Nakua nukuu ini Ñuu Savi: Nakua jíno, nakua ka’on de nakua sa’on ja jee Koo Yoso

Omar kuu in se´e Ñuu Yute Suji (Santo Tomás Ocotepec), nu Ñuu Savi. Satiñu ji COLING, The Americas Research Network ji ve’e sku’a Universidad Autónoma Comunal de Oaxaca. Sava tiñu yaa, ja kuenta tu’un savi, suni nkee nu in tutu kuenta CIESAS kuiya un’un tuvi oko uu kuiya.

Kijeo

Koo Yoso kuu in yaa ja kanùu nu Ñuu Savi ode kivi nda ndoso. Quetzalcoatl náani yaa ya ityi Ñuu Ko´oyo, suka jíninda nda ntyivi a ka´an nda tu´un nahuatl. Ini Ñuu Savi jekun ini nda ja su Quetzalcoatl kuu Koo Yoso. Yaa ya de kanuu ne´e tyi yaa ya kuu ja ni jekoo nda ñuu luli Ñuu Savi.¹ Ityi tyata nda ntyivi ja nki Yata Ndute (Europe) ndùùni nka va´a nda ja jee yaa ya, tyi nkatyi nda ja tatyi (devil) kuu. Ja vii kuu, ntyivi savi nduna xnaa Koo Yoso, tyi ode kivi mita katyi nda ntyivi ña´anu tu nenda Koo Yoso de kuun savi-tatyi. De suni katyi nda ja kuatyi yaa ya kuu ja nasa´a nda “viko kasiki” ode kivi mita nu Ñuu Yute Suji, nu Ñuu Savi.²

Ku ka’ano ino ndo ja ta ka’on ja sá’o nasa ni nkuu kivi yata, suni ku ka’ano ini ndoo ja ni nkundao nda tu’un, nakua jíni nda nda ntyivi inka ñuu. De mita, tu kuno nasa ni nkuu kivi yata suni kuni kuka’ano nakua ni nkuu ta nki’in nda ntyivi Yata Ndute. Tani katyi Jansen ji Pérez (2011, p. 210).

Tu kuno ka’on in uu tu’un ja kuenta Ñuu Savi ji ntyivi savi kivi mita, su ni kúni kuno nasa ni nkuu kivi yata, kúni skua’o nakua ni nsa’o ityi tyata ja ni nkiji tee xtila, de suni na kua ni nasamo ja ni nkundao ta ni nkiji nda tee xtila. Suni skua’o ñii ñu’u, tutu, nakua sa’o kivi mita, tu’un kuenta nasa jekoo ña’a yivi, de suni nasa jekoo ñuu moo. Suni skua’o nasa ka’an nda ntyivi jika ndavi, nasa ka’an nda ta ni tanda’a nda ntyivi, de suni nasa sa’a nda nu tyi ñu’u nda, nu sa ii nda. Suni kuni skua’o tu’un moo, tyi nu tu’un mo jiso ja jino ñaa yivi, nasa ku ka’ano ino ja ntyivi koo. Tu’un Savi³ kuu tu’un moo, de su tu ka’on tu’un moo ma xna’o nakua kuu ndo, tani nsa’a nda ntyivi ña’anu.

Koo Yoso Ñuu Savi

Koo Yoso kuu in “yaa”, de katyi nda ja taka in koo kaa de suni né’e tumi ti, katyi tu’un nda ntyivi savi. Tu ka´on ja jee koo de jeku ino ja in kiti kuu, de matu ja “yoso” de su nikuu de vasu sunka nka´an nda ja mita jino ja kuu “tumi”. Katyi nda ja koo ya de nde túmi ti, de matu ja nsu naní tumi kuu, tyi tumi ja luu satuni kaa, kusa ju de xiñu´u nda tumi ya. De nuku ka´on “yoso” da? Ja ya de nu kuiya 1593 nkatyi in sutu ja ni naní Antonio de Alvarado ja “yodzo” kuu nda tumi luu ja nasa´a nda xíni, tumi ka´anu kuenta in saa kuu. Suka ninkuu kivi yata, de kivi mita nduka kátyo “yodzo”, ka´on “yoso” ji “tumi”, de su tuu skua´o nda tu´un jana´a de kuno ja ini kuu “yodzo” ji “yoso” (Jansen ji Pérez Jiménez, 2009). Sukua Koo Yodzo ja na’a kuu Koo Yoso kivi mita (Aguilar, 2020).

