AMERICAN
INDIAN CIVILIZATIONS
North America |
Central America |
South America |
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1000 B.C.E. 500 B.C.E. |
OLMECS Jaguar god Great stone heads |
CHAVIN Jaguar god |
||
1 C.E. HOPEWELL Mounds 500 |
MAYAS Classic architecture |
MOCHICAS Pottery |
PARACAS Weaving NAZCAS Earth sculpture |
|
ANASAZI Architecture |
Astronomy conferences TOLTECS Quetzalcoatl |
TIAHUANACO Weeping sun god |
||
1000 |
|
MIXTECS books |
CHIMU Mud designs |
|
1500 |
Xolotl, Tezozomoc AZTECS Nezahualcoyotl Montezuma II, conquest Cuauhtemoc |
INCAS bridges, roads Huaina Capac Atahualpa, conquest Manco II, Garcilaso |
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|
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Note--If
"American Indian" is too long to say, the correct short
term is
"Amerind." It is more accurate than "Indian."
R-2 Olmecs
240-245
F-3 Mayas
446-451, #1 Popul Vuh
M-6 Toltecs
452-453, #2 Quetzalcoatl
T-7 Aztecs
453-455, #3 Nezahualcoyotl
W-8 Aztecs cont.
456-458, #4 Great God, 554-556
R-9 Early Peru
246-249
F-10 Incas
459-462, #5 Ollantay
M-13 Incas cont.
463-465, #6 Garcilaso, 556-557
T-14 North America
441-445, #7 North American
#1
The Mayas called their bible the "Popul Vuh" (POH-pul VOO)
or
"book of the people". As
rewritten, the first part seems confused with Christian tales.
The second and third sections tell Maya legends.
The fourth part is a dry list of kings.
from
THE POPUL VUH
At once they took their axes, their picks, and their
wooden hoes and
went, each carrying his blowgun on his shoulder.
As they left the house they asked their grandmother to
bring them their
midday meal.
"At midday, come and bring our food, grandmother," they
said.
"Very well, my grandsons," the
old woman
replied.
Soon they came to the field.
And
as they plunged the pick into the earth, it worked the earth; it did
the work
alone.
In the same way they put the axe in the trunks of the
trees and in the
branches, and instantly they fell and all the trees and vines were
lying on the
ground. The trees
fell quickly,
with only one stroke of the axe.
The pick also dug a great deal.
One
could not count the thistles and brambles which had been felled with
one blow of
the pick. Neither
was it possible
to tell what it had dug and broken up, in all the large and small woods.
And having taught an animal called Xmucur (turtledove),
they had it climb
to the top of a large tree and Hunahpu and Xbalanque said to it: "Watch
for
our grandmother to come with our food, and as soon as she comes, begin
at once
to sing, and we shall seize the pick and the axe."
"Very well, " Xmucur answered.
And they began to shoot with their blowguns; certainly
they did none of
the work of clearing and cultivating.
A
little later, the dove sang, and they ran quickly, grabbing the pick
and axe,
And one of them covered his head and also deliberately covered his
hands with
earth and in the same way smeared his face to look like a real laborer,
and the
other purposely threw splinters of wood over his head as though he
really had
been cutting the trees.
Thus their grandmother saw them.
They
ate at once, but they had not really done the work of tilling the soil,
and
without deserving it they were given their midday meal.
After a while, they went home.
"We are really tired, grandmother," they said upon
arriving,
stretching their legs and arms before her, but without reason.
They returned the following day, and upon arriving at the
field, they
found that all the trees and vines were standing again and that the
brambles and
thistles had become entangled again.
"Who has played this trick on us?" they said.
"No doubt all the small and large animals did It, the
puma, the
jaguar, the deer, the rabbit, the mountain-cat, the coyote, the wild
boar, the
coati, the small birds, the large birds; they, it was, who did it; in a
single
night, they did it.
They began again to prepare the field and to prepare the
soil and cut the
trees. They talked
over what they would have to do with the trees
which they had cut, and the weeds which they had pulled up.
"Now we shall watch over our cornfield; perhaps we can
surprise
those who come to do all of this damage," they said, talking
"What do you think of it, grandmother?
They have made fun of us.
Our
field, which we had worked, has been turned into a field of stubble and
thick
woods. Thus we
found it, when we got there, a little while ago,
grandmother," they said to her and to their mother.
"But we shall return there and watch over it, because it
is not
right that they do such things to us," they said.
Then they dressed and returned at once to their field of
cut trees, and
there they hid themselves stealthily, in the darkness.
Then all the animals gathered again; one of each kind came
with the other
small and large animals. It
was
just midnight when they came, all talking as they came, saying in their
own
language: "Rise up.. trees! Rise
up, vines!"
So they spoke when they came and gathered under the trees,
under the
vines, and they came closer until they appeared before the eyes of
Hunahpu and
Xbalanque.
Neither the mountain-cat, the coyote, the wild boar, nor
the coati fell
into their hands. All
the animals
passed before Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who were furious because they
could not
catch them.
But finally, another animal came hopping along, and this
one which was
the rat, they seized instantly, and wrapped him in a cloth. Then when they had caught
him, they squeezed his head and
tried to choke him, and they burned his tail in the fire, and for that
reason
the rat's tail has no hair. So,
too, the boys, Hunahpu and Xbalanque, tried to poke at his eyes.
