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JOHN K. CHANCE
Department of Anthropology
Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Claude Levi-Strauss's concept of the "house" has proven to be a viable alternative to traditional lineage theory in the study
of many societies, and this paper applies the house concept to a Mesoamerican case. The teccalli, or noble house, was an
important aspect of Nahua (Aztec) sociopolitical organization in prehispanic and early colonial central Mexico, particu-
larly in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley. It is often characterized as a lineage with rights in land and commoner labor, yet the
nature of descent, succession, and inheritance are little understood. Late colonial wills and lawsuits from the (formerly)
Nahua community of Santiago Tecali in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley provide valuable insights into these matters that can
also help us to understand earlier periods. It is argued that the Nahua noble house can be better understood as a house than
he concept of the lineage has been a basic element in anthropological treatments of social or-
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transmission of its name, its goods, and its titles down a real or
tress and by so doing laid the foundations of the power and the
imaginary line, considered legitimate as long as this continuglory of his line. Beyond that point all remembrance was lost.
The European house provides an especially apt compariand, most often, of both.
twelfth and thirteenth centuries. This rather surprising juxthat it seeks to preserve intact through various, often con-
taposition reveals a characteristic common to both: an attradictory, means. Gillespie (2000a:9) has succinctly stated
beyond kinship as a "natural" and hence privileged compothe point of view of kinship theory. Fictive kinship was fre-
nent of human relationships. Houses are concerned with loquently employed, both patronyms and matronyms were
place, and the use of the house name as a surname had the
L6vi-Strauss's model may be especially fruitful for underThe patrimony seemed indeed to have been the essential sup-
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Mexico
Detail
Otumba Locatn
Teotihuacan
, Tepetlaoztoc 0 5 10 15 Miles
Lake
Tetzcoco . 0 5 10 15 20 25Kms
STlacopan* . .
copan ~tTliatelolco
Mexico City Tenochtitlan
0- - - Tepeticpac
? a * Tlaxcala Huamantla
Ocoteolco
Metepec 0 -
Amaquemecan Huexotzinco
Tepoztlan 4 Chu
? ,,- Puebla
Cuernavaca Tepeaca
* cuCuauhtinchan
MalinalcoECAL
TECALI
Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley).
I use the term Nahuas to refer to speakers of Nahuatl, the
calpolli, a local territorial unit frequently mentioned in Nafounded a series of altepetl, or ethnically distinct city-
hua native histories and the subject of an ample, if inconstates, that were often at war with those of older inhabitants
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subunit of an altepetl
tion]
(1963, 1966, 1969, 1973, 1976a, 1979) has defined the tec-
Thus in the eastern Nahua region the teccalli was anying on their lands. (See Table 1 for a glossary of common
of the city-state and also played a crucial role in the econNoble houses were the fundamental political compo-
omy. The vast majority of the population belonged to a nonents of many city-states in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley,
made that in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley in the early sixautonomy. The Chichimec conquerors of Cuauhtinchan in
linked by ties of descent and political authority, and segcontained three noble houses at the time of the Spanish in-
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relatively equal, relatively separate and self-contained consystem of bilateral inheritance was superficially similar to
stituent parts of the whole." Each noble house was a disthe Spanish practice, the latter had more ways of keeping
(rulership). While conceptually autonomous and equivaby stressing the inheritance rights of spouses and children
lent, the four houses were far from equal in practice, howand, contrary to preconquest Nahua practice, limiting the
centuries are slim, information on noble descent and inoutsiders subjugating the local peasantry, and relationships
(she does not say how many) in each noble house in the late
the male line. This provides some support for the view
nity, including the tlatoani, the teteuctin, and the high rank-
teenth century, and the larger of the two estates (still called
norm after 1650 (Chance 1998). Yet the only other reported
greatly, but under the terms of the grants, nobles were now
the houses and their heads for access to land and com-
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caciques.
ahead about 120 years, this is not what happened. The sur-
mained undivided.
was correct in noting that the Burgos estate had never been
male or female links, from their 1591 founder was fundafounder by the viceroy of New Spain in 1591. The 48 par-
precisely.
had failed in their attempt to distribute the land equitably.
Comparing the late colonial cacique estates with the sixThe heirs could not accurately trace their descent from the
teenth-century grants, we can see how the people of Santifounder of the estate, but they divided themselves into four
own cultural principles. Members of the 26 eighteenthlings who had died about 40 years (two generations) ear-
reply:
cazgo lands.
