AT HUIXQUILUCAN
(1897)
Our serious work was to begin with one of the most conservative and
reserved of Mexican indian populations. If we could do what we planned
to do with the Otomis, we were likely to have but little greater trouble
with any tribe. In ancient times the name of Otomi was synonymous with
stupidity. When an Aztec was particularly stupid or clumsy, his fellows
in derision called him an Otomi. They still are ignorant, suspicious,
and unprogressive.
Huixquilucan, which we had chosen as our field for labor, is situated
on a high ridge within sight of the National Railroad, at a distance
of perhaps a mile and a half from the station of Dos Rios. A crowd of
indian women and children are always at the station when trains pass, to
sell _tortillas, chalupas_, and _pulque_ to passengers; few travellers
from the United States, passing over this road, have failed to notice
the dark and ugly faces of these sellers, and have received their first
impression of the indians of Mexico from seeing them. Our party, three
in number, reached Dos Rios in the morning and began work at the station
with the women who were selling there. Dr. Powell, as our interpreter,
undertook the personal dealings, and our material, as was to be
expected, was chiefly women. When we came to record the names of
our subjects, we found that every woman's first name was Maria, the
differentiation between them being first found in the middle name. They
were little creatures, scarcely larger than well grown girls of eleven
or twelve among ourselves. Some old women, with grey hair and wrinkled
faces who piously kissed our hands when they met us, were among the
smallest. Now and then some young woman or girl was attractive, but
usually their faces were suspicious, sad, and old before their time. The
skin was a rich brown; the eyebrows heavily haired, often meeting above
the nose; the hair grew low upon the forehead, and in young women the
forehead itself was covered with a fine downy black growth. The nose
was flat, broad, and depressed at the roots, while its tip was flat and
wide. The eyes were dark brown and the hair was black and coarse. If we
were to judge the population by the women only, we might call the
Otomis true pygmies. The average stature of 28 subjects was 1,435
millimeters--while Sir William Flower's limit for pygmy peoples is 1,500
millimeters.
[Illustration: OTOMI INDIAN GIRLS; HUIXQUILUCAN]
[Illustration: THE MOON-STONE, AT DOS RIOS STATION]
Many of the women whom we measured and photographed carried babies; the
disposition of the children while the mothers were being examined was
something of a problem. When given to another woman they usually cried
lustily, and so conducted themselves as to distract the attention of
their mothers and interfere seriously with our work. In the crowd of
lookers-on there chanced to be a little girl, surely not more than ten
years old, who seemed to be a born caretaker. Upon her back, supported
by her _ayate_, she carried her own baby brother. We quickly found that
really refractory babies were best committed to her charge. No matter
how loudly they might have been crying beforehand, when transferred to
the arms of this little creature they became instantly quiet. The poor
little thing was kept busily employed the greater part of the afternoon
with the two babies, one upon her back, the other in her arms.
Almost all the women wear the ancient costume, which consists of the
_huipíl, enagua, faja_, and _ayate_. The _huipíl_ is a cotton blanket,
with a slit through which the head passes. On each side of the slit are
bands of patterns embroidered in bright colors. Much of the remaining
surface of the garment may be similarly decorated; sometimes it becomes
one mass of designs. The patterns are usually geometrical figures, but
may be representations of animals, birds, or human beings. They may be
regularly arranged, or jumbled together haphazard. The _enagua_, skirt,
consists of two strips of cloth of different kinds and colors, sewn
together side by side and then wrapped horizontally about the body. The
strips of cloth are native spun, native dyed, and native woven.
The favorite colors are dark blue, brownish purple, or indian red,
horizontally banded with narrow black stripes. The two strips are
usually joined by a line of colored stitching. The _enagua_ is simply
wrapped about the body, sometimes thrown into pleatings in front, and
held in place by a broad cotton belt of bright color, into which are
woven birds, animals, human figures, and geometrical forms. These
belts are called by the Spanish name, _faja_. Both men and women carry
_ayates_. These are square or rectangular blankets made of _ixtli_, the
strong fibre of the maguéy. Like the _enaguas_, they usually consist of
two pieces, side by side, stitched together with some bright color. The
fibre, which is gotten from the leaves partly by maceration, partly by
beating, is spun in a primitive fashion. Almost every woman one meets
upon the road, no matter what burden of babies or goods she carries,
has a hank of the fibre thrown over her shoulder, and keeps her little
spindle whirling, spinning the strong thread as she walks. Her spindle
consists of a slender stick thrust through a whorl of baked pottery.
