RELIGION, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE IN HUAVE SOCIETY
Charles C. Cheney
INTRODUCTION
The Huave Indians of Mexico live in four major farming and fishing villages and scattered hamlets on
sandbars that encircle large salt water lagoons on the south coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Surrounded
on land by the communities of their more numerous Zapotec-speaking neighbors, the approximately 15,000
Huaves have been dominated by them politically, militarily, and economically since before the Spanish
Conquest. The Zapotecs have historically formed a buffer between the Huaves and Mexican society, and, as a
consequence, until recently Huave culture has existed in relative isolation from that of the nation as a whole.
San Mateo del Mar, home of the Marenios, is the largest (population 5,500) and culturally most conservative of
the Huave-speaking communities, and the religious beliefs and healing practices of its people comprise the
subject of this paper.
Like many other Indian villages of southern Mexico, San Mateo is fairly representative of what has been
termed a "closed, corporate peasant community" (Wolf, 1957). San Mateo functions as an almost exclusively
endogamous unit. There is little travel outside of the township, and few individuals emigrate. New members
are not welcomed into the community, and those who leave for extended periods are not easily reintegrated.
All land is corporately owned by the town. The right to use it depends on one's having been born in the town,
on usufruct, and on the fulfillment of communal obligations.
Marenlo society functions within the framework of a complex, age-graded, civil-religious hierarchy of
office-holding, in which all males are required to participate at the lower levels, and through which few can rise
to the top. Group sanctions are strong, and social and economic leveling mechanisms involving ridicule, loss of
status, and often expensive ceremonial obligations insure a high degree of conformity to social norms and
cultural traditions. Fear of isolation and degradation within, or exile from, the community has proved suffi-
cient to forestall unconventional behavior that endangers social cohesion.
Like other Mesoamerican Indian communities, San Mateo maintains a complex of customs that repre-
sents a syncretic blend of Pre-Columbian indigenous elements and Conquest period Hispanic traditions (cf.
Madsen, 1967; Adams and Rubel, 1967). The Dominican Order's 16th and 17th century administration of the
Huave region is cited in historical records (Burgoa, 1934), reflected in the Spanish colonial grid-pattern of San
Mateo's layout and in the imposing stone church that stands in its center, and manifested in the community's
contemporary ecclesiastical-civil organization, religious beliefs and practices, and concepts governing magic,
witchcraft, illness, and curing (cf. Foster, 1953, 1960). (For treatment of the Marefno civil-religious organiza-
tion and cargo system, see Cheney (1976) and Diebold (1969); for description of Huave religious ceremonies
and mythology, see Cheney (1968, 1972), Cook and Leonard (1949), Monzon (1943), and Warkentin and
Olivares (1946); and for that of the Isthmus Zapotecs, see Orozco (1946).)
Following a two-hundred year hiatus during which Mareflo society was left much to itself, the mid-20th
century witnessed the arrival in San Mateo of new outside influences for change in the realms of religion and
medicine. Since the 1940s, fundamentalist Protestant missionaries from the United States have resided f'or
varying lengths of time in San Mateo. They have learned to speak Huave, have transcribed the language, and
have converted about one hundred adults to their faith. These missionaries have also provided limited health
care and education on nutrition, hygiene, and preventive medicine. In the 1960s, a Roman Catholic missionary
Acknowledgement: The field research on which this paper is based was conducted by the author in San Mateo del Mar during
two periods of residence, 1967-68 and 1970-71. The first stage of fieldwork was pursued under the aegis of the University of
the Americas, the second under that of the University of California, Berkeley, with the support of NIMH Training Grant No.
5Tol MH-12475.
59
CHENEY
arrived from the United States and assumed the role of parish priest. In addition to refurbishing the ancient
church and swaying more than one hundred adults to a contemporary version of Roman Catholicism, the
priest has constructed a clinic and brought physicians and nurses who have rendered a broad range of primary
care and health-related education.
Today, as in the 16th century, missionaries function as agents of directed change-both religious and
medical-in Huave society. The following pages will examine contemporary Marenio religious, magical, and
medical concepts and practices, including the interaction between traditional and innovative interpretations of
illness and approaches to healing.
RELIGION
In the Marenio cosmology and mythology, mankind, nature, and gods are closely interrelated. The main
characteristics of the complex belief system are: (1) a blending of pre-Columbian religious elements and 16th
century Spanish Catholic beliefs and practices; (2) concepts of dualism-north and south, night and day, hot
and cold, male and female, living and dead-and of harmony in celestial, supernatural, natural, and inter-
personal relationships; (3) fatalism-acceptance,of powerlessness to control one's destiny in a morally indiffer-
ent universe where fate is capricious; (4) perpetual interrelationships between persons living and deceased; and
(5) interdependence of man and nature.
MAN AND NATURE
The sun and the moon are deities who directly affect the welfare of the Marenios. By their Huave names,
the sun is male (tgt neyt: father day), the moon female (muim kaaw: mother month). The sun is constant,
whereas the moon is changeable and quick to take offense. A pregnant woman who brazenly gazes at the
moon's eclipse will be punished and bear a discolored or deformed infant. Anyone audacious enough to point
at the new moon will have the nail of his forefinger blackened. The importance of the moon and the sun for
life processes is keenly felt, particularly the moon's regulation of menstrual cycles and the ocean's tides. When
she is eclipsed, the church bells are rung wildly to revive her.
The stars are believed to be distant, remote gods that affect the destiny of other peoples in other places,
but have no influence on the people of San Mateo. Marenios are familiar with Huave and Spanish names for
major stars and constellations, and as nocturnal fishermen they accurately tell time by looking at the night
sky; but they attach no special importance to celestial formations.
The heavens are inhabited by powerful beings called tedt monteok (fathers, they who rapidly cause,
transform). Led by a senior, or elder (nahtdang) teat montef6k, these supernatural entities rapidly appear and
disappear in the form of thundershowers; the sound of thunder is their horses' hoofbeats, a flash of lightning,
the stroke of their machetes.The monte6k are protectors of the Marenios, but will brook no insult and with
their swords of lightning will strike dead anyone defiant or disrespectful toward them. It is believed that, as
the Marenios have their own monteok who provide rain and defend them, all other peoples have their own
heavenly benefactors (monteok mol; monteok of foreigners, strangers). Monteok can travel from place to
place, battle each other, aid their own people, and castigate whomever their wards are fighting. An important
heavenly being is tata rayo father thunderbolt. There is some confusion as to whether this entity represents a
particularly powerful, perhaps chief monteok or whether, as some Marenios deduce from his hispanicized title,
he entered Marenio cosmology only after the Conquest.
