"Huexoztincan Coyote Beserkers?" Topic

In looking for the perfect rule set for my new Aztecs and Enemies, I found reference to these allies of the Tlacaltecs.Does anyone know the origin for this?

Umm, that is super obscure. Coyote suits were usually worn by priests. For an answer from a scholar you may want to ask here;

link

Isaias

Thank you for the tip and I'll give it a try. A tad on the obscure side, but I figured many knowledgeable people come in an out of this site--still hoping.

You can also try the lead adventure forum.

I found reference to these allies of the Tlacaltecs.Does anyone know the origin for this?

Well, I am the source of this rather purple prose. That is undoubtedly my list you are looking at. I am probably going to change the name, when I modify the list to conform to WAB 2.0

For an answer from a scholar you may want to ask here;….

I think Chronofus would be delighted to hear someone referring to him as a "scholar". He actually works for the Aussie Government, according to the fellows at Eureka. But he is a good source for info, too.

Umm, that is super obscure.

The Huexotzinca? Not really. Besides the 4 main cities of the Tlaxcaltecs, the Huexozinca were the next most powerful league in the Puebla Valley. They had an on-again, off-again relationship with the Tlaxcallans (similar to the Cholulans, also of the Puebla Valley). After their last disagreement ended in 1515, both Huexotzingo and Tlaxcalla became, once again, allies against the Triple Alliance.

Coyote suits were usually worn by priests.

Not exactly.

Yes, you are correct that a certain rank of Aztec priest wore a Coyotl suit. This is from the Codex Mendoza:

link

(Hit the "View Image" button)

The figure on the lower right corner is a Warrior Priest with his 6th "captivo". He wears a yellow Coyotl suit with a red fringe. In fact, you may notice a white curlicue coming from the chin of the various captivos. This is a white shell labret called a "tecacanecuilli", that punctures the wearer between the lower lip and chin and then curls to the cheek. This clearly indicates that all the captives are Huexotzinca warriors.

However, the wearing of the Eagle, Jaguar and Coyote war suits was common among the Veteran and Noble warriors of much of the nations of Central Mexico. In fact the Relacion Geografica indicates that these types of suits (together with other animal suits) were worn since the days of Teotihuacan.

Coyotl Suits come in all colours and flavours. We really don't know their significance. The Codex Matritense is a form of Sahagun's Florentine Codex, and contains diagrams of the red "tlaplcoyotl" suit, the black "tlilticoyotl" suit, the blue "xiuhcoyotl suit, etc, etc. Unfortunately, the only diagram I can find is this lame copy from the Florentine Codex:

picture

The picture is so poor that it is hard to tell what colour it is supposed to be. Anyone have the Codex?

A tad on the obscure side, but I figured many knowledgeable people come in an out of this site--still hoping.

Ok, according to Tezozomoc, the Huexotzinca had a sub-section of Coyotl wearing warriors that fought and behaved in a similar manner as the Aztec Otomitl and Cuachiques.They were to perform the selfless and dangerous rearguard actions during combat and suffered large casualty rates. No one knows what they were called. I didn't want to simply call them Coyote Warriors, as not all Coyotes behaved in this manner. I didn't want to call them Huexotzincan Cuachiques, as the term Cuachique seems to be unique to the Aztecs. I settled on the rather dramatic Huexotzincan Berserker. I'll probably change it.

Hope that helps a little, gentlemen.

I read Tezozomoc and didn't see any mention of that. I should read it again. I looked at online copies of Tezozomoc for coyotl, coyote and other spellings and found no mention of anything suitable. Heath in the Foundry book doesn't mention it either. If you know what chapter it is in I would love to re read it and see what it says more closely. It makes sense because the coyote was especially revered by the chichimecs in their religion.

Chronofus has copies of some original codexes prints he has online. There's some pics in the Primeros Memoriales here: PDF link
which shows lots of variations of the coyotl suit

He has showed in his work that the coyote is both a priestly and a noble warrior suit. There's some shown in the Lienzo de Tlaxcalla as well which he has in his guide. From what I can see of where they are in the Lienzo they seem associated with battles on or around the temple areas. The pic you showed from the Florentine is in his new guide, but I don't think in the very old one online. There are a couple different ones in it. Durans Book of Rites also has a dancer in a religious ceremony in a coyote looking outfit, but the way they draw coyotes and jaguars, I don't think you can be 100% sure which one they really mean.

Last I talked to him he works in the concrete industry and doesn't have time for anything. Trying to get answers out of him now is almost impossible :( I am glad he still posts his Eureka pics :)

This is why I come to this site several times a day---thank you for the discussion and information.

In the pdf link, there is what appears to me to be a Huexotzinca coyote warrior--2nd row, third down--see the
large white labret curling up the right side of the face?
I've seen this one before and is the model for my 15mm figure painting.

Wow; I have both codexs, I've definitely have to pay more attention to them. Great posts guy's!

On that pdf the two warriors with red words are lords, the other 4 with silver writing are eagle warriors. All the pics in the pdf are Aztecs only. I can see that if the coyote came from huexotzinco in the first pace, they would reward the warrior with not just the outfit from there, but also the jewelry and loin cloth style? I think that could be possible. I've seen that shield with a hanging rope before on banners and other shields, maybe it means something for certain areas or enemies too. I can see 2 huexotzinco lords in the Lienzo of tlaxcalla on the tlaltenapa and ytztzocan pics.