Such whorls are no longer made, but the ancient ones, called by the
Aztec name _malacates_, are picked up in the fields and reapplied to
their old use. Usually the _ixtli_ thread is left of its original grey
or white color, but sometimes the fibre is dyed, a fine shade of orange
being favored. The _ixtli_ thread is woven into _ayates_, which are used
for carrying burdens. Vegetables, charcoal, babies--anything--are put
into them. Two ends are tied together to hold the burden in place, and
the other two are passed across the breast and tied in front. These
blankets are astonishingly strong and unyielding.
At evening, after a fair day's work, we made our way on foot across the
valley and up the long slope to the summit of the ridge on which lay
Huixquilucan, the official centre of a municipality of 11,000 persons.
Of these, 3,000 live in the village, while the remainder are clustered
together in hamlets like San Bartolito, San Francisco, Agua Bendita, or
are scattered in single-house settlements over the mountains. Of the
11,000 persons, more than three-fourths claim to be full Otomis. There
are no truly poor in the whole town. Every family has its field, its
house, its bit of woodland. All the people still speak the native
tongue, and many speak no other. The town is picturesquely situated upon
the crest and flank of a long, narrow ridge, which is enclosed by a
grand sweeping curve of lofty mountains. The flanks of the enclosed
ridge and the whole slope of the surrounding mountains are occupied by
the little fields of the indians, long narrow patches separated by lines
of _maguéy_ or century-plants. The houses are built of adobe bricks with
thick and solid walls, which are usually plastered on the outside and
tinted white or pink. The roofs are pitched, but with a gentle slope.
They consist of frameworks of poles upon which long narrow shingles are
laid, and pegged in place with wooden pegs which project both above and
below for several inches in a formidable, bristling way. Sometimes the
shingles, instead of being pegged in place, are held by stones, which
in some cases weigh several pounds, and are laid in regular horizontal
lines.
When we were there, great stacks of corn-husks were to be seen in
almost every yard; these were placed on floorings, raised by posts some
distance above the ground to keep them from animals. A long ladder
usually leaned against one side of the stack and a light cross of sticks
stuck into the top of the stack kept off evil influences. Sometimes this
cross was cut in relief on the smooth, carefully trimmed end of the
stack itself. More striking than these stacks, and quite characteristic
of the Otomi country, were the queer corn-bins or granaries called by
the Aztec name _cincalote_. They rose in all directions like great
square columns. The floor of boards was slightly raised from the ground
by stones, and measured some 4 or 5 feet on a side; from its corners
rose 4 poles, sometimes to the height of 20 feet; these were connected
at the top and held firm by ropes. The sides of the bin were built up
of a cobwork of slender staves laid horizontally. The vertical bin thus
formed was filled with ears of corn roofed about with a light thatch or
shingled roof. Later in the season, as the corn was taken from these
bins, the sides would have been removed piecemeal to keep progress with
the diminishing hoard. When the time of planting should be near, the
whole structure but the floor and upright poles would have disappeared.
Next to maize the chief culture among the Otomis is _maguéy_. This forms
division lines between the corn-fields and the village yards, and is
sometimes, though not commonly here, planted in fields. The _maguéy_ is
an agave very close to the century-plant. Manifold are its uses, but to
the Otomi its value is chiefly in two directions. It furnishes _ixtli_
fibre for _ayates_, and it yields _pulque_. For a dozen years
the _maguéy_ plant stores away starchy food in its long, thick,
sharp-pointed leaves. It is the intended nourishment for a great shaft
of flowers. Finally, the flower-bud forms amid the cluster of leaves.
Left to itself the plant now sends all its reserve of food into this
bud, and the great flower-stalk shoots upward at the rate of several
inches daily; then the great pyramid of flowers develops. But man
interferes. The flower-bud is cut out, and a neat, deep cup is fashioned
amid the bases of the cluster of leaves. The sap which should produce
that wonderful growth is poured into this cup. The _pulque_ gatherer,
with his long gourd collecting-tube, and skin carrying-bottle, goes from
plant to plant and gathers the _agua miel_--honey-water. Fermented, it
becomes the whitish, dirty, ropy, sour-tasting, bad-smelling stuff
so dear to the indians. And the Otomi are fond of _pulque_. We were
compelled to do our work in the mornings; in the afternoons everyone was
drunk and limp and useless in the operator's hands.
