uncles. Later he conquers Cuixcoc, Zacanco, Tzonmolco, Mazatzonco, Tzapotlan, and Acallan, where he crosses the water (Laguna de Terminos in Campeche?), and finally arrives in Tlapalan ("The Red Place," "The Land of the Rising Sun"; Yucatán?) where he falls sick and after five days he dies and is cremated.
"The Cycle of Transformations" -- Quetzalcoatl was the son of Chimalma ("Shield Hand," a mythical Amazon who here and elsewhere takes the place of Earth Mother). He had been placed in his mother's belly in the form of an emerald. When he reached the age of nine he asked for his father and was told that he was dead and where he was buried. Quetzalcoatl searched for his corpse, gathered the bones and buried them in the shrine of Quilaztli, patroness of childbirth. After several years Huactli, the king of Cuauhtitlan who did not know how to plant edible corn, died. His subjects, unable to weave robes, dressed in hides. They ate only birds, snakes, rabbits, and deer. They were homeless, wandering from place to place. Huactli's widow Xiuhtlacuilolxochitzin, became queen. She was able to invoke the devil Itzpapalotl. Later Quetzalcoatl came to Tollantzinco, where he stayed four years, and built his turquoise house of penance. Then he went on to Cuextlan, where he made a bridge that still stands there. In another year the Toltecs installed him as king of Tollan, and he was their priest.
After ruling for twelve years in Cuauhtitlan, queen Xiuhtlacuilolxochitzin died and was succeeded by king Ayauhcoyotzin. According to the Texcocoans, in the year 2-Reed Quetzalcoatl died, but in fact in that year he built his fourfold house of penance, fasting, and prayer, with precious stones, shells, and feathers (the four chambers symbolizing the four world quarters). At night he went down the stream to The Edge of Water and set jadestone thorns into his flesh on the top of Xicocotl, also on Huitzco, Tzincoc, and Mount Nonohualca. He rubbed his body with coarse boughs of the sacred fir (here called "quetzal plumes") and his thorns of precious stones were perfumed with incense. His offerings were snakes, birds, and butterflies. He sent up his prayers and supplications into the heart of the sky and called out the deities of each heaven and earth, life and death. His prayers were heard by those who dwell in the Place of Duality, over the ninefold heavens. He discovered great riches: precious stones, gold, silver, and plumes of beautiful birds. He also discovered cacao of various colors, and cotton likewise. He was a great artisan, painting earthenware in many colors and many other things. He started but did not finish his temple with serpent pillars.
While he lived he did not appear in public, dwelling in his home guarded by his pages. His home had mats of jewels, of precious feathers, and of gold. His offerings were always snakes, birds, and butterflies (he did not practice human sacrifice). This angered the sorcerers who willed that Quetzalcoatl be vexed and put to flight. So in the year 1-Reed Quetzalcoatl went to Tlillan Tlapallan to die, being succeeded by Matlacxochitlas ruler of Tollan. The sorcerers who wanted Quetzalcoatl to make human sacrifices were the god Tezcatlipoca and two more powers: Ihuimecatl and Toltecatl. They said they would brew pulque, have Quetzalcoatl drink it, and corrupt him so that he would no longer perform sacrifices. Tezcatlipoca took a two sided mirror and asked Quetzalcoatl to see his own body in it. The moment Quetzalcoatl saw himself in the mirror he was filled with fear. He was afraid that if his subjects saw him they would desert him, as his eyelids were greatly swollen, the eyesockets deeply sunk and the face much disfigured. Then Tezcatlipoca and the two other powers persuaded Quetzalcoatl to wear a precious mask, beard, etc., that he might be seen by his subjects. When Quetzalcoatl saw himself in the mirror he greatly admired himself.