Nasa jíno a tu’un Koo Yoso? Ja xina ñu´u ta ni jini sa ja jee Koo Yoso de nana ña´anu sa Francisca Reyes Jiménez⁴ nakani ña ja yaa ya de ndée ti ini miiní, de ta saamá ti nu ndée ti de niji kuu, tyi kuu savi de yi tatyi. Ya ku ja nda ntyivi jíni nda ta saamá ti nu ndée ti, de ta yàa ti de kua´a ti de skunu ti nda ñutu. De suka kuu ja nda ntyivi jíni nda ni ítyi nki de ni ityi kua´an Koo Yoso. De suni katyi nda ja su suka kuu nu ke´en ñuu ini Ñuu Savi, tanu ku Ñuu Ndeya, Nuyoo, Yucuhiti, de nu nda ñuu ya ka´an nda Koo Savi (Monaghan, 1995; Perez, 2008). Ya ku ja nakani nda ntyivi ña´anu ja kuu Koo Yoso ja Koo Savi, de su nduu yaa ya íini kuu nduu.

Nda ntyivi ja skua´a nda “ñii ñu´u” (codex) tanu ku Jansen ji Pérez Jiménez de katyi nda ja Koo Yoso ku tikatyá, de kanuu yaa ya tyi suni kuu in suji (Jansen, 2012, p. 35). Koo Yoso de suni vaji nu ñii ñu´u ja nani Yuta Tno´o, sivi de kuu suni Ììn Tatyi, de suni kuu de “Savi-Tatyi” (tuni in) (see Fig. 11.1).

Nu ñii ñu´u ya vaji nakua nsa´a Yaa Ìn Tatyi, nasa jekoo ndi´i nda ñuu luli Ñuu Savi, suni nasa ni xte’e nasa sa’a nda tiñu nda ntyivi de suni nasa nakuatu nda. A kuatyi yaa de tée ja nani Florescano (2004, pp. 216–222) kátyi ja nu ñuu nda ntyivi ja ka´an nda tu´un nahua Koo Yoso kuu Ehecatl, tyi yaa ya kua jekoo ntyivi ña’a yivi. Ja kuatyi yaa kuu katyo ja Koo Yoso ku in yaa ja kanuu ndi’i ñuu ña’a yiyi.

Tu ka´o ja jee ntyivi Ñuu Savi de yaa ya ku “yaa Tatyi” (Wind God). De mita u´vi kuu tu ka´on ja jee yaa Tatyi, tyi síi ja jeku ino tyi nikuu de “yaa Tatyi” nda ntyivi xtila nkenda nda Ñuu Savi de nasa´a nda “tatyi xee” (evil), tyi va su sua nka´a nda ta ni nkenda nda ntyivi ja vaji Yata Ndute (Castilla)⁵ de nka´a nda ja tatyi ku. Ja ya´a de jíno ja kanùu ne´e ka´on tu´un savi tava jekuu ino ja Koo Yoso ji Savi-Tatyi inu kuu. De suni ja kuatyi Koo Yoso iyo in tu´un nu Ñuu Yute Suji a katyi nuku sa´a nda kuiya kuiya viko tee kasiki, a kuenta in tu´un a katyi nukú ñu´u nda sa´ama ndi’i tuni teku nda tee kasiki, chilolos.

Tumi xiñu

Nu kivi oko uja, yoo in, kuiya un´un tuvi xa´on uu, ni jee ní ñuu luli ja ka´an nda Itu Tasu, nu Ñuu Yute Suji. Ya de ni natu´un ni ji in tée ña’anu ja nani Benito Cristino Cruz Sánchez.⁶ De suan nkatyi de ja kuatyi tumi Koo Yoso:

Ajá, ndee [Koo Yoso] tumi ti de sa ndaka nu teku kuu tumiti ka´an nda ii. De iyo tu´un ja ñuka nakenda nda tee kasiki a kuu sa´ama nda kasiki, katyitu nda.

Vii kuu ja ni nka´a tee ña’anu Benito, tyi nkatyi de ja Koo Yoso ndee tumi ndi tuni teku. De ja kuatyi tu’un ya de jíno nuku nda tee jana’a nkayu nda yoso nu ñii ñu´u taka yùù tumi ndi’i tuni teku. Tani kaa nu tuni uu (see Fig. 11.2).

Nuu ñii ñu´u Tonindeye ja ni nkavi Jansen ji Pérez Jiménez (2007a, p. 213) yóso in tee ja nánide Kumi Kuiñi, de katyi nda ja tee yaa kuu Quetzalcoatl, de yaa ya jíso xíini tumi ndi’i tuni (Quetzalapanecayotl). Tani kaa tuni uni (see Fig. 11.3).

Kanuu kuno tu’un yaa tyi katyinda ja kivi yata de nda to’o ñu’u nda sa’ama nu tée nda tumi. Suni katyi nda ja tumi ya’a de ñu’un nda sutu Yaa Nkandii. De nda tumi saa kuii, ja ka’an nda Quetzal, de su katyi nda ja ñu’un nda tu kuika ne’e ntyivi (Filloy, 2019, pp. 20–21).