piece of land, on what title they base their rights ... and from
ties are descended. They are content to claim they are of one
the reasoning by which they make their claims. All they say is
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Martin de Santiago 34
Total 107
2 Felipe de Calzada 25 1806 AGN Indios 5, exps. 359, 437; Tierras 392,
40v-44v
3 Juan Garcia Chichimecateuctli 23 1733 AGN Indios 5, exp. 343; Tierras 533, exp. 6
4 Baltasar, Gaspar, y Felipe 22 1752 AGN Indios 5, exp. 445; Tierras 1865, exp. 1;
L6pez Padianos (45 in 1710) AJT paq 1, rollo 1, exp. 44; paq 2, rollo 1, exp. 49;
Total 33
7 Bernardino de Tejeda 12 1802 AGN Indios 5, exp. 321; Tierras 1328, exp. 3;
8 Juan Bautista 11 1808 AGN Indios 5, exp. 322; Tierras 1868, exp. 16;
10 Melchor Cort6s 8 1755 AGN Indios 5, exps. 372, 435; Tierras 26, exp.
12 Hip6lito de Morales 5 1783 AGN Indios 5, exps. 360, 376; Tierras 1029, exp. 1
Gabriel de Morales 5
Total 10
13 Francisco Flores 3 1824 AGN Indios 5, exps. 324, 336; Tierras 27, exp. 2;
15 Sim6n de Zamora 6 1777 AGN Indios 5, exp. 341; Tierras 881, exp. 1
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Table 2. Continued.
16 Pedro Calixto 6 1755 AGN Indios 5, exp. 334; Tierras 26, exp. 1, fol. 28r;
19 Gaspar Jui.rez 2 1805 AGN Indios 5, exp. 401; Tierras 2730, exp. 2
a My research extends only to 1821, but Olivera (1978) makes clear that a number of cacicazgo landholdings survived through the nineteenth
century.
There are subjects having no more than one [Spanish] surcacicazgos of the Tejeda, Bautista, Cort6s, Romano, Flo-
three or four. And when they are careless with their land titles,
others come and take them and use the papers to demand rent
counterbalanced by another principle, just as strongly folof the noble houses at the time of Spanish contact? Differ-
need to posit that inheritance as we see it in Nahuatl documade jointly to three brothers). Most of the approximately
result of Spanish influence." Especially relevant is Kelnot individuals, but groups of relatives, most commonly
that local caciques abused the naming convention for ecospouses and children as heirs, to the neglect of adult sib-
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3 1620 Miguel de Santiago AGNP Tepeaca caja 22, exp. 11, no. 5
5 1652 Francisco de Mendoza AGN Tierras 500, exp. 4, fol. 134; BN Puebla caja 35, exp. 911
7 1656 Joseph Flores AGNP Tepeaca caja 22, exp. 11, fol. 4
8 1658 Francisca Martha de Santiago AJT paq 2, rollo 1, exp. 101, fols. 7, 106
13 n.d. Bernardino de Tejeda (17th century) AGN Tierras 1449, exp. 7, fols. 16-20
15 1716 Jos6 L6pez del Castillo y Contreras AJT paq 1, rollo 1, exp. 44
de San Ambrosio
25 1700 Antonia Catarina de Santiago AGNP Tepeaca caja 33, exp. 3, fols. 126-127r
28 1714 Roque de Santiago y Rojas AGN Tierras 500, exp. 4, fol. 224; Tierras 488, exp. 3
30 1720 Mateo Flores AJT paq 7, rollo 3, exp. 190, fols. 8-9v
Bustamante
36 1737 Juan Cort6s de las Nieves BN Puebla caja 32, exp. 850
(Tlacotepec)
38 1737 Antonio Gregorio Rasc6n AJT paq 6, rollo 3, exp. s/n, fols. 63-68v
48 1799 Rosa de Luna y M6ndez AGNP Tecali caja 1, exp. 1, fols. 1-3
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Table 3. Continued.
50 1801 Juliana Maria Escalona AGNP Tecali caja 1, exp. 1, fols. 42-44
61 1807 M6nica Jim6nez AGNP Tecali caja 1, libro 16, fol. 100v
62 1808 Maria Felipa Hemrnndez Flores AGNP Tecali caja 1, libro 16, fol. 106
64 1809 Juan de la Cruz S anchez Samora AGNP Tecali caja 1, libro 16, fols. 165-69
65 1810 Crist6bal de Rojas AGNP Tecali caja 1, libro 16, fol. 187
66 1812 Antonia Catarina de Santiago AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 17, fol. 2
68 1813 Jos6 Maria L6pez AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 17, fol. 14
70 1815 Maria Ygnacia Rasc6n AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 18, fol. 12
71 1816 Lorenzo de la Cruz Bautista AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 19, fol. 5
72 1817 Dominga Maria Rasc6n AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 19, fol. 66v
73 1817 Leonardo Carri6n y Flores AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 19, fol. 85v
74 1817 Jos6 de los Santos Torijos AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 19, fol. 90v
75 1818 Est ban Antonio Tllez AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 20, fol. 68
77 1820 Francisco Antonio M irquez AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 21, fol. 13
78 1820 Vicente P6rez Ramirez Romano AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 21, fol. 22
80 1820 Juan Aniceto Tllez de Santiago AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 21, fol. 48v
81 1820 Juan de Dios Tllez de Santiago AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 21, fol. 59
82 1821 Maria Guadalupe L6pez AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 22, exp. 2, fols. 1-4
83 1821 Ana Maria Visquez AGNP Tecali caja 2, libro 22, exp. 2, fol. 17v
when they had rights in land, did not mention them at all in
had been politically influential in the community. He was
had been usurped by others, usually gobernadores (indigewill, precisely written in the Spanish style, dofia Manuela
* Three years after she married, her brother gave her two
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cal term. Thus one advantage of the house over the lineage
* A piece of land belonging to the titulo of don Bernardino
talked and wrote about the noble house. Levi-Strauss's noIt should be divided among her heirs and those of her
language of the house was also equally "about" politics. Incurrently has usufruct to the land in the tiftulo of Ana Isa-
were in the two Santiago estates; (2) she and her siblings
her husband died and usurped some of her land; and (5) a
duced no income.