The powers went to an onion field where they stewed potherbs, tomatoes, hot peppers, young corn, and beans, and also made pulque, which they mixed with honey. They went to Tollan and after several attempts to see Quetzalcoatl, which his guards frustrated, they obtained permission to see him. They offered Quetzalcoatl the food and drink they had prepared. Quetzalcoatl at first refused but finally tasted the pulque, liked it and drank, making himself drunk. The guards were also drunk. Then the sorcerers persuaded Quetzalcoatl to sing and he asked for his elder sister to sing with him (a euphemism for sexual intercourse). The guards brought her from her house of fasting. She was given pulque and became drunk. Brother and sister no more punctured themselves with thorns. At dawn they were filled with remorse. Quetzalcoatl composed a song of departure and his guards also sang. He commanded that a funeral urn be made, and they placed Quetzalcoatl in it. After four days he asked that all the beautiful things he had created should be buried. They were hidden where Quetzalcoatl's bathing place was. Then he departed for Tlillan (the "Black Land"), Tlapallan (the "Red Land"), and Tlatlayan (the "Fire Land"). In the year 1-Reed he reached the sacred shore, dressed himself in his best clothes, and set fire to himself. As he burned, his ashes rose and went to the sky as beautiful birds. The old people say that he changed himself into the morning star, and called him Lord of the House of Dawn. He disappeared for four days and dwelled in Mictlan ("Land of the Dead"), where he made arrows to shoot and wound, depending on the days when he appears. He was born and died in 1-Reed, and lived 52 years (the Aztec cosmic period).
As everybody probably knows, literary translations are always difficult because words, besides denotations, have connotations that in many cases do not correspond in the target language to the word chosen for its denotation. This often happens when translating into English from any language, and very frequently when the translation is from an American Indian tongue. Moreover, most literary texts of cosmological, ritual, and mythological import abound in metaphors and symbols whose meaning must be decoded for an adequate understanding of the message. If this is not done, the translated passage remains obscure, even meaningless. In order to clarify it the translator may choose to paraphrase the original, drifting away from the native text, or explain the symbolism in footnotes that do not interfere with the flow of the translated discourse. Bierhorst has illuminated many passages of his own translations and those by other scholars by commenting on them in very useful endnotes. (I regret that, perhaps for reasons beyond the control of the translator and the editors, footnotes -- ideal for quick reference -- have not been used in this book.)
In his interpretations of symbolism, Bierhorst cautiously draws comparisons from the same culture or from other American Indian traditions. On one occasion at least, commenting on Quetzalcoatl constructing a litter of serpents, he refers to the Jungian psychotherapist Joseph L. Henderson's report about a patient who dreamed of a serpent raft as a prelude to "rebirth" after suffering a traumatic experience. This approach might have been exercised more liberally, bringing to bear not only the findings of psychoanalysts but also findings by countless ethnologists and leading historians of religion from many lands.
Bierhorst is also wary in his interpretation of the sage Quetzalcoatl, whom he sees, following the Aztec texts, as representing the Toltec traditions of Tollan, near today's Tula. In my understanding, archaeological research in Teotihuacán favors the idea that Quetzalcoatl was a figure of the classic period of Mesoamerican history, Tollan being rather a link in the chain of tradition between Teotihuacán and Tenochtitlán. In the bibliography, Bierhorst includes Lavrette Séjourné's Burning Water (1956) but omits El universo de Quetzalcoatl (1963), where her interpretation of the hero as a religious leader of Teotihuacán is more fully displayed.
All things considered, Bierhorst's Four Masterworks, with his learned commentaries, stands as a major contribution to the appreciation of American Indian literatures in our times.
JUAN ADOLFO VAZQUEZ
University of Pittsburgh
Among non-Indian poets who have utilized Native American intellectual materials the Nicaraguan Ernesto Cardenal is without rival. His vast poetic net sweeps up the prophecies of the Yucatec, the teachings of Lakota mystics, the creation mythology of the Columbian Kogi, and the laws of the Iroquois League, revealing a minute knowledge of the scholarship on these and other traditions reaching from the North American Great Plains to the Gran Chaco of South America.