We slept and ate at the house of the _presidente_, an old _mestizo_
of rather forbidding manners but kindly spirit. Our cases came rather
slowly and a deal of coaxing, argument, and bribes were necessary to
secure them. Here we gave a trifle, a few _centavos_, to each subject.
The policy was bad, and we abandoned it with reference to all subsequent
populations. Naturally the natives were hostile to our work. They
thought that we were measuring them for their coffins; that they would
be forced into the army; that disease would result; that an uncanny
influence was laid upon them; that witchcraft might be worked against
them. After having had a lot of trouble with many of our subjects, we
were surprised one day to have the oldest man of the village, Antonio
Calistro, born in 1813, still so hale and hearty that he works his own
fields, come in for measurement and photographing. He still wears the
old style of dress: a loose jacket with wide sleeves made of dark blue
woolen cloth, gathered around the waist by a closely-woven cotton belt;
short, wide-legged trousers of buckskin. He is the only man left in the
village who wears his hair after the old fashion; that on top of his
head in front was combed together and braided into a little tail, while
that on the sides and back of the head was made into a longer braid.
When we asked him how it was that he was not afraid to undergo our
measurement and photographing, we learned that someone had told him that
the purport of the work was to send information to the Pope in Rome as
to how his Otomi children looked, and from respect for the Holy Father
the old man of eighty years had walked in from his distant farm to be
measured and photographed.
A curious fact in respect to the Otomis resulted from our study. The
men, apparently of pure blood, presented two quite different types.
There are many who are as little as the women; these present almost the
type already given as that of the women, but are a little lighter in
color. The second type is tall, sometimes over 1,700 millimeters. It is
lighter in color, presenting at times a light brownish-yellow shade.
Some indians of this large type have white skins, blotched with
disagreeable red or purple. The eyes of these large men are usually
widely-spaced, and the face appears rounder than in their smaller
brethren. All the Otomis of both types, men and women, have
astonishingly big heads, and many dwarfish individuals would require a
7-1/4 hat.
[Illustration: THE CHURCH; HUIXQUILUCAN]
[Illustration: OTOMI INDIAN; HUIXQUILUCAN]
One night during our stay we had a grand illumination. It was St.
Martin's Eve. During the afternoon the men and boys planted dead trees
in the plaza and streets, and filled the branches with bunches of dry
brush. At dusk we walked up to the crest before the church. All through
the valley the men and boys had been busy, and as darkness settled down,
blaze after blaze sprung forth until every hillside was dotted with
flaming heaps. On every church and farm-house of large size, straight
lines of little bonfires were built along the edges of the roof. There
must have been many hundreds of fires in sight at once. Meanwhile,
all the churches of the little hamlets around clanged their bells
discordantly. Then the church close by us burst into illumination,
and its bells joined in the clangor as we started down the hill. The
villagers were putting torches to the piles, and children were dancing
in the glare, shooting off their little rockets and adding their full
share to the general confusion.
In the olden time Huixquilucan had a bad reputation for highway
robberies. A great hill overlooking the town is called the hill of
crosses, and here a cross by the wayside usually signifies a place of
murder. Many a traveller in the not distant past found his way from here
as best he could to the capital city minus burden and money, minus hat
and shoes, and sometimes minus clothing. They used to say that from
Toluca to the city a man was robbed three times; the first time they
took his money, the second his watch and valuables, the third, his
clothes. We were told that the church here, the chief church of our
Otomi friends, is called "the church of the thieves," and that it was
even lately a favorite resort of _ladrones_, who prayed for blessing
upon their thieving expeditions and for release in case they should
be taken captive. And not so long ago, among the little silver votive
offerings,--eyes, legs, arms, hands,--all given in fulfillment of
promises for the cure of ailing members,--one might see little chains
and manacles, visible evidence that saint or Virgin had kindly released
some fellow, taken in his misdeeds, from a well deserved punishment, in
answer to his pious prayers.
Below the station of Dos Rios a little ravine borders the main valley.
There, within sight of the track on one side of the ravine lies the
stone which long ago "fell from the moon." It is a great boulder, with
flat lower surface, and round upper surface, sufficiently large for a
considerable party to camp on. The earth is washed away somewhat from
below it, and on its under side are rude figures painted in imitation
of suns and circles and symbolic designs. It is said that the indians
throughout the country around respect this rock, making prayers and
offerings to it.