In traditional Mareilo belief, the world is flat and circular. Earthquakes occur when the giant who
supports the world occasionally has to shift its weight from one shoulder to the other. Earthquakes, so
common in the region, are not considered noteworthy or portentous; they apparently cause momentary
consternation only in little children and, much to the Marenlos' amusement, some inconvenience to sleeping
chickens and turkeys who are knocked off their perches.
60
HUA VE RELIGION, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE
Although Marefios have names for the four points of the compass, they view the world as being of
two halves, north and south. East and west are significant only because they are the places where the sun and
moon rise and set, because they delineate the path of these celestial bodies. Unlike other Mesoamerican
peoples, the Marenios do not associate specific colors with the four cardinal directions or divide the horizon
into quartiles (Foster, 1945; Peterson, 1959). The Mareflo world is essentially bipartite.
The north and south do not in themselves possess qualities of gender, but the meteorological forces
which emanate from them do. Hence, the north winds (tea't iant) are masculine, the south winds (mum njarek)
feminine. The te6at iant are said to originate from the nearby mountains to the northwest, and are constant and
predictable. During late fall and winter, the sand-bearing north winds cause everyone discomfort; the teat iant
are therefore often maligned, even cursed. Though one may speak with impunity against the steady north
winds, it is thought foolhardy to be disrespectful toward and risk antagonizing the female, capricious, and
often vengeful muim njarek. Though the south is the source of the prevailing mild sea breezes, from it also
come storms, hurricanes, and tornados, all considered feminine and called mum ndeekkoyk. The name is
derived from the term "to move about (while) walking"-like a woman. Such tempests are said to be ended by
the appearance of a small benevolent turtle with a large gourdlike shell, it stops the storms by forcefully
blowing and by pushing away the rain clouds with his left forefoot. Both the turtle and the accompanying
rainbow are called ndeekAdmpoh (make, or push on the left turtle).
Marenios consider sacred all things in nature that sustain life. These are not the European-derived
Aristotelian metaphysical elements of fire, earth, air, and water. Rather, they are the sources of the life forms
on which Marenios depend for subsistence: nahngah ta't (sacred earth); nahngah ahit (sacred rain); nahngah
btdmb (sacred fire); nahngah ndek (sacred sea); and nahngah kinl'k (sacred salt). Though the elements that
create sustenance are sacred, food in itself is not. Salt is considered sacred not because it comes from the sea
and is edible, like fish, but because it is an integral part of the sea which also provides fish. Food assumes a
sacred quality only when it is associated with a holy ritual like the atole and tamales that are served during the
ceremonial festivities that commemorate saints' days.
Marenlos feel themselves closely bound to representatives of the animal world. According to legend, the
people of San Mateo are descended from a pair of dogs who long ago mated where the town is now located.
Though Marefios indicate no reverence for these totemic ancestors, their supernatural sanctions against homi-
cide include the killing of dogs. Though no other animal enjoys the status of mythical kinship with Marenios,
wanton destruction of any animal is considered reprehensible, and the slaughter of an animal for purposes
other than securing food is a sin for which the perpetrator must answer in the afterlife.
No doubt, the bond that links man and animal most strongly is a local manifestation of a widespread
Mesoamerican trait, the interdependent relationship of an individual with his tonal (ombasneh in Huave), his
animal counterpart, or alter ego. The Huave word for the human counterpart is neambasuuk (the body of
himself, or real self). A Marefio's animal counterpart is believed to be born the same instant as he is, in the
immediate vicinity of his home; later it moves to a safer place in the woods, fields, or sea. Because such
counterparts are always wild animals, they seek their natural environs away from human communities. Some
Mareflos maintain that although long ago everyone used to have an animal counterpart, only a few do today.
Opinions on this topic and willingness to discuss it vary. Some say it is customary to place a shallow bowl of
sand or ashes, the surface of which has been smoothed and covered with a cloth, under. the bed of a pregnant
woman, and that immediately after she has given birth, the bowl is uncovered and its contents examined for
the spoor of the newborn's animal counterpart. Others vigorously deny the practice; one scoffed at it calling it
a "a Mixe custom, perhaps a borrowing, or something." At any rate, few know what kind of animal they have
as counterpart, and guesses are often made on the basis of an individual's physical characteristics. For example,
it is believed that a person with a hunched back probably has a turtle as his counterpart, and an individual with
prominent canine teeth is thought to have his fate linked to a shark.
A few select people are believed to have as spiritual alter egos either the south wind (mum njarek) or teat
monteok, or tata rayo. These fortunate people have learned through dreams of their possessing these signifi-
61
CHENEY
cant counterparts. The human counterparts of the forces are said to work only toward the good and are called
on to help cure individuals whose illnesses have been diagnosed as having been sympathetically caused by
injury to their animal counterparts .
GODS AND SPIRITS
Mareflos acknowledge the existence of an omnipotent creator deity that has power over all life. This
supreme God has sent the monteok to provide for the Marefios, as he sends the monteok of other peoples to
care for the m-. However, this God is remote from the Marefios and deals with them only in the afterlife. His aid
or forgiveness is never sought in prayer, and he is referred to by the same Spanish-derived term as are all other
saints and deities: teat ndios. Similarly, the Devil only deals directly with the deceased, though Marenios must
cope with his minions as they do with individual minor gods, i.e., saints. The Devil and his assistants are
interchangeably called nemeech (bad, evil one) or diabko, and, as with sacred Christian entities (God, Christ,
and the saints), they were probably introduced into Maren-o cosmology by Dominican missionaries.
Of approximately equal importance to the Mareilos are San Mateo, patron saint of the town, and the
Virgen de la Candelaria. Saint Matthew, referred to as Beat Patro`n, is considered the father of the towns-
people, and Our Lady of Candlemas, Mum Candelar, the mother-though they are not considered to hold these
positions through any marital or parental bonds. According to traditional beliefs, San Mateo's spirit is em-
bodied in his image which hangs above the church altar. This is considered to be the real San Mateo and is
never taken from the church (though his spirit may wander at will); a second image kept in the reliquary
chapel near the town hall is considered to be an intermediary and is used in ceremonial processions. Some say
that if at night one sits quietly in the churchyard and is alert, one can see San Mateo's spirit emerge from the
church and walk abroad, and that the Patron shows his disapproval of someone or some occurrence by rapidly
shifting his eyes from side to side or by furiously shaking a hand or a foot. Others, however, maintain that San
Mateo became angry with his people for having allowed the American priest to take over the church and touch
his image, and that therefore his spirit has gone away and has forsaken the Marefios, leaving only a wooden
statue.