Ja ya de jíno nu kuu Koo Yoso jiso xíni a ne’e tumi ndi’i tuni teku. A kuenta ya’a suni jino nuku nu Ñuu Yute Suji de Ñuu Nkuiñi katyi nda tu ni’o in tumi kuenta Koo Yoso de kuika ne’e ko’o ndo. Ta katyo ja kuika ne’e koo nsuu kuu ja kuenta xu’un tyi ja kuenta koo va’a nu de suni kune va’a nu niñi ji kiti tava kaa nu. Ja tu’un yaa de suni ka’an nda ityi Ñuu Ndeya (Witter, 2011, p. 109).

Ja ya de jíno nuku ndee nda tumi xíini nda ntyivi jana´a, ntyivi ja ni yosnuu nu nda ñuu, ntyivi ja ni ndee nda nu yuu, yaa ji ndoso ja yoso nu ñii ñu´u. Tani tutu ja nani Codex Mendoza ji Matricula de Tributos. Ja ndu tutu ya de katyi nasa tumi ni jika nda ntyivi Ñuu Ko´oyo nu nda ntyivi savi Ñuu Yoso Koo ji Ñuu Ndinu. Ntyivi Coixtlahuaca ni je´e nda de uu tuvi tumi kuenta sàà kuii de nda ntyivi Ndinu ni je´enda de in tuvi (Codex Mendoza, folio 43r and 45r).

Viko Kasiki ji Koo Yoso

Suni natu´u ni ji tee ña´anu Benito⁷ a je´e Koo Yoso, de nkatyi de ja nda teku nda sa´ama ja ñu´u nda tee kasiki Ñuu Yute Suji vaji nu nda tumi ja nde yika ji xíini Koo Yoso. A kuenta nda tee kasiki, jínisa, de suni nakani nda ja nda tee kasiki tu kua´a nda ve´e ve´e de jitaje´e nda de nda ntyivi xive’e táva nda nuni tata, tyikin, ndutyi de nda tee kasiki ya de nasa íínda nda ya. De tee ña’anu Benito suni nkatyi:

Ajá, saa íi nda tee kasiki, sede jitaje´e nda sede jiko nda ta nuu nu iñi a kuu ndoo nuni tata, ja nda tyinkin. Sua nsa´a nda ni xina de mita tyi nduka nasa´a nda sua.

Ja je´e ya de kuu katyi ni ja “viko tee kasiki” kuu in viko ja kanùu, ja kuu ñuu ni Ñuu Yute Suji. Kuu in viko ja luu ne’e kaa de suni kua’a ne’e ntyivi jee kasiki de jitaje’e a kuatyi kua kunde’e. Kuiya 2020 de nùu nda 3519 nda chilolos. In viko ka´anu nu naketa´a kuane´e ntyivi. Viko ya ka´an nda tu´un xtila Carnaval, de tu´un carnaval, a kuenta sivi de jíka ne´e vaji sivi, vaji ode Yata Ndute (Hernández-Díaz & Angeles Carreño, 2005). A kuenta viko tee kasiki ja sa´o Ñuu Yute Suji de nsuu viko vaji Yata Ndute kuu tyi in viko kuenta ntyivi moo kuu, viko ya sa´a nda ntyivi suji ode kivi ana´a, sa´a nda tava kije´e nda kaki nda itu.

Kivi mita nda tee kasiki kasiki nda uni kivi. Ja nduu xina ñu’u kivi ndi uxi uni ñuu luli Ñuu Yute Suji de je´e nda ta ve´e ta ve´e ntyivi ñuu luli nda de kataje´e nda, ta in kua´an nda de jitaje´e nda ji yáa violin, yáa savi. Sìì satuni sa´a nda ntyivi Ñuu Yute Suji. De suni ta kua´a nda de inka ñuu, nda ntyivi sìì jíni nda de iyo ve´e nu tava nda nuni tata, tava nda nuu tee kasiki tava nasa íí nda. Iyo ta je´e nda inka ñuu, tani Nundaco, Yucuhiti, Ñuu Kuiñi, San Miguel Progreso ja Ñuu Nkaa. Ñuu Nundaco de sìì ne´e jíni nda ntyivi ya tuni nkenda nda tee kasiki tyi katyi nda ntyivi ña´anu ja xina ja Ñuu Yute Suji ni kua’an nda ntyivi ja ni jekoo ñuu Nundaco. Kuu sii ini nda tyi nda tee kasiki nasa ii nda nuni tatan tava skee ne’e nda kuiya ñuka. A kuatyi yaa de je’e nda nu tee kasiki kaa nda ji ko’o nda. De ja uni kivi de ndi’i nda tee kasiki ñuu luli nuu nda ma Ñuu.

