The Mixtec Culture - Essay Example

Introduction The Mixtec people are a Mexican indigenous group who were found in Oaxaca, Puebla, and Guerrero during the pre-Hispanic era, and were once a very important group of Mesoamerica. The Mixtec were famous for their expertise in major artworks in the period 800 to 1521 AD. The Mixtec is made up of three different people: the highland Mixtec (Mixteca Alta) who occupy the west of Oaxaca and northeast Guerrero, and the lowland Mixtec (Mixteca Baja) who occupy Oaxaca in the northwest and southwest Puebla, and finally the coastal Mixtec who live in South Guerrero and the pacific slope Oaxaca in the South. The three constituent groups make up what is today known as the Mixteca region. Today, the Mixtec number approximately eight-hundred thousand in Mexico only, and have massive populations in the US. Today, their lives are different from the historic times, negatively different to be specific, a phenomenon mostly blamed on the European invasion of their land. This study will discuss their ancient and current cultures, their origin, religion, conflict with the Europeans, how colonialism influenced them negatively, up to how it still affects them today. The ancient Mixtec Origin There is no definite history of the Mixtec, but the furthest that archaeology can trace their history is in the valley of Oaxaca, which was home to three major language groups: the Zapotecs, Nahus, and the Mixtec. History has it that the Zapotecs dominated the valley, while the other two occupied the centre of the valley, although some Mixtecs lived beyond the valley in the west. According to (Kevin & Sousa 7), the Mixtec presence in Oaxaca is traceable to three full centuries before the invasion of Spanish conquest, in the 14th century, seemingly through intermarriage with the Zapotecs. Terraciano explains that a Mixtec lord got into marriage with a Zapotec maiden, and they were given the Culiacan population as a gift after the marriage. This was a contributing factor to the emergence and growth of the Mixtec population in the valley of Oaxaca. Before this event, the two would meet in trading gold and other commodities. However, after the two began co-existing, the Mixtec invaded and took over the Zapotecs’ capital, bringing back the rivalry between them though it was not long before the Zapotecs got their land and city back. Writing The Mixtecs in the early colonial and post-classic periods had an invention of their own writing that was pictographic. They painted on deerskin, paper and cloth before the Spanish conquest came in with their own dictatorial that the images be directed to Spanish officials. This forced the Mixtecs to come up with multicultural forms of communicating to both the indigenous natives and Spanish aliens. To write on the deer hide and paper made from fig tree barks, the Mixtec would apply gesso paste or lime plaster on two surfaces to create the smooth writing surface then sewed them together to form a screenfold manuscript. Such manuscripts could fold back over the other, allowing the two surfaces to be viewed individually. On average, a folded manuscript was the size of a book but after stretching, was about ten metres in full size. These forms of picturesque writings are referred to as codices. The writings usually featured three styles of expression: direct representation of images (logograms and ideograms), phonetic transcription (use of symbols to represent words), and conventional imagery (the use of images to pass an idea or word without using language). All these forms of writing applied throughout Mesoamerica, and were usually meant for public use as they mostly carried information concerning recitations and public performance guides such as music, dances, songs, and drama performances (Terraciano 15-16). The Mesoamerican calendar The Mixtecs had a sacred calendar similar to the other Mesoamerican cultures whose scared calendars had two-hundred and sixty days. This ritual calendar was called the Tzolkin and used to tell the day. In their calendar, a day is made up of a number (coefficient) that ranges from one to thirteen, combined with a sign (glyphs). In addition to the sacred calendar, they had a 365-day solar calendar that used the sun to spell the date by referring to an annual agricultural repetitive cycle. The annual agricultural cycle had eighteen months, each with twenty days. This calendar was known as the Haab calendar and used to tell the year (Williams 39 & 40). Mixtec beliefs and religious practices The Mixtec religion is complex and animalistic because it is a religion associated with spirits and forces rather than idols or gods. It places much emphasis on spirits and natural forces, reverence of the dead, and the cycle of life and death, believing that through certain acts and observances, they can influence nature. The ancient Mixtecs gave special respect and attention to natural features such as water bodies, plants, mountains, heavenly bodies, and the skies. In addition, they charge other aspects of life such as the days of the week with supernatural perceptions. Some animals too, such as serpents, cats, and eagles had special spiritual attributions. It was also common to have certain special areas of their land set aside for the spirits and the dead. Their writings also applied in religion in that they had symbols and images to represent