The rat said: "I must not die at your hands.
And neither is it your business to plant the cornfield."
"What are you telling us now?" the boys asked the rat.
"Loosen me a little, for I have something which I wish to
tell you,
and I shall tell you immediately, but first give me something to eat,"
said
the rat.
"We will give you food afterward, but first speak," they
answered.
"Very well. Do
you
know, then, that the property of your parents Hun-Hunahpu and
Vacub-Hunahpu, as
they were called, those who died in Xibalba, or rather the gear with
which they
played ball, has remained and is hanging from the roof of the house:
the ring,
the gloves, and the ball? Nevertheless,
your grandmother does not want to show them to you for it was on
account of
these things that your parents died."
"Are you sure of that?" said the boys to the rat.
And they were very happy when they heard about the rubber
ball. And as the
rat had now talked, they showed the rat what his
food would. be.
"This shall be, your food: corn, chili-seeds, beans,
pataxte, cacao;
all this belongs to you, and should there be, anything stored away or
forgotten,
it shall be yours also. Eat
it," Hunahpu and Xbalanque said to the rat.
"Wonderful, boys," he said; "but what shall I tell your
grandmother if she sees me?"
"Do not worry, because we are here and shall know what to
say to our
grandmother. Let us
go! We
shall go quickly to the corner of the house, go at once to where the
things
hang; we shall be looking at the garret* of the house and, paying
attention to
our food," they said to the rat.
And having arranged it thus, during the night after
talking together,
Hunahpu and Xbalanque arrived at midday.
When
they arrived, they brought the rat with them, but they did not show it;
one of
them went directly into the houses and the other went to the corner and
there
let the rat climb up quickly.
Immediately they asked their grandmother for food.
"Grind our food, we wish a chili-sauce, grandmother," they
said. And at once
the food was
prepared for them and a plate of broth was put before them.
But this was only to deceive+ their grandmother and their
mother.
And having dried up the water which was in the water jar,
they said,
"We are really dying of thirst; go and bring us a drink," they said to
their grandmother.
"Good," she said and went.
Then they began to eat, but they were not really hungry;
it was only a
trick. They saw
then reflected in
their plate of chili how the rat went rapidly toward the ball which was
suspended from the roof of the house.
On
seeing this in their chili-sauce, they sent to the river a certain xan,
an
animal called xan, which is like a mosquito, to puncture the side of
their
grandmother's water jar, and although she tried to stop the water which
ran out,
she could not close the hole made in the jar.
"What is the matter with our grandmother?
Our mouths are dry with thirst, we are dying of thirst,"
they said
to their mother and they sent her out to fetch the water.
Immediately the rat went to cut the cord which held the
ball and it fell
from the garret of the house together with the ring and the gloves and
the
leather pads. The
boys seized them
and ran quickly to hide them on the road which led to the ball-court.
After this they went to the river to join their
grandmother and their
mother, who were busily trying to stop the hole in the water jar.
And arriving with their blowgun, they said when they came
to the river:
"What are, you doing? We
got
tired of waiting and we came," they said.
"Look at the hole in my jar which I cannot stop," said the
grandmother. Instantly
they stopped
it, and together they returned, the two walking before their
grandmother.
And in this way the ball was
found.
(The
boys had great fun playing ball, and this angered the gods.
The priests put the boys through many tests and eventually
killed them.
But the boys rose from the dead.
They
put on a great show killing themselves again and again, and always
arising.
They invited the jealous priests to join in their fun, and
thus tricked
the priests into killing themselves.)
*attic
+trick
#2
An even bigger puzzle is the famous Toltec teacher,
Quetzalcoatl (ket-zal-KO-atl).
He taught his people the wonders of civilization.
Eventually, he sailed eastward, promising to return when
the date came
around again in the fifty-two year cycle.
The
cycle went around many times. Then
by the rarest chance, Cortez and the Spaniards landed in Mexico at the
very date
when people hoped for the return of Quetzalcoatl.
But who was Quetzalcoatl?
The
majority of historians say he was a prince--real name Topiltzin
(toe-PILT-zin),
son of the northern conqueror Mixcoatl (mish-KO-atl) and the southern
Princess
Chimalma. He taught
his father's
warriors the civilized ways of his mother's people.
When the Toltecs wanted human sacrifices for their gods,
he taught them
of a gentle god named Quetzalcoatl who only wanted beautiful gifts such
as
butterflies. The
name of the prince
and the god got mixed up in later times.
He
built the Toltec capital at Tula in central Mexico.
But the warriors threw him out, and he sailed eastward to
the
Maya capital on the Yucatan Peninsula.
That is the majority view.
But
a few historians believe that Quetzalcoatl was a lost Viking. The
legends
mention blond hair and a long beard.
Some
carvings look like they have beards--yet most American Indians were
beardless.
These historians think Quetzalcoatl rebuilt his Viking ship and sailed
back
toward Europe.
This is the legend as the Aztecs sang it centuries later:
from
THE SONG OF QUETZALCOATL
All the glory of the godhead
Had
the prophet Quetzalcoatl;
All
the honor of the people.
Sanctified
his name and holy;
And
their prayers they offered to him
In
the days of ancient Tula.*
There
in grandeur rose his temple;
Reared
aloft its mighty ramparts,+
Reaching
upward to the heavens.
