The Tarascans, so called from _Taras_, the name of a tribal god,[163] had
the reputation of being the tallest and handsomest people of Mexico.
They were the inhabitants of the present State of Michoacan, west of
the valley of Mexico. According to their oldest traditions, or perhaps
those of their neighbors, they had migrated from the north in company
with, or about the same time as the Aztecs. For some three hundred years
before the conquest they had been a sedentary, semi-civilized people,
maintaining their independence, and progressing steadily in culture.[164]
When first encountered by the Spaniards they were quite equal and in some
respects ahead of the Nahuas. The principal buildings of their cities,
the chief of which was their capital Tzintzuntan, were of cut stone well
laid in mortar. A number of remains of such have been reported by various
travelers, many of them being conical mounds of dressed stones, locally
called _yacates_, which probably are sepulchral monuments.[165]
In their costume the Tarascos differed considerably from their neighbors.
The feather garments which they manufactured surpassed all others in
durability and beauty. Cotton was, however, the usual material. Gold and
copper are found in the mountains of the district, and both these metals
were worked with skill. Nowhere else do we find such complete defensive
armor; it consisted of helmet, body pieces, and greaves for the legs and
arms, all of wood covered neatly with copper or gold plates, so well done
that the pieces looked as if they were of solid metal.[166]
A form of picture-writing was in use in Michoacan, but no specimen of it
has been preserved. The calendar was nearly the same as that in Mexico,
and the government apparently more absolute in form. Many but confused
details have been preserved about their religion and rites. There was a
mysterious supreme divinity, Tucapacha, though Curicaneri, who is said to
have represented the sun, was the deity chiefly worshipped. Large idols
of stone and many of smaller size of terra cotta may still be exhumed by
the energetic archæologist. Cremation was in vogue for the disposition of
the dead, and human sacrifices, both at funerals and in the celebration
of religious rites, were usual.
The Tarascan language is harmonious and vocalic, and its grammar is
thoroughly American in character, the verb being extraordinarily
developed, the substantive incorporated in the expression of action, and
the modifications of this conveyed by numerous infixes and suffixes.