Ja kuenta sa´ama, kátyi nda ja kivi yata sa´ama ja ñu´u nda velo tava kasiki nda kuu sa´ama kátyi, mascada, ña´aná ñii ji ixi yu’u, de suni ñu´u nda xíini ja nde nanikanu listón de ya nditakaa xini nda de. Kivi mita de nsama sa´ama ja ñu´u nda tee kasiki, mita de kuu naani ña´aná, núni pañitu nuu nda, ñu´u nda tyarru (ta ñu’u nda ntyivi ko’oyo) ji sa´ama ja sii teku, de yoso soo koton siki ndade, yi’i nda nija de jiso nda tikanaxi (tuni kumi ji tuni un'un, see Figs. 11.4 and 11.5).

Tu nde’o de ja sa’a nda tee kasiki vaji o de kivi yata, katyo ja Koo Yoso ku ja jekoo viko yaa. Tava ntyivi savi tyiñu’u nda ñu’un nda de va ne’e koo itu nda de koo tava kaji nda. Sukua nda tee kasiki jínu nda ma’añu nda ñu’u ntyivi ñoo de jita je’e nda tava kaxi nda tikanaxi ndade.

Ityi jee

Ityi tyata de viko tee kasiki kuatyi maa nda tée kasiki nda, niku de ndu kasiki nda ña´a tyi ndu nde va´a ntyivi. Nda ña´a ja kúni nda kasiki nda kusa kuni nuku´u nda sa´ama tée tava kuu kasiki nda. Kivi mita de nku kua ne´e ña´a ja kasiki nda, de suni kivi mita de je´e nda nasa´a nda sa´ama ña´a, tyi ñu´u nda xoo, ñu´u nda sa´ama ja ñu´u nda ña´a tyi kua sama tiempo mita (tuni iñu, see Fig. 11.6). De ja je’e ya kuu ja mita de nda ña’a nduu kuatyi ndee nda ini ve’e nda tyi nsama tiempo, tyi nda ña je’e nda ve’e skua’a de ni’i nda tiñu, de suni mita nda ña katyi nda tu kúni nda tanda’a nda a nasa se’e kúni nda koo nda. Va’a kuu ya tyi sama tiempo de nda ña’a yosnuu nu nda ntyivi ñoo, tyi mita nda ña’a suni nee nda tiñu ini ñuu. Ja kuatyi ya’a, ja kasiki nda ña’a jii tee, de ma ka´onka viko tee kasiki tyi kuatyi viko kasiki ka´on. Kasiki kuu jitaje’e de jitaje’e kuu ja kuu sii ino, sukua ku viko, de ja kuatyi ya kuatyi ka’on viko kasiki.

Nu Ñuu Savi nduna tiñu iyo tava ni’on xu’un de suni nduna ve’e skua’a iyo tava nda ndi’i se’e ñuu skua’a in carrera. Nda tyivi ja ke’e nda nani nda radicados, ntyivi ja kua´a jika, kua´a satiñu tava ni´i xu´u, kua´a nda nuu inka ñuu, ta ku Ndinu, Ñuu Nduva, Ñuu Ko´yo ji Norti (Estados Unidos). De nda se’e nda radicados nduka ka’an nda tu’un savi. De suni ma kunda nda ndi’i ja iyo ñuu moo. De a luu kuu ta kije’e viko kasiki tyi nda kivi yaa nda radicados ndikoko  nda kíi nda nu ñuu ja nkaku nda tava kasiki nda viko kasiki. Viko kasiki kuu in kivi ja síí ne´e nda se´e Ñuu Yute Suji, tyi jita je´e nda de kuu síí ini nda ja iyo nda ji nda ta´an nda ji se´e nda de ka´a nda sa´an savi. De nda se’e nda radicados jíni nda ñuu nda, nasa kuteku ñuu ya’a, ninu váji nda, de suni jíni nda nda ta’an nda de suka de jíni nda a se’e Ñuu Yute Suji kuu nda.

In, uu tu´un de ko´on

Koo Yoso kuu yaa ja kanùu nu Ñuu Savi, ode kivi nda ndoso ode kivi mita. Nuu Ñuu Ko´oyo ka´an nda Quetzalcoatl. Ityi nu kee nkandi, nu ka´an nda tu´un Maya de sivi yaa ya kuu Kukulkan. De Ñuu Savi ka´on Koo Yoso, de suni Koo Savi. Katyi nda ja tu ni´on in tumi de kuika ne´e koo. Suni katyi nda ja ndituni teku ku tumi ti. Ja ya de, katyi nda ja teku Koo Yoso nakenda nda sa´ama tee kasiki. Ja ya de ku katyo ja Ñuu Yute Suji kuu in ñuu jana´a, ja jekoo ode kivi nda ndoso, tyi ntyivi suji nduna xna nasa nsa´a nda ntyi ña´nu de sukua nasa´a nda ode kivi mita, ta kuu viko kasiki. De ja ya de, síí neo koo a kuu ndo se´e Ñuu Yute Suji, nu Ñuu Savi, de ka´on sa´an savi.