Wondrous stout and strong the walls were;
High
the skyward-climbing stairway,
With
its steps so long and narrow,
With
its many steps so narrow
That
there scarce was room for setting,
Room
for placing of the footsteps.
There he# lies full-length extended;
Lies
outstretched and ever mantled,@
With
his features closely covered.
Glory
he of all the nations;
And
his face is like unto a
Mighty
echo-sounding fire-flame
That
has just been fully muffled;
Pitilessly
been extinguished.
See,
his beard is very lengthy;
See,
exceeding long his beard is;
Yellow
as the straw his beard is!...
Very rich was Quetzalcoatl.
Nothing
pleasing to the palate;
Nothing
helpful to the body
Ever
lacked they there in Tula.
Very
large there grew the squashes;
Wondrous
big and stout the squashes
So
that one could scarcely span* them
With
the outstretched arms embracing.
Very
long and thick the corn ears
So
that in their arms they bore them.
Stoutly
grew the amaranth stocks;+
Wondrous
tall the amaranth stocks;
And
like trees they used to climb them,
Ready
colored grew the cotton,
Red
and yellow, rose and purple,
Green
and bluish, verdigris,#
Black
and orange, gray and crimson,
Blushing
like the ripening berry.
Ready
colored grew the cotton
And
no need was there to dye it....
Wealth untold there was in Tula;
Emeralds
and gold uncounted;
Treasures
unsurpassed they guarded.
And
they grew the chocolate berry;@
Grew
the flowering cacahaute,
Far
o'er all the land extended
Stood
the chocolate plantations.
Wondrous rich were all the Toltecs;
Masters
they of wealth uncounted;
Every
need was satisfied them;
Nothing
lacked they in their households;
Hunger
never dwelt among them;
And
the small corn never used they
Save*
to heat their thermal baths with....
And you now shall hear the story
Of
the downfall of the prophet,
Quetzalcoatl
and his Toltecs;
How
there came three necromancers;+
Three
soothsayers came enchanting;
Came
three powerful necromancers...
Bent
upon destroying Tula....
Very troubled was the prophet;
Sore
afflicted Quetzalcoatl;...
And
his heart was turned to going;
Bent
on straightway leaving Tula;
Fleeing
from the sore afflictions;
Giving
place to other masters...
So
he gird# him for the journey
And
from Tula straight departed....
Said
he to the necromancers:
"None
of you can stop my going;
None
of all prevent my leaving."
Answered
then the necromancers:
"Tell
us, master, where you're going,
Answered
forthwith Quetzalcoatl:
"I
shall journey to Tlapallan:
For
there wondrous news awaits me."
Straightway
said the necromancers:
"Tell
us, master, what you'll do there?"
Forthwith
answered Quetzalcoatl:
"Forth
at once from here I'm summoned;
To
his house the Sun has called me...."
Marching, ever onward marching,
Came
the prophet to the seashore.
There
he built a raft of serpents:
Formed
and shaped it like a vessel;@
And
therein himself he seated;
Straightway
there himself he seated.
Just
as in a formal sea boat,
In
an ocean-going vessel,*
Proudly
there himself he seated.
Outward, onward, ever moving,
O'er
the far-extending waters
Went
the serpent-fashioned vessel
Till
at last from sight it vanished
O'er
the distant-stretching ocean.
To
this day 'tis not known
How
the prophet Quetzalcoatl
Reached
the region of Tlapallan;
Came
unto the red dominions
Of
the Sun his royal master.
*Toltec
capital city
+with
high walls
#statue
of Quetzalcoatl
@robed
*reach
around
+a
fragrant grain
#turquoise
@used
for money
*except
+evil
magicians
#dressed
@clay
pot
*ship
Many years later, Empress Xiuhtzal (SHWEE-tzal) ruled the
Toltecs.
American Indians sometimes chose a woman as tribal chief,
but only
Xiutzal ruled a whole civilization.
#3
NEZAHUALCOYOTL,
BARD OF THE AMERICAS
For all of their scientific knowledge, the American
Indians were very
slow to develop weapons of war. The
dreaded leader Xolotl (SHOL-otl), and his barbarian armies swooped down
from the
north and defeated the Toltecs with a new weapon: the bow and arrow.
Xolotl led many tribes, including the Aztecs.
His relatives became chiefs of the different tribes, and
fought over
which should lead.
After a century of tribal wars, the crafty Tezozomoc
(tez-zo-ZO-mok)
destroyed most of his cousins. One
king, knowing he was about to be murdered, hid his teenage son,
Nezahualcoyotl
(net-za-wahl-KOY--otl), in the nearby bushes.
By trickery and murder, Tezozomoc ruled most of Mexico for
sixty-three
years, and finally died at age one hundred.
His empire splintered into three parts; Nezahualcoyotl
became the most
important of the three kings.
Nezahualcoyotl (whose name means "hungry coyote") was a
great
builder. And he
planted vast flower
gardens. He gave
his people a set
of strict, but orderly, laws. For
instance, he protected trees with a death penalty against cutting one
down.
Nezahualcoyotl attracted a large group of poets to his
court.
But he is best known for the poems he wrote, himself.
