La Huasteca - History

History

Huastec is derived from the Spanish Huasteca which is derived from the Nahuatl word for the ethnicity Kuextlan. The Huastecs were the most northern Mesoamerican group on the Gulf coast and their contact with the Chichimeca led to Aridoamerican influences in their culture. The pre Hispanic sculpture of the region is distinct with well known pieces such as the “Adolescente de Tamuín” and the goddess of life and health Tlazolteotl. Traditionally crops here have been corn, beans, squash, various chili peppers and tubular such as yucca, camotes and jicamas. However, gathering of wild foods played a more important role here in the Mesoamerican period, especially roots, small chili peppers and a fruit (Brosimum alicastrum) as well as fish from lakes, rivers and ocean. The production of salt was important at Chila Lake.

The Huastecs are what probably remain of Mayan expansion northward up the Veracruz coast but were “left behind” after other Mayan groups retreated south and east. The Huastecs began to be culturally dominant in their region between 750 and 800 CE after El Tajín waned. From then to the 15th century, they expanded their territory and influence from the Tuxpan River to the Pánuco with most settlements along the banks of the Huayalejo-Tamesí River, along the northern Veracruz and southern Tamaulipas coast and west into the Sierra Madre Oriental. The culture was influential even farther west into northern Querétaro, and there may have been Huastec settlements into what is now northern Puebla. Notable settlements include El Tamuín in San Luis Potosí, Yahualica and Huejutla in Hidalgo, Tzicóaxc on the Veracruz/Puebla border as well as Tuxpan, Temapache, Pánuca and Tanhuijo in Veracruz.

Although the Huastecs built small cities and ceremonial centers, they never reached the size and complexity of others in Mesoamerica. The northern areas were constantly threatened by the Chichimeca, which may be the origin for the traditional “Comanche” dance found in the region. In the Post classic, Huastec territory began to shrink. In the west and south of their territory, there were enclaves of Nahuas, Tepehuas, Totonacs and Otomis. The Totonacs and Tepehuas in the region probably arrived around the same time as the Huastecs. The Otomis and Nahuas arrived later but the time line for these migrations is disputed. One Nahua incursion occurs in 800 CE related to Tula and the other due to the expansion of the Aztec Empire. The Aztecs conquered from the south and west to an area they called Chicoaque or Tzicoac in 1458, which was probably the area which is now Mesa de Cacahuatengo in the municipality of Ixhuatlán de Madero.

The first Spanish contact with the Huasteca region was in 1518, when ships explored the Pánuco River area. After the Conquest, Gonzalo de Sandoval burned alive about 460 nobles and chiefs in the region and captured about 20,000 indigenous to sell as slaves in the Antilles. The first evangelizers in the area were the Franciscans around 1530, with the Augustinians arriving in 1533, with the first large efforts in Pahuatlán, Puebla and Chicontepec. The area initially was under the Bisphoric of Tlaxcala. But evangelization was slow with period documents indicating that most pagan beliefs had not been extinguished well into the colonial period. One hundred and thirty encomiendas were created in the region which lasted most of the 16th century and in cases into the 17th. Spanish dominance in the coastal areas depopulated it of most indigenous, with the Huastecs retreating south from Tamaulipas to Panúco and Tamaulipas and with many dying from war and disease. The introduction of cattle into the flat areas prompted the Spanish to force the relocation of many indigenous groups in the area, sometimes with violence. Not all attempts to relocate indigenous groups were successful. There were notable failures in Hidalgo. However, its overall success managed to divide the region into new political units. Spanish policies and economic conditions forced many of the indigenous here to crowd together in certain areas, with Huastecs and Nahuas together in Ozuluama, Tantoyuca, Tamiahua and Tuxpan and Nahuas and Otomis in Chicontepec and Huejutla. The new political units brought in other indigenous groups not normally part of the Huasteco, such as the Pames in the Sierra Gorda of Querétaro.

The Spanish then introduced African slaves into the area. While the indigenous populations made something of a comeback in Hidalgo and San Luis Potosí, this did not happen in Veracruz. In the later colonial period, most Huastec communities were populated by mestizos, especially along the Veracruz and Tamaulipas coast. Today, the Huastec ethnicity is found only along a narrow strip extending from far northern Querétaro to far north of Veracruz near Tamiahua.

During the colonial period, the region was divided into five provinces called “alcaldías mayores”: Huauchinango, Huayacocotla-Chichontepec, Pánuco-Tampico, Huejutla and Yahualica. In the 19th century, most of the local leaders were chosen by charisma and political skill, rather than by lineage, although elder councils were still important in most indigenous communities. By the beginning of the 19th century, the use of elections to choose leaders began to be used, but with candidates chosen by the elite. The first municipal elections in the region were held in Chicontepec and Ixhuatlan in 1813.

From the first taking of land for cattle in the colonial period to the present, land struggles have been an important part of the region’s history. In the 18th century, there were various uprisings in the region such as in Ilamatlán in 1750 and Huayacocotla in 1784 in response to higher taxes and takings of land. In the mid 17th century, a system of serfdom by debt began that would reach its height in the 19th, involving indigenous, mestizo and negro peoples. During the 17th century however, some peoples were able to take possession of land under a communal scheme, declaring it the property of the Virgin Mary or of a saint to keep landholders and political chiefs from taking it. From the second half of the 17th century to the first half of the 18th, there was a consolidation of haciendas with between 21 and 25 by 1790, about eighty cattle ranches and twenty three indigenous communities. At the end of the 18th century, records indicate that ninety percent of the population was Spanish, mestizo or mixed African descent, mostly in Chicontepec, Huayacocotla, Ixhuatlan and Xochioloco. Coffee was introduced to the mountain areas in the 19th century. Land and other agrarian conflicts have continued to the present day with local elections based on land use issues.(focus) The discovery of oil in northern Veracruz has led to an area called the Faja de Oro (Gold belt) extending from Chicontepec to the Gulf coast. It has also caused environmental damage and made subsistence farming difficult to impossible in many areas. Conflicts have even led to the formation of armed groups such as the Ejercito Popular Revolucionario in the latter 20th century. Despite brokered talks and disarming, the region is conflictive, especially along the Hidalgo/Veracruz border.

The major development of the 20th century in the La Huasteca was the development of roadways and other infrastructure to connect it with the rest of the country. Until the latter 20th century, many of the municipalities of the region did not have paved roads, with a few still in this situation to this day. The highways and other roads in this area have allowed for seasonal and permanent emigration out of the area by younger generations looking for work. In the 20th century, preschool and primary school were widely introduced into the area. They have included various models of instruction including bilingual and bicultural education. At higher levels, it has included distance education for middle and high school. More recently, there has been a push for especially technical education such as the Tecnológico de Huejutla and the Universidad Comunitaria de la Huasteca Norte. This has raised literacy rates as well as the ability to speak Spanish among the indigenous. It has also caused cultural changes as younger generations have access to information about the outside world.