The spirit of the Virgen de la Candelaria, too, is believed to dwell in her image above the altar, while her
image in the reliquary chapel is believed to be an intercessor, which is carried about town during religious
fiestas. Considerable confusion exists between the identity of Mum Candelar and the deity Nic Mior, for whom
no translation exists, and who is believed by Marenios to be an ancient goddess, the primary deity of the
Huaves before the arrival of the Dominicans. In San Mateo, the process of blending Nic Mior and the Virgen
MUm Candelar seems to have been similar to the 16th-century phenomenon in the Valley of Mexico where the
Aztec goddess Tonantzin melded with the Virgen de Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico.
Some Mareflos claim that Teat Patron and MUm Candelar are peers, whereas others feel that MUm
Candelar is more important because she, in the form of Nic Mior, antedated San Mateo's arrival in town and
because her fiesta is more important. Those who feel the two deities are equals point out that it is only the
inclement rainy weather of San Mateo's saint's day celebrations (September 20, 21, 22) that makes the
difference, but that some preeminence should probably be given to Mum Candelar: in her virginal honor high
civil officials are supposed to remain celibate, at least during the ritual spring pilgrimages to the sea; to her,
offenders against the law are expected to prostrate themselves; and before the arrival of the American priest,
her image occupied the exact center of the entablature behind the altar, whereas that of San Mateo was
situated slightly to one side.
Of less importance in the Maren-o pantheon are the other manifestations of the Virgin Mary (Virgen de
los Dolores, Virgen de La Concepcio'n, Virgen de la Soledad, Virgen de Guadalupe, Asuncion de la Virgen) and
different representations of Christ (Jesu's, Jesucristo, San Salvador, Santo Nifno, Corpus Cristi)-all considered
separate entities and honored on different ceremonial occasions. Of approximately the same importance are
the saints San Isidro, San Juan, San Jose, as well as Santa Cruz and all large crosses blessed in the church that
62
HUAVE RELIGION, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE
stand in streetcorner chapels and at strategic places around town. These saints and sacred objects are referred
to as-and are accorded the respect due to-gods. Indeed, all crosses are considered holy in themselves, not
only symbols of holiness, for they are believed to have the power to protect Mare-nos from evil, provide a
means through which to communicate with the dead, and, like all other essential elements of the Marenio
world, are deemed sacred: hence, nahngah cruz.
THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Marenios believe in an afterlife and feel that one's fate after death is contingent on the kind of life he has
lived on earth. The afterworld is separated into three parts: heaven, hell, and purgatory. Marefno beliefs
concerning these places and the nature of the afterlife are vague, and presumably these concepts, together with
their Spanish names, were introduced by the Dominicans. Only purgatory, in Huave called mekteylol (leap into
well), appears to hold particular significance for the Marefios.
According to a common rural Latin America belief, young children who die before puberty are sinless
(i.e., sexually pure), and therefore, as angelitos (little angels), go directly to heaven. All adults who die first go
to mekf8ylol, where they are judged by God and must answer for their conduct in life. Those who have killed a
human or a dog are required first to eat the body of their victim, which has remained in the same state since
the instant of death, before being allowed to proceed to heaven; those who have committed cold-blooded
murder or incest must go to and remain in hell. Similarly, he who has killed any animal frivolously has
offended God and his generosity in providing animals for man's benefit, and the angry God will chastize him
and force him to consume the animal's body before allowing him into heaven. A man or a woman who has
never married or cohabited with a member of the opposite sex must explain himself to God for this sin. If the
person pleads his case convincingly by showing he tried but that his approaches were always rejected by
others, God will relent and save his wrath for the person who forced the deceased to live alone throughout
eternity; but if God is not satisfied with the excuse, the unmarried person must remain in purgatory for a time
before being admitted to heaven.
If an individual has made a pact with the Devil or his helpers during life to obtain good luck or wealth,
he must pay his part of the bargain by going to live in hell after death. If he has killed a cat who is a vampire
and minion of the Devil, the deceased must descend to hell to apologize to the Devil before ascending to
heaven.
In Marenio weddings, the bride and groom are given lighted candles to symbolize their bond. In joumey-
ing to and in living in the afterlife, these candles are said to help them to see their way and eventually to find
one another. If an individual has sexual relations with an unmarried person after his spouse's demise, the flame
of the latter's candle will flicker and die, and he or she will become lost in the afterlife. However, a widow's or
widower's sexual intercourse with someone who is or has been married, who has lit a candle in a wedding, is
not thought to endanger the welfare of the deceased spouse. To the extent that this tradition retains its force
as negative sanction, it functions to restrict access to widows to older, married men.
Mareiios believe the spirits of the dead return to town and walk the streets at night. Indeed, it is felt
their right to do so, for they, too, must breathe and take some exercise-although not as much as the
living-and between approximately eight in the evening and three in the morning, they are free to wander. The
beginning and end of this period are signalled by ringing of the church bells. The American priest, however, has
pointed out the traditional early morning bellringing was probably introduced by the Dominicans to mark the
time for matins. People believe it foolish to venture outdoors during those hours unless for specific, necessary
errands or perhaps in a drunken state. Either way, the spirits of the dead will not harm the living out of respect
for legitimate activities or in repulsion at the "stained" incoherence of drunkards. But those up to mischief
like loitering, robbery, or clandestine amorous adventures put themselves in danger of encountering the spirits
of the dead.
63
64                                                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~CHENEY
There are three manifestations of the deceased: (1) nddmbaldoich (he who frightens), apparitions that
scare people for fun and whose victims experience fright and a spine-tingling sensation, but suffer no per-
manent injury; (2) Anguuchneh (encountered him, or her), spirits of people who died before their time, in
their youth, and who, regardless of their behavior during life, have become malevolent because they are under
the control of the Devil. They appear in the form of little sand-twisters and harm humans and animals who fail
to remove themselves from their paths by entering and injuring their souls (omeadats: heart) or by creating
ailments that later develop into large pustules or subcutaneous tumors; and (3) Chddpcheapbio"mb (blinking
light, or fire), spirits of people who have died of violence and appear in frightening forms with heads like balls
of fire and bodies of birds or skeletons, but who do not harm, wish only to communicate with the living, and
follow forlornly behind individuals who flee from them in understandable terror.
