tribe or city.
The first of these, hay, appears to be a general term applied to a community, without necessarily implying relationship. An Indian, asked where he is from, will answer in ah-hay vae, “I am of this place,” referring to his village. Yet it is evident that in early times, all of one village were considered to be related. The word hay, moroever, does not signify a house as an edifice. In that sense the proper term is ochoch.
[34]The frequent references by Xahila to the seven tribes, or rather the seven cities, vuk ama
, and the thirteen divisions or provinces, oxlahuh
hob, are not explained in the course of the narrative. These numbers retained sacred associations, as they were adopted later to assign the days of worship of their divinity (see [Sec. 44]). Brasseur is of opinion that the thirteen divisions refer to the Pokomams,[34-1] but that such a subdivision obtained among the Cakchiquels as well, is evident from many parts of their Annals. The same division also prevailed, from remote times, among the Quiches,[34-2] and hence was probably in use among all these tribes. It may have had some superstitious connection with the thirteen days of their week. The
hob may be regarded as the original gens of the tribe, and the similarity of this word to the radical syllable of the Nahuatl calp-ulli, may not be accidental. I have elsewhere spoken of the singular frequency with which we hear of seven ancestors, cities, caves, etc., in the most ancient legends of the American race.[34-3]