The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes

MEDICAL PRACTICE.

The Isthmians are a healthful and long-lived race. The ills most common to them are fevers and venereal disease. The latter, as Oviedo affirms, was introduced into Europe from Hayti, or Española, where it was prevalent as well as throughout Tierra Firme. This is a subject that has given rise to much contention among authors, but the balance of testimony seems to indicate that the venereal disease in Europe was not of American origin, although the disease probably existed in America before the coming of Europeans. The remedies employed by the Isthmians for the complaint were guayacan wood, and other medicinal herbs known to them. They are much troubled with a minute species of tick-lice that cover their limbs in great numbers, from which they endeavor to free themselves by applying burning straw. Another insect, more serious in its consequences and penetrating in its attacks, is the chegoe, or pulex penetrans; it burrows under the skin, where it lays its eggs, and if not extracted will in time increase to such an extent as to endanger the loss of the limb. The natives remove it with any sharp-pointed instrument. They are liable to be bitten by venomous snakes, which are numerous in the country and frequently cause death. Whenever one is bitten by such a reptile, the sufferer immediately ties above the wounded part a ligature made from plants well known to the natives, and which they usually carry with them; this enables him to reach a village, where he procures assistance, and by means of herbal applications is often cured. Some of them are subject to a skin disease somewhat similar in its appearance to ringworm; it spreads over the whole body until eventually the skin peels off. Those who are thus afflicted are called carates. These people are generally very hardy and strong, with great powers of endurance. The piaces, as medicine-men, consult their oracles for the benefit of all those who require their services. The sucking cure obtains in these parts as well as northward. When summoned to attend a patient, if the pain or disease is slight, the medicine-man takes some herbs in his mouth, and applying his lips to the part affected, pretends to suck out the disorder; suddenly he rushes outside with cheeks extended, and feigns to spit out something, cursing and imprecating at the same time; he then assures his patient that he has effected a cure by extracting the cause of the pain. When the sickness is of a more serious nature, more elaborate enchantments are enacted, ending in the practitioner sucking it out from the sick person's body, not, however, without undergoing infinite trouble, labor, and contortions, till at last the piace thrusts a small stick down his own throat, which causes him to vomit, and so he casts up that which he pretends to have drawn out from the sufferer. Should his conjurations and tricks not prove effectual, the physician brings to his aid certain herbs and decoctions, with which he is well acquainted; their knowledge of medicine is, however, more extensive in the treatment of external than of internal diseases. The compensation given to the piace is in proportion to the gravity of the case, and the ability of the individual to reward him. In cases of fever, bleeding is resorted to; their mode of practicing phlebotomy is peculiar and attended with much unnecessary suffering. The operator shoots a small arrow from a bow into various parts of the patient's body until a vein be accidentally opened; the arrow is gauged a short distance from the point to prevent its penetrating too far.1034 Oviedo tells us that in the province of Cueba the practice of sucking was carried on to a fearful extent, and with dire consequences. The persons, men and women, who indulged in the habit were called by the Spaniards chupadores. They belonged to a class of sorcerers, and the historian says they went about at night visiting certain of the inhabitants, whom they sucked for hours, continuing the practice from day to day, until finally the unfortunate recipients of their attentions became so thin and emaciated that they often died from exhaustion.1035

ISTHMIAN GRAVES AND MOURNING.

