Uasteki or Uashteki ( isp. Huastecos, Huaxtecos ) - Indians in Mexico , belonging to the Maya language group. Inhabits the northern part of the country's eastern coast, north of the Totonac territories. Even though Huasteks are Maya, they are unusual in that they live far from the regions inhabited by the rest of Maya and after they broke away from them in about 1300 BC and lived for thousands of years in isolation, unable to take part in cultural exchange between the states of maya. For this reason, Huastec has retained archaic features typical of Maya in the pre-classical period of Mesoamerica; they did not know either the writing , the calendar, or the architectural elements typical of the rest of the Maya peoples. The data of Huastek language , which is the most different from other Mayan languages, also speak about early separation from the main Maya group. The art and sculpture of the Huastec was influenced by the cultures of the coastal regions of the Gulf of Mexico.
Due to cultural backwardness, the Huasteks became victims of degrading prejudices and stereotypes, for example, the Aztecs considered them poorly dressed savages, drunkards and sodomites , who, however, were experienced in witchcraft [1] . To the Aztec military campaigns, the Huastec opposed themselves as brave and cruel warriors. They fought naked and cut off heads to fallen enemies as trophies . The Aztecs, and later the Spaniards , never succeeded in the complete conquest of this people. The architecture of Huastec was very simple and uncomplicated. One of its characteristics is round foundations or houses with rounded corners.
Around 1450, the Huastecs were conquered by the Aztec army under the leadership of Montezuma I. From now on, they were obliged to pay tribute to Tenochtitlan , but they were allowed to retain a significant degree of independence in self-government. Huasteks were conquered by the Spaniards between 1519 and 1530s. With the arrival of the Roman Catholic Church, they were forced to wear clothes.
Today, in the states of Veracruz and San Luis Potosi, there are about 60 thousand Huastecs, who are mainly engaged in agriculture .
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See also
- Castillo de Teio
- Tamouin (archaeological site)
Notes
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Literature
- Ariel de Vidas, A. 2003. “Ethnicidad y cosmologia: La construccion cultural de la diferencia entre los teenek (huaxtecos) de Veracruz”, in UNAM, Estudios de Cultura Maya. Vol. 23.
- Campbell, L. and T. Kaufman. 1985. "Maya linguistics: Where are we now ?," in the Annual Review of Anthropology. Vol. 14, pp. 187-98
- Dahlin, B. et al. 1987. "Linguistic divergence of the Mesopamers of Preclassic civilization in the southern Mesoamerica." American Antiquity. Vol. 52, No. 2, pp. 367-82.
- INAH. 1988. Atlas cultural de Mexico: Linguistica. Mexico City: Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia.
- Kaufman, T. 1976. "Archaeological corrections in Mayaland and associated areas of Mesoamerica," in World Archaeology. Vol. 8, pp. 101-18
- Malstrom, V. 1985. "The origins of civilization in Mesoamerica: A geographic perspective", in L. Pulsipher, ed. Yearbook of Geographers. Vol. 11, pp. 23-29.
- Ochoa, L. 2003. “La costa del Golfo y el area maya: Relaciones imaginables about imaginadas?”, In UNAM, Estudios de Cultura Maya. Vol. 23.
- Robertson, J. 1993. "The origins and development of the Huastec statements." International Journal of American Linguistics. Vol. 59, No. 3, pp. 294-314
- Stresser-Pean, G. 1989. “Los indios huastecos”, in Ochoa, L., ed. Huastecos y Totonacas. Mexico City: CONACULTA.
- Vadillo Lopez, C. and C. Riviera Ayala. 2003. “El trafico maratimo, vehiculo de relaciones culturales laguna de Terminos de la corturales region of the region huaxteca del norte de Veracruz, siglos XVI — XIX”, in UNAM, Estudios de Cultura Maya. Vol. 23.
- Wilkerson, J. 1972. Ethnogenesis of the Huastecs and Totonacs. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology and Archeology, Tulane University , New Orleans.