Though fear of the walking dead may in the past have proved a sufficient enough deterrent to limit
nocturnal mischief, it no longer does. Most crimes are perpetrated at night, and the establishment of a
night-time police force in the early 1960s and the current tendency of youths to stand about after dark at
soft-drink stands under new corner streetlights indicate that fear of encountering dead spirits no longer keeps
people indoors at night.
After the death of an individual, his links to the living do not disappear. For example, when a group of
elderly men are drinking and a bottle inadvertantly tips over, the incident may be taken as a sign that a
recently deceased drinking partner wishes temporarily to rejoin his friends; one of the men may spill some
liquor on the ground for him, and the dead man is thereupon considered included in the conversation and in
the serving of drinks. Also, the love and hatred shared by individuals may continue after the death of one of
them; both may suffer injury by prolonging such feelings. A special practicioner (neasomuy) uses important
crosses as intermediaries to establish temporary communication between dead and living individuals to help
resolve and then permanently dissolve their relationship, so that each, in his separate world, may thereafter
exist in peace.
Mourning for the dead is an important duty of the living. Because angelitos-little children-have gone
directly to heaven, they are not mourned at all. Others, who must spend a year in purgatory, are mourned in
the graveyard on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week for twelve months to help insure their ascension to
heaven. A few Marenios have adopted from the Zapotecs the custom of mourning nine days (the novena) and
the belief that ascension takes place 40 days after death. Some women now wear black as a sign of mourning
when they chant and leave flowers on the graves of recently deceased relations. All Souls Day (the Day of the
Dead), the second day of November, when the deceased are said to return for a visit and be feasted by their
families, is ritually celebrated in San Mateo, as it is throughout Latin America.
MAGIC AND WITCHCRAFT
Though some people know the species to which their counterparts (ombasneh) belong, few know which
individual animal is their counterpart. Such knowledge, in fact, is considered dangerous to the community, for
it enables one to transform himself into that animal, and thus to become a witch, a naywuniay. The word,
however, and probably the concept, appear to be borrowed from the widespread Mesoamerican, originally
Nahuatl (Aztec), term nagual and the associated complex of ideas known as nagualism (Foster, 1944). The
distinction between the concepts of nddmbasdiik and ombasneh on the one hand, and naywuniay on the other,
is underlined by the belief that, unlike most Mare-nos, witches not only can transform themselves into and thus
have some control over their animals counterparts, but also can temporarily assume the forms of other wild
and domestic animals.
It is commonly held that although transforming witches of both sexes used to be fairly numerous in San
Mateo, only one nonpracticing witch remains. Apparently one particularly skilled and irascible witch lost a test
of wills with the new Evangelist God a few years ago and subsequently died. Many people were impressed by
the power of the new deity, and the witch's remaining but less adept colleague decided to turn to fishing.
AA
CHENEY
HUA VE RELIGION, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE
Though Marenios insist there are no more witches, their equivocal attitudes and hesitancy to discuss the
subject indicate a continuing preoccupation with witchcraft. This ambivalence would seem to stem partly from
confusion regarding the nature and activities of witches due to differing Mesoamerican and European tra-
ditions-the first (naywuniay) characterized by transformation and intrusion of foreign elements into victims,
the latter (brujo) by pacts with the Devil and sorcery. Other considerations include the difficulty of identify-
ing witches-who tend to disguise their status to avoid retaliation-and the care taken to not annoy a potential
witch by openly speculating on rumors of his sorcery.
The process of learning to practice witchcraft is in itself dangerous, for one takes the chance of being
possessed by the Devil because of making mistakes in ritual. The madness of one young man is generally
attributed to his errors in concocting potions out of bones he stole from the town graveyard. Similarly, if a cat
disappears for a few weeks, then returns to prowl and wail at night, it is thought to have made a deal with the
Devil. If on inspection the cat has a small tuft of spikelike hair at the tip of its tongue, it is proof that he is in
league with the Devil and sucks the blood of people at night and transports it to his master. Black cats are
especially suspect. Although the person who kills such an animal must chance having eventually to face the
wrath of the Devil, the deed is considered worth the penalty, for it is believed vampire cats can take enough
blood from an infant to weaken and kill him. These beliefs, along with domesticated cats, were presumably
introduced by 16th-century Spanish colonists.
Thus, considerable consternation and secrecy surround the subject of witchcraft. Though it is claimed
that the transforming witches have all died, and with them the malevolent practices of injecting foreign
elements into their victims, it is generally agreed that some diagnostic curers (neanduy) are also witches,
proficient in both "white" and "black" magic.
The most common type of sorcery employed in San Mateo is called nahmel chech (to leave [an]
offering). A burnt offering of candle stubs, copal, and flowers which has been cursed and dedicated to the holy
earth is left in the path of the intended victim, who, if he passes close by, will be afflicted by the malignant
power of the offering. The practice may be resorted to by an individual who, for example, having lost
litigations through rulings of the town council, feels he has been wronged, and therefore appeals to the higher
power of the earth to injure his victorious opponents. However, the all-knowing earth is essentially neutral and
just; if the person making the offering is himself in the wrong, the evil intent of his offering will rebound and
sicken him instead. If his incantations, explanations, and offerings are not appropriately performed, the earth
may be unresponsive or even redirect the ill will toward him. It is therefore considered wiser to pay an expert,
a neanduy, to perform the magic. The offerings are not hidden; people will watch to see whether an inttnded
victim is sure of his justness, whether he confidently walks near the offering or changes direction to avoid it.
However, it is understood that disputants are seldom entirely right or wrong, that both parties usually are to
some degree culpable. Leaving a burnt offering is considered a risky affair at best, and one should be sure
before resorting to it because the earth will fairly distribute the illness-inflicting malice to all persons involved
according to the measure of their guilt.