certain aspects of religion. In real life, they would worship their natural forces that they would represent by wood and stone carvings and creations. They would also play and dance to musical instruments to show devotion to them. So intense was their devotion to the images and beliefs that they would even give sacrifices in the form of blood, birds, and even human hearts, meaning they practiced human sacrifice. All the activities in religion had their specific practitioners perform them. There were shamans, diviners, and curers, who took charge despite of their genders: men and women could perform them (Angelfire). Political organization The ancient Mixtecs originally had organized political kingdoms called kingdoms, which had kings as the supreme leaders. Wars, alliances, and marriages were the means of communication between the kingdoms. The political climax of the kingdoms came when Mixtecs succeeded in expanding their land towards Oaxaca’s central valley. This made the Aztec empire to become threats to the inhabitants of Southern Mexico. The Aztecs initiated many battles, and in the early 1450’s were able to conquer the Mixtecs and rule over them until 1521 when the Spanish arrived to begin the conquest (Multicultural Topics). Effects of colonialism The Spanish conquest of the valley led by one Hernan Cortes was the beginning of change for the Mixtecs. The Spanish did not use much force in their conquest because the people of Oaxaca, especially the Aztecs believed they were gods, giving them all they wanted. However, a time came when the natives were suspicious of them and had to expel them that resulted in fierce battles. Owing to their technological advantages and the use of firearms and hoofed animals, the Spanish conquered and ruled over the people of the valley, during which period they influenced much of their traditions and culture. Ever since, the Mixtecs never got back to their old ways, it was an irreversible change experienced up to date. Introduction of epidemic diseases Before the Europeans invaded Mexico, the natives did not experience any serious epidemic illnesses. However, the aliens brought with them devastating waves of new diseases that claimed the lives of many Mesoamericans, largely causing a reduction in their population. The new diseases introduced by the Europeans include malaria, small pox, black plague, yellow fever, influenza, and a wide variety of childhood illnesses. History has it that the diseases had only been so intense that in a century’s time, only a sixth of the original population remained alive. This is roughly between eighty to ninety percent of the total population gone. This is because the natives did not have prior exposure to the diseases so they did not have any immunities or cure for them. The Europeans could somehow put up with the diseases because they had been to other continents such as Asia and Africa thus had developed some resistance and immunity to the diseases. In the Mixteca alone, the effects of the disease were so devastating that from the conquest until the period of the 1900’s their population did not equal to what it was before the European invasion (Wright 127). Interference with religion Although converting the Mesoamericans to Christians was not the main aim of the conquest, the Europeans eventually influenced the Mixtecs’ religion. After the established strong grasps of the rule, they would perform public conversions of the Indians to Christians, which to them was a breaching of religious culture. They did this by converting their religious rulers, either forcefully or willingly then made them convert their audiences as well (Hassig 177). This meant interference with the original religious beliefs of the Mixtecs because some embraced the new wave or religion whereas others were against it, resulting in division of religion. Forced labor After the Spaniards captured most of the Mixteca territory, they settled there and began their exploration. The land was rich in minerals such as gold and silver. In addition, the geographical positioning of the land favored agriculture. These factors made the Spaniards to initiate mining and farming, and to worsen matters, began enforcing labor on the natives. They turned them into slaves and did not pay them for their labor, rather, they mistreated by overworking them leading to many deaths. In addition to the slavery, the wave of epidemic diseases further weakened the Indian workers. The Spaniards did not care whether the Indians were dying but got new ones every time they needed to increase or sustain their workforce when some slaves died. In addition, they came to a point when they termed the natives as weak slaves and decided to import slaves from Africa into Mixteca. This not only affected the quality of the natives, but also led to increased population since they imported large numbers of African slaves to work in their mines and plantations. The overall result of these actions was a reduction of the population by up to eighty percent (Discovering Bristol.org). Destruction of the Aztec Empire Before the conquest, the Aztec empire was the mightiest kingdom in the whole of the Mesoamerican territory with an estimated population of three-hundred thousand. When the Europeans (Spaniards) invaded them, they first created divisions within the natives and turned some of them against the kingdom. They