The Native Races (Complete 5 Part Edition). Hubert Howe Bancroft

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СКАЧАТЬ in their small community constant intermarriages must make them all relatives, which they said was the case since the reduction of their numbers by the cholera. They were in fact all kinsfolk, but it was allowable for kinsfolk to marry, except in the relationship of brothers and sisters."

      In divisions of property women could not inherit; in default of direct male heirs the estate went to the brothers or nearest male relatives. When the heir was a minor, one of his male relatives was appointed guardian, until the days of his minority should have passed, when the property was delivered up to him. The Southern Mexicans were particular to keep a strict chronology of their lineage. Young children underwent a kind of baptismal ceremony. The Mayas believed that ablution washed away all evil; and previous to the ceremony the parents fasted three days, and they were particular to select for it what they considered a lucky day. The age at which the rite was performed was between three and twelve years, and no one could marry until he had been baptized. Habits of industry as well as respect for parents and aged people was strongly impressed upon the minds of the children.953

      The Southern Mexicans are fond of singing and dancing, though there is not much variety either in their melancholy music or monotonous dances. Their favorite instrument is the marimba, composed of pieces of hard wood of different lengths stretched across a hollowed-out canoe-shaped case. The pieces of wood or keys are played upon with two short sticks, one held in each hand. The sound produced is soft and pleasing, and not unlike that of a piano. Another instrument is the tunkul or drum, made of a hollow log with sheep-skin stretched over the end; it is struck with the fingers of the right hand, the performer holding it under his left arm. Their movements during their dances are slow and graceful. The men are addicted to intoxication at their feasts, the liquor in common use among them being mescal and aguardiente, a colorless spirit made from the sugar-cane. Many of the natives have a small still in their houses.954

      CUSTOMS IN OAJACA.

      The Zapotecs are exceedingly polite to one another in their common salutations, calling each other brother, and to the descendants of their ancient caciques or lords the utmost reverence is paid. It is related by a Mexican writer that in a village not distant from the city of Oajaca, whenever an aged man, the son of one of their ancient lords was seen by the natives out walking, with a majesty that well became his fine form, position, and age, they uncovered their heads, kissed his hands, which he held out to them, with much tenderness, calling him daade (father), and remained uncovered until he was lost to sight. They are a theocratic people, much addicted to their ancient religious belief and customs. Those who live in the vicinity of Mitla entertain a peculiar superstition; they will run to the farthest villages and pick up even the smallest stones that formed a part of the mosaic work of that famous ruin, believing that such stones will in their hands turn into gold. Some of them hold the belief that anyone who discovers a buried or hidden treasure has no right to appropriate to his own use any portion of it, and that if he does, death will strike him down within the year, in punishment of the sacrilege committed against the spirit of the person who hid or buried the treasure. One of the first priests that lived among the Zapotecs says that after they had entered the pale of the church, they still clung to their old religious practices, and made offerings of aromatic gums, and living animals; and that when the occasion demanded a greater solemnity, the officiating priest drew blood from the under part of his tongue, and from the back part of his ears, with which he sprinkled some thick coarse straw, held as sacred and used at the sacrifices. To warm themselves, the Chochos, or Chuchones, of Oajaca used, in cold weather, towards the evening, to burn logs and dry leaves close to the entrance of their caves, and blow the smoke into their dwellings, which being quite full, all the family, old and young, males and females, rushed in naked and closed the entrance. The natives of Goazacoalco and other places practiced some of the Jewish rites, including a kind of circumcision, which custom they claimed to have derived from their forefathers; hence have arisen innumerable analogies to prove the Jewish origin of these peoples. The Huaves still preserve ancient customs at their feasts. It is a remarkable fact that although nearly all these people are fishermen, very few of them can swim. The Mijes have a habit of speaking in very loud tones; this is attributed by some to their haughty spirit, and by others to their manner of life in the most rugged portion of the mountains. When bound upon a journey, if they have no other load to carry, they fill their tonates, or nets, with stones. This is generally done by them on the return home from the market-place of Tehuantepec. These loads rest upon their backs, and hang by a band from their foreheads. In ancient times, when they were in search of a new country to settle in, they subjected the places they had devastated to the fire proof. This was done by putting a firebrand over night into a hole, and if it was found extinguished in the morning, they considered that the Sun desired his children (that is themselves) to continue their journey. They are much given, even at the present time, to idolatrous practices, and will make sacrifices in their churches, if permitted, of birds as offerings to the false gods they worshiped before their partial conversion to Christianity. The natives attribute eclipses of the moon to an attempt by the sun to destroy their satellite, and to prevent the catastrophe make a frightful uproar, employing therefor everything they can get hold of.955

      DISEASES AND MEDICAL TREATMENT.

      The diseases most prevalent among the Southern Mexicans are fevers, measles, and severe colds. All these people possess an excellent knowledge of medicinal herbs, and make use of them in cases of pains and sickness. They still practice some of their mysterious ceremonies, and are inclined to attribute all complaints to the evil influence of bewitchments. Father Baeza, in the Registro Yucateco, says they consulted a crystal or transparent stone called zalzun, by which they pretended to divine the origin and cause of any sickness. When suffering with fever or other disorders, the disease is often much aggravated and death caused by injudicious bathing in the rivers. In ancient times tobacco was much used as a specific against pains arising from colds, rheumatism, and asthma; the natives found that it soothed the nerves and acted as a narcotic. They also practiced bleeding with a sharp flint or fish-bone. The Zapotecs attempted cures by means of a blow-pipe, at the same time invoking the assistance of the gods.956

      When a death occurs the body is wrapped in a cotton cloth, leaving the head and face uncovered, and in this condition is placed in a grave. Very few of the ancient funeral usages remain at the present day, though some traces of superstitious ceremonies may still be observed among them; such as placing food in the grave, or at different spots in its immediate vicinity. Sometimes a funeral is conducted with a certain degree of pomp, and the corpse carried to its last resting-place followed by horn-blowers, and tunkul-drummers. As in the case of the central Mexicans, a memorial day is observed, when much respect is shown for the memory of the dead, at which times fruits, bread, and cakes are placed upon the graves.957

      CHARACTER OF SOUTHERN MEXICANS.

      The character of the inhabitants of the Tehuantepec isthmus and Yucatan is at the present day one of docility and mildness. With a few exceptions they are kind-hearted, confiding, and generous, and some few of them evince a high degree of intelligence, although the majority are ignorant, superstitious, of loose morality as we esteem it, yet apparently unconscious of wrong. Cayetano Moro says they are far superior to the average American Indian. The Zapotecs are a bold and independent people, exhibit many intellectual qualities, and are of an impatient disposition, though cheerful, gentle, and inoffensive; they make good soldiers; they are fanatical and superstitious like their neighbors. The women are full of vivacity, of temperate and industrious habits, their manners are characterized by shyness rather than modesty, and they are full of intrigue. To this nation the Mijes present a complete contrast; of all the tribes who inhabit the isthmus, they are the most brutal, degraded, and idolatrous; they are grossly stupid, yet stubborn and ferocious. The Chontales and Choles are barbarous, fierce, and quarrelsome, and greatly addicted to witchcraft. The Cajonos and Nexitzas, of Oajaca, are of a covetous and malicious nature, dishonest in their dealings, and much inclined to thieving. The Zoques are more rational in their behavior; although they are ignorant and intemperate in their habits, they are naturally kind and obliging, as well as patient and enduring. The Huaves are deficient in intelligence, arrogant and inhospitable to strangers, and of СКАЧАТЬ