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The Ethnohistorical Documents from Mesoamerica
Isaac (2002:204) states that reports of cannibalism in Central Mexico
relied almost entirely on "a few sixteenth-century ethnographic resources…
derived mainly from research in urban centers." Most of the surviving
ethnohistorical sources alleging sacrifice and cannibalism (Durán
in 1581, Sahagún in 1577, and Relaciones Geográficas
1577-1586) are post-demographic-reduction and post-religious-conversion
products. In the following discussions of ethnohistorical sources, I will
follow the historical chronology of events even though some of the reportage
was written out of historical order. In this historical context, I will
analyze the discourses with the object of revealing the paradigms and
beliefs of the writers and the socio-cultural context of their claims.
The object of the analysis is to support evaluating the veracity of the
original sources and their utility and reliability in support of cannibalism
claims.
The very earliest report of the Americas conveys information about the
prevailing Spanish paradigms during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Columbus (1493), in his letter to the Spanish monarchy, reported in part:
"Concerning the Islands Recently Discovered in the Indian Sea …
Because my undertakings have attained success, I know that it will be
pleasing to you: these I have determined to relate, so that you may
be made acquainted with everything done and discovered in this our voyage.
On the thirty-third day after I departed from Cadiz, I came to the Indian
sea, where I found many islands inhabited by men without number, of
all which I took possession for our most fortunate king, with proclaiming
heralds and flying standards, no one objecting…."
This section of discourse reveals the Spanish view that they had the
right to claim the Indies as their possession, irrespective of the number
of inhabitants, a presumed right applied to places not Christianized.
The Other distinction, that non-Christians are Others, and
as such have distinct rights or lack thereof, was fundamental to this
practice.
Columbus continued,
"Now in the meantime I had learned from certain Indians,
whom I had seized there, that this country was indeed an island.…"
On this island, indeed, and on all the others which I have seen, and
of which I have knowledge, the inhabitants of both sexes go always
naked.…" "All these people lack, as I said above, every kind
of iron; they are also without weapons, … they are timid and
full of fear … they are of simple manners and trustworthy, and
very liberal with everything they have, refusing no one who asks for
anything they may possess, and even themselves inviting us to ask
for things. They show greater love for all others than for themselves;
they give valuable things for trifles … and I gave to them many
beautiful and pleasing things that I had brought with me, no value
being taken in exchange, in order that I might the more easily make
them friendly to me, that they might be made worshipers of Christ,
and that they might be full of love towards our king, queen, and prince,
and the whole Spanish nation; also that they might be zealous to search
out and collect, and deliver to us those things of which they had
plenty, and which we greatly needed."
In this section, Columbus reveals Othering in
his taking possession of people. He reveals that the people were powerless
to oppose the Spaniards. He also reveals a motivation of religious indoctrination
of non-Christians. Columbus continues,
"These people practice no kind of idolatry; on the
contrary they firmly believe that all strength and power, and in fact
all good things are in heaven, and that I had come down from thence
with these ships and sailors; and in this belief I was received there
after they had put aside fear. Nor are they slow or unskilled, but
of excellent and acute understanding; and the men who have navigated
that sea give an account of everything in an admirable manner; but
they never saw people clothed, nor these kind of ships. As soon as
I reached that sea, I seized by force several Indians on the first
island, in order that they might learn from us, and in like manner
tell us about those things in these lands of which they themselves
had knowledge; and the plan succeeded, for in a short time we understood
them and they us, sometimes by gestures and signs, sometimes by words;
and it was a great advantage to us. They are coming with me now, yet
always believing that I descended from heaven, although they have
been living with us for a long time, and are living with us today.
And these men were the first who announced it wherever we landed,
continually proclaiming to the others in a loud voice, "Come, come,
and you will see the celestial people."
"Truly great and wonderful is this, and not corresponding
to our merits, but to the holy Christian religion, and to the piety
and religion of our sovereigns, because what the human understanding
could not attain, that the divine will has granted to human efforts.
For God is wont to listen to his servants who love his precepts, even
in impossibilities, as has happened to us on the present occasion,
who have attained that which hitherto mortal men have never reached.
For if anyone has written or said anything about these islands, it
was all with obscurities and conjectures; no one claims that he had
seen them; from which they seemed like fables. Therefore let the king
and queen, the princes and their most fortunate kingdoms, and all
other countries of Christendom give thanks to our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, who has bestowed upon us so great a victory and gift.
Let religious processions be solemnized; let sacred festivals be given;
let the churches be covered with festive garlands. Let Christ rejoice
on earth, as he rejoices in heaven, when he foresees coming to salvation
so many souls of people hitherto lost. Let us be glad also, as well
on account of the exaltation of our faith, as on account of the increase
of our temporal affairs, of which not only Spain, but universal Christendom
will be partaker. These things that have been done are thus briefly
related. Farewell."
This discourse reveals the religious worldview of fifteenth
century Spain. The paradigm of the time included idolatry, heaven, religion,
sovereign piety, God, Christ in heaven, divine will, servitude to God,
salvation, souls, faith, and universal Christendom. These views justified
conquest of the Others.
The word "cannibal" derives from Columbus' journeys,
from reference to the Carib Indians as Caniba. Diego Alvarez Chanca reported
that during Columbus' second voyage, on Nov. 4, 1493, Columbus found some
bones of the arms or legs of humans in a house. In fact, Chanca was not
part of the landing party, and the bones were stolen, perhaps from a funerary
structure. Hulme (1998:18-19), regarding this incident, writes:
"The cannibal scene reported to Chanca has an interesting
history, illustrative of the augmentative process that often marks
the passage of ethnographic description from one context to another.
Chanca's cannibal scene passed into the European imagination via the
graphic description offered by the influential humanist scholar Peter
Martyr, who never got nearer the Caribbean than Andalucía.
To the handful of bones in one hut reported by Chanca, Peter Martyr
pluralized the location, gave the houses kitchens, added pieces of
human flesh broached on the spit ready for roasting and, for good
measure, threw in the head of a young boy hanging from the beam and
still soaking in blood…"
"A handful of bones -- which might have had nothing
to do with cannibalism -- now has been transformed into 'veritable
human butcher-shops', a kind of mass-production line for cannibal
delicacies. …Chanca's does not provide -- as often stated --
evidence of cannibalism in the Caribbean islands. However, the history
of its transmission, elaboration, and embroidery provides evidence
of a fascination which requires more analysis than it is usually given."