He voiced the mood of an old and decaying civilization. The Spaniards arrived in
Mexico almost fifty years after his
death, but wherever they went, they heard people quoting the poems of
Nezahualcoyotl. Sixty
of his poems
were written down. Here
are two of
them:
TWO
SONGS BY NEZAHUALCOYOTL
POEM
I
The
fleeting pomps* of the world are like the green willow trees, which,
aspiring+
to permanence, are consumed by fire, fall before the ax, are upturned
by the
wind, or are scarred and saddened by age.
The
grandeurs of life are like the flowers in color and in fate; the beauty
of these
remains so long as their chaste# buds gather and store the rich pearls
of the
dawn and saving it, drop it in liquid dew; but scarcely has the Cause
of All
directed upon them the full rays of the sun, when their beauty and
glory fail,
and the brilliant gay colors which decked forth their pride wither and
fade.
The
delicious realms of flowers count their dynasties by short periods;
those which
in the morning revel@ proudly in beauty and strength, by evening weep
for the
sad destruction of their thrones, and for the mishaps which drive them
to loss,
to poverty, to death and to the grave.
All
things of earth have an end, and in the midst of the most
joyous lives, the breath falters. they fall, they sink
into the ground.
All
the earth is a grave, and naught* escapes it; nothing is so perfect
that it does
not fall and disappear.
The
rivers, brooks, fountains and waters flow on, and never return to their
joyous
beginnings; they hasten on to the vast realms of Tlaloc,+ and the wider
they
spread between their marges# the more rapidly do they mold their own
sepulchral
urns.@
That
which was yesterday is not today; and let not that which is today trust
to live
tomorrow.
The
caverns of the earth are filled with pestilentially dust which once was
the
bones, the flesh, the bodies of great ones who sat upon thrones,
deciding
causes, ruling assemblies, governing armies, conquering provinces,
possessing
treasures, tearing down temples, flattering themselves with pride,
majesty,
fortune, praise and dominion.
These
glories have passed like the dark smoke thrown out by the fires of
Popocatepetl,*
leaving no monuments but the rude skins+ on which they are written.
Ha!
ha! Were I to introduce you into the obscure bowels of this temple, and
were to
ask you which of these bones were those of the powerful
Achalchiuhtlanextin,#
first chief of the ancient Toltecs; of Necazecmitl, devout worshiper of
the
gods; if I inquire where is the peerless beauty of the glorious empress
Xiuhtzal,@
where the peaceable Topiltzin,* last monarch of the hapless land of
Tula; if I
ask you where are the sacred ashes of our first father Xolotl; those of
the
bounteous Nopal+ those of the generous Tlotzin; or even the still warm
cinders
of my glorious and immortal, though unhappy and luckless father
Ixtlilxochitl;#
if I continued thus questioning about all our august@ ancestors, what
would you
reply?
The
same that I reply--I know not, I know not; for the first and last are
confounded* in the common clay.
What
was their fate shall be ours, and of all who follow us.
Unconquered
princes, warlike chieftains, let us seek, let us sigh for the heaven,
for there
all is eternal, and nothing is corruptible,
The
darkness of the sepulchre+ is but the strengthening couch
for the glorious sun, and the obscurity of the night but
serves to reveal
the brilliancy of the stars.
No
one has power to alter these heavenly lights, for they serve to display
the
greatness of their Creator, and as our eyes see them now, so saw them
our
earliest ancestors, and so shall see them our latest posterity.#
*passing
splendors
+reaching
#pure
@rejoice
*nothing
+rain
god
#banks
@the
big go fastest
*a
volcano
+parchments
#4
Toltec rulers
@(SHWEE-tzal)
*(toe-PIL-tzin)
+4
Aztec rulers
#(ish-tlil-SHO-chitl)
@exalted
*mixed
+grave
#descendants
POEM
II
the
riches of this world are only lent to us
the
things that are so good to enjoy we do not own
the
sun pours down gold
fountains
pour out green water
colors
touch us like fingers
of
green quetzal@ wings
none
of this can we own for more than a day
none
of these beautiful things can we keep for more than an hour
one
thing alone we can own forever
the
memory of the just
the
remembrance of a good act
the
good remembrance of a just man
this
one thing alone will never be taken away from us
will
never die
@a
tropical bird
Not all poetry was so lofty.
An
unknown father has left this practical advice for his son:
AZTEC
FATHER TO SON
Do
not throw yourself at a woman
as
a dog does before the man who will give him food.
Do
not behave like a dog
when
it eats and drinks anything that is given to it,
by
giving yourself to women before your time.
Though
you may have an appetite for women,
resist,
resist with your heart
until
you are a man, perfect and strong,
You
see how the maguey cactus, if they open it when it is too small to take
the
honey from it,
lacks
all substance
and
yields no honey, but is spoiled.
Before
they open it
to
extract the honey,
they
must allow it to grow and come to perfection,
and
then they collect the honey
at
a suitable moment.
In
the same way should you,
before
going to a woman,
grow
and become polished
and
a perfect* man.
Then
you shall be capable of marriage
and
shall bring forth tall sons,
strong,
agile, and handsome.
*spiritually
developed
#4
THE
FALL OF MONTEZUMA
One by one, the Aztecs destroyed their neighbors.
During a long drought, King Montezuma I (mon-te-ZOO-ma)
seized the lush
tropic lands to the south. Like
lightning, his organized soldiers would strike an unsuspecting city.
They brought the prisoners back to sacrifice to their
bloodthirsty gods.