Among certain nations of Costa Rica when a death occurs the body is deposited in a small hut constructed of plaited palm-leaves; food, drink, as well as the weapons and implements that served the defunct during life are placed in the same hut. Here the body is preserved for three years, and upon each anniversary of the death it is redressed and attended to amidst certain ceremonies. At the end of the third year it is taken out and interred. Among other tribes in the same district, the corpse after death is covered with leaves and surrounded with a large pile of wood which is set on fire, the friends dancing and singing round the flames until all is consumed, when the ashes are collected and buried in the ground. In Veragua the Dorachos had two kinds of tombs, one for the principal men constructed with flat stones laid together with much care, and in which were placed costly jars and urns filled with food and wines for the dead; those for plebeians were merely trenches, in which were deposited with the occupant some gourds FUNERAL RITES ON THE ISTHMUS. of maize and wine and the place filled with stones. In some parts of Panamá and Darien only the chiefs and lords received funeral rites. Among the common people a person feeling his end approaching either went himself or was led to the woods by his wife, family, and friends, who, supplying him with some cake or ears of corn and a gourd of water, there left him to die alone, or to be assisted by wild beasts. Others with more respect for their dead, buried them in sepulchres made with niches where they placed maize and wine and renewed the same annually. With some, a mother dying while suckling her infant, the living child was placed at her breast and buried with her in order that in her future state she might continue to nourish it with her milk. In some provinces when the cacique became sick, the priests consulted their oracles as to his condition and if they received for answer that the illness was mortal, one half of his jewelry and gold was cast into the river as a sacrifice to the god they reverenced, in the belief that he would guide him to his final rest; the other half was buried in the grave. The relatives of the deceased shaved the head as a sign of mourning and all his weapons and other property were consumed by fire in order that nothing should remain as a remembrance of him. In Panamá, Nata, and some other districts, when a cacique died, those of his concubines that loved him enough, those that he loved ardently and so appointed, as well as certain servants, killed themselves and were interred with him. This they did in order that they might wait upon him in the land of spirits. They held the belief that those who did not accompany him then, would, when they died a natural death, lose the privilege of being with him afterwards, and in fact that their souls would die with them. The privilege of attending on the cacique in his future state was believed to be only granted to those who were in his service during his lifetime, hence such service was eagerly sought after by natives of both sexes, who made every exertion to be admitted as servants in his house. At the time of the interment, those who planted corn for him during his lifetime had some maize and an implement of husbandry buried with them in order that they might commence planting immediately on arrival in the other world. In Comagre and other provinces the bodies of the caciques were embalmed by placing them on a cane hurdle, hanging them up by cords, or placing them on a stone, or log; and round or below the body they made a slow fire of herbs at such a distance as to dry it gradually until only skin and bone remained. During the process of embalming, twelve of the principal men sat round the body, dressed in black mantles which covered their heads, letting them hang down to their feet; at intervals one of them beat a drum and when he ceased he chanted in monotonous tones, the others responding. Day and night the twelve kept watch and never left the body. When sufficiently dried it was dressed and adorned with many ornaments of gold, jewels, and feathers, and set up in an apartment of the palace where were kept ranged round the walls the remains of his ancestors, each one in his place and in regular succession. In case a cacique fell in battle and his body could not be recovered, or was otherwise lost, the place he would have occupied in the row was always left vacant. Among other tribes the body after being dried by fire was wrapped in several folds of cloth, put in a hammock, and placed upon a platform in the air or in a room. The manner in which the wives, attendants, and servants put themselves to death was, with some, by poison; in such case, the multitude assembled to chant the praises of their dead lord, when those who were to follow drank poison from gourds, and dropped dead instantly. In some cases they first killed their children. With others the funeral obsequies of a principal chief were conducted differently. They prepared a large grave twelve or fifteen feet square and nine or ten feet deep; round the sides they built a stone bench and covered it with painted cloth; in the middle of the grave they placed jars and gourds filled with maize, fruit, and wines, and a quantity of flowers. On the bench was laid the dead chief dressed, ornamented, and jeweled, while around him sat his wives gaily attired with ear-rings and bracelets. All being prepared the assembled multitude raised their voices in songs declaring the bravery and prowess of the deceased; they recounted his liberality and many virtues and highly extolled the affection of his faithful wives who desired to accompany him. The singing and dancing usually lasted two days and during its continuance wine was freely served to the performers and also to the women who were awaiting their fate. At the expiration of such time they became entirely inebriated and in a senseless condition, when the final act was consummated by throwing dead and doomed into the grave, and filling it with logs, branches, and earth. The spot was afterwards held in sacred remembrance and a grove of trees planted round it. At the end of a year funeral honors were celebrated in memory of the dead. A host of friends and relatives of equal rank with the deceased were invited to participate, who upon the day appointed brought quantities of food and wine such as he whose memory they honored delighted in, also weapons with which he used to fight, all of which were placed in a canoe prepared for the purpose; in it was also deposited an effigy of the deceased. The canoe was then carried on men's shoulders round the court of the palace or house, in presence of the deceased, if he was embalmed, and afterwards brought out to the centre of the town where it was burned with all it contained, – the people believing that the fumes and smoke ascended to the soul of the dead and was pleasing and acceptable to him.1036 If the body had been interred they opened the sepulchre; all the people with hair disheveled uttering loud lamenting cries while the bones were being collected, and these they burned all except the hinder part of the skull, which was taken home by one of the principal women and preserved by her as a sacred relic.

ISTHMIAN CHARACTER.

