Because
Veracruz is such a narrow state, many of its indigenous groups inhabit
territories that reach into neighboring states. It is important to remember
that, while the borders of the State of Veracruz were the creation of political
administrators two hundred years ago, the territories of its many ethnic groups
were subject to social, geographic and topographic influences that are much
older.
Native
Veracruz
In
the pre-Hispanic period, the modern-day state of Veracruz was inhabited
primarily by four indigenous cultures. The Huastecos and Otomíes occupied the
north, while the Totonacs resided in the north-center. The Olmecs, one of the
oldest cultures in the Americas, became dominant in the southern part of
Veracruz. For the researcher seeking to learn the detailed histories of the
individual communities of Veracruz, the following works will be useful:
The
Olmecs
The
Olmecs occupied the coastal plains in the present-day states of Veracruz and
Tabasco (southeast of Veracruz) from about 1000 B.C. to 300 B.C. Several Olmec
sites have been found in Veracruz, including San Lorenzo and Tres Zapotes. These
settlements were probably the most complex “ceremonial sites” found in all
of Mesoamerica at the time of their apogee. For this reason, many
anthropologists consider the Olmec civilization to be the “cultura madre”
(mother culture) of the many Mesoamerican cultures that followed it.
Pyramidal
mounds have been found in many of the Olmec settlements. It is believed that the
Olmec economy centered around agricultural production on the fertile
floodplains, and was supplemented by fishing and shell fishing. However, by 300
B.C., the Olmec culture was eclipsed by other emerging civilizations in
Mesoamerica.
The
Tepehua
Carlos Guadalupe
Heéras Rodriguez, in his chapter “The Tepehua” (in Alan R. Sandstrom &
E. Hugo Garcia Valencia (editors), “Native Peoples of the Gulf Coast of
Mexico”) notes that “The Tepehua are an ethnolinguistic group… that, in
comparison to other groups… has received relatively little attention of
researchers.” The Tepehua inhabited the northern section of the state of
Veracruz and the northeast part of the State of Hidalgo, as well as some
localities in the municipio of Pantepec in the State of Puebla.
In Veracruz, the
Tepehua call themselves “Kenanka masipithni” (We are Tepehua), which,
according to Roberto Williams Garcia, is derived from “hamasipini”
(“owners of hills” or “one who lives on the hill”)” The word Tepehua
was given to them by the Nahua and carries the same meaning. The Tepehua
religion retains beliefs and practices that are rooted in their pre-Hispanic
past. It is believed that the remoteness of Tepehua territory played some role
in the failure of evangelists to convert the Tepehua during the colonial era.
The Tepehua of the present day era are primarily engaged in agriculture.
They cultivate maize, frijol, mountain Chile, tomato, lentil, onion
garlic and sesame.
There are three
variants of the Tepehua language, which belongs to the Mayan-Totonaco language
group. Forty centuries ago, according to Anzaldo Figueroa (2000), the ancient
Maya language was spoken throughout the Gulf Coast region. Tepehua is one of the
languages that derived from the ancient Maya, separating from the Totonac
language at least 26 centuries ago.
The
Mazatec Indians
The Mazatec call themselves “ha shuta enima,” which in their language means “we workers
from the hills, humble, people of custom.” Around the year 890 A.D., the
Nonoalcas arrived in the region; their capital city, called Matza-apatl or Mazatlán, gave them the name of “Mazatec,”
which in Náhuatl means "people of the deer".
The Mazatec today inhabit the northern part of the
state of Oaxaca, but some Mazatecos also live in the southern part of Veracruz.
Their territory includes two well differentiated regions, both in terms of the
environment and culture: the highlands, on the slopes of the Eastern Sierra
Madre, at altitudes between 1,200 and 2,500 meters above sea level and the
lowlands, located in what is known as the Papaloapan Basin.
The
Totonac (Totonaque) Indians
By
the time, the Spaniards arrived on the Gulf Coast of Mexico in 1519, the Totonac
Indians occupied a province known as Totonacapan, which stretched through the
north central part of Veracruz and the Sierra Norte of Puebla. Occupying some
fifty towns and boasting a population of a quarter million people, the Totonacs
spoke four primary dialects. Their capital, Cempoala, located five miles inland
from the present city of Vera Cruz, had a population of about 25,000.
