Contents 7

* In Nahuatl all words are naturally stressed on the penultimate syllable, making the addition of accents (generally used in Span ish transcriptions of Nahuatl) unnecessary. This work omits

the accents accordingly.

Introduction

The Mexica1 made up one of the most significant groups of people in an-cient Mexico. The consolidation and expansion of this group dates to the

Late Postclassic (A.D. 1200–1521), the period preceding the conquest of Tenoch­titlan. The Mexica arrived in the basin of Mexico after other Nahua tribes had already occupied the best lands. They settled temporarily in various places until, free of all subjugation, they established their definitive settlement on a small islet that Huitzilopochtli, their tutelary god, had designated for them.

In spite of their precarious beginnings, they achieved great strength in a short time and became one of the major powers of pre-Hispanic Mexico. The warring and expansionism of the Mexica state, along with the systematic practice of sacrificing foreign captives, enabled them to come into contact

Huitzilopochtli, tutelary god of the Mexica, ordering

them to abandon Aztlan. Tira de la peregrinación.

Contents

GUATEMALA

BELIZE

HONDURAS

MEXICO METZTITLÁN

TLAXCALA

Gulf of Mexico

Paci�c OceanSOCONUSCO

MICHOACÁN

YOPITZINCOCOATLICÁMAC

TEOTITLÁNDEL CAMINO

MIXTEC LORDLY DOMAINS

TUTUTEPEC

Tuxpan

TexcocoTlacopan

Oaxaca

Tenochtitlan

Tzintzuntzán

Tlaxcala

MEXICO

8

with a great variety of people having different languages and customs, on whom they imposed tribute. War and tributary subjection were among the catalysts for interethnic relations among Nahua groups2—those who lived in the basin—and foreign-speaking people.

Expansion of the Mexica Empire (based on López Austin and López Luján).

Introduction

Independent political unitsTriple AllianceMexica Empire Road to Soconusco

But these peripheral cultures presented a great many customs that were not in keeping with Mexica practices: those concerning food, bodily treatment, styles of dress and adornment, and the characteristics of sacrifices, among other features. The fact that foreigners spoke a language other than Nahuatl was one of the essential criteria that formed their alterity. We need only read

Contents 9

book 10, chapter 29, of the Florentine Codex—compiled by the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún in the second half of the sixteenth century, with the collaboration of Nahua informants—to see what the Mexica, and the Nahuas in general, thought of their foreign neighbors, both near and far. This text exposes their Nahuacentric view of different ethnic groups, for it does not stop at describing the physical characteristics and cultural ways of these people but also criticizes them, measuring them against the Mexica’s own ideals. This can be seen very clearly and schematically in references to the Otomi and the Cuextecs.3 While pointing out their supposed faults, instead of giving an objective description of those aspects, the text exalts the Mexica moral system. Everything that does not agree with that system becomes a transgression. Thus, the foreigner was made out to be an immoral being, moreover characterized by dullness and ineptitude.4 At the same time, the way in which the Mexica spoke of non-Nahua foreigners reflected the wars they waged against them, since all were considered enemies of the Empire for continually countering their military attacks and resisting their tribute. Foreigners were incorporated not only in the moral system but also in ritu-als, myths, and war; they played important religious and social roles.

Human sacrifice through heart extraction.

Florentine Codex.

Introduction

Contents 10

But the Mexica also recognized and repudiated those in their own community who did not completely satisfy their social and moral requirements, such as youths who failed to respect parental orders, or heavy drinkers, vagabonds, lunatics, and women of loose or “happy” ways.

Foreigners and socially marginalized figures shared many traits of immo-rality; indeed, their identities could be merged into one: the Cuextec man resembled the drunkard and the lunatic; the Otomi woman and man, the prostitute and vagabond, respectively. They constituted the Mexica counter-ideal, a common element in the general process of self-definition through negative identification—that is, through what one is not.

Prostitute holding flowers and shown with

sea motifs. Florentine Codex.

The Otomi were portrayed with long hair and cloaks made of wild animal skins.

Florentine Codex.

Introduction

Contents 11

Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems

Mexica moral ideals can be summed up by the adage tlacoqualli in monequi, “the good medium is necessary,”5 exhorting moderation

in one’s dress, bearing, speech, eating, and sexual behavior. This principle was expressed through a series of admonitory speeches called hue huetlatolli, or “ancient word.” Such speeches were an everyday part of family life, among not only nobles but also artisans and macehuales. They included courtesy formulas along with advice, exhortations, and warnings that parents would give to their children.6

There were surely differences among the huehuetlatolli for different classes, and not merely in terms of rhetoric. For example, although moderation was urged at every social level, the ruling

Mexica man in the typical male

posture: standing.

Museo Nacional de Antropología.

Mexica goddess in the typical female

posture: resting on her knees.

FCAS collection. INAH 1041-210.

Contents 12

class enforced the most stringent limits on behavior in order to justify their superior status before the macehual masses. In this way the noble distinguished himself from the peasant, while, on another level, this behavioral code distinguished the Mexica ethnic group from all others and positioned the foreigner at the opposite extreme in terms of correct behavior.

The Proper Way to Walk

A father instructs his son: Otherwise, as Sahagún indicates, one would be called ixtotomac cuecuetz.

The young noblewoman was told to walk without haste, that is, without restless-ness (cuecuetzyotl),9 and without wan-dering, so as not to seem ostentatious; she was to keep her head lowered as she walked, showing no pride; and she was not supposed to look up or from side to side, since that would indicate

Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems

A father exhorts his son to good

behavior. Florentine Codex.

A ruler exhorts his people. Florentine Codex.

You must be prudent in your travels; peacefully, calmly, tranquilly […] are you to go, to take to the road, to travel. Do not throw your feet much, nor raise them high, nor go jumping, lest you be called foolish, shameless. Nor are you to go very slowly, or drag your feet.7 […] neither too hurriedly nor too leisurely, but with hon-esty and maturity [are you to go].8

Contents 13

hypocrisy. Nor should she behave sheepishly or cover her mouth, and by no means could she look someone directly in the eye.10 She was to walk

neither hurriedly nor slowly, neither lifting her feet high nor dragging them; moving in a straight line, with no sway-ing motion.

The type of clothing a person wore con-stituted a language that communicated his or her status: social class, ethnic-ity, and age; it also indicated how to act and what attitude to take toward a particular individual. It is possible that the Nahuas related certain attire and adornments with specific behaviors, since moderation in dress prevailed over excess and ostentation. Neither men nor woman were to wear gaudy clothes (topallotl), garments covered in adornment, because doing so would

Clothing and Personal Grooming

imply vanity, “little sense and folly”; but nor were they to dress in tatters (tzotzomatli), “a sign of poverty and baseness” for nobles and of ridicule for the rest of society.11

There were quite precise instructions on how to wear a cape or cloak cor-rectly. A young pilli was forbidden to let it drag on the ground or to wear it hanging so far down that he would trip on it while walking. Nor was he to knot it so short that it would sit very high, or

Noblewoman. Florentine Codex.

Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems

Contents 14

Noblewomen displaying different hairstyles, based on their social status. Florentine Codex.

Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems

Contents 15

to tie it at the armpits. Instead, it was to be tied in such a way that the shoulders would be kept covered.12

Young men were also persuaded to shun adornment:

Do not comb your hair constantly; don’t keep looking at yourself in the mirror; don’t continually adorn yourself; don’t groom yourself all the time; do not fre-quently desire ornament, because it is nothing more than the devil’s way to trap people.13

An old man with his cape knotted at armpit level. Codex Mendoza.

Mexica Moral and Behavioral Systems