The Aztecs had huexotzinco ceremonies in their calendar, and dressed themselves up like those people to perform them. I like the funny story where the Aztecs could never beat them enough to capture their god in his temple, and resorted to sending ambassadors to steal it but were found out and chased away. A fun skirmish scenario idea I think :)

I think Bowman is ok in what he says about the coyote warriors. Berserkers just not the right word to use. If the huexotzinco coyotes match the Aztec cuachics in idea, then they are also the teachers of the young warriors same as Aztecs, so they are really the 'professional' warriors of the army as they are always teaching war to the young as their main job. Theres not alot to say one way or the other, I like the idea for some flavour.

Hi,

MichelleJ says:

Last I talked to him he works in the concrete industry and doesn't have time for anything.

Well, then you are much closer to him than I am. I was given my info by Nic Robson during one of his visits at Historicon.

I read Tezozomoc and didn't see any mention of that.

I'm afraid I don't have a proper copy anymore. Therefore, I only have Heath's word for it. The problem with the Heath book is that he lists his secondary sources but not the original Mexican sources. Therefore, we do not know if he means the "Cronica Mexicana", or the revised version, the "Cronica Mexicayotl".

Then what edition does Heath use? Hugh Thomas, in my copy of the "Conquest of Conquest", uses the 1878 Mexican edition. My copy of Hassig's "Aztec Warfare" and Soustelle's "The Aztecs" both use the earlier Terneaux-Compans translation of Tezozomoc from 1853.

Sorry to harp on that, but I bring that up as I have two versions of Bernal Diaz's "The Discovery and Conquest of New Spain". One, the Penguin Edition, translated by Cohen in 1963, and the other, the Da Capo edition, translated by Maudsley in 1956. They are totally different versions!

Heath in the Foundry book doesn't mention it either.

It's not surprising you couldn't find it. He doesn't mention it in the section on the Heuxotzinza, as one would expect. Werner Stenzel, in his "Military and Religious Orders of Ancient Mexico" claims that the Ontontin and Cuachiques are similar to other "contrary-Warrior" societies found in the New World. Heath's reference to Stenzel's comment is Note #23 on page 51 in the Aztec section:

"Duran claims that those of neighbouring states were established in imitation of the Aztecs' own, but it is clear that in reality such societies predate what we consider "Aztec" civilization. Nevertheless, there may have been some truth in Duran's version of events, since Tezozomoc records that there were "Quachiqueh"-a uniquely Aztec institution-among the Heuxotzinca at least"

Unfortunately, Heath doesn't reference Tezozomoc except to write that his work was written in 1598 (a paltry 77 years after the fall of Tenochtitlan).

@barcah2001

In the pdf link, there is what appears to me to be a Huexotzinca coyote warrior--2nd row, third down--see the
large white labret curling up the right side of the face?
I've seen this one before and is the model for my 15mm figure painting.

You paint lip labrets on 15mm figures?? Wow, you are one serious Meso-American wargamer!

BTW, on page three of MichelleJ's link is the "tlecoyotl" or "fire coyote" suit. My personal favourite.

Thanks very much Bowman, I learnt alot! :)

MichelleJ says:

All the pics in the pdf are Aztecs only. I can see that if the coyote came from huexotzinco in the first pace, they would reward the warrior with not just the outfit from there, but also the jewelry and loin cloth style? I think that could be possible.

That's an interesting idea, that I never read about before. What happens to the accoutrements and jewelry of captured and sacrificed enemies? I know they shared body parts for ritualized cannibal feasts. Did they also share the belongings?

It does look like a Heuxotzincan labret worn by an Aztec however. Was it a spoil of war or just an artistic flourish? BTW, the labret curls to the right cheek which is the correct way it was worn (again according to Heath). This is different to those shown in the Codex Mendoza:

link

Ok, now I'm getting a bit anal.

MichellJ also says:

I think Bowman is ok in what he says about the coyote warriors. Berserkers just not the right word to use. If the huexotzinco coyotes match the Aztec cuachics in idea, then they are also the teachers of the young warriors same as Aztecs, so they are really the 'professional' warriors of the army as they are always teaching war to the young as their main job. Theres not alot to say one way or the other, I like the idea for some flavour.

No the word Berserker clearly in a poor choice (it'll conjure up Vikings for everyone).

This is what I think (and I have little to back this up). It is probable that the Huexotzinca had an elite warrior class of Coyote Warriors. At some point in the battle, small groups of these Coyotl would break off from their formations and perform deeds that would normally be carried out by Cuachiques or Ontontin in an Aztec army.

Then, writing decades later, Duran and Tezozomoc think to themselves, "Hey, that sounds just like Cuachiques! So I'll state that the Huexotzinca had Cuachiques too!"

You are probably correct. The Huexotzinca Coyotl were professionals, and were teachers of the Novices and young. They were the elite, and formed a distinct warrior society outside of the typical Huexotzincan soldier. At times they did the same thing that the Aztecs expected from the Cuachiques. (Still a lot of guess work)

Heath can't be right that the labret must curl to the right cheek, because in the Mendoza warrior list they curl to the right, and the priest list they curl to the left. lol. What I did just see from your picture link, is the coyote warrior is the only one capturing a huexotzincan who has a red hair binder. Maybe this means to be a coyote, one has to capture a special elite huexotzincan warrior, and from what we're are thinking it has to be a coyote lol, that would be quite possible.

I don't think I ever saw anything about what happened to the spoils of war from a captive. I've read about the hair trophies, and body parts being kept for relics too and being displayed in the home, but not the clothing and jewelry. Maybe the went to the ruler and were distributed to those who deserved them for their status or rank. Would they would let a novice warrior keep the things from a high level warrior he captured?