Previously published in two installments, Homenaje a los indios americanos (1969 in Spanish, 1973 in English) and Los ovnis de oro (1987 in Spanish), the complete Indian Poems of Cardenal are now available in a single, Spanish-English volume. The work's main title, Golden UFOs / Los ovnis de oro, borrowed from the second installment, refers to the Cuna tradition in which a hero-god descends to earth on a golden cloud, reinterpreted by modern Cuna as a flying saucer, or UFO (objeto volante no identificado). The title is apt because Cardenal's fondness for "that mixture which there is between the archaic and the modern" -- as he puts it -- is one of the hallmarks of this poetry.
According to the publisher, the Spanish texts in the new edition are appearing with "emendations." A spot check against previous editions reveals no changes. However, the order of the thirty poems is obviously different. They have been regrouped, geographically, so that the Yucatec, Quiché, and other Maya pieces, for example, are all together.
Six Nahua pieces, entitled "Mexican Songs," "Nezahualcóyotl," "The Tlamatinimes," "In xóchitl in cuícatl," "Quetzalcóatl," and "The Náhuatl Girl," take up a little more than a quarter of the work. Except for the last of these, which evokes modern Nahua culture, all are based on mid-twentieth-century Aztec scholarship produced in Mexico. The influence of the late Angel M. Garibay (d. 1967) is especially evident.
As is well-known, Cardenal was a figure in the anti-Somoza resistance of the 1960s and 1970s and Minister of Culture in the revolutionary Sandinista government, which controlled Nicaragua during the 1980s. Mostly written before the 1979 overthrow of the Somoza regime, The Indian Poems belong to the literature of protest. Anger is not missing from these pieces. But it is tempered by Cardenal's Christian idealism and by his wit.
Typical is the concluding passage from "Nezahualcóyotl," in which the poet imagines the fifteenth-century Texcocan king returning from the dead (as in the Cantares mexicanos) -- but in this case to lead a summit conference of modern-day presidents.
Throughout, the English versions by the Altschuls are clear and readable, closely following the Spanish text. The introduction by Russell O. Salmon, offering insights and new information, makes a contribution to Cardenal studies. As for the poetry itself -- although one might argue that the scholarship on which some of it is based belongs to a very definite period, as does the agenda of the now-eclipsed Sandinista regime -- Cardenal's famous and unique blend of lyricism, satire, and versified journalism seems destined to outlast the weathering of time. Above all, The Indian Poems stand as an enduring testament to the ability of Native American intellectuality to claim the attention of the world.
JOHN BIERHORST
West Shokan, N.Y.
This book fills an important gap in recent Mesoamerican ethnography. The Mixe, or Ayuuk as they call themselves, previously had not received much attention from researchers, which is somewhat surprising considering the large amount of anthropological information that exists on the ethnic groups of Oaxaca. The author's emphasis is on religious beliefs and ritual practices, though there are chapters on social organization and subsistence agriculture, which are important for understanding the context of the following sections. The decision to concentrate on religious ideology is fortunate since the Ayuuk maintain a strong cohesion in their religion, which has retained elements that are changing or even disappearing in other Amerindian communities. Lipp mentions the presence of agents of religious change which have arrived among the Ayuuk such as Catholic missionaries and Protestant converts. The Mexican priests of the diocese of Oaxaca have been greatly influenced by the Theology of Liberation, which is ambivalent toward folk Catholicism. Other recent anthropological studies of Indian communities in Oaxaca, such as Eckart Boege's Los Mazatecos ante la Nacion (Mexico: Siglo Vientiuno Editores, 1988) and Enrique Marroquin's "El Conflicto Religioso en Oaxaca" in Religiosidad y Política en Mexico, (Mexico: Cuadernos de Cultura y Religion, Universidad Iberoamericana, 1992), point to growing conflicts due to religious differences, which in the long run will bring about transformation in the beliefs of a part of the population.
Various sections of the book merit special attention. The chapter on the religions belief system of the Mixe, a complex cosmology of deities with Prehispanic origins is carefully described. For comparative purposes, I think it would be interesting to find if the wind and thunder divinities described are not equivalent to the aires and truenos described in other Mesoamerican studies. The author does not elaborate on this point.