The idea of cannibals in the Caribbean arose from the
weakest evidence and, essentially, from the European mind. The fascination
with the cannibal antedated the European discovery of the 'New World'
and played a role in perceptions of Otherness of peoples encountered.
Anthropophagophobia (verb. nov., fear of being cannibalized) is
commonly seen in the accounts of explorers. This idea precedes discovery
of and contact with the complex state societies of mainland America.
Most interest in conquest narratives is given to the
Bernal Diaz del Castillo account, True History of the Conquest of New
Spain. Diaz's kinsman, Diego Velasquez, had conquered Cuba before
Diaz set sail to America with Pedro de Arias in 1514. Diaz participated
in two explorations of the Yucatan Peninsula and, in 1519, sailed with
Hernando Cortes to Mexico. Diaz began writing after 1550, but only completed
his conquest account in 1568, when angered by inaccuracies he perceived
in the account written by Lopez de Gamora. Several different versions
of Diaz's 'true history' have emerged; one copy belongs to the Guatemalan
government, the other to a Diaz descendant. A copy was sent to Spain to
King Philip II in 1579 (Diaz 1956:xix). Although the Díaz version
of the conquest appeared in Spain in 1576, Díaz continued to revise
his book until his death in 1584. Although Diaz wrote retrospectively,
there apparently is no obfuscation of his prejudice towards Indians, or
of the degree to which acquisition of gold and riches motivated the Spanish
conquest.
I selected the following parts of Diaz's discourse (Diaz
1956) to illustrate the paradigms of the conquerors, their motivations,
and their views of the natives. On arriving in Cuba:
"On landing we went at once to pay our respects to
the Governor, who was pleased at our coming, and promised to give
us Indians as soon as there were any to spare."
This passage evidences enslavement of the Caribbean population
and the scarcity of slaves. About leaving Cuba in 1517, Diaz writes:
"In order that our voyage should proceed on right
principles we wished to take with us a priest…. We also chose
for the office of overseer (in His Majesty's name) a soldier ... so
that if God willed that we should come on rich lands, or people who
possessed gold or silver or pearls or any other kind of treasure,
there should be a responsible person to guard the Royal Fifth."
The motivation and rationale of the voyage is revealed.
Riches and treasure are sought, finding rich lands is associated with
God's will (a justification for seizure) and the entire enterprise of
taking the riches obviously involves the institutions of church and state.
Diaz reveals the belief that the Spaniards could simply take possession
of any riches encountered (conditioned on giving the monarchy twenty percent)
and that the enterprise had religious sanction. Implicit in this view
is the precept of Others. Undertaking such actions against Christian
nations was not sanctioned.
Regarding the discovery of Yucatan, Diaz continues:
"When we had seen the gold and houses of masonry,
we felt well content at having discovered such a country."
Regarding the second expedition from Cuba to Yucatan:
"As the report had spread that the lands were very
rich, the soldiers and settlers who possessed no Indians in Cuba were
greedily eager to go to the new land..."
On returning to Cuba:
"When the governor saw the gold we had brought ...
amounted in all to twenty thousand dollars, he was well contented.
Then the officers of the King took the Royal Fifth...." "When Governor
Diego Velasquez understood how rich were these newly discovered lands,
he ordered another fleet, much larger than the former one be sent
off..."
These passages clearly relate the role of searching for
riches. One form of wealth is certainly the possession of slaves, and
this wealth is based on the ability to find slaves. Fundamental to enslavement
is the concept of Other.
Of the expedition to Mexico:
"As soon as Hernando Cortes had been appointed General
he began to search for all sorts of arms, guns, powder, and crossbows,
and every kind of warlike stores which he could get together..."
"Then he ordered two standards and banners to be
made, worked in gold with the royal arms and the cross on each side
with a legend which said, 'Comrades, let us follow the sign of the
Holy Cross with true faith, and through it we shall conquer.' …"
"Juan Sedeno passed for the richest soldier in the
fleet, for he came in his own ship with the mare, and a negro and
a store of cassava bread and salt pork, and at that time horses and
negroes were worth their weight in gold…."
In this discourse, the intent to find riches is coupled with creating
a military unit. The role of religion in rationalizing conquest is revealed.
The symbolic interweaving of religion and monarchy are seen in the standards
and banners, symbolic supports for the enterprise. Diaz cites horses and
Negroes as two classes of objects in the same domain, that of wealth.
An implicit factor in othering is also revealed, skin color and
the perception of race. This discourse reveals that Negroes were Others
and that Spanish enslavement was not limited to Native Americans.
Regarding the first battle fought under Cortes in the
New World, against the people of Tabasco, Diaz writes:
"... we doctored the horses by searing their wounds
with the fat from the body of a dead Indian which we cut up to get
out the fat, and we went to look at the dead lying on the plain and
there were more than eight hundred of them, the greater number killed
by thrusts, the others by cannon, muskets and crossbows, and many
were stretched on the ground half dead…. The battle lasted over
an hour ... we buried the two soldiers that had been killed ... we
seared the wounds of the others and of the horses with the fat of
the Indian, and after posting sentinels and guards, we had supper
and rested."
"... These were the first vassals to render submission
to His Majesty in New Spain."
The level of violence justified to achieve the goals
of conquest is revealed. In addition, the disregard for the dead of the
Others is clear in the abuse of the corpse to treat the horses.
Regarding first contact with the Mexica-Aztecas:
"It happened that one of the soldiers had a helmet
half gilt but somewhat rusty ... and (he) said that he wished to see
it as it was like one that they possessed which had been left to them
by their ancestors of the race from which they had sprung ... that
their prince Montezuma would like to see this helmet. So it was given
to him, and Cortes said to them that as he wished to know whether
the gold of this country was the same as that we find in our rivers,
they could return the helmet filled with grains of gold…."
"... the chief brought back the helmet full of fine
grains of gold, just as they are got out of the mines, and this was
worth three thousand dollars. This gold in the helmet was worth more
to us than if it had contained twenty thousand dollars, because it
showed that there were good mines there."
Again, Diaz reveals that gold was a priority for the
conquerors. In addition, the leader of the Others is termed a prince,
rather than a king.
The following Diaz discourses bear more directly on the
issue of cannibalism and human sacrifice. Regarding the pyramid complex
at Tenochtitlan, Diaz writes:
"Before reaching the great Cue there is a great enclosure
of courts, it seems to me larger than the plaza in Salamanca, with
two great walls of masonry surrounding it, and the court itself all
paved with very smooth great white flagstones. And where there were
not these stones it was cemented and burnished and all very clean,
so that one could not find any dust or straw in the whole place."
