[Aztlan] Tonina tomb

[Karen Bassie]

<>When the Spanish first arrived in Chiapas, various indigenous groups 
possessed pre-columbian manuscripts that were related to divination, 
healing, history and genealogy. Although some of these documents 
survived the initial conquest period, many of them were later 
confiscated and destroyed by the Bishop Francisco Núñez de la Vega in 
his efforts to eradicate pagan beliefs. Núñez, who was the bishop of 
Chiapas from A.D. 1682 - 1698, claimed to have burned more than thirty 
native manuscripts. In certain areas of the New World, the Spanish had a 
policy that indigenous lords and their descendents were entitled to 
retain their administrative functions within their own communities and 
receive certain privileges if they yielded to Spanish authority. 
Consequently, many documents were created by indigenous leaders to 
verify their status and support their claims for preferential treatment. 
Fortunately, these certifications often included information on ancient 
histories and customs. While in the Soconusco region, Núñez acquired 
such a manuscript written in Tzeltal and entitled the Probanza de Votan. 
It detailed the history of a Postclassic ruler called Three Votan and 
his descendants. At the time, there were still two hundred Tzeltal 
families living at the town of Teopisca who claimed to be descendants of 
Three Votan so it is not surprising that such a document existed. Núñez 
quoted from the probanza when he wrote his Constituciones Diocesanas del 
Obispado de Chiapa. The Canon Ramón de Ordoñez y Aguiar (A.D. 1739 - 
A.D. 1825) claimed to have been in possession of the same Votan probanza 
almost a hundred years later. Given Núñez's predilection for destroying 
native documents, it is possible that Ordoñez had unknowingly acquired a 
different copy. In any event, the Ordoñez copy was subsequently lost, 
but Ordoñez and his contemporary Pablo Félix Cabrera described its 
contents in their writings. The Abbot Brasseur de Bourbourg, who 
collected and copied many important colonial documents during his time 
in Chiapas and Guatemala, obtained copies of Ordoñez's writings and 
wrote about Three Votan as well. All three of these men wildly 
speculated that Three Votan and the ancient Maya originated in Egypt, 
Jerusalem or Atlantis, and that Votan had founded the city of Palenque. 
Despite the fact that the original probanzas are not available to 
consult, some reliable information about Three Votan can be deduced from 
the writings of Núñez and these later authors.
A survey of the tzolk'in day names used by the various Maya language 
groups indicates that while some day names or their cognates were common 
to all groups, a number of these day names were different. The fourth 
day name in the Yucatec, Ixil, K'iche' and Pokom calendars is called 
Ak'bal. This word derives from the word ak'ab' which means night in 
virtually all Maya languages. This meaning is found in hieroglyphic 
writing where kin "day" is often paired with ak'ab' "night". The 
equivalent day name in the Tzeltal, Chuj and Jacalteko calendars is 
Votan. The etymology of Votan is unclear, but in the context of the 
Postclassic ruler Three Votan it is obvious that he was named for the 
day he was born. The Votan probanzas indicate that Three Votan was a 
member of a lineage called Chan and that he was born on an island off 
the coast of Yucatan at a place called Valum Chivim (Nine Chivim). Place 
names that include the number nine are common in the Maya area. The name 
Chan had a wide distribution and appears in documents from Tumbala 
(Ch'ol), Acalan (Chontal), northern Yucatan and the Petén (Yucatec) 
Calnek suggested that the island of Three Votan's birth was probably 
Cozumel, an important trading center located off the east coast of 
Yucatan where the Chan family held prominent political positions at the 
time of the Spanish conquest. It is likely that Three Votan had a 
Chontal Maya heritage. Three Votan and his followers are said to have 
ascended the Usumacinta River from Laguna de Terminos, and established a 
town called Na Chan at the base of the Tumbala mountains. Calnek noted 
that the names Nachan and Chivim appear in sixteenth century Catholic 
baptism records from Yajalon that suggest intermarriages between 
Tzeltzals from Yajalon and Ch'ol from Tumbala. How and when Three Votan 
moved from this Ch'ol area into the Tzeltal and Soconusco regions to the 
south is not indicated, but the probanza refers to conflicts with other 
foreign groups that had subsequently moved into the highlands. After 
resolving these issues, Three Votan is said to have divided Chiapas into 
provinces and established order.
It will be interesting to see what evidence Juan Yadeun has uncovered to 
establish a Toltec or Central Mexican presence at Tonina.