The character of the Costa Ricans has ever been that of a fierce and savage people, prominent in which qualities are the Guatusos and Buricas, who have shown themselves strongly averse to intercourse with civilization. The Talamancas are a little less untameable, which is the best, or perhaps the worst, that can be said. The Terrabas, also a cruel and warlike nation, are nevertheless spoken of by Fray Juan Domingo Arricivita as endowed with natural docility. The natives of Boca del Toro are barbarous and averse to change. In Chiriquí they are brave and intelligent, their exceeding courage having obtained for them the name of Valientes or Indios Bravos from the early discoverers; they are also noted for honesty and fair dealing. The same warlike and independent spirit and fearlessness of death prevails among the nations of Veragua, Panamá, and Darien. The inhabitants of Panamá and Cueba are given to lechery, theft, and lying; with some these qualities are fashionable; others hold them to be crimes. The Mandingos and natives of San Blas are an independent and industrious people, possessing considerable intelligence, and are of a docile and hospitable disposition. The inhabitants of Darien are kind, open-hearted, and peaceable, yet have always been resolute in opposing all interference from foreigners; they are fond of amusements and inclined to indolence; the latter trait is not, however, applicable to all, a noticeable exception being the Cunas and Chocos of the Atrato Valley, who are of a gentle nature, kind, hospitable, and open-hearted when once their confidence is gained; they are likewise industrious and patient, and M. Lucien de Puydt says of the former: "Theft is altogether unknown amongst the Cunas." Colonel Alcedo, speaking of their neighbors, the Idibaes, calls them treacherous, inconstant, and false. In the interior and mountain districts the inhabitants are more fierce than those from the coast; the former are shy and retiring, yet given to hospitality. On the gulf of Urabá the people are warlike, vainglorious, and revengeful.1037

Thus from the icy regions of the north to the hot and humid shores of Darien I have followed these Wild Tribes of the Pacific States, with no other object in view than faithfully to picture them according to the information I have been able to glean. And thus I leave them, yet not without regret: for notwithstanding all that has been said I cannot but feel how little we know of them. Of their mighty unrecorded past, their interminable intermixtures, their ages of wars and convulsions, their inner life, their aspirations, hopes, and fears, how little do we know of all this! And now as the eye rests upon the fair domain from which they have been so ignobly hurried, questions like these arise: How long have these backings and battlings been going on? What purpose did these peoples serve? Whence did they come and whither have they gone? – questions unanswerable until Omniscience be fathomed and the beginning and end made one.

TRIBAL BOUNDARIES

The Wild Tribes of Central America, the last groupal division of this work, extend from the western boundary of Guatemala, south and eastward, to the Rio Atrato. I have divided the group into three subdivisions, namely: the Guatemalans, the Mosquitos, and the Isthmians.

The Guatemalans, for the purposes of this delineation, embrace those nations occupying the present states of Guatemala, Salvador, and portions of Nicaragua.

The Lacandones are a wild nation inhabiting the Chammá mountains on the boundary of Guatemala and Chiapas. 'Mountains of Chammá, inhabited by the wild Indians of Lacandón … a distinction ought to be drawn between the Western and Eastern Lacandónes. All the country lying on the W., between the bishopric of Ciudad Real and the province of Vera Paz, was once occupied by the Western Lacandónes… The country of the Eastern Lacandónes may be considered as extending from the mountains of Chammá, a day and a half from Cobán, along the borders of the river de la Pasion to Petén, or even further.' Escobar, in Lond. Geog. Soc., Jour., vol. xi., pp. 93-4. Upon the margin of the Rio de la Passion. Juarros' Hist. Guat., p. 271. 'Un tribu de Mayas sauvages appelés Lacandons, qui habitent un district immense dans le centre du continent, embrasse toute la partie occidentale du Peten; erre sur les bords supérieurs de l'Usumasinta et le pays qui se trouve au sud de l'endroit d'où j'écris.' Galindo, in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. ii., p. 67. 'The vast region lying between Chiapa, Tabasco, Yucatan, and the republic of Guatemala … is still occupied by a considerable body of Indians, the Lacandones and others.' Squier, in Hist. Mag., vol. iv., p. 65, 'The vast region embracing not less than from 8000 to 10,000 square miles, surrounding the upper waters of the river Usumasinta, in which exist the indomitable Lacandones.' Id., p. 67. 'Mais la contrée qui s'étendait au nord de Cahabon, siége provisoire des Dominicains, et qui comprenait le pays de Dolores et celui des Itzas, était encore à peu près inconnue. Là vivaient les Choles, les belliqueux et féroces Mopans, les Lacandons et quelques tribus plus obscures, dont l'histoire a négligé les noms.' Morelet, Voyage, tom. ii., p. 78, tom. i., p. 318. 'They are reduced to-day to a very insignificant number, living on and near Passion river and its tributaries.' Berendt, in Smithsonian Rept., 1867, p. 425. 'In the north of Vera Paz, to the west of Peten, and all along the Usumacinta, dwell numerous and warlike tribes, called generally Lacandones.' Boyle's Ride, vol. i., pref., p. xvi.; Fossey, Mexique, p. 471; Pimentel, Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena, p. 197.

