#mesoamertalia

[aphmexphil]

Praying in a makeshift chapel, Chichimecapan. Late 16th century.

[aphmexphil]

The altepetl (city-states) that made up the Triple-Alliance, nowadays most commonly known as the "Aztecs" though this label is of relatively recent origin and was never in use during their time.

From front to back: Texcoco, Tlacopan, and Tenochtitlan. Their human names are Noxochicoztli, Teoxihuitl, and Matlalihuitl respectively if anyone's curious ;v;

It's important to remember while all three spoke Nahuatl as their main language and shared the same religion, they didn't consider themselves as belonging to the same people. Texcoco was mainly inhabited by the Acolhua, and Tlacopan by the Tepaneca which while sister groups to the Mexica (who mainly inhabited Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco) they had a distinct history and identity which is beyond the scope of this post but I hope to go over in detail someday. I find a bit of a shame that both Texcoco and Tlacopan tend to be downplayed or ignored in favor of the Mexica when they also contributed a lot to the alliance.

Fun facts(?: the prestige dialect of Nahuatl that was spoken throughout the valley of Mexico at the time is based on the Texcocan dialect. Thought by both native and non-natives alike to the most refined and elegant manner of Nahuatl speech.

In the tributary system both Tenochtitlan and Texcoco would each receive 2/5 of tribute collected, while Tlacopan would receive the remaining 1/5.

[aphmexphil]

"The scouts have arrived, sir, and they report that both sides have stopped fighting...they say that, based on the rumors that have been floating around there...that it's likely they are considering joining forces with the newcomers."

[aphmexphil]

Some random rough sketches I did while I was bored. It was originally supposed to be focused on Guachichil and Tlaxcala but I got carried away and added Mex, Phil, and Cuba as children plus my other ocs ^^; The reason I wanted to focus on them was because I was remembering how the colonial government (frustrated at the costly and long running Chichimeca War) tried a new tactic, they hoped that by sending Christianized natives as colonists (most famously the Tlaxcaltecs, but other Nahua and various other indigenous peoples went) they would (in)directly “pacify” them, hoping that the nearby proximity would convince or influence the Guachichiles to convert to Christianity, make them settle down and live as subjects to the crown, and hoped that intermarriage between them (The Tlaxcaltecs in this case) and the Guachichiles would also help speed up the process of “civilizing” and assimilating them. From what I remember: intermarriage between the Tlaxcaltecs and the Guachichiles was uncommon if not rare. Most unions if any were informal. The Tlaxcaltecs did not want to risk losing the privileges associated with their identity, and found the Guachilchiles "primitive" and beneath them. I can imagine that there were also varied issues and tensions that also prevented closer contact between both groups.

(I took these photos a few years ago in front of the Temple of San Francisco in the capital of San Luis Potosí)

(The Church, you can’t really see it because of the trees, but to the left is the mentioned Presbyterian church.)

[aphmexphil]

I think I only posted this to Instagram only orz but I suppose there’s no harm in posting here as well! 

This is my Texcoco oc! Her name is Noxochicoztli (though I imagine her name upon baptism is Cristina) She represents the city-state (altepetl) of Texcoco, predominantly inhabited by the Acolhua (a Nahuatl speaking people and a sister culture to the Mexica) which was both a key player and a part of the Triple Alliance along with Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan.

(Mainly rambles as to her design below ^^;)

I had originally designed her wearing red lipstick since I read in some sources that it was popular for women to wear, but recently I read some other articles that stated that wearing lipstick was something that was frowned upon since the Nahua considered the mouth to have the potential to be erotic, and bringing attention to it (either by wearing lipstick, chewing gum in public (which among adult women only prostitutes did) or dyeing your teeth) was considered vulgar, though in others it states that it some women did wear lipstick, just stopped short of painting their teeth. Either way, I took it away to be on the safe side.

I’m not sure if it was colonial influence/meddling or if it was always controversial, like makeup is these days and seems to always have been.

Texcoco’s natural skin color is a lot darker but the fashionable shade of skin for women at the time was a yellow, and this was achieved by either using colored powders/ochre or a cream made with axin, which is a waxy substance made by drying, crushing, and cooking the bodies of fat producing insects. This yellow makeup was called Tecoçahuitl.

Her hair is also tinted since hair dyeing was very popular and it was made from the dye of local plants (indigo?) I based her clothing off of a figure of a noblewoman in the Codex Primeros Memoriales [b&w] [color]

[aphmexphil]

Cuna de la nación (Cradle of the Nation) - The state motto of Tlaxcala.⁣

⁣I've always wanted to go over the (complicated) relationship between Mexico and Tlaxcala, and hopefully I will once I get around to writing the dang thing...⁣

Especially with how extremely important (for better or worse) Tlaxcala was to the creation of what we now know as the modern day country of Mexico. In fact, to this day the inhabitants of Tlaxcala take great pride in that fact! ⁣

In my personal headcanon I imagine her to be 𝘰𝘯𝘦 of the many parents of Mexico. Though, with their relationship souring since independence (and only barely starting to recover) Mexico probably doesn't see her as much of a maternal figure these days orz

P.S. the reason why Mexico is in a gown is because of an old custom in which young boys between the ages of 2-8 were dressed in skirts and dresses during potty training years, the process of transitioning boys into pants was called, "Breeching" was a huge milestone for a boy and a cause for celebration.

[aphmexphil]

Tlaxcala (Centehua) and Nyo!Tlaxcala (Mazatl)

I wanted an excuse to mix different styles together, and to help me I based these drawings on a theme, the two being Corn and Mixcoatl: ⁣

The name, “Tlaxcallan” from which Tlaxcala is derived comes from Nahuatl meaning, “Land/Place of the (Corn) Tortillas”. Like what rice is to Asia, and wheat to Europe, corn was and for the most part still is THE staple crop for much of the Americas.

Mixcoatl, also known as Camaxtli in Tlaxcala and Huejotzinco, where he was their patron deity was the God of the Hunt, the Milky way, the stars and the heavens in general. He was also the father of Quetzalcoatl. ⁣ 

I added the deer as reference to both the hunter aspect of Camaxtli and nyo!Tlaxcala’s name (Deer in Nahuatl). 

For Centehua, I drew Cacahuazintle: an heirloom variety of white corn indigenous to the Central Valleys of Mexico that is used today mainly in making Pozole.

[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...