Cacicazgos were thought of as wholes, and this was the leing ancestors (lineality) and an equally strong emphasis on
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Clearly there are points in common (e.g. 'agnaticism') beand cognatic descent and bilateral inheritance, in differing
tween the two usages. But the differences are very marked
ter all. The Tecali case shows how cacicazgos remained in-
1983:231]
concerned with genealogy (see also Carsten and Hugh(Chance 1998:729). One remaining problem of teccalli
In my previous work, I did not hesitate to apply the linerecruited to the houses. There are few details, yet it is clear
age model to Tecali's noble houses and to the colonial barthat this was accomplished through political rather than
the idea of the house. The strongly cognatic nature of decommoners. Just as significantly, the names of their lords
of better evidence, as a change from a prehispanic patrilintegrating commoners into the houses. This in itself points
ineal arrangement. Very likely both cognatic and patrilto a principal inadequacy of the lineage model for inter-
ineal tendencies were present. Moreover, we have little dipreting the teccalli.
arrival of the Spanish, and if there was a patrilineal emphahouse leads to a third sense in which the teccalli was not a
claims, when drawing up their wills in more private ciron the one hand and the strength of the lineage principle on
the last king of Tecali and head of the house of Tecpan, had
attention was the house itself and its estate, not the descent
Strauss:
ouin of North Africa, the Nuer of the southern Sudan and the
tion mentioned above of adopting the surnames of the cacigree' of the kind by which the House of Windsor sometimes
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quently became the true names at the same time as the resi(1992:73) observation that Nahuatl texts rarely employ any
the debate over the nature of the calpolli. The calpolli was
175-186) has shown that tlacamecayotl in sixteenth-censtructure of the calpolli and its relation to the teccalli re-
aspect, she finds that it was also used in discussions of insolved problems in Nahua kinship studies have to do with
heritance to refer to those kin (children, grandchildren, sibthe relative saliency of descent (lineality) versus bilateral
from ancestors extending back from two to five generalineage principle. I believe that use of the concepts of
tions. In such cases it is possible to speak of shallow cognahouse and lignage can potentially resolve some of the dif-
ferences in interpretation.
tic kin groups whose members may have shared legal obli-
shared a household compound and were bound by generasively (Carrasco 1976a; Olivera 1978). The chronicler
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riages and that women could both inherit and transmit land
teccalli did in the east (though tecpan was also used in the
ties of the upper strata of the noble house, notes that in the
larger cases not all pipiltin are likely to have been direct de-
"where a lord is." The two terms may in fact have been
calli and calpolli. In the east, the teccalli was dominant and
stood outside the calpolli; here the teccalli held land corpo-
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had lost most of its political relevance. Yet aspects of its in-
The 1591 grants to nobles that laid the basis for the colo-
far as to say that they may have been two ways of looking
from a prehispanic "house society" to a late colonial "sociity, with the lords seen primarily as officers and leaders of
ety with houses." The late colonial houses lacked the pothe ethnic group, the eastern view emphasizing noble line-
rested on and kept alive similar indigenous notions of deground and imagined as dependent on the lineages"
late colonial "society with houses" based on persisting cagions, commoners paid tribute to nobles not only by virtue
zone during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Spancalli in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley was quite distinctive.
Levi-Strauss (1982:180) asserts that a dialectic of filiThe main reason for this may lie in the simple fact that in
dwelling or place in this paper, for there is little relevant inconvenient to Tepeaca and the city of Puebla. When Te-
for its lands and commoners were scattered about the counwhile much cacicazgo land entered the colonial market
and land tenure, but it may also provide insights into the
Puebla-Tlaxcala region.
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University.
unresolved. These issues mirror those in discussions of the
Puebla
of personal ties, ranging from slavery to fictive kinship.
Mexico City
done with the concept of culture over the past century. The
de la Tierra en Puebla
Eleven are known, all of them small entities of Cholulan orient, if overlapping, phenomena. It also has the additional
Garcia 1977:113-117).
from a different vantage point, and it is proving to be a use3. Little is known about kinship and descent among Te-
ful tool in the study of Mesoamerican societies. Its applicacali's commoners. Since they had a long history in the region
tion to the Classic and Post-Classic Maya has helped clarand were ethnically distinct from the conquering nobles in the
ration among the too often separate enterprises of archaeol8. Sandstrom (2000:58-68) notes a similar contradiction
Notes
References Cited
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