They also brought back flowers from every part of Mexico
for Montezuma's
botanical gardens.
A few years later, Ahuitzotl (ah-HWEET-zotl) became
emperor.
He multiplied the sacrifices on a scale unheard of before.
For the dedication of just one temple, he sacrificed over
twenty thousand
prisoners in four days. That is why the conquered people hated the
Aztecs.
But the sacrifices meant more than just brutality.
Blood represented the beautiful flower springing up from
the body; it was
the nectar of the gods. The
mingling of beauty, brutality, and reverence can be felt in the
following song.
from
THE FEAST OF THE GREAT GOD TEZCATLIPOCA
In
the fifth month was the great feast
the
feast of Tezcatlipoca
At
this feast died the youth the fair
youth
the young man without
blemish
who
for one year had lived as the god
For
he who was chosen
from
among the most select of captives
from
among say the ten most fair of body and good
to
look upon
he
who was chosen to be the god
was
slain on this day
And
on this same day a new impersonator of the god
who
again would live for one year
was
offered to the people...
He
who was thus without flaw
with
no defects no
blemishes
no moles no
scars
or wrinkles on his body
he
then was taught to play the flute
taught
music and graces
taught
to smoke gracefully the pipe
taught
to carry gracefully flowers and
enjoy
gracefully their scent
also
his guardian taught him grace in
discourse+
that
he might talk graciously
converse
well
talk
agreeably with any he met
with
his flute his smoking tube his
flowers
he walked the streets
much
honored
honored
as our lord
treated
by all as our lord the great god
entreated
with sighs for favors
before
him the people bowed and
kissed
with reverence the earth
If
at any time his body became even a little fat they
gave
him brine to drink
so
that he became thin
lean
and hard and firm
For
one year he lived thus
he went about playing music
following whatever way he wished
by day or by night
eight
young men were given him as companions
four shorn as slaves
four crowned warriors
and
Montezuma himself adorned the young man
arrayed# him as the god
ornamented him
in great pomp with costly
articles in all truth
arrayed like the beloved god himself...
Then
when
the feast of the month of Toxcatl
the
feast of the great god Tezcatlipoca was
drawing
near approaching
him
coming toward him...
during
this time he began to scatter here
and
there
drop
and throw aside
the
ornaments that adorned him
and
at this time his hair
was
shorn about his forehead
tufted
in a warlock at his forehead and to the long hair
down
his back were tied red thongs with single feathers of the quetzal...
Now
with his companions his pages
he
arrived at the temple of Tlacochcalco
and
by himself
of
his own free will
ascended
its steps
at the first step he stopped and broke
his flute
his music stopped
at another step he broke and threw down
his smoking tube
at each step
he broke and scattered the belongings
left to him
until
at the summit@ of the steps nothing
was left to him nothing
and there
at the summit of the temple steps
the priests fell upon him
they threw him on his back upon
the stone
they cut open his breast tore out
his heart and raised it to the sun
in offering
later his severed* head was
impaled upon the skull rack
Thus
he ended his life
in
the adornment of death so is betokened+ our life on earth
For
whoever rejoices in possessions and
prosperity
sweet
things and riches
ends
in nothing and in misery
For
says the god himself
Tezcatlipoca
"No
one takes with him into death
the
good things of life."
*(tez-kot-lee-PO-ka)
the war god.
+conversation
#dressed
*cut
off
+represented
#5
Clarification:
the Incas called their
king The Inca.
from
OLLANTAY
YMA
SUMAC: My mother . . .
An
enemy has chained her.
She
will be choked with streams
Flowing
with her blood.
THE
INCA:
Who is this tyrant?*
Rise!
Ollantay!
See thou to this.
OLLANTAY:
Come, child, let us go.
Who
has hurt thy mother?
YMA
SUMAC: Thou shalt not go,
The
Inca must see.
He
it is who knows her,
While
you do not.
Inca
rise up quickly.
Would
you find my mother
Lying
dead? Listen,
And
come to her....
THE
INCA:
Let us all go together.
When
we were full of joy,
This
child came to rend+ my heart ....
(They
go to the convent, where the king's mother, Caca Mama, is in charge. She tries to stop them,
but the girl throws the dungeon door
open, revealing her mother, who has fainted.)
THE
INCA: What
rock-hewn cave is this?
Who
is this woman?
What
means all this?
What
tyrant has thus chained her?
Where
was the heart of The Inca?
Come
here, Caca Mama!
What
comes? Is it a rock#
Hast
thou turned her to a ghost,
That
poor woman?
CACA
MAMA: Thy father
ordered it,
He
willed it for her disobedience.
THE
INCA:
Begone! Begone!
Caca Mama,
Turn
out this jaguar,
This
puma, this serpent;
Never
let me see her more.
Let
that wretch escape,
Break
down that wall,
Turn
over that stony rock,
Dismiss
that traitress,
Do
not make her stumble.
This
is the secret place;
A
woman living as a bat,
The
child has brought it to light.
(The
girl sprinkles water on the fainted woman.)
WOMAN:
Where am I? Who
are these?
Yma
Sumac! my child!
Come
to me, my dove!
Whence@
come these men?
Who
are all these I see?
What
vision is before my eyes?
A
man wearing the crown!
What
can it mean?
I
see lights darting;
My
life is overturned.