MEDICINE
Marefio beliefs concerning health and illness are based on a concept of balance: one's good health is
predicated on success in maintaining equilibrium intemally, interpersonally, and in relationships with nature
and with the deceased. Basic to this concern for balancing opposites is the hot-cold syndrome, probably
derived from Hippocratic humoral pathology-folk versions of which are common throughout Latin America
today (Foster, 1978)-which was presumably introduced into San Mateo by the Dominicans. According to this
sinplified version of classical medicine, illness is caused by a temporary disequilibrium of hot and cold bodily
properties and may be cured by reestablishing the balance. This is particularly true of food, drink, and herbs
which regardless of actual temperature, are classified "hot," "cold," or "temperate" according to their intrin-
sic qualities. A person who suffers from a cold, i.e., respiratory, illness has been exposed to cold weather, or
65
66    -                                                                                  CHENEY
has eaten too much of a "cold" food and should be given "hot" food and kept warm, whereas one who is
ailing from a "hot," i.e. intestinal, sickness should be helped in the opposite fashion. However, it is imperative
that the remedies be applied in limited, moderate amounts, for the shock to the system from excessive
attempts to redress the balance could prove more injurious than the original sickness. Hence, an overheated
person should not be splashed with cold water, nor should a person who is temporarily "cold" be given "hot"
food like beef.
Though the ideal is balance, Marefios believe that in actual temperature people are normally more hot
than cold, that the center of the body is warmer, the extremities cooler. The vital center is the omeaats: heart,
soul, source of thought and emotion. Most illness is believed to result from the intrusion of extemal elements
into this principal, vulnerable organ. It is thought that the body's relative temperature changes during the life
cycle: small children are relatively cold, but steadily increase in heat until puberty; a plateau of high heat is
maintained during the (reproductive) years of adulthood: and from the early fifties to old age, bodily heat is
lowered.
Certain individuals are believed to be intrinsically hotter or colder than others, depending on their ability
to function regardless of temperature extremes. A man who does not suffer discomfort during nocturnal
fishing excursions is deemed cold; a woman who does not mind spending long hours by the cooking fire, hot.
However, the hot-cold classification does not reflect individual personality traits like friendliness, irascibility,
or sexuality. People in a constant state of disequilibrium, such as individuals given to emotional excesses or
adults who do not cohabit with members of the opposite sex, are felt to be most susceptible to illness. Despite
the importance of hot and cold properties and of the maintenance of equilibrium, however, imbalance is
generally viewed symptomatically rather than causally.
ILLNESS CATEGORIES
According to Marenfo classification, illnesses may be grouped into four general categories. The first
category is ata mandar (God, or Father, sends), and embraces afflictions that can be explained by natural
phenomena and illnesses that can affect many people simultaneously. It includes individual cases involving
temporary imbalances of hot and cold, wounds, broken bones, common colds, as well as periodic outbreaks of
malaria, smallpox, and familiar childhood diseases.
The second category, naranguiuch (caused by deed, event), comprises illnesses resulting from strong
emotional experiences, of which seven types are recognized:
1. monshing (literally, they of long nose) is suffered by an individual who has been publically shamed
and manifests itself by involuntary twitching of his facial muscles and the repeated brushing of his hand across
his face during sleep, as if he were bothered by someone;
2. nahkuy (his, or her, anger) results from suppressed anger and is characterized by ill temper and loss
of appetite;
3. nahpakmbol (strong, sudden fear) is caused by fright, often by having barely escaped detection in
an illicit act, such as murder, robbery, or adultery. Symptoms include bad dreams, pallidness, weight loss, and
loss of appetite;
4. Nisoit (roughly translated as pecado, or sin) is associated with sexual intercourse. However it is not
the act itself, but the participants' temporary high temperature and obliviousness to their surroundings that
makes them vulnerable to this illness. Accordingly, symptoms of nisoit vary with associated emotional ex-
periences, usually interruption or discovery of sexual activities;
5. Aran pensar (to make pensamiento, thought) is caused by dwelling on the loss of a lover who has
left the village, or a relative or friend who has died. The person suffering from aran pensar manifests despond-
ency, loses interest in food, emits frequent deep sighs, and sometimes thinks he glimpses the form of the
departed individual;
HUA VE RELIGION, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE
6. Ahir lasta (to have lastima, hurt) is caused by a dead person thinking about a living one, either
kindly or malevolently. The gravity of the symptoms, which include ailments of the ear, eye, throat, and skin,
varies with the intensity of the deceased's emotions and thoughts;
7. Anguuchneh (struck him) occurs when an individual encounters a small whirlwind, which carries
the malignant spirit of the walking dead. The symptoms of this ailment include pustules and tumors, especially
coak (literally, spider), large, suppurating sores that will not heal.
All physiological illnesses are believed to be "God-sent" ones that can later develop into emotional
afflictions. When one suffers acutely from an ailment sent by God, it may be complicated by an earlier event
or deed that has increased the individual's vulnerability and may have preceded the onset of symptoms by as
much as a year. Unlike God-sent ones, emotional illnesses tend to last for a long time. Emotional afflictions
affect not only the person who committed a specific act, took part in an event, or has a relationship with the
dead, but also can be transmitted to his or her offspring. However, the transmission occurs only cross-sexually
to members of the first descending generation, to mothers' sons and fathers' daughters, not to collateral or
affinal relations or to members of ascending generations. By Western medical definitions, such emotionally
induced illnesses would be: cancer, tuberculosis, chronic amoebic dysentery, blindness, epilepsy, asthma,
psychosomatic illness, neurosis, and psychosis.
Another major affliction is nianahluy (sudden sickness), caused by injury or death of one's animal
counterpart. The sudden onset of a major illness indicates that the counterpart has been seriously injured. If
the illness is followed by the individual's death, then the animal died of injuries that were probably inflicted
by a human hunter. If the person recovers, it means his counterpart has survived. Some claim nianahluy can
occur in a person who has both a primary and a secondary counterpart, that either the first was merely hurt or
that only the latter, less important one has died.
Another common source of illness is ohneahkan (eye of the people, or evil eye). Only young children are
afflicted, usually unintentionally, by this European-derived malady, which is manifested in sudden high fever,
by unconsolable crying, and sometimes by convulsions. To keep a child from being thus injured, either a small
palm cross or, less frequently, a dried cocoon-both of which attract the power of the viewer's glance-is hung
on a necklace around a child's neck. If the cocoon bursts, it is said to have successfully served its function by
having absorbed the potentially dangerous gaze; but the child remains well if the one who gazed simply
touches him on the head before departing. If a child becomes ill from the evil eye, the family attempts to
determine which person outside the family was responsible for the illness. That individual then comes to the
home, touches the child's head, and wraps a length of thread soaked in his spittle around the child's arm or leg,
and the child becomes well again. Cases of mild epilepsy, stammering, or stuttering are believed to have
developed from unsuspected and hence unremedied instances of the evil eye.