"When we arrived near the great Cue and before we had ascended a single
step of it, the Great Montezuma sent down from above, where he was making
his sacrifices, six priests and two chieftans to accompany our Captain….
When we got to the top of the great Cue, on a small plaza which has
been made on the top where there was a space like a platform with some
large stones placed on it, on which they put the poor Indians for sacrifice,
there was a bulky image like a dragon and other evil figures and much
blood shed every day." … (in) "a sort of hall, where there were
two altars … There were some braziers with incense they call copal,
and in them they were burning the hearts of the three Indians whom they
had sacrificed that day… All the walls of the oratory were so splashed
and encrusted with blood that they were black, the floor was the same
and the whole place stank vilely…"
"A little way apart from the great Cue there was
another small tower which was also on an idol house, or a true hell,
for it had at the opening of one gate a most horrible mouth such as
they depict, saying that such there are in hell. The mouth was open
with great fangs to devour souls, and here too were some groups of
devils and bodies of serpents close to the door, and a little way
off was a place of sacrifice all blood-stained and black with smoke,
and there were great ollas and cánaros and tinajas of water
inside, for it was here that they cooked the flesh of the unfortunate
Indians who were sacrificed, which were eaten by the priests."
Spanish perceptions illustrated here are sacrifice, priests,
dragon, altars, evil figures, idols, hell, and devils. Diaz reports "burning
hearts" without reporting the actual sacrifice. He also reports daily
sacrifices and, although he spent considerable time in the city of Tenochtitlan
before the Aztec overthrow, he never reports witnessing the "every day"
sacrifices. Diaz also alleges cannibalism by the priests, again without
witnessing the alleged act. It is disconcerting, in terms of the credibility
of his statements and given his first-hand contact and presence at the
time and in the place where the alleged daily sacrifice and cannibalism
took place, that Diaz does not report actually witnessing the alleged
events.
To properly assess the reported events, funerary practices
need to be accounted for. At the same time, treatment of criminal convicts
or enemy combatants, both aspects of advanced state societies, cannot
be ignored in such an analysis. Present day societies have crematory funerary
practices and culturally sanctioned forms of execution of criminals and
enemies, illustrating the importance of keeping assessment of the cannibalism
separate from assessment of other possible explanations for the activity
claimed to have occurred. While I think it is important to point out these
related concerns, and their relevance to this analysis, they are not the
focus of this paper.
Returning to treasure, in the palace in which Montezuma
quartered his Spanish guests, the Spaniards uncovered a treasure trove,
which they later attempted to steal. Diaz writes:
"There was a rumor and we had heard the story that
Montezuma kept a treasure of his father Axayaca in that building,
it was suspected that it might be in this chamber which had been closed
up and cemented only a few days before. ...and the door was secretly
opened. When it was opened Cortes and some of his Captains went in
first, and they saw such a number of jewels and slabs of gold and
chalchihuites and other riches, that they were quite carried away
and did not know what to say about such wealth...I took it for certain
that their could not be another such store of wealth in the whole
world."
Obviously, Diaz did see the gold and other riches.
The view of the Otherness of the Aztec ruler is revealed by the
behavior of Montezuma's guests. They felt they could take possession of
his treasury. Compare this to how they would have acted had they been
guests of the king of Spain.
Ortiz de Montellano (1978) addresses concerns about
the motivations of the conquerors and the accuracy of their assertions
as follows:
"In evaluating all early statements, from both Cortes
and Diaz del Castillo about what the natives told them, we should
keep in mind that none of the Spaniards knew Nahuatl. All conversations
had to be translated by Dona Marina, their single native interpreter,
from Nahuatl into Maya. They were then translated by Geronimo de Aguilar
into Spanish… Cortes' statement was based purely on hearsay accounts
from enemies of the Aztecs and filtered through two translations.
It must be considered an attempt to manufacture a cause for war to
justify to himself and to his king the conquest of the Aztecs, who
had up until then made no hostile moves. In order for Cortes to justify
massacres such as those in Cholula or Tenochtitlan (in each of which
the conquerors killed several thousand defenseless people), it was
necessary to dehumanize the Aztecs and allege great cruelties... This
psychological mechanism of dehumanizing enemies in order to justify
any actions against them is of course not unique to Cortes, yet because
of it we should not accept his information uncritically."
"The accounts of Diaz del Castillo suffer from the
same problems: (i) the need to justify the aggressive acts of the
conquerors and (ii) ignorance of the natives' language. An additional
disadvantage is that he wrote his account 40 years after the conquest,
when he was in his seventies… The Aztecs are accused of liking
human flesh better than any other, of going to war solely for the
purpose of obtaining human meat, and of being sodomites and drunks....
Diaz del Castillo may have copied this detail from the Relation of
the Anonymous Conqueror, which appeared while he was writing his book."
The atrocities of Spanish activities in the conquest
of the Indies came to be debated in Spain, together with issues of rights
of the inhabitants. An opponent to slavery, Fray Bartolomé de Las
Casas wrote his Brevissima relación de la destruycion de las
Indias (A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies), as a letter
to the King of Spain, to complain of the atrocities and to support abolition
of enslaving the populace. Las Casas wrote his account directly to the
king of Spain with the intent of influencing policy.
Las Casas sailed to the "New World" in 1502. In 1514
he renounced his land and slaves in Cuba and began campaigning for Indian
rights. In Spain in 1515, Cardinal Cisneros entitled him "Universal Protector
of the Indians," a special prosecutor designation. He took vows in the
Dominican Order in 1523 and conducted missionary work in Nicaragua and
Guatemala. He returned to Spain in 1547 to defend Indian rights and seek
abolition of slavery before the Spanish Court.
Las Casas reports the Spanish extermination of native
populations. The following discourse from Las Casas' (1542) Brief Account
of the Devastation of the Indies presents the views of a conqueror
turned protector of the indigenous population. Las Casas' writings are
important because of their influential role in latter censorship. Publication
of his writing outside Spain influenced the Spanish crown and motivated
greater restrictions controlling publication of information about the
conquest and the indigenous peoples of the New World. I will discuss the
role of censorship in detail below.
Las Casas' writing provides a perspective on the activities
and mind-set of the conquerors not typically found in ethnohistorical
materials, a reminder that diverse perspectives on the conquest prevailed.
Las Casas writes:
"…forty-nine years have passed since the first
settlers penetrated the land, the first so claimed being the large
and most happy isle called Hispaniola, … This large island was
perhaps the most densely populated place in the world … all the
land so far discovered is a beehive of people; it is as though God
had crowded into these lands the great majority of mankind."
"And of all the infinite universe of humanity, these
people are the most guileless, the most devoid of wickedness and duplicity,
the most obedient and faithful to their native masters and to the
Spanish Christians whom they serve. They are by nature the most humble,
patient, and peaceable, holding no grudges, free from embroilments,
neither excitable nor quarrelsome. These people are the most devoid
of rancors, hatreds, or desire for vengeance of any people in the
world … they not only possess little but have no desire to possess
worldly goods. For this reason they are not arrogant, embittered,
or greedy.… They are very clean in their persons, with alert,
intelligent minds, docile and open to doctrine, very apt to receive
our holy Catholic faith, to be endowed with virtuous customs, and
to behave in a godly fashion."
While lobbying for the indigenous population, Las Casas
nonetheless reveals the Otherness concept, when stating that the
non-Christian natives serve the Spanish Christians. He also portrays them
in relation to their receptivity to religious indoctrination. His guileless,
peaceable people are not recognizable as the cannibals depicted by other
authors. Las Casas continues:
"…into this land of meek outcasts there came
some Spaniards who immediately behaved like ravening wild beasts,
wolves, tigers, or lions that had been starved for many days. And
Spaniards have behaved in no other way during the past forty years,
down to the present time, for they are still acting like ravening
beasts, killing, terrorizing, afflicting, torturing, and destroying
the native peoples, doing all this with the strangest and most varied
new methods of cruelty, never seen or heard of before, and to such
a degree that this Island of Hispaniola once so populous (having a
population that I estimated to be more than three million), has now
a population of barely two hundred persons."
"The island of Cuba is… now almost completely
depopulated. San Juan [Puerto Rico] and Jamaica are two of the largest,
most productive and attractive islands; both are now deserted and
devastated. On the northern side of Cuba and Hispaniola the neighboring
Lucayos comprising more than sixty islands … have the healthiest
lands in the world, where lived more than five hundred thousand souls;
they are now deserted, inhabited by not a single living creature.
All the people were slain or died after being taken into captivity
and brought to the Island of Hispaniola to be sold as slaves. When
the Spaniards saw that some of these had escaped, they sent a ship
to find them, and it voyaged for three years among the islands searching
for those who had escaped being slaughtered…"
"More than thirty other islands in the vicinity of
San Juan are for the most part and for the same reason depopulated…"
"As for the vast mainland, which is ten times larger
than all Spain, … we are sure that our Spaniards, with their
cruel and abominable acts, have devastated the land and exterminated
the rational people who fully inhabited it. We can estimate very surely
and truthfully that in the forty years that have passed, with the
infernal actions of the Christians, there have been unjustly slain
more than twelve million men, women, and children. In truth, I believe
without trying to deceive myself that the number of the slain is more
like fifteen million."
"Their reason for killing and destroying such an
infinite number of souls is that the Christians have an ultimate aim,
which is to acquire gold, and to swell themselves with riches in a
very brief time…"
"… the Indians began to seek ways to throw the
Christians out of their lands.… And the Christians, with their
horses and swords and pikes began to carry out massacres and strange
cruelties against them. They attacked the towns and spared neither
the children nor the aged nor pregnant women nor women in childbed,
not only stabbing them and dismembering them but cutting them to pieces
as if dealing with sheep in the slaughter house. They laid bets as
to who, with one stroke of the sword, could split a man in two or
could cut off his head or spill out his entrails with a single stroke
of the pike. They took infants from their mothers' breasts, snatching
them by the legs and pitching them headfirst against the crags or
snatched them by the arms and threw them into the rivers, roaring
with laughter and saying as the babies fell into the water, 'Boil
there, you offspring of the devil!' Other infants they put to the
sword along with their mothers and anyone else who happened to be
nearby. They made some low wide gallows on which they hanged victim's
feet almost touched the ground, stringing up their victims in lots
of thirteen, in memory of Our Redeemer and His twelve Apostles, then
set burning wood at their feet and thus burned them alive. To others
they attached straw or wrapped their whole bodies in straw and set
them afire. With still others, all those they wanted to capture alive,
they cut off their hands and hung them round the victim's neck, saying,
'Go now, carry the message,' meaning, Take the news to the Indians
who have fled to the mountains. … survivors were distributed
among the Christians to be slaves."
Las Casas' usage of the term Christians is noteworthy.
In Las Casas it is 'Christians,' not 'conquerors,' who carry out the massacres,
burn the natives, and sacrifice millions of 'souls.'
Fray Toribio Motolinía's discourses about human
sacrifice and cannibalism are numerous.
Motolinía was one of the group of eleven friars
to accompany Fray Martin de Valencia to New Spain in 1523, to join five
friars of the Franciscan order already there (Foster 1950:1). Motolinía
became guardian of the Franciscan monastery in Mexico by 1525. A document
records his presence at the meeting called by Cortes to consider the use
of the royal branding-iron for slaves (Foster 1950:2).
Motolinia's writing served as source material for Alonso
de Zurita between 1554 and 1564 and for Mendieta (Foster 1950:17-18).
In 1538 or 1539, Las Casas had access to Motolinia's writings, and made
use of them in his Apologética Historia de las Indias (Foster
1950:17). Motolinia's History was completed in 1541, and probably
sent to Spain at that time (Foster 1950:18). According to Cervantes de
Salazar, Gómara, in writing his Conquista de Mejico", closely
followed Motolinia material we no longer have, as he did in writing Crónica
de la Nueva España (Foster 1950:18).
Motolinía's History begins as follows (Foster
1950:37):
"CHAPTER I. Of how and when the first friars who
made that journey set out; and of the persecutions and plagues which
occurred in New Spain.
"In the year of our Lord 1523, on the day of the
conversion of Saint Paul, which is the 25th of January, Father Fray
Martin de Valencia, of blessed memory, with eleven friars as his companions
set out from Spain to come to this land of Anáhuac.… They
came with great indulgences and pardons from our very Holy Father,
and at the special command of His Majesty our Lord the Emperor, to
convert the Indians, natives of this land of Anáhuac, now called
New Spain."
Motolinía's motivations are clearly revealed in
this discourse. Concepts in the religious domain include conversion, blessed,
indulgences, pardons, and Holy Father. Motolinia also provides an indication
of the relation of the crown and religion, indicating an imperial command
to convert the natives.