YMA
SUMAC: Fear not, my mother,
The
sole Inca has come to thee.
The
great Yupanqui* is here.
Speak,--do
not sleep.+
THE
INCA:
My heart is torn
At
sight of such misery..
Rest,
woman. Then tell me
Who
art thou? Say,
child,
What
is the name of thy mother? . . .
YMA
SUMAC: Cusi Coyllur
is her name.
THE
INCA:
You seem to be mistaken in
That
name. She# is gone
Where
she has happiness.@
OLLANTAY:
O great Inca Yupanqui,
That
Princess is my wife.
(He
kneels at The Inca's feet.)
THE
INCA: It
all seems a dream,
This
newly found joy,
This
woman is Cusi Coyllur!
Here
at my right hand,
Cusi
Coyllur, my sister!
Cusi
Coyllur, my dove!
Come
here, and embrace me.
See
now thou art delivered,
Thou
hast found thy brother,
My
bosom will be thy home,
Thy
resting-place shall be secure,
Thy
life shall be joyful.
(He
hugs her and seats her beside him.)
CUSI
COY.: Oh my brother! now thou knowest
The
torments I suffered
For
so many years.
Thou
hast set me free;
It
is thou that hast loosened me,
Thou
hast dug me out . . .
THE
INCA:
If this woman* was thy mother
Yet
she ought to die.
Thy
face is withered,
Thy
beauty is gone for ever,
Thy
chin is turned black,
Thy
nose is like a cold potato,
Thy
looks are as death,
Thy
neck is withered.
OLLANTAY:
Cusi Coyllur, I lost thee,
Thou
wast first hidden from me,
But
now thou art brought to life,
And
thy father could do this!
He
should have killed us both!
I
would not be left alone,
My
whole heart is torn.
Cusi
Coyllur, where is thy joy?
Where
are thine eyes like stars?
Where
is all thy beauty?
Art
thou an accursed daughter?
CUSI
COY.:
Alas! Ollantay, for tan years
A
prison has separated us;
But
now we are joined again,
And
there is life! As
many years
Of
joy you will count
As
the great Inca shall live.
With
this new life
You
will count more years. . . .
THE
INCA:
Ollantay, here is thy wife,
Here,
too, is thy daughter,
In
a new union;
Count
it so, from this day. . . .
Do
not be afflicted,
Live
happily with thy joy;
Now
thy wife is in thy hand,
And
thy life is full of joy.
*the
imprisoner
+tear
#"Caca"
means "rock"
@from
where
*the
king's name
+faint
#the
missing princess
@to
death
*Caca
Mama
#6
HOW
LOVE AND JEALOUSY DESTROYED AN EMPIRE
The Incas ruled Peru.
Emperor
Huaina Capac (WHY-na KAH-pak) also conquered the kingdom of Ecuador.
The Ecuadorian king died in battle, but Huaina Capac fell
in love with
his proud fierce daughter, Princess Pacchas.
They had a son named Atahualpa (ah-ta-WALL-pa).
Huaina Capac already had sons by his dull religious
sister-wife back in
Peru. But Atahualpa
grew to be as
spirited as his mother, and his father loved him dearly.
Huaina Capac spent most of his time in Ecuador.
The Incas worshiped the sun by blowing kisses to it, and
offering
butterflies and flowers. Through
the influence of Princess Pacchas, Huaina Capac began to doubt that the
sun
ruled the universe--that some greater force regulated the sun's steady
movement.
The Peruvian priests tried to hush up these doubts, but
the people became
afraid. They felt
their beliefs
falling apart at the very core. Atahualpa
had little use for his father's ideas of religion, or for sun-worship.
Huaina Capac realized that he had overextended his
empire--that even he,
the great conqueror, could barely govern it.
He knew that his simple legitimate son could never hold it
all together.
So he left Peru to his legitimate son, and Ecuador to
Atahualpa.
The description of Huaina Capac's death comes from the
official Inca
history by Garcilaso de la Vega (gar-see-LAH-so).
The historian's mother was Huaina Capac's niece; his
father was one of
the Spanish conquistadors. Garcilaso
eventually became a Christian priest at Cordova, Spain, where he wrote
down the
history he had been taught as a boy.
from
ROYAL COMMENTARIES OF THE INCAS by Garcilaso
One
day, as Huaina Capac was coming out of a lake in which he had just
bathed, near
Quito, he was suddenly seized with a sensation of chill, which was
followed by
one of intense heat. His
condition grew worse and worse and, after a few days, he
realized that the predictions concerning his death were about to come
true. . .
The
king, therefore, summoned his sons, his relatives and all the governors
and
captains who could reach the palace in time, and he spoke to them as
follows:
"Know
ye," he said, "that the moment has come when I must go and rest beside
our father the Sun. Already,
a long
time ago, he made it known to me that he would call me from a lake or
from a
river. The
indisposition with which
I was seized upon leaving the water is therefore a sign which I cannot
mistake.
When I am dead, cut my body open; take my heart and my
entrails and bury
them in the city of Quito* that I have so dearly cherished; and take my
body to
Cuzco+ to lie beside those of my forefathers.
I commend to you my beloved son, Atahualpa.
