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In the modern maize myths of the Mayan area and the Gulf Coast where the protagonist is a woman, it is established that her sacrifice, usually carried out by the Sun, is the necessary event to transform what she contains at the potential level into concrete goods, that is corn. However, in cases where the protagonist is male, his death, brought on by his grandmother or his mother, is what makes the young man's transformation into the maize god possible. In a similar vein, Mexica culture establishes that it is the sacrifice of the primal female entity, performed by male deities, which creates the fertile earth in the cosmogonist myth of Tlaltecuhtli, of which a new reading is proposed. This transformation of the female telluric matter into fruitful land in the myth has a masculine valence. Congruently, it had to be a man who wore the skin of the goddess Toci after her sacrifice and flaying in the month Ochpaniztli to propitiate the periodic regeneration of vegetation and in primis of maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I analyze Nahua playwright Ildefonso Maya's theatrical work Ixtlamatinij (1987). The Nahuatl term ixtlamatini, in the Huasteca, has two meanings that clash with one another. It can denote a person who has gained knowledge through lived experience, or instead someone who has obtained knowledge through university education. I argue that the conflictive meanings of ixtlamatini are key to understanding how Maya stages Nahua perspectives as valid intellectual production. In doing so, he proposes a wider conception of what constitutes a text, of what has ixtli (face): ceremonies, the environment, clothing, and language as a metonym of the face. The work Ixtlamatinij defends Nahua practices as an effective strategy to dismantle the discrimination aimed against Native nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work analyzes the transmission of the oral tradition of the indigenous peoples during the colonial and contemporary period and how it was documented in manuscripts, canvases, maps, and genealogies. In these documents, a part of the vision of the Mesoamerican world was expressed: the ritual life, the sacred discourses, the cult of the ancestors and the gods that live in the areas surrounding the towns and in the hills that are considered sacred. One of the main premises that will guide this work is this: the indigenous communities are entities that produce knowledge, a part of which we can see documented in their documentation. The community's oral narrative is what guides the tlacuiloque ('scribes') in the representation of their history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Iberoamericana de Lingüística is the property of Universitas Castellae and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Orbis Tertius is the property of Universidad Nacional de La Plata and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article studies four perspectives of nakedness. First of all, nakedness as a manifestation of shamelessness and as a sexual transgression. This enables us to move forward in the understanding of the conception of body among the ancient Nahua. Secondly, it is examined as humiliation, punishment and mockery of the person. The lack of clothing is not just a sign of degradation, it also implies a depersonalization. Thirdly, the subject of the intimidating naked body is discussed. For the most part, we focus our attention on the exposure of the female sexual organs. Men are afraid of beautiful and seductive women because the latter can kill the ingenuous who desire them and wish to possess them. Lastly, nakedness is expounded as part of ritual event. In this case, the lack of clothing is a necessary step for transitioning into another status. Nakedness is conceived of as a new birth, an origin, something new. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the ability of the Nahua tícitl (Pre-Hispanic Medics) regarding diagnosis and treatment in the Postclassic period. The tícitl related their medical theory with magical elements, probably leading to the practice of empirical and cosmogonic medicine. This study allowed us to clarify that the various medical specialties reflect the art of healing of the tícitl, as well as the progress in the development of medicine, which is why the tícitl occupies an important role in Nahuatl society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the start of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, a significant number of Amerindian voices can be found in chronicles and administrative texts. By 1560, the first American towns had already been founded. Colonial texts are thus sources for researching the presence of native voices in local or general use in America. As a result of an examination of these texts, I present the criteria used to creating a lexicon, as well as a qualitative/quantitative analysis of the causes which provoked the appearance of Indigenous Americanisms in different American areas; their relationship with commercial activities; and their preference for Caribbean voices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this study we analyzed the founding mitochondrial DNA (mtdna) haplogroups A, B, C and D in 108 contemporary Mazahua individuals and 73 Otomi from Estado de Mexico to understand the genetic relationship between these populations, and with other ancient and contemporary Mexican populations. The Mazahua and Otomi inhabit the same localities in Estado de Mexico, speak languages that belong to the Oto-Manguean linguistic family and show cultural and historic similarities. Our results showed that haplogroup B is the most frequent in Mazahua whereas haplogroup A is highest among the Otomi. Haplogroup C exhibit similar frequencies. Otomi population exhibits a low frequency of haplogroup D and includes individuals that do not belong to any of the four mtdna haplogroups, whereas all Mazahua individuals in our study belong to one of the four mtdna lineages studied. The Mazahua and Otomi populations from Mexico State are statistically different according the results of the chi square test (p ⩽ 0.05). The principal component analysis using the frequencies of four mtdna haplogroups suggests that Mazahua and Otomi had little or no maternal genetic flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on ethnographic data collected from 1993 to date, I seek to demonstrate that contemporary Nahua develop certain aspects of their lives in the context of an economy of gifts. Nahua reciprocity expresses this in the basic economic form of "aid", called quipalehuiya locally. I argue that this "aid", given as goods or services, is reciprocated through social networks and provides a foundation for the model of interdependence that completely links this population with its social and ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arthropods, since prehispanic times, was been of great importance among the Mesoamerican peoples, both because of its biological characteristics and its cultural impact. Indigenous groups have generated a deep and systematic knowledge about the different arthropods that are distributed in our country, which is reflected in the use of these organisms for feeding and medicinal use, mainly. There are only a few studies of zootherapy on prehispanic and colonial sources, but this documents represents a vast body of ancient and traditional knowledge about nature, so it is necessary to carry out scientific studies about these muniment in order to understand the knowledge and use of resources involved in the processes of health and disease among people Nahua prehispanic and contemporary. This work aims to identify the arthropods as medicinal resource that are reported in the Florentine Codex, Libellus of Medicinalibus Indorum Herbis and Historia Natural de Nueva España. Such works were consulted and were extracted his texts in spanish which mentions the arthropods useful in Nahua medicine; biological works were reviewed and listed on such taxonomic sources. Eleven arthropods were reported in this study, belonging to fourteen taxonomic orders, to cure 35 diseases. Despite the scant mention of this faunal group in these sources, it is important to record the different uses of these organisms that were part of the biocultural heritage of the Nahua people. It is essential to realize further studies and comparisons between more sources, as this will allow to understand some of the current uses that are still being given to animals in mexican traditional medicine, particularly with arthropods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conditions for the circulation of persons between Mexico and the United States have changed drastically in the last decade. The ways people return must be analyzed taking into consideration the specificity of the regions involved. The dynamic of departure and return in the so-called "historic" region of migration to the United States is conceived of in this article as an "ideal type," useful for comparing other experiences in areas where recent, comparatively late migratory flows accelerated in the 1990s. This article analyzes the return from North Carolina of indigenous and mestiza women to the municipality of Pahuatlán, Puebla. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papeles de Población is the property of Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on the conceptualization of time and space in an early 16th century Título Primordial (in English, Primitive Land Title) from the town of Santo Tomás Ajusco (Tlalpan, Mexico). The author discusses the cultural history of the Nahua Indians and considers the settlement history of the Axoxpaneca Indians in the 15th century. He also reflects on the importance of these land title documents for understanding the prehispanic world-view and its interaction with Spanish colonial authorities in the 16th century.