Although Motolinía arrives in New Spain almost
immediately after the overthrow of Tenochtitlan, his report, produced
20 years later, does not provide first-hand accounts of the reputed events.
Nor does he inform the reader of who provided the information he reports.
Regarding the feast of Panquetzaliztli, Motolinía (1951:114-116)
reports,
"On that day … they offered numerous sacrifices
of blood taken both from the ears and the tongue…. In addition
to these and other sacrifices and ceremonies, they offered up many
human beings … they stretched the unfortunate victims on their
backs when sacrificing them. Their chest was very taunt, because both
feet and hands were bound…. The executioner approached promptly
with a flint-stone … they cut open with great force the unfortunate
victim and promptly tore out his heart.… Occasionally, the aged
ministers of the temple consumed the hearts or buried them. Thereupon
they took the victim's body and sent it rolling down the steps. In
case the victim was a war captive, his captor with friends and relatives
took it away when it reached the bottom and, preparing that human
flesh with other food, they held a feast on another day and consumed
it."
"… The number of victims was in accordance with
the size of the town; in some twenty were sacrificed, in others thirty,
in others forty, at times even as many as fifty or sixty, while in
Mexico they sacrificed a hundred or even more."
"… From a number of those sacrificed they pealed
off the skin, in some localities from two or three, in others from
four or five, in others from ten, and in Mexico from as many as twelve
or fifteen … they preserved in Mexico for this day that war captive
who was a chief or principal person. This one they flayed, in order
that his skin might be put on by the great lord of Mexico, Moteuczuma.
Garbed in this skin he danced with great dignity, believing he was
performing a great service to the demon…. In each locality, at
a feast held on another day they sacrificed a woman and skinned her.
Someone put this skin on and danced in it with all the others of the
town…."
In Chapter Seven, "Human Sacrifice, cont…" Motolinía
(1951:117-118) writes:
"0n another feast-day in some localities and towns,
like Tlacopan, Coyoacan and Atzcapotzalco, the Indians prepared a
large round pole measuring ten fathoms in length. Then they made an
idol of seeds, wrapped up in and tied with papers, and fastened this
idol to the top of the pole. On the eve of the feast-day they set
up this tree, of which I speak, with the idol and danced around it
the rest of the day. On the morning of the feast-day they took some
Indian slaves and others whom they had captured in war, brought them
with feet and hands shackled, and cast them into the great fire they
had prepared for this cruel ceremony. But they did not let them bum
to death. This was not because they had pity on the victims but because
they had a more terrible torment for them; they were presently sacrificed
by being slain and having their hearts torn out…."
"Another day, observed generally in all localities,
was dedicated to the god of fire, or to fire itself, which was regarded
and venerated as a god, and this not as one of the minor gods. On
this day they took one of the war captives, clothed him in the dress
and robes of the fire god, danced in honor of that god, and then sacrificed
the captive and the other war captives they had."
In stating that this event occurs generally in all localities,
Motolinía reveals that his report is anything but an eyewitness
account. He is speaking in generalities that cannot be documented or proved.
While the statements are obviously hearsay, this does not necessarily
infer that they are false. Motolinía continues,
"Far more frightful, however, than what obtained
generally is the sacrifice they offered here in Cuautitlan, where
I am writing this. Here the demon seems to have shown himself more
cruel than in other localities. On the eve of the feast in Cuautitlan
they erected six large trees, like masts of a ship, with ladders.
On this savage eve and also on the more savage feast-day they beheaded
two female slaves on the uppermost steps before the altar of the gods.
Up there they also skinned the entire body and face and took the thigh
bones. On the feast-day, in the morning, two Indian chiefs put on
the skins and also the faces as masks, took in their hands the thigh
bones, one in each hand, and descended the steps very slowly, bellowing
loudly like savage beasts…."
Motolinía reveals his belief that the actions
of the natives were controlled by "the demon" and are savage. This is
very characteristic of Otherness conceptualization, in which first
a concept of evil is defined, in this case a demon, then the defined evil
is associated with the Other. Accusations of beheading, skinning,
and removal of bones are also made against the so-called evil savages.
In the following passage Motolinía adds crucifixion and other mutilations
to the list of violent abuses, including tearing out hearts, slashing
throats, and cannibalism by lords and chiefs. In this account, the victims
are sacrificed only after they are crucified, shot with arrows by thousands
of people, and dropped to the ground from a great height breaking every
bone in their bodies, and then, after their hearts are torn out, there
throats are cut. This account (Motolinía 1951: 118) seems very
incredulous.
"There was enacted on this same day another, even
greater and never heard-of, cruelty. To the top of those six poles
which they had erected on the eve of the feast they bound and crucified
six male war captives. Below were more than two thousand boys and
men with bows and arrows. After the ones who had gone up to fasten
the captives had come down, the boys and men discharged the arrows,
like rain, at the six crucified captives. Presently they went up,
unfastened the half-dead victims, and let them fall from that height.
Such was the crash with which they hit the ground that every bone
in their bodies was broken or bruised. Thereupon the Indians subjected
them to a third death, sacrificing them and tearing out their hearts.
Finally they dragged them away, slashed their throat, cut off their
head, and gave the heads to the minister of the idols, while the bodies
they carried, like mutton, to the lords and chiefs for food…"
The following paragraph reveals a belief that the natives
danced "to the demon," insinuating that they worshipped the devil. In
this context, it is noteworthy that the figure of the Devil in the European
Christian sense was newly introduced to the Nahuas (Klaus 1999:95), inferring
that Motolinía's European paradigm is what is actually revealed
by Motolinia's discourse.
Motolinía (1951:120) reports that war was waged
in distant lands for the express purpose of obtaining sacrificial victims.
"Tititl. On this day and on another, both times at
night, all the Indians danced to the demon and sacrificed to it many
war captives from very distant towns. As the Indians of Mexico say,
some provinces around them are hostile and belligerent, like Tlaxcallan
and Huexotzinco. They use these provinces to exercise themselves in
war and to have places near-by whence they can obtain captives for
the sacrifices, rather than for the purpose of fighting and annihilation.
The other provinces say the same of Mexicans, from whom they obtain
captives for their sacrifice, just as the Mexicans do from them. There
are some other distant provinces where once a year or so they carry
on war, organized squadrons of warriors setting out for this purpose.
One of these was the province and kingdom of Michuachapanco which
the Spaniards now call Painuco. These captives they sacrifice on that
day, not the captives of near-by provinces, nor slaves."