also ruled the wider population by hijacking their leaders and then dictating their rules through them. When it came to battle, the Spaniards led by Cortes had advantages in terms of power as they had firearms and came riding on horses, which the natives did not have. Thus, it was easier to kill in large numbers. In addition to the diseases and forced labor, the Mixteca population almost became extinct. The Spaniard’s mining and agriculture was intense and by use of advanced technologies and the availability of free labor, they drained the territory of minerals and left the soil unsuitable for agricultural purposes. On the structures of government, their interference splits them, leaving the natives without any stable systems of rule. By combining all these negativities brought by the Europeans, the Mixteca was left poor and less able to support its population like it had been before the conquest, leading to the collapse of a once mighty kingdom. Modern day Mixtecs and the negative effects of colonialism The devastating effects of the colonialism era on the Mixtecs linger today. For one, their land is not able to produce enough food to sustain them. This is because the colonialists overused their productive agricultural land, leaving poor land behind. In addition, the many years of battle led using artillery and hoofed animals left their land trampled, exposing the productive topsoil to erosion, which has carried away all productive soils. According to Mixteco.org, whatever little land remains can only produce twenty percent of their total food needs. This has several effects on the Mixtecs: one, they have to depend on external aid to survive, mostly from other Mixtecs who live in the better-off America. Two, the lack of survival means has made most of them to migrate from their native land to better parts of Mexico and the larger United States of America. It is estimated that there are only half a million Mixtecs alive today, with approximately a fifth of them living in the United States. The instability and primitivism of some of the remaining Mixtec pushes them to find any means of survival today. For instance in Ventura County alone, there is an estimated number of twenty-thousand Oaxacans living there, and they survive by concentrating on labor-intensive activities such as in agricultural plantations tending for cut flowers, raspberry, and strawberry farms. Mixteco.org further reveals that the most recent arrivals (immigrants) are challenged both linguistically and culturally, leading to them being isolated from the larger public. They are mostly illiterate, only able to communicate in their native languages. Such disadvantages expose them to effects similar to those of the colonial period: they face discrimination in terms of housing, labor, and general day-to-day activities. They live in poverty, lacking basic provisions including education, employment, and health care since they cannot communicate with people other than their own indigenous people. Conclusion For this discussion, there are three dominant phases in the history of the Mixteca, or people of the rain: they were once a very civilized and developed nation, the European invasion toppled them, and today, they have to struggle in order to survive. It is evident that their population is not the reason for their inability to produce enough food for survival but rather, it is because of the European invasion that saw the aliens overuse their land, deplete their minerals, and endanger their agricultural land by using hoofed animals on it. Concisely, European invasion is the reason behind the fall and the devastation of the Mixteca. Unlike in many nations where colonization brought civilization and development, the colonization of the Mixteca was the opposite: it crushed the nation. This is seemingly because by the time they left the nation, they had destroyed all their means of living, and being a small state, it was hard and now impossible to rise again. In addition, the effects of the conquest still haunt the community today in that their numbers did not resume their original sum, they have to vacate their land for greener pastures, and very few can survive in the modern world. In summary, the devastating effects of colonialism on the Mixtecs are just an example of the negative consequences that colonialism can inflict on a nation. Works Cited Angelfire. Mesoamerican Religions. (1997). Web. 4 December 2013. Discovering Bristol.org. The Spanish and Portuguese Empires. Web. 4 December 2013. Hassig, Ross. Mexico and the Spanish Conquest. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2006. Print. Kevin, Terraciano. “The Original Conquest of Oaxaca: Mixtec and Nahua History and Myth.” UCLA Historical Journal, 12. (1992). Web. 4 December 2013. Mixteco.org. Mixtecs in Venture County. (2013). Web. 4 December 2013. Multicultural Topics. Mixtec. Web. 4 December 2013. Terraciano, Kevin. The Mixtecs of Colonial Oaxaca: Ñudzahui History, Sixteenth Through Eighteenth Centuries. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 2004. Print. Williams, Robert. Lord Eight Wind of Suchixtlan and the Heroes of Ancient Oaxaca: Reading History in the Codex Zouche-Nuttall. University of Texas Press, 2010. Print. Wright, Angus L. The Death of Ramón González: The Modern Agricultural Dilemma. Austin, Tex: Univ. of Texas Press, 2005. Print. Read More