THE MAMES OF GUATEMALA.

The Mames 'occupied the existing district of Güegüetenango, a part of Quezaltenango, and the province of Soconusco, and in all these places the Mam or Pocoman language is vernacular. It is a circumstance not a little remarkable, that this idiom is also peculiar to places very distant from the country of the Mams: viz. in Amatitan, Mixco, and Petapa, in the province of Sacatepeques; Chalchuapa, in St. Salvador; Mita, Jalapa, and Xilotepeque, in Chiquimula.' Juarros' Hist. Guat., p. 169. 'El Mame ó Pocoman le usan los mames ó pocomanes, que parecen no ser mas que dos tribus de una misma nacion, la cual formaba un estado poderoso en Guatemala. Se extendió por el distritó de Huehuetenango, en la provincia de este nombre, y por parte de la de Quetzaltenango, así como por el distrito de Soconusco en Chiapas. En todos estos lugares se hablaba mame ó pocoman, lo mismo que en Amatitlan, Mixco y Petapa, de la provincia de Zacatepec ó Guatemala; en Chalchuapa, perteneciente á la de San Salvador; y en Mita, Jalapa y Jiloltepec, de la de Chiquimula.' Balbi, in Pimentel, Cuadro, tom. i., p. 81. 'Leur capitale était Gueguetenango, au nord-est de la ville actuelle de Guatemala, et les villes de Masacatan, Cuilco, Chiantla et Istaguacan étaient enclavées dans leur territoire.' Squier, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1857, tom. cliii., p. 177. 'A l'ouest, jusqu'aux frontières de Chiapas, s'étendaient les Mams, proprement dits Mam-Yoc, dans leurs histoires, partagés en plusieurs familles également puissantes qui gouvernaient souverainement cette contrée, alors désignée sous le nom commun d'Otzoya (de otzoy, sortes d'écrevisses d'or): c'étaient d'un côté les Chun-Zak-Yoc, qui avaient pour capitale Qulaha, que son opulence et son étendue avaient fait surnommer Nima-Amag ou la Grande-Ville, dite depuis Xelahun-Quieh, ou Xelahuh, et Quezaltenango; les Tzitzol, dont la capitale était peut-être Chinabahul ou Huehuetenango, les Ganchebi (see note below under Ganchebis) et les Bamaq. Ceux-ci, dont nous avons connu les descendants, étaient seigneurs d'Iztlahuacan (San-Miguel-Iztlahuacan), dont le plateau est encore aujourd'hui parsemé de ruines au milieu desquelles s'élève l'humble bourgade de ce nom: au dessus domine, à une hauteur formidable, Xubiltenam (ville du Souffle)… Ganchebi, écrit alternativement Canchebiz, Canchevez et Ganchebirse. Rien n'indique d'une manière précise où régnait cette famille: mais il se pourrait que ce fût à Zipacapan ou à Chivun, dont les ruines existent à trois lieues au sud de cette dernière localité; là était l'ancien Oztoncalco.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, introd., pp. 264-5. 'Habitaban el Soconusco, desde tiempos remotos, y era un pueblo autócton; los olmecas que llegaron de la parto de México, les redujeron á la servidumbre, y una fraccion de los vencidos emigró hasta Guatemala.' Orozco y Berra, Geografía, p. 168. The Mamey, Achi, Cuaahtemalteca, Hutateca, and Chirichota 'en la de los Suchitepeques y Cuaahtemala.' Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., p. 7. Mame 'Parlé dans les localités voisines de Huehuetenango.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, tom. ii., p. viii. 'On retrouve encore aujourd'hui leurs restes parmi les Indiens de la province de Totonicapan, aux frontières de Chiapas et des Lacandons, an nord-ouest de l'état de Guatémala. La place forte de Zakuléu (c'est-à-dire, Terre blanche, mal à propos orthographié Socoléo), dont on admire les vastes débris auprès de la ville de Huéhuétenango, resta, jusqu'au temps de la conquête espagnole, la capitale des Mems. Cette race avait été antérieurement la maîtresse de la plus grande partie de l'état de Guatémala.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 119-20.