Motolinía (1951:106) also reports that, on the
last day of the last month of the year,
"…a general feast was held in the entire land.
These feasts were dedicated to one of the chief demons, to whom they
did honor with several human sacrifices and with many other ceremonies."
He also discusses Spanish activity toward native culture.
With regard to the destruction of native imagery, Motolinía writes,
"…such activity (destroying idols) was very
necessary, however, both to prevent offenses against God, lest the
homage which belongs to Him be given to the idols, and also to protect
many indians against the cruel sacrifices, during which so many were
killed either on the mountains or at night in the secret places. In
this custom the natives were hardened. Although they no longer sacrificed
so many as they did formerly, nevertheless under the instigation of
the devil they look for opportunities to offer sacrifices. …the
sacrifices and cruelties of this land and its people exceeded all
others in the world, according to what we read and what will now be
said."
One of the other religious writers prominent in the ethnohistorical
sources on cannibalism and sacrifice is Diego Durán. Durán
wrote his Historia de las Indias de Nueva España y islas de
tierra firme before his death in 1588. It was first published based
on a manuscript copy found in the National Library of Madrid in 1867 (Gomez
1961:I, 166). His work is cited often in modern literature.
Durán (1994:406-407) professes a belief that continued
in popularity until more recent centuries, that of the children of Israel
populating and civilizing distant lands. This too is an act of Othering,
in that civilized attributes of a people need exogenous explanation,
that the 'savages' can not be responsible for invention of the civilized
features of their own region or culture. Duran writes:
"Seeing that their stories are so like those found
in the Holy Scriptures I cannot help but believe that [these Indians
are the children of Israel].
"As proof of this, in order to make it clear, I wish
to mention the rites, idolatries, and superstitions these people had.
They made sacrifices in the mountains, and under trees, in dark and
gloomy caves, and in the caverns of the earth. They burned incense,
killed their sons and daughters, sacrificed them, and offered them
as victims to their gods. They sacrificed children, ate human flesh,
killed prisoners and captives of war. All of these were also Hebrew
rites practiced by those ten tribes of Israel, and all were carried
out with the greatest ceremony and superstitions one can imagine.
"What most forces me to believe that these Indians
are of Hebrew descent is their strange insistence in clinging to their
idolatries and superstitions, for they pay them much heed, just as
their ancestors did. As David states, in Psalm 106, when the people
were afflicted by God, they pleaded that He forgive them in His mercy;
but then they forgot and returned to idolatry:
" 'And they served their idols; which were a snare unto them. Yea,
they sacrificed their sons and daughters unto devils. And shed innocent
blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they
sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with
blood.' " (Psalm 106:36-38)
This portion of the writing raises further questions
of credibility. Durán accuses the Nahuas and the tribes of Israel
of the same practices. His accusations against one group is generally
accepted, and not that against the other? I know of no modern writers
using Durán to claim Jews are cannibals. Most significantly, in
my view, it illustrates the biases of a devout Christian religious practitioner,
biases based on belief in the writings found in Christian texts. Durán's
anti-Semitic bias is not the least surprising given the expulsion and
forced conversions of Jews in Spain during his era.
Durán's reports of violence, sacrifice, and cannibalism
are numerous. I include many more quotes here because their number alone
raises the issue of credibility. At no point does Durán ever claim
to have witnessed any of what he reports.
Durán (1994:140) reported a conflict with Chalco
and the sacrificing of war captives:
"…a great number of soldiers from Chalco were
killed; there was not a man or boy in the Aztec army who did not capture
one or two of the enemy or kill some. The survivors fled … they
began to count the prisoners and found that they had captured three
hundred seasoned warriors, without counting two hundred others of
lower rank. Thus, they had captured five hundred men of Chalco. These
were sent to Tenochtitlan and on the day after their arrival, by order
of Tlacaelel and the king, they were immediately sacrificed to the
god Huitzilopochtli."
"In this way the vow that had been sworn was fulfilled,
and the temple was reddened with the blood of five hundred men. A
fire sacrifice was ordained; this was the most terrible and horrendous
sacrifice that can be imagined, as anyone who has read the account
I have written about sacrifices will have noted. A great bonfire was
built in a large brazier placed on the floor of the temple. This was
called "the divine hearth." Into this great mass of flames men were
thrown alive. Before they expired, their hearts were torn out of their
bodies and offered to the god."
"Thus, the steps and the chamber where the brazier
was placed were bathed with the blood of the prisoners."
Durán (1994:169-172) reported the sacrifice of
Huaxtec captives. It is noteworthy that the discourse reveals that he
is discussing events that transpired before the arrival of the Spaniards.
Herein, the fact that hearsay is reported is unequivocal. Durán
writes:
"Chapter XX. Which treats of the cruel sacrifice
of the Huaxtecs at the hands of the Aztecs, called Tlacaxipehualiztli,
which means 'Flaying of Men.' And how the lords of all the neighboring
states and cities were invited to witness this spectacle and festivity."
"Many days had passed after the return of the Aztecs
from the war in the land of the Huaxtecs. Tlacaelel then reminded
King Motecuhzoma of the work on the temple they had begun to build,
and said that a great stone should be carved to serve as an altar
or table upon which sacrifice would be made. This Tlacaelel, in addition
to being bold and cunning in the artifice of war, also invented devilish,
cruel, and frightful sacrifices. Motecuhzoma gave orders that the
stone be carved…"
"Now that the stone had been set up, they called
certain youths who lived in seclusion within the temples–some
of those who were outstanding in their duties–and gave them the
office of carrying out this sacrifice that the devil had invented
and taught them…."
"When the festival day and the beginning of the month
called Tlacaxipehualiztli, 'Flaying of Men,' approached, the Aztecs
invited the lords from the entire land … they invited all the
noblemen they could from the surrounding area so they would come and
see what took place at that feast and realize what it signified."
"Once the guests had arrived, the king had many fine
things brought from his treasury and gave these as presents …
A great feast followed … the guests … were assigned booths
adorned with flowers and reeds, within which they could sit and watch
… the ceremony, which had been unknown to them before that time."
"The prisoners were brought out and lined up at a
place called Tzompantitlan… At this place there was a long low
platform upon which stood a rack where the skulls of sacrificial victims
were strung and where they remained permanently as reminders of these
sacrifices … Then the men who were to perform the sacrifice came
out … they brought out one of the prisoners from the Huaxteca
and with a rope that emerged from a hole in the middle of the great
round stone tied his foot around the ankle. Thus tied to the stone,
he was given a wooden sword and a shield; the sword was not equipped
with blades but was feathered from top to bottom … One of the
men disguised as a god then approached the stone … where the
prisoner was tied. The poor wretch threw the balls at him, but these
were repelled by the sacrificer (or executioner) if he was skillful.
Thereupon the prisoner picked up his feathered sword and defended
himself … as soon as the victim was wounded–on his leg,
on his arms, or on any part of his body–four priests … ascended
the stone and laid the wounded man on his back, holding him down by
the feet and hands. The high priest then rose from his seat, went
to the stone, and opened the chest of the victim with the knife. He
took out the heart and offered the vapor that rose from it to the
sun. As soon as the heart had cooled, he delivered it to the priest,
who placed it in a vessel called the cuauhxicalli [eagle vessel],
which was another large stone dedicated to the sun. In its center
it contained a cavity that was also used for another type of sacrifice."
"These ceremonies were performed in the case of all
the prisoners, each one in his turn…"
"The lords from other cities and from the provinces
who had come to observe the sacrifice were shocked and bewildered
by what they had seen and they returned to their homes filled with
astonishment and fright."
"By ancient tradition the feast was followed, the
next day, by another celebration. At this time the king gave his noblemen
the usual gifts … Once the rewards had been distributed, those
who had been sacrificed were flayed and the Tototectin put on the
skins and wore them. Carrying their shields in one hand and rattle
staffs in the other, they went from house to house. First they visited
the houses of the nobility and chieftains and went to all the other
houses after these, asking for alms, wearing the skins all the time.
The rich gave them mantles, breechcloths, and waistbands; the common
people gave them ears of corn and other edibles. For twenty days these
men begged. At the end of this time they had gathered great quantities
of clothing and food. The flayed skins had been worn in the manner
the god [Xipe Totec] was portrayed."
"When the twenty days had passed, they took off the
reeking skins and buried them in a special room in the temple. In
this way ended the feast and the sacrifice of the Huaxtecs, which
had been made to solemnize the first use of the carved stone. And
here ends the chapter on this subject I found written in the Nahuatl
language."
The last sentence is intriguing. Durán says he
found this information written in the Nahuatl language. This illustrates
another problem with the ethnohistorical documents. It is often unclear
whose writing is being presented. The ethnohistorical document is attributed
to a specific author, but the actual source is a mystery. There is no
way of ascertaining the author's sources, not to mention the veracity
of the writing upon which the writer relied.
An anonymous manuscript found in 1856 in the friary of
San Francisco, Mexico, treats the same material as Durán, though
much more briefly (Warren 1964:81). Works by several other ethnohistorical
writers, all presenting very similar material, have been attributed, along
with Durán's material, to an unknown manuscript (Warren 1964:81).
Below, in the last quote, Durán references a "Historia." The reader
is left wondering to what "Historia" he refers.
Juan de Tovar, who had been directed to write a native
history by the viceroy, completed his work around 1579, when it was taken
to Spain (Warren 1964:80). Deprived of his own book, Tovar used Durán's
text when rewriting his work at the request of Juan de Acosta, and Acosta,
when writing his Historia natural y moral de las indias, copied
sections of Tovar's work verbatim (Warren 1964:80). Such practices confuse
the sources of information and bring into question the authority of the
author and the historical accuracy of the writers. Another dimension of
this analysis is the fact that the friars writing the books are doing
so on orders from secular authorities. Undoubtedly, the friars were fully
aware of the activities of the Inquisition (if not members of the religious
order conducting the Inquisition), and aware of the likely consequences
should their work product deviate from the expectations of their masters.
I further discuss the role of the Inquisition below.
Returning to Durán's work, Durán (1994:188-193)
reported sacrifices associated with prisoners from Coaixtlahuaca:
"Chapter XXIII. Which treats of the sacrificial ceremony
performed in honor of the stone called the cuauhxicalli, image of
the sun. With a description of how the prisoners from Coaixtlahuaca
were sacrificed upon it."
"…On the next day a second feast was held by
the warriors known as the Knights of the Sun, called Cuacuauhtin,
that is to say, "Eagles." This was the festival of the sun that these
people called Nauholin [Four Motion], which in the Book of the Calendar
and Gods I wrote I translated as "the fourth movement of the sun."
In this festival, as I have related, a man painted red was sacrificed
in the name of the sun."
"…At this feast much human flesh was consumed;
there was also fasting and solemn ritual. The curious reader can consult
the above-mentioned book I wrote on the ceremonies and rites"
"…The Knights of the Sun had their insignia
and distinctive attire by which they were recognized, and which permitted
them to be distinguished from other warriors. They were the only ones
who celebrated the feast of the sun, who were allowed to eat human
flesh, and who could keep as many women as they could support."
Durán (1994:233-34) describes how war was waged
to obtain sacrificial victims for cannibalistic purposes:
"Chapter XXIX. Which treats of how the king and the
nobility decided to wage perpetual war on Tlaxcala, Huexotzinco, Cholula,
Atlixco, Tecoac, and Tliliuhquitepec. And how men were to be brought
to be sacrificed during the great feasts and how soldiers and the
sons of the lords were to practice warfare."
"Tlacaelel…ordered that sacrifices take place
more often. Another reason for this order was that he had acquired
a taste for human flesh since the lords ate it frequently. It is also
true that Tlacaelel had been persuaded or blinded by the devil and
was now inventing a thousand cruel acts, all of which he made into
law before his death. He was obeyed so blindly that everything he
ordained was done."
"So he discussed with King Motecuhzoma the business
we had begun to tell about in the last chapter: that the gods were
to be given sacrifices of men whenever they desired these and that
there be places where the sons of noblemen, enthusiasts in the art
of war, be able to train, to practice their skill and show their valor,
and to bring in captives."
"The king, who agreed with this plan, summoned all
his great warriors and when they had gathered he notified them that
they were now to fight in a military marketplace, as if they were
going to a regular market on certain days, where they would buy honor
and glory with their blood and their lives. At the same time the sons
of noblemen would be occupied in this way and military activity would
not be lost. But the main purpose behind the establishing of this
human marketplace was to honor, to revere, Huitzilopochtli. Since
he now had his temple it was only just that there be victims to offer
to the god and none would be more welcome to him than captives from
Tlaxcala, Huexotzinco, Cholula, Atlixco, Tecoac, and Tliliuhquitepec.