Memory and Cultural Continuity of the Ñuu Savi People: Ancestral Knowledge, Language and Rituals Around Koo Yoso Deity

Omar Aguilar Sánchez⁸

Abstract

This chapter aims to reintegrate the cultural memory of Koo Yoso deity in Ñuu Savi territory and to show its meanings from antiquity to the present. Koo Yoso is the Mixtec Quetzalcoatl, one of the most important Ñuu Savi deities in the Mesoamerican spiritual world. As I argue in this paper, the Feathered Serpent continues to play an important role today in the well-being of Ñuu Savi, despite the efforts by Spanish friars to suppress Mesoamerican religions in colonial times. This deity is commemorated every year by the Mixtec community of Ocotepec (Oaxaca, Mexico), in the—erroneously known as—carnival festival. This festival has taken on new meanings through the experiences of transnational migration. The language of the rain is the main way to communicate in Ocotepec, a container of ancestral knowledge, and its analysis is crucial to understand landscape, nature, rituals and cultural values of Ñuu Savi cultural memory. For this reason, this study is supported by cultural continuity through the Sa’an Savi-Mixtec language, showing how the Feathered Serpent is a key for the communities’ identity and their relationship with nature and the landscapes they have created, from the past to the present.

Introduction

I want to thank all the inhabitants of the Santo Tomás Ocotepec municipality and the Ñuu Savi People. Special thanks to Justyna Olko and Cynthia Radding for your invitation to participate in this volume.

The Feathered Serpent is one of the most well-known and important deities in the Mesoamerican world, known as Quetzalcoatl in the Nahuatl language. Among the Ñuu Savi “People of the Rain”,⁹ this deity, known as Koo Yoso, or “Feathered Serpent”, has been fundamental in the history, origin and foundation of local communities. Koo Yoso was demonized by the Spaniards during the colonial era; however, Koo Yoso remains part of Ñuu Savi, manifests itself in a savi-tatyi “rain-wind” way and is remembered at the festival viko kasiki “feast-play”. The aim of this chapter is the reintegration of cultural memory about Koo Yoso into the People of the Rain from immemorial to recent times.

It is necessary to be clear that cultural continuity doesn’t mean a mirror between the past and the present. We are conscious that:

the concept of cultural continuity does not mean that we have to suppose an anachronistic fossilization of society, but, quite the contrary, implies a dynamic diachronic relationship of the present with the past, in which there are bound to be important changes and in which at the same time important traditional elements and structures may be preserved. In fact, the present-day traditions and concepts become a crucial point of departure for a better identification and understanding of the themes and motifs in ancient images and texts. There is a dynamic relationship between past and present, which is captured in the term cultural memory. (Jansen & Pérez, 2011, p. 210)

To reintegrate cultural memory means to be conscious about our present and past, the recognition and knowledge of the painful colonial process and the disjunction that it created around our cultural heritage. It means to study our historical–cultural heritage as a whole from a decolonial framework, an integral study of precolonial artifacts and settlements, pictorial manuscripts, colonial maps and documents and the living heritage of rituals, oral traditions and festivities among the Ñuu Savi communities on the basis of cultural continuity, being aware that any continuity also implies changes. This study has to be fundamentally linked by the Sa’an Savi language analysis and a strong participation of the ntyivi savi (rain person, Mixtec) (Aguilar, 2019, p. 335). Why the language? Not just because in our case the Mixtec language is at least three thousand years old, but it is the container of a particular relationship between the speakers, the speakers and nature, the speakers and gods. In one sentence, the rain language is the proof of a unique language to understand the world. It contains ancestral knowledge about nature, the spiritual world and landscape. Furthermore, to speak the Mixtec language today, in a globalized world, is an act of resistance, just as our ancestors did.

The Mixtec Quetzalcoatl

Koo Yoso is the Feathered Serpent. Today “feather” is commonly known as tumi, but the feathers of this deity do not refer to the common feather. The explanation for the different words can be found in the linguistic analysis of colonial and precolonial sources. Today yoso means “flat, on or over, metate”, depending on the tone and context.¹⁰ However, Alvarado’s vocabulary of 1593 defined yodzo as “big feather” and associated it with precious feathers. For example, Alvarado wrote yodzo yoco “penacho, plumaje” and yodziñandi saha yodzo “atar plumas ricas haciendo plumaje” (Jansen & Pérez, 2009). In Ñuu Savi pictography, the valley is depicted as a feather board, a phonetic game where the association of yodzo as a valley and beautiful feathers is clear. In terms of comparative linguistic analysis, the yodzo of the sixteenth century corresponds to the yoso in Ocotepec nowadays, since the phoneme/dz/became/s/in the current variant. Thus, I can argue that Koo Yoso or Koo Yodzo is the “Feathered Serpent” (Aguilar, 2020).