There
is little agreement about the origin of the word Totonac, but Bernardino de
Sahagún – a Franciscan friar and ethnographer – learned that the Mexica
called the provinces where the Totonacs lived “totonacatlalli” – which
means “land of heat.” And Totonac means “tierracalenteño,” or
“inhabitant of the hot lands.” Other sources claim that the Mexica used the
term “totonaco” in a derogatory context, referring to a people of “little
ability or skill.”
Both
the Totonac and Tepehua languages form the Totonac linguistic family and are
believed to be Macro-Mayan languages (i.e., showing similarity to the Mayan
Linguistic Family). The Totonac language itself is divided into three primary
dialects.
Popoluca (Homshuk)
The Popoluca Indians inhabit the southeastern
part of the state of Veracruz, not far from the border with Tabasco State. The
Popoluca call themselves “Homshuk,” which means “God of Corn.” However,
the word Popoluca originated
in the Náhuatl language and was used to refer to foreign peoples (i.e., people
who do not speak their language). Traditionally, the Popoluca have been engaged
in agriculture and cultivate a wide variety of foods, including maíz, frijol
and rice.
The Popoluca
language corresponds to the Zoque-Mixe branch of the Macro-Maya Linguistic
Family (distantly related to the Mayan language). Today, the Popoluca language
is divided into four dialects. Linguistic analysis has determined that the
Popoluca probably settled in southern Veracruz approximately fourteen centuries
ago.
The
Otomí (The Sierra Nahñu)
The Otomí (who
call themselves Nahñu, or Hñahñu) belong to the seventh most common language
group in Mexico and presently occupy portions of the states of Hidalgo, México,
Puebla, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Querétaro and Michoacán. Within the State of
Veracruz, Otomí is also the seventh most commonly-spoken language.
Nahñu belongs
to the Otopamean language family, a subfamily of the very large Otomanguean
Linguistic Group. However, linguistic studies indicate that the Otomí split
from the ancestral Otomanguean about 6,500 years ago.
Conquest
by the Aztecs
During
the Fifteenth Century and the early years of the Sixteenth Century, the mighty
Aztec Empire, ruled by the Mexica Indians from their capital city Tenochtitlán
(now Mexico City), began a concerted effort to subdue and incorporate the rich
eastern coastal areas into their domain. After their conquest by the Mexica
ruler Axayácatl in 1480, the Totonacs were incorporated into the Aztec
provinces of Cempoallan, Misantla and Xalapa. These areas, with an abundance of
water and fertile land, were richly endowed with a wide array of vegetation and
crops, including cedars, fruits, cotton, cacao, maize, beans, and squashes. In
pre-Hispanic times, cotton was a very significant crop, which the Totonacs used
to make cotton armor. As tribute to their Aztec masters, the Totonacs sent
cloth, clothing, maize, foodstuffs, honey and wax to Tenochtitlán.
The
province of Cempoallan, and its associated Totonac towns and fortifications,
could mobilize up to 50,000 warriors at a time. The natives of Cempoallan,
incited by the neighboring Tlaxcalans (who remained an independent enclave
within the Aztec Empire), continuously rebelled against the Mexica. Even the
last Mexica emperor Moctezuma II spent the early years of his reign leading
campaigns against the Indians of Veracruz.
The
Aztec Province of Xalapa (Jalapa), also inhabited by Totonac Indians, was only
added to the Mexica domain by Moctezuma II in the years immediately preceding
the Spanish contact. Jalapa stood along a major route between the coast and
Tenochtitlán and was rich agricultural territory, with maize and chilies as its
prominent crops.
Totonac
was the prominent language in the northern half of Xalapa, while Náhuatl was
spoken in the south. When Cortés arrived on the east coast in 1519, he used the
inland route through Xalapa to move inland. The city of Jalapa has been the
capital of Veracruz since 1824.