These six cities had been chosen to serve him and provide him with
[human] food, for men of other barbaric nations of alien tongue were
not desired by him, nor would he accept them. Inasmuch as most of
the land had already been conquered by the Aztecs and no one dared
rebel against them, if the god were to wait for some people to rebel,
to commit some transgression in order that war be declared and the
god be given sacrificial victims, then he might never receive them.
But by going to war nearby the soldiers would go happily as if they
were enjoying some festivity, going to be entertained."
Durán goes on to directly quote speeches in the
discussions of plans. This certainly brings his accounts into question,
since, at the time of the events he describes, there was no writing form
known to provide quotations.
Next follows Durán's (1994:402-407) account of
Motecuhzoma's coronation, including his often-cited report of numbers
of sacrificed victims:
"Chapter LIV. Which treats of the solemn festivities
that were held at the coronation and public anointment of King Motecuhzoma
and of the many men who were sacrificed."
"The powerful King Motecuhzoma returned from the
war of conquest and was welcomed with joyful celebrations, as was
correct and due to a man of his prominence. The glory and honor of
the victory were attributed to him. The officials then determined
that the public coronation festivities were to take place and that
these acts were to be clearly manifest to all men and all women so
they would be made aware of that personage from whom, when necessary,
they should solicit aid for their needs. Also, as was customary on
these important occasions, everyone was waiting anxiously to witness
the spectacular event. There was a certain urgency for this, for there
were now plenty of victims for sacrifice… It was stated that
wars have their time and place and that between the Aztecs and these
other cities there was no real enmity. But that the flower war that
did exist had as its purpose recreation for the army, on the one hand,
and, on the other, pleasure and food for the gods."
"…On the fourth day, after the festivities had
ended, Motecuhzoma was anointed and crowned in public by the two kings
of Tezcoco and Tacuba and by the high priest. All the rites and ceremonies
and splendid acts that were indispensable according to their laws
were performed. These culminated with the anointing of Motecuhzoma,
the applying of the divine pitch to his body–which was like consecrating
him as a god–during which he promised to take care of the divine
things and defend the deities and the law. Motecuhzoma was dressed
in the royal garments, a diadem was placed upon his head, and other
insignia of kings were given him. He promised, he swore, to observe
the civil laws and statutes and watch over the preeminence and glory
of his city. He would support the wars and defend the republic or
die in the attempt."
"When the festivities had ended, Motecuhzoma seated
himself in the supreme place, the Divine Seat, the Place of the Gods,
and the war captives were brought out. All of them were sacrificed
in honor of his coronation (a painful ceremony), and it was a pathetic
thing to see these wretches as victims of Motecuhzoma. It had become
as common among these people to sacrifice men on feast days as it
is for us to kill lambs or cattle in the slaughterhouse. I am not
exaggerating; there were days in which two thousand, three thousand,
five thousand, or eight thousand men were sacrificed. Their flesh
was eaten and a banquet was prepared with it after the hearts had
been offered to the devil."
"When the sacrifice was finished and the steps and
courtyard were bathed in human blood, everyone went to eat raw mushrooms.
With this food they went out of their minds and were in a worse state
than if they had drunk a great quantity of wine. They became so inebriated
and witless that many of them took their lives with their own hands.
Under the strong influence of these mushrooms they saw visions and
had revelations about the future, since the devil spoke to them in
their drunken madness."
Durán's (1994:474) discourses about sacrifice
and cannibalism continue with a report about Mixteca prisoners:
"On the day of the ceremony one thousand Mixtec prisoners
were sacrificed in the way I have described [the Tlacaxipehualiztli
festival] at length in the Book of the Gods and Rites."
"…The Historia tells us that when these festivities
had ended, when everyone was satiated with human flesh and had seen
enough blood flow from those miserable captives, Motecuhzoma ordered
that all his men who had taken part in that war be brought there,
especially those who had performed outstanding feats and had brought
prisoners to be sacrificed … Motecuhzoma rewarded them for what
they had done in that war and for the honor they had paid the gods
and the pleasure they [the noblemen] had received in being given human
flesh to eat. In those days the bellies of the lords were gorged with
that human flesh. It is said of that king that not a day passed since
he began to rule that he did not eat human flesh. For this he had
many slaves and each day had one killed so he could eat that flesh,
or so his guests could, or those who usually shared his meals."
To accept Durán's accounts (or, perhaps more accurately
stated, his unknown sources) as truthful, means acceptance of a long list
of incredulous assertions. In summary, these include 1.) the devil is
the inventor and teacher of sacrifice, 2.) skull racks display sacrificial
victims as permanent reminders of sacrifices, 3.) the Knights of the Sun
were the only ones allowed to eat human flesh, 4.) the lords ate human
flesh frequently, 5.) the thousand cruel acts invented by Tlacaelel under
persuasion by the devil were all made into laws, 6.) the god Huitzilopochtli
would not accept human food from nations of 'alien tongue,' 7.) as many
as eight thousand men were sacrificed in one day and their flesh was eaten,
8.) after eating human flesh they ate mushrooms, became witless and mad,
saw revelations of the future, were spoken to by the devil, and many killed
themselves, and 9.) Motecuhzoma ate the fresh-killed human flesh of a
slave every day of his rule. Additionally, Durán's beliefs included
the belief that the Indians were of Hebrew descent and practiced Hebrew
rites of sacrificing their children, eating human flesh, and killing prisoners
and captives of war.
When considering any part of Durán's writing as
possible evidence of cannibalism and sacrifice, the rest of his assertions
cannot be ignored. They certainly bear on the credibility of the writing.
Those who rely on Durán's writing to support the view that the
Aztecs were cannibals should explain whether they accept the other beliefs
Durán expresses, and if they reject these, why they accept his
statements regarding cannibalism.
The list above is based solely on Durán's writings.
Acceptance of the views of the other writers cited above broadens the
scope of the question, "What does acceptance of the veracity of the ethnohistorical
writers imply?" A summary list includes acceptance of many aspects of
the religious worldview of fifteenth century Spain, including idols, hell,
devils, the demon, and souls. The following actions by the natives are
also asserted: cannibalism, devil worship, daily sacrifices, beheadings,
crucifixions, and many forms of mutilation, including skinning, removal
of bones, tearing out hearts, slashing throats, being shot with arrows
by thousands of people, being dropped from a great height, and breaking
every bone. This summation of the ethnohistorical discourse should suffice
to illustrate the need for critical analysis and reconsideration of the
cannibalism claims so readily accepted in some anthropological writing
and in popular beliefs about Mesoamerican populations at the time of contact.
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