Witchcraft and demon possession also are believed to cause much illness. The former is thought to cause
intrusion of foreign elements and animals into a victim's body and long, lingering illnesses. Possession by devils
manifests itself in idiocy, hysteria, and mania.
DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY
San Mateo has four types of traditional curers. The most common are the neanduy (he or she [who]
knows), who number between 30 and 35 and specialized in diagnosing and prescribing for illnesses. If home
remedies fail to relieve his symptoms, the sick person (or his relatives) will seek the aid of a neanduy, who will
take his pulse and determine the body temperature by touching the patient's wrists, inner elbows, backs of
knees, and temples, while closely examining his face and gathering background data from him and his family.
After determining the nature of the illness, the neandiiy recommends either a home therapy or refers the
patient to a specialist. For God-sent illnesses, he may suggest they be waited out or that the symptoms be
relieved by special foods, drinks, and herbs. For minor emotional illnesses, he will commonly advise patient
and family to pray at the family altar. If it is a case of the evil eye, he will so inform the sick child's family,
which will try to find the individual responsible for the affliction. For illnesses caused by the intrusion of
67
CHENEY
foreign elements into the patient's body through witchcraft, the neandiiy will attempt to remove the objects
by cupping or sucking. An undetermined number of neanduy are believed also to be witches. If a patient
inadvertently consults the practitioner responsible for his illness, the cure is nevertheless efficacious, for the
curer-witch has only to negate his own previous magic to relieve the symptoms.
About ten midwives (nshey), middle-aged and elderly women, who may have been married at some time
in their lives but need not have borne children, practice in San Mateo. Some are also neanduiy.
A small group of practitioners are massagers (neashind: he or she [who] rubs). About a half-dozen
specialize in giving alcohol massages for aches and pains, treat minor God-sent illnesses with herbal teas, and
try to draw out illnesses by passing eggs of black hens over the affected areas of the patient's body. Appar-
ently, the neashind have begun their practice only in recent decades, having acquired the techniques from
massagers and bone-setters in surrounding Zapotec towns.
The most prestigious curers are the incensors (neasomiiy: he [who] makes smoke), of whom eight
currently practice. Unlike the neanduy-who may be either male or female, vary in age, receive knowledge of
their craft in dreams, and may also be witches-the incensors are invariably elderly men who have leamed their
art through long years of apprenticeship, are steeped in religious lore, and never employ black magic. Their
reliance on 16th century Spanish Catholic tradition is evidenced by their therapeutic use of confession, prayer,
exorcism, and rituals involving symbols of the crucifix and multiples of the number three. Moreover, while the
neandiuy may charge several hundred pesos for their services, the neasomuy receive only small gifts and are
provided with food and liquor.
As their name suggests, the neasomiiy burn copal incense, considered a sacred substance. Their special-
ities are extreme cases of emotional illness, demonic possession, and injury to animal counterparts.
If a neandiuy has diagnosed a serious emotional illness resulting from shame, suppressed anger, fright, or
"sin," he refers the patient to a neasomiiy, who will help the patient recall, confess, and discuss the deed or
event that caused, or at least exacerbated, his affliction. The incensor will burn copal three times, offer
flowers, and pray to sacred crosses, repeating in detail the patient's account; in the final session he blows
mouthfuls of alcohol on the afflicted part of the patient's body. He will also use earth from the place where
the event took place, and if much time has elapsed between event and treatment, he will dig deeper to acquire
earth (usually sand) that was at the surface when the episode occurred. Because the sacred earth has witnessed
and knows everything, the description of the event must be accurate to satisfy the earth and permit the cure to
take effect. Where the three sessions are held depends on distance, the patient's condition, and the nature of
the illness. If the site is far away and the patient cannot be moved, earth from that place may be brought and
placed on the patient's chest, or his clothing may be taken to the site.
If the site is nearby, the patient and the neandiiy will pray there. In cases of suppressed anger after
intrafamilial rancor, it is believed most effective to pray in the patient's home. If the symptoms are not
alleviated after three sessions, two more series of three sessions may be held; if the patient still does not
improve, it is assumed the diagnosis was incorrect, the patient cannot remember the exact occasion, or he
refuses to confess for shame or fear of possible retaliation. For a terminal illness diagnosed as being emo-
tionally induced, it is recommended that the patient still consult an incensor to make his confessions and die in
peace rather than linger and suffer.
For sickness caused by the dead and living dwelling on one another, the neandiuy goes to one of the great
crosses, makes offerings, and prays to communicate with God and through him with whoever in the afterlife
might be involved in the patient's illness. The patient and the incensor may not know exactly which deceased
individual is causing the problem, but the crosses and God usually do, and in this respect the cross at the
graveyard entrance is deemed particularly efficacious. God and the dead are then expected to chastise the
deceased individual, either by forcing him to stop thinking of a living individual (ahir lasta) or by making him
pay a final brief visit to one who longs for him (aran pensar). The treatment may also be repeated a maximum
of nine times. If the neandiuy's efforts do not cure ahir lasta, the more serious of the two ailments, either
another diagnostician is called in or it is assumed that the identity of the guilty deceased has not been
discovered and that a different incensor should try his skill.
68
HUA VE RELIGION, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE
Illnesses after encounters with known malevolent walking dead are considered more serious. If, after an
incensor's nine pleas, the deceased does not cease to afflict the patient, the neandiuy will stab his knife into the
ground at the base of a cross, will try to exorcise the dead spirit by whipping the patient (and others in the
family to keep the evil spirit from transferring into their bodies), and will attempt to drive it away by burning
feces to create a foul odor and by loudly cursing its name.
If a person is plagued by devils (neme'e'ch), usually manifested by manic fits, his bed is frequently moved
to different parts of the house and kept canopied to hide him from demons. To fend off evil spirits, a fishnet
of tiny crosses is hung over the patient, sacred salt is placed on his chest, and crosses are drawn in soot placed
on his forehead and cheeks. People suffering from possession are never left unguarded by family members. In
the calm periods between attacks, afflicted persons attest to the presence of demons whose strange, evil voices
torment them.
In cases of injury to animal counterparts, the incensor enlists the aid of a man who is the human
counterpart of the te'at mont6ok (or tata rayo) and a woman who is that of mum njarek (mother south wind).
The man is called nashang niandiow (carrier of one who is sick), the woman nashang nasop (carrier of smoke
or copal). The man stands in front of the patient or carries him, the woman with burning copal symbolizing
the storm (ndeekkoik) stands behind. As the patient is moved from jpace to place in his home, his injured
animal counterpart is magically moved out of danger by the monteok while the njarek conceals the movement
from whatever or whoever threatens it.
