The question of the condition of intelligence amongst the North American Indians, has a direct bearing upon the problem of the origin of the civilisation of the Toltecs and Aztecs, and it is satisfactory to know that there are sound reasons for supposing that the Indians who constructed the fortified camps in Ohio were not more advanced in knowledge than the tribes who were dwelling in that region at the time of the discovery of America by Columbus.
Several years after the conquest of Mexico, the Spaniards sent expeditions into the southern parts of Central America, and conquered the Quichés and the surrounding country, in which were situated the ramparts defending Utatlan and Patinamit. It was subsequently considered desirable that investigations should be made into the ancient systems by which the aboriginal inhabitants had been governed by their caciques, and orders were given to this effect by the Emperor Charles the Fifth and by his successor Philip the Second. In the reports of the officers who conducted these inquiries, it was stated that an extraordinarily rigid line of caste was maintained amongst the Quichés. There was an absolute distinction between the ruling families descended from the caciques, and the great mass of the races who were under their control. It was also evident, judging from the language of several appeals made by Indian chiefs to obtain justice and to have their rank and authority acknowledged, that they considered the working classes of Indians as their absolute slaves.
“There was no instance,” states the historian Juarros, “of any person being appointed to a public office, high or low, who was not selected from the nobility; for which reason, great anxiety was felt by them to keep the purity of their lineage unsullied. To preserve this rank untainted in blood, it was decreed by the law, that if any cacique or noble should marry a woman who was not of noble family, he should be degraded to the caste of mazegual or plebeian, assume the name of his wife, and be subject to all the duties and services imposed upon plebeians.” These services generally consisted of works performed by forced labour. The lands belonging to the ruling families were cultivated in this manner, and, in fact, the Indians of the native and working class were entirely at the disposal of their masters. One of the Spanish bishops, whose diocese was in Mexico, mentions that he had ascertained that these mazeguales could be sold or killed by their owners. There were marked differences in the dress of the people. The mazeguales wore, as a rule, nothing but the loin cloth, or sometimes, as is the case now with the Lacandones, a long cotton shirt, reaching nearly to the feet. It was a matter of observation amongst the conquerors that the inferior classes of Indians were submissive, but that their rulers were intractable, harsh and warlike.
It is inexpedient to pursue this particular subject to any great extent, for it is made clear by the reports of the Spanish authorities that the relations of the governing class of the Quichés to the other Indians under their rule were those of a race of conquerors to a race of slaves, and the victors treated those whom they had conquered in a manner in accordance with the habits of a savage and barbarous tribe of North American Indians. This much may be admitted from the consideration of the circumstances of the laws and customs of the Quichés at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards. But if a due estimation is also given to the evidence afforded by the strange and otherwise inexplicable similarities in the methods of choosing fortified positions and raising ramparts with those in Ohio, it becomes reasonable to infer that the Quiché chiefs originally migrated from that part of North America.
It is however necessary to note that, at whatever period their migration may have taken place, it cannot be granted or inferred that the Ohio tribes brought with them any knowledge of architecture, or of any form of civilisation, for had it been otherwise, they would have left behind them some vestiges of that civilisation or mechanical skill. It is especially remarkable that throughout the length and breadth of North America there is not the smallest fragment of any hewn stone building, or of any carved stone hieroglyphic characters. Thus the theory of migratory tribes of Indians bringing with them from the North into Mexico, a comparatively advanced knowledge of arts and sciences is opposed to all evidence. It is almost certain that the state of civilisation that at one time existed in the regions of Chiapas and Yucatan, was introduced into the country at some period subsequent to the arrival of the invading tribe, unless it can be established that the aboriginal races already possessed a competent intelligence, and an architectural capacity. A proposition of this character cannot be reasonably maintained, for it is known that in the fifteenth century the Indians in Cuba and Haiti, the Caribs on the coasts south of Yucatan, and the aborigines in the interior were savages, existing in a low state of human intelligence. This subject respecting the Indian migrations and the state of civilisation that was existing, or had existed, in Central America, can be more definitely considered after attention has been directed to the question of the antiquity and purpose of the buildings at Palenque and Uxmal. It is much to be regretted that Palenque was not known to the Spaniards when Cortes marched within a few leagues of it in 1524. Possibly, at that time it had not been long abandoned, and perhaps some of the caciques dwelling in that part of the valley of the Usamacinta might have been able to explain the meaning of the hieroglyphs. Unfortunately the ruins were not discovered until more than two centuries had elapsed, and nothing could be ascertained from the Indians which gave the slightest clue to their signification. It has been surmised—and there are good reasons for thinking that the surmise may be correct—that the characters relate to the migrations of the tribes. But in consequence of the incomplete knowledge of these Indian hieroglyphs, it would be impossible to attempt to form any satisfactory conjectures regarding their meaning.
There exists, however, graven on the tablet of the cross, two figures which, if I am correct in my opinion with regard to them, are of the greatest importance in establishing certain facts with regard to the builders of Palenque. Upon referring to the illustration of the altar tablet that was placed within the temple of the cross, it will be noticed that the two standing figures offering sacrifice to the quetzal or sacred bird of Quiché, are evidently intended to represent persons actually living at the time that the altar was designed, for there is nothing fantastic in the costume that is worn by them. If a careful examination is made into the details of their dress it will, I think, be concluded that these men were the chief caciques of the Quichés.
“The nobles,” observes Juarros, “wore a dress of white cotton dyed or stained with different colours, the use of which was prohibited to the other ranks. This vestment consisted of a shirt and white breeches, decorated with fringes; over these was drawn another pair of breeches, reaching to the knees and ornamented with a species of embroidery; the legs were bare; the feet protected by sandals, fastened over the instep and at the heel by thongs of leather; the sleeves of the shirt were looped above the elbow, with a blue or red band; the hair was worn long, and tressed behind with a cord of the colour used upon the sleeves, and terminating in a tassel, which was a distinction peculiar to the great captains; the waist was girded with a piece of cloth of various colours, fastened in a knot before; over the shoulders was thrown a white mantle, ornamented with figures of birds, lions and other decorations of cord and fringe. The ears and lower lip were pierced, to receive star-shaped pendants of gold or silver.”
Upon an examination of the figures it will be observed that, although their dress corresponds with what is described as being worn by the Quiché caciques, neither of them are wearing sandals. But, on the altar of the temple placed on an adjacent mound, the same figures are again offering sacrifices, and the tallest of them is wearing sandals precisely as described above. It was the custom among the Quichés to associate with the principal cacique another chief, to whom was intrusted the control and management of the troops and the conduct of all hostilities, and it is stated that sometimes this chief was the eldest son of the cacique. As the second temple appears to have been dedicated to the god of war, it may be assumed that the shorter figure was intended to represent a war chief. He is dressed in accordance with that rank and wears a mantle and a heavy tassel. In this temple the chief is drawn as standing upon a kneeling captive, but in that dedicated to Quetzalcoatl he is placed upon a block of stone, upon which is a hieroglyph. To Quetzalcoatl the offering appears to have been in conformity with the attributes assigned to him, of religion and education. Possibly the child, held in the hands of the tallest cacique, was dedicated to serve in the temple after having been trained for the priesthood in the monastery.
Part of the Altar-piece in a Temple at Palenque.