Reports on the Maya Indians of Yucatan — John Shaqi
Reports on the Maya Indians of YucatanGarcía Cubas, Antonio
History
Reports on the Maya Indians of Yucatan
García Cubas, Antonio
Indians of Mexico -- Mexico -- Yucatán (State); Mayas
_Bacab_ or _Bacabab_ meant, he said it meant the son of the great
Father, and that _Echuac_ meant merchant. And very good merchandise did
the Holy Ghost bring to this earth, for he filled men with all their
faculties, and divine and abundant graces. _Chibirias_ means mother of
the Son of the great Father. He added, furthermore, that at a certain
time all men would have to die, but he did not seem to know anything of
the resurrection of the flesh. When asked how they came to know all
these things, the chief replied that the lords taught their sons, and in
this manner it descended from one age to another. They also assert that
in olden times, long ago, there came to the land twenty men (he gave
the names of fifteen of them), but because they were very poorly
written, and furthermore as they do not have great importance for this
report, I do not copy them. Of the five others the vicar says he could
not obtain their names. The principal one was called _Cocolcan_,[20] and
they called this one the God of all kinds of fevers. Two of the others
are the Gods of fish, still another two the Gods of farms and homesteads
[landed properties], still another was the God of Lightning, etc. They
all wore long gowns or mantles, and sandals for their feet. They had
long beards, and wore nothing to cover their heads. These men ordained
that the people should go to confession and should fast, and some people
fasted on Fridays because on that day _Bacab_ had died. The name of this
day (Friday) is _Himis_,[21] and they honor it in their devotion on
account of the death of _Bacab_. The chiefs (caçiques) know all the
particulars of those things, but the common people believe only in the
three persons, _Içona_ and _Bacab_ and _Echuac_, and in _Chibirias_,
the mother of _Bacab_, and also [in] the mother of _Chibirias_ called
_Hischen_,[22] whom we consider to have been Saint Ann. All this above
stated is from information I have received in a letter from that
reverend father whose name is Francisco Hernandez, and I still have his
letter among my papers. He also stated that he took the said chief to a
Franciscan friar who lived near there, and that the caçique repeated all
he said before the friar, and they remained both greatly surprised at
it. If all those things just stated are true, it would seem that that
part of the land had been (long ago) informed about our Holy Faith, for
in no other part of the Indies have we ever found such news. It is true
that in Brazil, which belongs to the Portuguese, it was stated that
traces of the wanderings of Saint Thomas the Apostle had been
discovered, but such news could not very well fly over through the air,
and furthermore it is quite certain that the country and kingdom of
Yucatan give us more special and singular cases to ponder over, and of
far greater antiquity, if we think of the great, exquisite, and
admirable way the most ancient buildings are constructed, also of a
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