The Pokomams, or Pokonchis, lived in the district of Vera Paz in Guatemala, 'sous le nom d'Uxab et de Pokomam, une partie des treize tribus de Tecpan, dont la capitale était la grande cité de Nimpokom, était maîtresse de la Verapaz et des provinces situées au sud du Motagua jusqu'à Palin' (2 leagues N. W. of Rabinal). Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, introd., p. 264. Ils 'paraissent avoir occupé une grande partie des provinces guatémaliennes.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 84, 506. 'Toute la rive droite du Chixoy (Lacandon ou haut Uzumacinta), depuis Coban (écrit quelquefois Coboan) jusqu'au fleuve Motagua, les montagnes et les vallées de Gagcoh (San-Cristoval), de Taltic, de Rabinal et d'Urran, une partie des départements actuels de Zacatépec, de Guatémala et de Chiquimulà, jusqu'au pied des volcans de Hunahpu (volcans d'Eau et de Feu), devinrent leur proie.' Id., pp. 121-2. 'Le pocomchi, le pokoman, le cakchi, semés d'Amatitan à Coban.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, MS. Troano, tom. ii., introd., p. viii. In 'La Verapaz, la poponchi, caechi y colchi.' Palacio, in Pacheco, Col. Doc. Inéd., tom. vi., p. 7. 'La lengua pocomana se habla en Amatitán, Petapa, San Chrisobal, Pinula, y Hermita ó Llano de la Culebra de Guatemala.' Hervás, Catálogo, tom. i., p. 305. 'A la nacion Poconchi pertenecen los lugares ó misiones … llamadas Santa Cruz, San Christobal, Taktik, Tucurú, y Tomasiú.' Ib.

The Quichés inhabit the centre of the state of Guatemala. 'Quiché then comprehended the present districts of Quiché, Totonicapan, part of Quezaltenango, and the village of Rabinal; in all these places the Quiché language is spoken. For this reason, it may be inferred with much probability, that the greater part of the province of Sapotitlan, or Suchiltepeques, was a colony of the Quichées, as the same idiom is made use of nearly throughout the whole of it.' Juarros' Hist. Guat., p. 168. 'Les Quichés, or Utletecas, habitaient la frontière du sud, les chefs de Sacapulus et Uspatan à l'est, et les Lacandones indépendants au nord. Ils occupaient probablement la plus grande partie du district actuel de Totonicapan et une portion de celui de Quesaltenango.' Squier, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1857, tom. cliii., p. 177. 'Leurs postes principaux furent établis sur les deux côtés du Chixoy, depuis Zacapulas jusqu'à Zactzuy.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. ii., pp. 131-2; Wappäus, Geog. u. Stat., pp. 286, 288, 291.

The Cakchiquels are south of the Quichés. 'The territory of the Kachiqueles was composed of that which now forms the provinces of Chimaltenango and Sacatepeques, and the district of Sololá; and as the Kachiquel language is also spoken in the villages of Patulul, Cotzumalguapan, and others along the same coast, it is a plausible supposition that they were colonies settled by the Kachiquels, for the purpose of cultivating the desirable productions of a warmer climate than their own.' Juarros' Hist. Guat., p. 169. 'La capitale fut, en dernier lieu, Iximché ou Tecpan-Guatemala, lors de la déclaration de l'indépendence de cette nation.' Brasseur de Bourbourg, Popol Vuh, introd., p. 270. 'Der westliche Theil der Provinz [Atitan] mit 16 Dörfern in 4 Kirchspielen, von Nachkommen der Kachiquelen und Zutugilen bewohnt.' Hassel, Mex. Guat., p. 338. 'Los paises de la nacion Cakchiquila son Chimaltenango, Zumpango, Tejar, Santo Domingo, San Pedro las Huertas, San Gaspar, San Luis de las Carretas, y otros diez lugares, todos pertenecientes á las misiones de los PP. dominicos; y á las de los PP. observantes de san Francisco pertenecen Isapa, Pason, Tepan-guatemalan Comalapa, San Antonio, San Juan del Obispo, y otros quince lugares á lo menos de la misma nacion Cakchiquila, cuyas poblaciones estan al rededor de Guatemala.' Hervás, Catálogo, tom. i., p. 305.