Marefios claim to practice various types of preventive medicine. To avoid infection, it is common to
apply a drop of fresh urine to a new open wound. Also, immediately after a jolting fall, it is advisable to taste
the urine of someone who has not had the same experience to prevent the subsequent development of broken
bones, sprains, and ruptures not immediately apparent because of the shock of the fall. To forestall illnesses
from shame, suppressed anger, fright, or sin, adults are often whipped with branches and children sprayed with
mouthfuls of water immediately after an incident. In fright, it is believed the blood rushes to the heart to
protect it, dangerously increasing its heat and leaving the rest of the body temporarily cold, dry, and vulner-
able to invasion by sickness. If the limbs are whipped or sprayed with water,'the blood courses back to the
extremities. Whipping is believed especially efficacious for suppressed anger because striking a person will
anger him and release the heat of his rage, enabling him to return to a state of balanced temperature.
Another prevention of emotionally induced illnesses is to get drunk as soon as possible after a poten-
tially injurious episode. When drunk, one's body is rendered inhospitable to external malignant forces that
might intrude during the vulnerable state after a strong emotional experience.
Generally, preventive medicine means maintenance of the status quo, for major community changes are
believed to incur the anger of and the punishment by Mare'lio deities. For example, about ten years ago the
overcrowded cemetery was enlarged to double its size, but soon thereafter an epidemic caused so many deaths
as to quickly fill the graveyard anew. By 1971 the cemetery was again severely crowded. But rather than
augment the graveyard's size, and perhaps precipitate another epidemic, the municipal officials decided to
leave matters as they were, to simply pack corpses more densely into the present space.
TRADITIONAL MEDICINE AND CONTEMPORARY CHANGE
Since the mid-1950s, traditional and modern medicine have coexisted uneasily in San Mateo. The efforts
of missionaries and health care personnel to convert Mareiios from the old to the new system apparently met
with initial resentment from the traditional curers. However, many Marenios and especially the neandiiy, now
seek out physicians and nurses, not only for medical aid, but also to acquire familiarity with innovative
techniques with which to augment their own repertoires of curative skills and to undercut the new com-
petitors. In addition, many Zapotec merchants in the marketplace now stock and prescribe medications that
range from aspirin to teramycin. Some neanduy now treat their patients with modern pharmaceuticals and give
injections, though their traditional causative theories of illness remain essentially intact. In one case, a man
69
CHENEY
sought the care of a neanduy, complaining of the pain he felt in his buttock after receiving a penicillin
injection from a doctor. The neandiiy diagnosed the problem as resulting from stale medicine, injected a
needle into the painful area, withdrew a syringeful of blood, and claimed to have removed the bad medicine.
When the symptoms subsided, the patient was not certain as to which practitioner he owed his cure.
In 1967, the resident physician calculated that, through the trust he had gained during two years in
town, the Marenios who sought his help had increased from nil to approximately 75 percent, but that only
about two percent relied exclusively on him for medical care. Most people regard a physician as an alternative
to the more familiar neandiuy, not as a practitioner of a more efficacious type of medicine. While modem
medical techniques may work well enough for cuts, broken bones, and common God-sent illnesses, they are
generally considered ineffective in coping with emotionally induced illnesses, demonic possession, or injury to
animal counterparts-in which the incensors specialize. Hence, individuals suffering from illnesses diagnosed as
belonging to these categories often do not receive a physician's attention until all traditional treatments have
failed and the patients are near death; the doctors' inability to cure subsequently reinforces the belief that
these afflictions are indeed impervious to modern medicine.
An exception to this pattern is the attitude of those Marenios who have converted to Protestantism.
Though they still hold to the hot-cold system and prefer-out of modesty-to have their babies delivered by
midwives rather than by a male doctor, the Protestants do not otherwise seek the aid of traditional curers,
instead holding to the germ theory of medicine and consulting practitioners of Western medicine. They were
converted by individuals some of whom were themselves trained in medicine, and their religious instruction
was complemented by an explanation of the causes of illness that, like fundamentalist Protestant religion, is
mutually exclusive with the more traditional Mareiio beliefs. The strong concept of "brotherhood" expressed
by the Protestants and their practice of periodically confessing their failings and seeking the counsel of the
congregation perhaps provides some of the same psychotherapeutic functions served by the incensors.
In the main, however, Mareiio culture is extremely conservative in concepts of health and illness, and
traditional curers still wield considerable influence. Furthermore, although San Mateo is opening increasingly
to the Zapotecs, they as well as the inhabitants of Huave communities that have become more acculturated to
Mexican national culture share most Mareino beliefs and customs regarding traditional medicine, including the
hot-cold syndrome, the evil eye, injury to animal counterparts, the effects of strong emotional experiences
witchcraft, and demonic possession. Hence, the community's increasing integration into the regional society
hardly precludes the maintenance of traditional Mareino concepts of health, illness, and magic.
A last example may illustrate the manner in which traditional concepts respond to innovative situations.
In August of 1971, at the peak of the rainy season when the area around town was flooded, a virulent
epidemic of equine encephalitis broke out which killed about 250 horses, caused the deaths of 86 people, and
seriously sickened hundreds more. Through the efforts of the missionaries, medical aid was flown in, and
within a month the epidemic was brought under control. The town council took no action except to aid in
burying the dead.
The first two fatalities were attributed to the deaths of animal counterparts. When a few more people
died, the outbreak was interpreted as being God-sent. When it became rampant, older Marenios suspected the
epidemic was sent by the Patro'n, San Mateo, as an expression of his anger at his people for having permitted
the introduction of electricity into town the previolus month. Some concluded that the outbreak was punish-
ment for having allowed the priest to take over the church and for letting him persuade them to have
electricity installed, which necessitated the destruction of some streetcorner chapels to make room for utility
poles. Younger Marenios and Protestants tended to resist and even scoff at these ideas, instead viewing the
epidemic as a natural event-in accordance with both the concept of God-sent causation and modern medical
theory-and claiming that the epidemic had spread from someplace else. However, when it was pointed out
that none of the nearby communities had suffered an outbreak, they evinced confusion and dismay, for this
information forced them, albeit reluctantly, toward the interpretation of the conservative Mareiios: that the
plague was sent by the community's Patro'n exclusively to punish his people for deviance from tradition, for
allowing in outsiders, for acquiescing to and participating in change.