May he reign in my stead over the kingdom of Quito and
over all the lands
that he succeeds in conquering; and you, captains of my army, you shall
serve
him with the love and loyalty that you owe to your king; obey him in
all things,
because all that he will ask of you, it is I who shall have revealed it
to him,
on orders from our father the Sun."
These
were the last words that Huaina Capac addressed to his sons and
relatives.
He then had all his other captains and curacas# summoned,
all those who
were not of royal blood. After
making the same recommendations to them, he concluded as follows:
"Our
father the Sun disclosed to us a long time ago that we should be twelve
Incas,@
his own sons, to reign on this earth; and that then, new, hitherto
unknown
people would arrive; that they would obtain victory and subject all of
our
kingdoms to their Empire, as well as many other lands.
I think that the people* who came recently by sea to our
own shores are
the ones referred to. They
are
strong, powerful men, who will outstrip you in everything.
The reign of the twelve+ Incas ends with me.
I can therefore certify to you that these people will
return shortly
after I shall have left you, and that they will accomplish what our
father the
Sun predicted they would: they will conquer our empire, and they will
become its
only lords. I order
you to obey and
serve them, as one should serve those who are superior in every way;
because
their law will be better than ours, and their weapons will be more
powerful and
invincible than yours. Dwell
in
peace; my father the Sun is calling me, I shall go now to rest at his
side."
*capital
of Ecuador
+capital
of Peru
#officials
@kings
*Spaniards
+thirteen.
They tried to forget about one.
Atahualpa's jealous brother would not accept this division.
He ordered Atahualpa to come bow down before him as ruler
over the
greater half. Atahualpa
suspected
an assassination trap. So
he sent
huge convoys of gift-bearers ahead of him, with orders to march slowly
until he
caught up. Thus he
entered Cuzco at
the head of a large army. By
his
cleverness, Atahualpa finally won the civil war which lasted six
dreadful years.
When the Spaniards arrived, they found a weak empire
haunted by religious
doubts and exhausted from civil war.
The
Spanish leader was Pizarro (pee-THAH-ro), an aging
pigfarmer-turned-adventurer.
Many Indians thought Huaina Capac's gods had come.
Seeing the bits in the horses' mouths, they mistakenly
assumed that the
animals ate iron. Pizarro
quickly
slipped on his silver bridle and insisted his horse ate only silver.
Atahualpa had doubts about these visitors, but he did
agree to meet with
them for a discussion of religion.
The
Christian priest threatened and screamed about the Trinity, the Pope,
Adam,
Pharaoh, Jesus, and the king of Spain.
Atahualpa
logically and carefully sorted out these arguments, and concluded that
these
visitors were no gods--and that their beliefs were vicious.
The insulted priest gave the order to fire, and 160 hidden
Spanish
gunners murdered three thousand unarmed Indian leaders.
Here is how Garcilaso continues his history:
King
Atahualpa understood from the priest's peroration that the Pope had
ordered, and
that the Emperor desired him to give up his kingdoms willy-nilly: that
he would
be compelled to do so by fire, sword, and bloodshed; and that, like
Pharaoh, he
would be exterminated with all his army.
From
this he concluded that these guests whom he and his people called
Viracochas,
considering them as gods, had been transformed into mortal enemies of
his people
and of his line, since they had nothing but these cruel, pitiless
things to say
to him. And he felt
so sad and so
distressed that he could not refrain from uttering out loud the word "Atac!"
which means, alas! Finally,
rising
above his sorrow, and restraining as best he could the passions that
racked his
soul, he, in turn, took the floor and spoke as follows: "Despite the
fact
that you have refused me all the other things I asked of your
emissaries, it
would at least have given me great pleasure if you had consented to
speak to me
through a more learned, more accurate, more experienced
interpreter than the
one you have; because you must know the incomparable value that words
take on
for anyone who wants to learn about the customs and the civil and
political life
of another people; indeed, you might be endowed with the greatest
virtues, and
it would be difficult for me to appreciate this through what I can see
and
understand, so long as you do not express yourselves.
And how much more pressing still this necessity becomes
when
the encounter takes place between persons who come from regions that
are so
remote from one another as ours are.
In
reality, if such persons attempt to speak and negotiate through the
intermediary
of interpreters who know neither language, then they might as well
choose a
four-footed go-between, among their own cattle! I say this, man of God,
because
I surmise that your words are quite different from those spoken by this
Indian;
indeed the very reason for our meeting is evidence of this fact.
We are here to discuss peace, friendship, and permanent
brotherhood, even
an alliance between our two bloods, as was stated by your first
emissaries when
they came to call on me. And
these
words have a different sound from those your interpreter has just
spoken; for he
only speaks of war and death, of fire and sword, of banishment and
destruction,
of extinction of the royal blood of the Incas, of alienation of my
kingdom, and,
whether I will or no, of my vassalage to someone whom I do not even
know. From all of
this, I can only conclude two things: either your
prince and you yourselves are but tyrants who go about ravaging and
destroying
everything they encounter in the world, appropriating by force kingdoms
to which
they have no right, killing, robbing, despoiling those who owe them
nothing and
have done them no harm; or else you are the ministers of God, whom we
call
Pachacamac, and He has designated you to punish and destroy us.
If this be so, my vassals and I accept death and whatever
else you may
choose to do with us, not at all through fear inspired by your weapons
or your
threats, but in order that the last wishes of my father, Huaina Capac,
may be
fulfilled; for he commanded us, on his deathbed, to serve and
honor the
bearded men, like yourselves, who would come to this land after he had
left it.