One of Huixquilucan's pretty hamlets is Agua Bendita,--blessed
water,--near the upper, narrowing end of the valley. A dozen or so
houses compose the settlement. Near it, upon a little side gorge, two
lovely springs burst forth from the rock. From them a babbling stream
of sparkling water flows, in which, in the bright sunshine, women wash
clothes, and lay them out on bushes or grassy banks to dry; little naked
children play about while the mothers labor; hither dusky maidens come
to perform their toilets; here women fill their _ollas_ with water; here
_pulque_-gatherers wash and scrape their skin bottles. In the little
tank below, where the water lies so clear that everything is
visible upon its bottom, one may see axolotls creeping. They are
water-salamanders, but they have a strange history. Like frogs, they
pass through a series of changes, and the larval is very different from
the adult form. In some Mexican lakes of genial temperature, the little
creature goes through its full history from the larva to the adult; but
in cold mountain lakes, the adult form is never attained, and the larva
(elsewhere immature) lays eggs that hatch its like.
Our last evening at Huixquilucan, I went out to purchase native
garments. We rode from house to house, and were quite away from the town
in a district where houses were few and far between. It was nearly dusk
and our search must end. We were at the last house on a slope near the
bottom of a valley, on whose opposite slope were but a few houses. The
people were primitive in appearance, dress and language. They could not
understand all we said, but were anxious to please the "_padrecito_,"
whose hand they kissed. Having no clothing to sell us, they tried to
help us procure some. Orders were given to a shy and wild girl, with
deep-set, shining jet-black eyes, raven hair and dark brown skin,
dressed in rags. Stepping to a little out-jutting mass of rock, she
gave a wild cry, looking across the valley to the nearest house on the
opposite slope, fully half a mile away. We could see the people of
the house turn out to hear. Then, in a high, clear voice, strangely
penetrating, but without harshness or a break or pause for breath,
with rising and falling intonation, she cried her message. There was a
moment's pause, and then we saw the answering crier take her place, and
in the same clear, penetrating, unbroken, up-and-down voice, came back
the reply. It was not favorable, and the old man apologized for the
failure, as he kissed the _padrecito's_ hand in parting.
Some weeks later we were again at Huixquilucan, this time to secure some
busts. Having reached the house of the _presidente_, we sent out our
drunken friend Augustin, who had been useful to us during our measuring
experiences, to find subjects. He finally appeared with a man who agreed
to submit to the operation for one _peso_. Everything went well until
the moulds were removed; it is true that in the removal a good deal of
hair was pulled out, but no serious damage was done. When the _peso_
agreed upon was offered, the subject indignantly refused to receive it,
demanding five. I replied that he well understood our agreement: there
was his _peso_; if he cared to take it, good; if not, I would keep it;
but that to pay five _pesos_ was out of the question. He thereupon
grew angry and boisterously demanded the increased sum. Several of his
friends gathered and backed him in his demand. The noise they made
attracted a still greater crowd until at last we were surrounded by
forty or fifty angry Indians. The man continued to demand his five
_pesos_, the other crying, "Pay him five _pesos_." I was firm, declaring
that the man should receive no more than had been promised. Again the
_peso_ was offered, again to be rejected. At that moment some brilliant
genius cried, "If you do not pay five _pesos_ we will break your
moulds." And the cry was caught up by the angry crowd: "Yes, we will
break the moulds unless you pay five _pesos_." At this threat I told my
two companions to stand back out of the way, and then, speaking to him
who had suggested the breaking of the moulds, said, pointing to them,
"Yes, break the moulds." His ardor cooled. Turning to another, I said
to him, "Come, break the moulds." He began to back away. Turning to the
cause of the disturbance, who had joined in the cry about destroying the
moulds, I said to him, "Come, come, we are waiting for you to break the
moulds." No one made a move toward destroying our plaster-work, so I
said, "No, you know quite well you will not break the moulds; if you
did, you know what would happen; I should take you all as prisoners to
Toluca." At that moment, catching sight of the old _presidente_ who was
passing on the road, I clapped my hands and beckoned him. When the old
man came I laid the matter fairly before him, telling him the agreement
that had been made, the time taken for the work, and the fact I had
offered the man the _peso_ promised; that he now demanded five _pesos_,
refusing to take the proffered money. The old man looked a moment at me,
then at the angry indian; then at me, and again at the indian; then,
stepping up to him, he patted him on the back as a father might a
spoiled child, saying, "Come, come, son; don't be a fool; three good
days' wages for an hour's time; take your _peso_ and be gone." We had
feared the incident would cast a damper on our work and hinder other
subjects. Far from it. We were supplied as rapidly as our men could work
at the same price we paid our first subject.