70
HUA VE RELIGION, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE
CONCLUSION
San Mateo is a conservative society in which primary importance is placed on maintaining equilibrium,
on sustaining a balanced dualism in all matters human, natural, and supernatural. Yet, the Marenios are
preoccupied by the discrepancy they perceive between such an ideal, harmonious status quo and the reality of
the circumstances in which they live. Punishment for collective and individual deviance that threatens com-
munity cohesion is manifested not only in negative social sanctions, but also in supernatural castigation. For
example, some Marefnos believe that their people were abandoned first by their ancient goddess, Nic Mior, for
allowing the Dominicans into town, and later by their patron saint, San Mateo, for yielding the church to the
missionary priest. The venemous gossip's unborn child may be disfigured because of her anti-social behavior,
while a person's discovery of the identity of his animal counterpart (which provides the power for witchcraft)
presages his own death. Epidemics and individual illnesses do not just "happen;" people are acted upon by
external forces or bring affliction upon themselves. There is no Huave word for "fate" or "luck," and Marenos
use the Spanish equivalents only in speculating about persons or events to which they attach little importance;
in matters of potential community concern, culturally-congruent explanations grounded in magico-religious
tradition are always found.
Though the division of Huave cultural phenomena into categories or religion, magic, and medicine may
serve to facilitate description and analysis, such compartmentalization is hardly consonant with a Marenio
conceptualization of the world, in which these elements are intertwined and interdependent. And to note the
crucial functions served by Mareino magico-religious customs in reinforcing traditional values and maintaining
social cohesion is to recognize but one example of the universal human tendency to sustain sociocultural
continuity. More significant, perhaps, has been the repetitious phenomenon of external change agents seeking
to modify Huave culture and society through a combination of magico-religious and medical means. Indeed,
for conservative Marenios, 16th century Dominicans, and 20th century competing Protestant and Roman
Catholic missionaries alike, the interlinked realms of religion and medicine have represented a central arena in
the struggle between forces for cultural continuity and change.
Ironically, although it is under the aegis of proselitizing missionaries that modern medicine has been
brought into San Mateo, the villagers' use of these resources varies inversely with the perceived religious
orientations of the health care providers. As was evidently the tendency of their colonial period forebears, the
Marefios of today are accommodating those aspects of externally-introduced medicine which most effica-
ciously mesh and conflict least with their own beliefs and practices. Through increasing acculturation into
regional Isthmian society and greater ease of access to health care facilities, the Marefios will most likely adopt
the help-seeking behavior of their mainland Huave and Zapotec neighbors, which is characteristic of Mexican
peasants in general: dual utilization of professional and lay healers, in accordance with traditional interpre-
tations of the etiology and prognosis of illnesses, and in recognition of the relative efficacy of different
approaches to the treatment of God-sent and emotionally induced afflictions (cf. Foster, 1967:184-193).
San Mateo's amalgam of religious, magical, and medical customs represents both the core value system of
Marenio culture and the target of competing external forces for change. In light of the village's history, it is
probable that this most conservative of the Huave communities will continue to selectively absorb religious
and medical innovations as it moves gradually toward integration into the Isthmian regional context of
Mexican society.
71
CHENEY
REFERENCES
Adams, Richard N., and Arthur J. Rubel, 1967. "Sickness and Social Relations." In R. Wauchope and M.
Nash, (eds.), Handbook of Middle American Indians, vol. 6, pp. 333-356. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Burgoa, Francisco De, 1934. Geogrdfica descnipcion de la parte septentrional del polo artfco de la Amenrca, y
nueve iglesia de las indias Occidentales. Mexico: Archivo General De La Nacion, Publicaciones 25, 26. (First
Published in 1674).
Cheney, Charles C., 1968. "The Huaves of San Mateo del Mar." Unpublished M.A. thesis. Mexico: Universidad
de las Americas.
, 1972. "The Huaves of San Mateo del Mar: Cultural Change in a Mexican Indian Village." Un-
published Ph.D. dissertation. Berkeley: University of California.
1976. The Marefios: Tradition and 7ransition in Huave Community Organization. Nashville, TN:
Vanderbilt University Publications in Anthropology, No. 15.
Cook, Carmen, y Don Leonard, 1949. "Costumbres mortuarios de los indios Huaves: Un viaje." El Mexico
Antiguo 7:439-513.
Diebold, A. Richard, Jr., 1969. "The Huave." In R. Wauchope and E. Z. Vogt, (eds.), Handbook of Middle
American Indians, vol. 7, pp. 478-488. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Foster, George M., 1944. "Nagualism in Mexico and Guatamala." Acta Americana 2:85-103.
,1945. "Sierra Popoluca Folklore and Beliefs." University of California Publications in American
Archaeology and Ethnology 42:177-255.
,1953. "Relationships Between Spanish and Spanish-American Folk Medicine." Journal of Ameri-
can Folklore 66:201-217.
,1960. Culture and Conquest: America's Spanish Heritage. New York: Viking Fund Publications in
Anthropology, No.27.
,1967. Tzintzuntzan: Mexican Peasants in a Changing World. Boston: Little, Brown & Co.
,1978. "Hippocrates' Latin American Legacy: "Hot" and "Cold" in Contemporary Folk Medicine."
In R. K. Wetherington, (ed.), Colloquia in Anthropology, vol. 2, pp. 3-19. Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist
University Press, Fort Burgwin Research Center.
Madsen, William, 1967. "Religious Syncretism." In R. Wauchope and M. Nash, (eds.), Handbook of Middle
American Indians, vol. 6, pp. 369-391. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Monzon, Arturo, 1943. "Los dominios de Tata Rayo." Mexico: Novedades, 23 de Mayo.
72
HUA VE RELIGION, MAGIC, AND MEDICINE                                                       73
Orozco, Gilberto, 1946. Thadiciones y leyendas del Istmo de Tehuantepec. Mexico: Revista Musical Mexicana,
Talleres Graficos de la Nacion.
Peterson, Frederick, 1959. Ancient Mexico: An Introduction to the Pre-Hispanic Cultures. New York: Capri-
corn Books.
Warkentin, Milton, and Juan Olivares, 1946. "Huave Legends." Tlalocan 2:223-34.
Wolf, Eric R., 1957. "Closed Corporate Peasant Communities in Mesoamerica and Central Java." Southwestern
Journal of Anthropology 13:1-18.