For many years he had known that these men were cruising
in their ships
along the coast of our Empire; and he told us that their laws and their
customs,
their science, and their bravery were greater than our own. This is why we called you
Viracochas, meaning by this that
you were the messengers of the great god Viracocha: his will
and his
indignation could not be other than just, and who could resist the
power of his
arms? But he is
also full of pity
and mercy, and therefore you, who are his messengers and ministers, you
who are
not human, but divine, you cannot allow a repetition of the crimes, the
robberies, and all the other cruelty that was perpetrated in Tumbez and
in the
other regions you came through.
"In
addition to this, your herald spoke to me of five well-known men, whom
I should
know about. The
first is the god
three and one which make four [the trinity], whom you call the creator
of the
universe; no doubt he is the same as the one we call Pachacamac and
Viracocha.
The second is the one whom you say is the father of the
human species,
upon whom all other men have laid their sins [Adam].
You call the third one Jesus Christ, who did not burden
his fellow men
with his sins, as all other men did, but who was killed.
The fourth, you call the
Pope, and the fifth, Charles [king
of Spain]. Without
taking the
others into consideration, you call this latter the all-powerful
sovereign of
the universe and say that he is above everybody else.
But then, if this Charles is the prince and lord of the
entire world, how
is it that the Pope should have had to grant him permission to make war
upon me
and usurp my kingdoms? And if this was necessary, this means that the
Pope is a
greater, more powerful lord than he is, and therefore the prince of the
entire
universe. I am
surprised that I
should have to pay tribute to Charles and not to the others; you give
no reason
for this, and I myself do not see any that would oblige me to do so.
Because, if I were obliged, quite frankly, to pay service
and tribute to
someone, it seems to me that it would rather be to God who, as you say,
created
us all, and to that first man who was the father of all other men, and
to Jesus
Christ, who never burdened others with his sins, and, lastly, to the
Pope, who
can dispose of my person and of my kingdom, to assign them to others.
But if you say that I owe nothing to any one of
these three, it seems
to me that I owe even less to Charles, who was never lord of this land,
and has
never even seen it....
"Lastly,
to come back to that eminent man, Jesus Christ, who refused to burden
others
with his sins, I should like to know how he died: was it from sickness,
or at
the hands of his enemies? And
was
he set among the gods before or after his death?
I should like to know whether or not you consider as gods
these five men
whom you hold up to me, and whom you so venerate.
For if this be the case, then you have more gods than we
have, for we
worship no god other than Pachacamac, who is our supreme God,
after whom we
worship the Sun, whose bride and sister is the Moon.
"This
then is why I should appreciate it exceedingly if a better interpreter
would
kindly explain these things to me, in order that I might understand
them, and
conform to your will."
But
the Spaniards, who had grown impatient during this long speech,
suddenly sprang
from their hiding places and attacked the Indians in order to rob them
of their
handsome gold jewels encrusted with precious stones which they were
wearing for
this solemn occasion.
#7
A
NAVAJO PRAYER
On
the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With
grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With
dew about my feet may I walk
With
beauty before me may I walk
With
beauty behind me may I walk
With
beauty above me may I walk
With
beauty under me may I walk
With
beauty all around me may I walk
In
my old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk,
In
old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
It
is finished in beauty.
SONG
OF THE SKY LOOM (Tewa)
O
our Mother the Earth, O our Father the Sky,
Your
children are we, and with tired backs
We
bring you the gifts you love.
Then
weave for us a garment of brightness;
May
the warp* be the white light of morning,
* lengthwise threads
May
the weft+ be the red light of evening,
+
cross threads
May
the fringes be the failing rain,
May
the border be the standing rainbow.
Thus
weave for us a garment of brightness,
That
we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That
we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
O
our Mother the Earth, O our Father the Sky.
SMOHALLA
SPEAKS (Nez Perces)
My
young men shall never work. Men
who work cannot dream, and wisdom comes in dreams.
You
ask me to plow the ground. Shall
I take a knife and tear my mother's breast?
Then when I die she will not take me to her bosom to rest.
You
ask me to dig for stone. Shall
I dig under her skin for bones? Then
when I die I cannot enter her body to be born again.
You
ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it, and be rich like white
men.
But how dare I cut off my mother's hair?
It
is a bad law, and my people cannot obey it.
I want my people to stay with me here.
All the dead men will come to life again.
We must wait here in the house of our fathers and be ready
to meet them
in the body of our mother.
SURRENDER
SPEECH OF CHIEF JOSEPH (Nez Perces)
I
am tired of fighting. Our
chiefs
are killed. Looking
Glass is dead.
Toohulhulsote is dead.
The
old men are all dead. It
is the
young men who say no and yes. He
who led the young men is dead. It
is cold and we have no blankets. The
little children are freezing to death.
My
people, some of them, have run away to the hills and have no blankets,
no food. No one
knows where they are--perhaps they are freezing to
death. I want to
have time to look
for my children and see how many of them I can find.
Maybe I shall find them among the dead
Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired.
My heart is sad and sick.
From
where the sun now stands I will fight I no more forever.
WARRIOR
SONG (Omaha)
I
shall vanish and be no more,
But
the land over which I now roam
Shall
remain
And
change not.