The
Spaniards and the Totonacs
The
Totonacs were the first natives whom Captain Hernán Cortés met upon his
landing on the Gulf Coast near present-day Veracruz. Being compelled by the
Mexica to the payment of a heavy tribute, including the frequent seizure of
their people for slaves or for sacrifice in the bloody Aztec rites, the Totonac
were ripe for revolt, and their king, Tlacochcalcatl, eagerly welcomed Cortés
and promised the support of his fifty thousand warriors against Emperor
Moctezuma and the Aztec Empire. The Spaniards helped the Totonacs to expel
Moctezuma's tribute-collectors in Totonacapan who apparently fled to a Mexica
garrison at Tizapancingo, about twenty miles to the southwest. With a full force
of Spaniards, 16 horses, and Totonacs, Cortés seized control of Tizapancingo.
The
Founding of La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (1519)
In
June 1519, the Totonacs helped Cortés and the Spaniards in the founding of
“La Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz” (The Rich Town of the True Cross) on the
site of the present-day port of Veracruz. Veracruz thus became the first city
founded by the Spaniards on the North American continent. Even today, Veracruz
remains as one of the most important commercial and industrial centers of
Mexico.
In
the subsequent events, culminating in the taking of the city of Tenochtitlán
and the downfall of the Aztec Empire in August 1521, the Totonac took an active
part in the campaign as allies of the Spaniards and the Tlaxcalans. In addition
to giving ready allegiance to Spaniards, they embraced the Roman Catholic faith
of the Europeans. As early as 1523, the Franciscans first started working among
the Totonac people of the highlands. The Augustinians arrived a decade later to
proselytize the Totonacs along the border region of Hidalgo, Puebla, and
Veracruz.
H.R.
Harvey and Isabel Kelly, the authors of “The Totonac” in the “Handbook of
Middle American Indians,” write that “In the large areas where Totonac
speech has survived to the present, there was little to attract the Spaniard.
Transportation and communication were difficult; Also, Totonacapan largely
lacked the mineral resources so attractive to the Spaniards. Thus, until
relatively recent years, much of Totonacapan has remained intact and isolated,
and many forms of native Totonac culture have survived.”
Today,
the Totonacs of Puebla and Veracruz, numbering about 100,000, are industrious
farmers. Their chief crop is sugar cane, from which they manufacture sugar in
their own mills. Dancing and festivals are important elements of their culture.
Although some of their festivals retain elements of their ancient sacrificial
rites, most of the Totonacs are Roman Catholic today.
The
Huastecos (Teenek)
The
Huasteco Indians, who speak a form of the Mayan language, presently occupy 55
municipios in the modern-day states of Veracruz, San Luis Potosí and Hidalgo,
as well as smaller sections of southern Tamaulipas and eastern Querétaro. It is
believed that they were isolated from the rest of the Maya and evolved
separately and may have arrived in the area as early as 200 A.D.
Under
Aztec rule, the Huastecos inhabited two Aztec provinces, Atlan and Tochpan.
Atlan Province, located in the area of the present-day towns of Metlaltoyuca and
Pantepec, was occupied by Huastecos, Tepehuán, Otomíes and Totonacs. This
region was an important cotton-growing region, and the Huastecos of this
province were forced to pay tribute to the Mexica in the form of skins, paper,
cotton and blankets. However, when the Spaniards arrived in their territory, the
Huastecos did not cooperate with them as the neighboring Tlaxcalans and Totonacs
did. In 1520, the Huastecos wiped out a small Spanish settlement that had been
set up in their territory.
Once
he had taken control of Tenochtitlán in August 1521, Cortés marched toward
Huasteco territory with a large force of Spaniards and Mexica allies, intent on
subduing them. After meeting with considerable resistance, Cortés defeated the
Huastecos and founded the Villa de San Esteban in 1522. However, revolts by the
Huastecos in October-December 1523 and 1525-26 were put down with great cruelty.
In spite of their battles with both the Mexica and the Spaniards, the Huastecos
continue to survive today, maintaining many aspects of their traditional culture
and language. Huastecan music and dancing have influenced the musical folklore
of Mexico.
