#aph huastec

[aphmexphil]

Based on this art meme from pixiv :) I’ve been wanting to do something with my Teenek (Huastec) oc since I haven’t and still haven’t done anything with her ;x; I’m still trying to learn more but I wasn’t able to find much about them because regrettably they often get ignored in the official Mexican historiography (even in the Huasteca region which is NAMED after them) who are more interested in the Nahua (or more accurately the Mexica). 

Unfortunately, I think this can be said for the other indigenous peoples of Mexico where if they’re “lucky” they play a secondary role in historical and cultural narrative of Mexico otherwise...eughh...

[aphmexphil]

A rough design for my Huastec (Téenek oc) I’m still working on her but so far I really like the name Toxíl for her! The Téenek  or (more popularly known) as Huastecs are an indigenous Mayan speaking peoples located in the ‘La Huasteca’ a cultural and geographical region located along the gulf of Mexico. The largest populations are located in S.L.P, Veracruz, and Tamaulipas respectively.

One of the cool facts about them is that they are the northernmost Mayan speaking peoples, and their language forms a separate branch in the Mayan language family.

I based her pre-colonial appearance on Huastec pottery, particularly this one.  Even so I had a bit of trouble figuring out what was what >.> especially the ears and the cap(? are they gages or ear spools? is that a hat or something else? 

Huastecs tended to be naked in most of the depictions I’ve seen of them but I was really worried that tumblr will flag it -_- plus I tend to be really bashful showing full nudity. 

Either way it’s not really inaccurate I guess since some figurines showed the women in skirts and that’s what I decided to go with.