The chapter on the calendrical system is also noteworthy. Most information on this topic is based upon Nahuatl or Maya references. For Oaxaca, historical information has been available but contemporary ethnographic information is scarce. The description given by Lipp is remarkably complete. The chapter on ritual behavior includes precise information on the numerical use and value of the elements utilized. Lipp was fortunate to obtain data on hunting rites. In many, if not most, Indian communities these practices are quickly disappearing due to the lamentable extinction of large wild mammals. The author mentions the existence of notebooks utilized by ritual specialists to carry out properly the ceremonials that are described in mnemonic models.
The final section on medical concepts and behavior is also important. The characteristics of Mixe curers are described and various healing rites are studied along with the prayers that are recited during the ceremonial. An analysis of the use of medicinal plants includes information on the use of sacred mushrooms. Lipp gives a fine account on this subject, which has been greatly distorted by numerous popular authors. Use of the sacred mushrooms is not limited to curers and shamans, but restraint and caution are necessary for their use.
In order to write such a detailed ethnography,
it is clear that the author worked with highly knowledgeable
informants who were native specialists, such as curers or healers.
Anthropologists such as James Dow have allowed their informants
to appear as coauthors; see his The Shaman's Touch: Otomi
Indian Symbolic Healing (University of Utah Press, 1986).
Lipp is more traditional since his informants are anonymous.
I had hoped that a discussion of the use of different forms of
narrative employed in the studies of religion would be more developed
in the introduction or
postscript of the book, but this a minor complaint.
I also hope that the author will attempt to publish a Spanish translation, which would give this study the wider audience it deserves, and allow it to be read in Oaxaca.
CARLOS GARMA NAVARRO
Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana - Iztapalapa
Mexico, D.F.
The artwork that appears in this issue has been taken from Haciendo la lucha: arte y comercio nahuas de Guerrero by Catharine Good Eshelman. (México, D.F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1988).
Walden Browne
Calle de Hermosilla, 70-40B
Madrid 28001 SPAIN
(until October 1993)
c/o Melinda Wulff
463 Crocker Road
Sacramento, CA 95864
(permanent address) Research interests include Sahagún, Franciscans, 16th-century New Spain.
David K. Jordan
Department of Anthropology
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA 92093
Hedda Scheres
Mendelssohnstr. 12
2000 Hamburg 50 GERMANY
Research interests include Aztec ideas of afterlife, especially the relationship of these ideas to the social order.
University of Florida
George A. Smathers Libraries
Latin American Collection
Gainesville, FL 32611
Carmen Aguilera
c/o María Nuñez
5050 Caminito Exquisito
San Diego, CA 92130
I am on sabbatical until September on a Fulbright and will be working in the Anthropology Department of the University of California, Riverside, on the Cihuacoatl complex and an iconographic study.
Elizabeth Baquedano
Instituto de Investigaciones Historicas
Ciudad de la Investigaction en Humanidades
Circuito Dr. Mario de la Cueva, Zona Cultural
Cuidad Universitaria, Deleg. Coyoacan
México, D.F. 04510 MEXICO
I am now working as a visiting scholar at the Institute.
Nahuatl Program
c/o Departamento de Español
Escuela Nacional de Estudios Profesionales - Acatlán
San Juan Totoltepec S/N
Naucalpan, México MEXICO
Kay Read
239 S. Monroe
Hinsdale, IL 60521
Terry Stocker
Bishop Museum
1525 Bernice Street
P.O. Box 19000A
Honolulu, HI 96817
I have been thinking that there is now an orientation in Mesoamerican archaeology to excavate peasant or lower-class housing in urban centers. Don't you think that the peasant lifestyle still exists to the extent that it could be used as a model, rather than spending money on excavating? I really think that the main problem is that gringos don't have peasant friends, and they don't know that such a lifestyle exists. I think that this point was hinted at by Susan Evans in her review of Parson's Maguey Utilization (Latin American Antiquity 3:175-76).
Last updated: 11/29/07