The Huasteca region of northern
Veracruz was originally named after the Huasteca people. This region is in the
northern reaches of the Gulf of Mexico where the Sierra Madre mountain range
meets the coastal plain of the Gulf. This is considered a rich agricultural
region with an abundance of water from the riverine system flowing to the Gulf. The
Huasteca consists of 55 municipios that are spread across Veracruz, Hidalgo and
San Luis Potosí and boast a wide diversity of indigenous peoples (besides the
Huastecos).
Tochtepec
Province
Tochtepec
was a large and sprawling Aztec province that extended from the Gulf Coast
inland to the rugged eastern mountains. While the Náhuatl language of the
Aztecs dominated Tochtepec, the Chinantec and Mazatec languages dominated the
southwestern edge of the province. The Aztecs valued this province because it
became a source of many highly valued resources, including cacao, cotton,
precious feathers, gold, greenstones, and rubber, as well as several staple
foodstuffs, fruits, and fish.
Cuetlaxtlan
Province
The
Aztec province of Cuetlaxtlan lay along Veracruz's broad coastal plain north of
Tochtepec. Michael E. Smith and Frances F. Berdan, in their descriptions of the
Aztec provinces, write that “Cuetlaxtlan was very frequently caught in the
political machinations of the Mexica and Tlaxcalans. Upon abandonment by their
Tlaxcalan allies, Cuetlaxtlan was conquered by Moctezuma Ilhuicamina.”
However, the province was frequently in a state of rebellion against their
Mexica overlords. Eventually, Emperor Axayácatl, who ruled from 1468 to 1481,
reconquered the region and installed Aztec tribute collectors and garrisons.
The Nahuas of Veracruz
Náhuatl
is the most spoken language in the Mexican Republic. More than 1.5 million
people in Mexico speak Náhuatl, representing 23.1% of all indigenous speakers
in the country. Náhuatl is also the most spoken language in Veracruz. As a
matter of fact, Náhuatl speakers are scattered through several regions of
Veracruz. The four primary regions in which Nahua speakers live are:
·
The Nahuas of Huasteca (the Huasteca
region extends from northern Veracruz into eastern Hidalgo and southeastern San
Luis Potosí). Today, an estimated 75% of the population of the Huasteca speaks
Náhuatl, while the remainder speak Teenek or Huastec (22%), Otomí (2%) and
Tepehua, Pame and Totonac.
·
The Nahuas of Totonacapan. Totonacapan
extends through both Veracruz and the Sierra Norte de Puebla region of Puebla
State. This interethnic area includes Náhuatl speakers, as well as Totonac,
Tepehua and Otomí speakers.
·
The Nahuas of the Sierra de Zongolica.
Situated in the Grandes Montañas of the west central region of Veracruz, this
area is comprised of 12 municipios. The Náhuatl speakers in this area speak the
Orizaba dialect. In 1991, speakers of the Orizaba dialect through all states
numbered 120,000.
·
The Nahuas of Southern Veracruz: Náhuatl
speakers inhabit some portions of the southern region of Veracruz, which is
composed of lowland plains and volcanic hills and borders the western part of
the State of Tabasco.
According
to the studies of Guy Stresser-Péan, Jesus Vargas Ramírez and María del
Refugio Cabrera, the Náhuatl speakers of the Huasteca did not arrive in the
area at the time of the Aztec expansion and conquest. Instead, the Náhuatl
movement into the area took place earlier in the Twelfth Century following the
fall of Tula (as described by María Teresa Rodríguez López and Pablo
Valderrama Rouy in “the Gulf Coast Nahua” in “Native Peoples of the Gulf
Coast of Mexico.”
The
1921 Mexican Census
In the unusual
1921 Mexican census, residents of each state were asked to classify themselves
in several categories. With a total state population of 1,159,935, the
inhabitants of Veracruz were categorized according to the following racial
classifications:
It is worth
noting that the classifications for the entire Mexican Republic were quite
similar to the figures for Veracruz. Out of a total population of 14,334,780 in
the Mexican Republic, 4,179,449 – or 29.2% – claimed to be of pure
indigenous background, while 8,504,561 – or 59.3% – were of mixed origins.
