Reports on the Maya Indians of Yucatan

Xaché xtabay. According to the author, the name of a plant. The first word, xaché, is evidently xach or xachah, to comb. Xtabay may be x-, a prefix, indicating feminine gender; tabal, to deceive.

Xanleox, x'kanleox. From x-, prefix denoting feminine gender; kan, yellow; lox, to strike with the closed fist. Brinton simply gives "yellow goddess" as the equivalent.

Xbolonthahroch bokolhahoch, X bolon thoroch bokol (or bookol) h'otoch. From x-, prefix denoting feminine gender; bolon, nine; thoroch, sound of a spindle revolving in its shaft. Brinton says, "The name therefore signifies 'the female imp who magnifies the sound of the spindle." Bokol or bookol, to stir; h or ah, to indicate the rough breathing which in Maya denotes the masculine gender.

Xhantumbú, xkantumbub, or xkantun bub. A small plant used for medicinal purposes.

Xtabay. See etymology under xaché xtabay.

Xulab. Spelled by Sanchez de Aguilar xubab. An ant which attacks beehives.

Yuncimil, Yumcimil. The God of Death; from yum, universal father or lord; cimil, death.

Zaztun. A quartz crystal; from zaz, clear; tun, stone.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1845

Baeza, Bartolomé José Granado. Los Indios de Yucatan. Informe dado por el cura de Yaxcabá D. Bartolomé del Granado Baeza, en contestacion al interrogatorio de 36 preguntas, circulado por el ministerio de Ultrámar sobre el manejo, vida y costumbres de los Indios, que acompaño el Illmo. Sr. obispo á la deputacion provincial. Registro Yucateco, Mérida, tomo I, pp. 165-178.

This account was written in Yaxcabá, April 1, 1813. It is one of the principal sources of information used by Brinton in his paper, The Folk-lore of Yucatan.

G. C. El Indio Yucateco, carácter, costumbres y condicion de los Indios de Yucatan. Registro Yucateco, Mérida, tomo i, pp. 291-297.

This report is dated Mexico, December 30, 1843.

1846

Carrillo, Estanislao. Papeles sueltos de P. Carrillo. Fantasmas. Registro Yucateco, tomo IV, pp. 103-106.

The material in this article was used by Brinton in his paper, op. cit.

Hernandez, Juan José. Costumbres de las Indias de Yucatan. Registro Yucateco, Mérida, tomo III, pp. 290, 298.

This report is dated Mérida, April 24, 1846.

1865

Carrillo, Crescencio. Estudio historico sobre la raza indigena de Yucatan. Vera Cruz, 1865, 26 pp.

1882

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. The native races of the Pacific states. 5 volumes, San Francisco.

In the several volumes of this work Bancroft has assembled most of the early accounts of the manners and customs of the Maya of Yucatan. He was unaware of the existence of the report by Mendez which forms the basis of our publication.

1883

Brinton, Daniel G. The Folk-lore of Yucatan. Folk-Lore Journal, London, vol. 1, part viii, pp. 1-13.

This study is based largely on the report of Baeza, with additions from the article of Estanislao Carrillo, and manuscript notes of several other persons, notably those of Carl Hermann Berendt.

Carrillo y Ancona, Crescencio. Historia de Welinna. Leyenda Yucateca. Segunda edición, Mérida, 52 pp.

The first edition was printed in 1862.

1895

Brinton, Daniel G. A Primer of Mayan hieroglyphs. Publications of the University of Pennsylvania, Series in Philology, Literature, and Archæology, vol. III, no. 2.

1905

Rejón García, Manuel. Supersticiones y leyendas Mayas. Mérida, 1905.

notes

1

For the meaning of this and of other Indian words, consult the glossary (#Cacique).

2

Fotuto is a musical instrument used by the Carib Indians and also by the negroes of the Antilles.

3

Luneros are Monday-workers.

4

Fagina—faena, manual labor.

5

Milpa roza is, literally, field cleared of underbrush and ready for planting.

6

Milpa caña, literally cane field.

7

An almud is a dry measure equivalent to twelve English bushels. There seems to be an error in the quantity here.

8

The author here seems to have confused the meaning of the word mitote (see glossary (#Mitote_)). In Yucatan the instrument he describes is called tunkul..