What do we know about Koo Yoso deity? The first time I heard about Koo Yoso was from my grandmother, Francisca Reyes Jiménez.¹¹ She told me that Koo Yoso lives in the lagoons. When Koo Yoso changes abode it brings with it a lot of rain and wind, known as savi-tatyi “rain-wind”. In its wake, Koo Yoso throws trees and the direction in which they fall indicates where they went. This is well-known in Mixtec communities, such as Chalcatongo de Hidalgo, Santiago Nuyoo and Santa María Yucuhiti (Monaghan, 1995; Pérez, 2008). In all these versions Koo Yoso is named as Koo Savi “Rain Serpent”. Koo Yoso and Koo Savi, both have a close relationship with rain and wind, therefore they are the same entity associated with natural phenomena.

Jansen (2012, p. 35), based on a decipherment by Pérez Jiménez, argues that Coo Dzavui (Koo Savi) “Serpent of the Rain” is a metaphor for the “swirl” as a creator and an important nahual.¹² Koo Savi is the protagonist of the creation narrative in the Codex Yuta Tnoho (Vindobonensis), where it appears as Yaa Ìn Tatyi “9 Wind God” (Fig. 11.1). In this scene, the relationship of the wind to rain is clear, which we can interpret as the manifestation of Savi-Tatyi “Rain-Wind”.

Fig. 11.1

Koo Yoso carrying the water of the sky (from the Coast) to Mixtec Highlands. App “Códices Mixtecos” (2019)Footnote

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.codice.celina.codicesmixtecos.

Yaa Ìn Tatyi “9 Wind God” in the Codex Yuta Tnoho founded the Mixtec communities and himself is the manifestation of the civilization and religious principles. For this reason, Florescano (2004, pp. 216–222) suggests  his correspondence with the Nahua God Ehecatl, understood as the God of the cosmos and human creation. Thus, Koo Yoso is the Mixtec manifestation of a pan-Mesoamerican spiritual entity.

Friars associated this deity with the devil, which may explain why in the current Sa’an Savi, the term tatyi refers to both wind and the devil, according to the tone and context of speech. In the same way, knowing the essence of the Mesoamerican Gods, both Koo Savi and Savi-Tatyi are manifestations of the same deity, Koo Yoso. Its spiritual power endures in the cultural memory of Ocotepec, as observed in the stories I heard from my grandmother, where yoso (precious feather) is the remnant of a concept that has remained through the centuries. It is also interesting to highlight that in Ocotepec a ritual to Koo Yoso is recreated every year, the Viko Tee Kasiki “festivity of the man who plays”.

Precious Feathers

On 27 January 2017, I went to the community of Itundi (Lázaro Cárdenas) in Santo Tomás Ocotepec where I talked with Mr. Benito Cristino Crúz Sánchez.¹⁴ I asked him about the Koo Yoso feathers, and he told me the following.

Ajá, ndee [Koo Yoso] tumi ti de sa ndaka nu teku kuu tumiti ka´an nda ii. De iyo tu´un ja ñuka nakenda nda tee kasiki a kuu sa´ama nda kasiki, katyitunda.

Yes, Koo Yoso has feathers; the elders say it has feathers of all colors. And there is knowledge that chilolos were inspired by these colors to make their clothes. The elders say that.

Mr. Benito’s statement that Koo Yoso has feathers of different colors is very important when it is associated with significances of precolonial and colonial material culture that show us how Mesoamerican concepts have prevailed even to the present. In iconographic terms, the glyph that represents the valley in the codices is depicted with feathers of different colors (Fig. 11.2).

Fig. 11.2

© The Trustees of the British MuseumFootnote

I want to thank The Santo Domingo Centre of Excellence for Latin American Research (SDCELAR), at the British Museum, for the rights of reproduction of the images 11.2 and 11.3.

Valley of the Rain God. In this toponymic glyph, we can observe the head of the Rain God over the valley constituted by feathers of different colors. Codex Tonindeye Reverse (Nuttall), page 48-III.

In addition to the above, Lord 4 Jaguar Koo Yoso—identified as the historic Quetzalcoatl by Jansen and Pérez Jiménez (2007a, p. 213) in the Codex Tonindeye (p. 75)—carries a headdress with feathers of different colors (quetzalapanecayotl) as characteristic attribute (Fig. 11.3).

Fig. 11.3

© The Trustees of the British Museum

Lord 4 Jaguar “Koo Yoso” in the Codex Tonindeye Reverse, page 75.

Why are these data, the colors and the feathers important? For the symbolic meanings of feathers in Mesoamerican spiritual world. The feathers had a symbolic, religious and ornamental use, related to the nobility and gods. Even the specific feathers were associated with to particular Gods. For example, the eagle’s feathers were attributed to the Sun God and the Feathers Quetzal were a symbol of precious, richness and fertility (Filloy, 2019, pp. 20–21).

It seems clear that this specific headdress associated with Quetzalcoatl, Koo Yoso in the Mixtec people, has multicolored feathers, characteristic that was mentioned by Mr. Benito for this deity.¹⁶ Furthermore, the feathers signify richness, fertility and the quality of precious, ideas that prevail to the present. In Santo Tomás Ocotepec and Santa Maria Cuquila, I have heard from several residents that if you got one feather of the Koo Yoso, you would be very fortunate (tu ni’i nu in tiumi Koo Yoso de kuu kuika ne´e nu). Rich does not refer to money or accumulation of wealth, as in the Western worldview; rather it refers to a fortunate person, like the narrative of Ñuu Ndeya-Chalcatongo, in another Mixtec community, where they said that the feathers of Koo Savi are “little, multicolor and shine like the sun” (Witter, 2011, p. 109).

Knowing the meaning of precious feathers, we can imagine the social status of the person who wore a headdress. Rulers, nobility and warriors were represented in murals, sculpture and codices through Mesoamerica wearing a huge variety of feather headdresses with different symbolic entanglements. It is no coincidence that feathers are one of the most valuable objects requested by the Triple Alliance from the tribute provinces, as we observe in the Codex Mendoza and the Matrícula de Tributos for the Mixtec area. For example, the Coixtlahuaca province—in the Mixtec Lowlands—paid the Triple Alianza “eight hundred rich green long feathers that they call Quetzale” and Tlachquiauhco province—in the Mixtec Highlands—four hundred feathers (Codex Mendoza, folio 43r and 45r).

Viko Kasiki and Koo Yoso

Returning to my conversation with Mr. Benito, he related the colors of Koo Yoso to the clothes of tee kasiki “men who play”, chilolos or “masked” characters of the “Carnival” of Ocotepec. From my own experience and from what other people shared with me about this festivity, I told Mr. Benito that I had seen on a few occasions that when the chilolos went to the houses, the people of the houses would take out their nuni tata “corn to sow”, their beans,  so that the chilolos could bless these seeds. He confirmed my observation and added:

Ajá, saa íi nda tee kasiki, sede jitaje´e nda sede jiko nda ta nuu nu iñi a kuu ndoo nuni tata, ja nda tyinkin. Sua nsa´a nda ni xina de mita tyi nduka nasa´a nda sua.

“Yes, they bless it, and then they dance around the corn seeds to be sown. They did it before, but they don’t do it that much today”.

The carnival of Santo Tomás Ocotepec is the most important festivity for its inhabitants, as seen in its colorful esthetics and the full participation of the community. According to the 2020 census, Ocotepec has a total of 4066 inhabitants.¹⁷ In that same year, Viko kasiki brought together 3519 masked participants, not counting the organizers and spectators. Thus, we can observe the participation of more than 80 percent of this municipality throughout the organization and performance of the festival. The carnival, as a celebration before the Christian Lent, came with the introduction of the Catholic religion to the Americas. But after the conquest, Mesoamerican cultures took the carnival date to perform dances and rituals with different origins and meanings than those of the Christian tradition. Many dances—such as that of the devils—are performed as a satire to colonial rule, where they are personified and mocked with characters that are portrayed with European characteristics (Hernández & Angeles, 2005). Other communities, such as Santo Tomás Ocotepec, took this date to perform rituals linked to the agricultural cycle, erroneously called carnival, because they performed this ritual as part of the carnival dates. Thus, without pretending to describe in great detail the carnival—which goes beyond the objective of this article—here I will only outline the most significant parts for the themes of this book related to language and living with nature.

The viko kasiki festivity of Ocotepec lasts 3 days. In the first two days the chilolos—of each of the thirteen communities that integrate the municipality—go household by household, eating, drinking and dancing to the rhythm of traditional or recorded chilenas.¹⁸ A few people still take out their selected seeds that will be used for planting and the masked chilolos bless them. For its magnitude and colorful performance, the viko kasiki is known in the surrounding municipalities, such as Nundaco, where the people no longer play, but they appreciate it very much when the chilolos of Ocotepec visit them. For example, Ms. Martina Avila—who was 84 years old in 2017—shared with me that she is thankful when the masked men of Ñuu Ka´anu “Big Town”¹⁹ arrive, because they can bless her seeds. In that way, she will have a better harvest during the next agricultural cycle. In general, in all houses, these dancers are very welcome, where they receive refreshing meals and drinks. On the last day of the carnival, all the chilolos from all the communities meet at the center of Ocotepec.

A few decades ago, the chilolos used to wear a suit of manta²⁰ or silk in rich colors, silk scarf, a hat with different colored slats, leather mask with a long beard—that represents elders—and huaraches—Mexican leather shoes. However, with the passage of time, the community is replacing the traditional elements with others that look more like the Mexican style. Today, the chilolos’ costumes consist of masks of different materials,²¹ bandanas, charro (Mexican hat), satin shorts and shirts of different colors, long socks, gaban or sarape “Mexican poncho”, copper sleigh bells and boots (Figs. 11.4 and 11.5).

Fig. 11.4

Traditional viko kasiki costume at Morelos, Ocotepec, in 1963. Photograph of the “Bienes Comunales” office at Santo Tomás Ocotepec

Fig. 11.5

Chilolos of Santo Tomás Ocotepec. Photograph by the author, 2019

Viko Kasiki shows us the symbolic and religious connection between Koo Yoso, the agricultural cycle, and chilolos; they are an essence of the Koo Yoso personification because they go in a line to cross fields and arrive at the houses where they dance to awaken the fertility of the mother Earth with the sounds of the copper sleigh bells and blessing the seeds. We do this ritual before planting and the beginning of the rainy season in Ocotepec.

New Values Around Koo Yoso and Viko Kasiki

In Sa´an Savi of Ocotepec, the carnival used to be called viko tee kasiki, which literally means “party of the men who play”. This describes the festival in the past. For a long time, the women did not participate in the dance. Today, however, women’s participation is fundamental for the magnificence of our festivity. In the past, women were criticized if they participated in the dances, for that reason, women had to dress like men to participate. Fortunately, in the last fifteen years, many women have decided to enjoy the festivity by highlighting their own gender. They have innovated and stylized the “traditional and masculine” costume to reaffirm their gender in front of the community. For example, in (Fig. 11.6), masked women or chilolas participate in the Viko Kasiki. They wear the traditional xikin (huipil or blouse), palm hat, cotton shawl and skirt made with leaves of mature maize. Probably the dress they have chosen emphasizes the importance of the harvest. Women’s participation in the carnival, at the same time, is the result of changing gender roles in the Mixtec communities. Today women have more public seats in academia, business and politics in the local context. At home, in nuclear families, the women decide if they want to get married and to whom and how many children they want to have.

The main aspect of this celebration today is kasiki “to play” and to play is to dance and to dance is to enjoy. So, today we should call this festivity just as viko kasiki “the festivity of those who play”. Yet, the playful enjoyment of kasiki brings movement, life, and fertility to the fields and it renews the agricultural cycle among the Ñuu Savi.

Fig. 11.6

Chilolas or masked women participating in Viko Kasiki festivity. Photograph by the author, 2019

Viko kasiki festivity has the capacity to reintegrate the community in times where massive migration is a common rule in Mixtec communities due to lack of labor opportunities and universities to study a profession. It represents a huge problem for cultural continuity, because traditional knowledge is no longer shared across generations. Migrants represent more than half of the participants of Viko Kasiki festivity, who wait for these days to return to the place where they were born. In this festivity, they have the opportunity to see each other, meet with their friends and families in the community and speak their mother language, the Sa´an Savi. This event is the union of extended families, who return to the community only on these dates. The viko kasiki gives us an identity by recognizing us as part of a community, which also forces us to provide what we can to those who come to dance at our houses. We offer breakfast, lunch or dinner to the masked men and women during the three days of the festivity. Migrants in the United States and Canada transfer money to support the cost of the festivity, they never forget their origin communities and they appreciate viko kasiki through Facebook LIVE. The viko kasiki gives us the opportunity to come back home, to our lands, to re-unite generations, to learn about life and  death. Children of migrants learn about how to read the sky, the soil, when we have to cultivate corn and why we have to offer food and drinks to Ñu’u Ndeyu, Mother Earth, before planting and harvesting. Viko kasiki allows us to continue with Mesoamerican rituals and cultural values.

Conclusions

The Feathered Serpent is the most representative deity in Mesoamerica, known as Quetzalcoatl in Nahua culture; in Maya, as Kukulkan and in Ñuu Savi as Koo Yoso. As part of Mesoamerican peoples and cultures, the Ñuu Savi people have maintained their linkage with the past and, at the same time, integrated new values into those they already possessed. Koo Yoso is alive in Ñuu Savi, we can see him each year when the tatyi-savi comes and the chilolos dance in the houses and fields.

This chapter illustrates the dynamic cultural memory about the Plumed Serpent in Ñuu Savi; where, despite the effort by Spanish and religious authorities, Mesoamerican values continued, thanks to the language and the cultural synergy of the peoples themselves, as illustrated by Viko Kasiki in Santo Tomás Ocotepec, a reminiscence of the elaborate Mixtec ritual calendar in precolonial times. Thus, in this chapter, we show the importance of a living heritage that upholds the knowledge and cultural values of Mesoamerican civilizations for the well-being of the modern community.