The total number of people who classified themselves as blanca was only
1,404,718 – or 9.8% of the population – almost identical with the
corresponding figure for Veracruz.
Indigenous Groups in the 2000
Census
Nahuas of Huasteca Veracruzana (Machehuale)
According to the 2000 census, Náhuatl was the most
widely spoken language in Veracruz, accounting for 53.42% of all indigenous
speakers in the state. Almost
one-third of these people lived in the Huasteca Meridional, an area in which a
large number of Náhuatl speakers lived.
Totonacos
In the 2000
census, the Totonaco Indians of Veracruz numbered 119,957 persons five years of
age and older, representing 49.98% of all the Totonaco speakers in the Mexican
Republic (240,034). Today, the Totonacos continue to live throughout the coastal
plain of the state of Veracruz and in the adjacent mountain ranges of Puebla.
Haustecos
(Teenek)
In the 2000 census, the
speakers of the Huasteco language of Veracruz numbered 51,625 and represented
the third largest language group in Veracruz. The Huastecos living in Veracruz
represented 34.36% of the total Huasteco population of the Mexican Republic
(150,257) in that year. The
Huastecas are also called Teenek, which means “Those who live in the
fields.” The area occupied
by the Huastecos today lies mainly in Eastern San Luis Potosí, Northern
Veracruz and Northeastern Hidalgo. There are some smaller populations of Teenek
in the states of Tamaulipas and Puebla.
The
2010 Census
At the time of
the 2010 census, Náhuatl remained the most widely spoken language in Mexico
with 1,544,968 persons five years of age and older speaking that tongue. Náhuatl
speakers, in fact, represented 23.08% of the indigenous speakers 5 and older in
the Mexican Republic. The 12 most spoken languages in Veracruz in the 2010
census are shown (as well as their percentage ranking within the Republic):
The
Leading Indigenous States in 2010
In the 2010 census, the four
Mexican states with the largest populations of indigenous speakers (by number)
in the 2010 census were:
However, although Veracruz
had the third largest population of indigenous speakers, it was ranked tenth
among the Mexican states for the percentage of indigenous speakers (9.4%). This
is easily explained by the fact that Veracruz has the third largest population
in Mexico (after Distrito Federal and Estado de Mexico) and thus has a much
larger population of both indigenous and non-indigenous people than most other
states.
The 2010 census also
included a question that asked people if they considered themselves indigenous,
whether or not an indigenous language was spoken. Nearly one-fourth of the
residents of Veracruz 3 years of age and older (19.9%) were classified as
indigenous, ranking Veracruz ninth among the Mexican states.
Many languages in Mexico are
in danger of gradual extinction as the children of indigenous speakers move to
new locations in Mexico and fail to learn the languages of their parents. For
the State of Veracruz, this may also be a factor, but the State and its people
also feel great pride in their connection to their indigenous past. It is likely
that some of the more concentrated indigenous-speaking communities of Veracruz
will continue to carry on the legacy of their native ancestors and pass their
languages down to future generations.
Copyright ©
2014 by John P. Schmal. All Rights Reserved.
Primary
Sources:
Alan R. Sandstrom and E.
Hugo García Valencia (editors), “Native Peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexcico”
(Tucson: Arizona University Press, 2005).
Instituto Nacional de Estadística
Geografía e Informática (INEGI). Censos de Población y Vivienda, 2000 y 2010.
INEGI, Censo de Población y
Vivienda (2010): “Panorama Sociodemográfico de México” (March 2011).
Michael E. Smith
and Frances F. Berdan, “Province Descriptions” in Frances F. Berdan et al.,
“Aztec
Imperial Strategies” (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library
and Collection, 1996), pp. 265-349.
Scheffler, Lilián, “Grupos Indígenas de México”
(México, 1985).
Veracruz, “Análisis
Social. Plan de Desarrollo para Pueblos Indígenas.” Online: