Funerary Rituals of the Cazonci Zuanga
Felipe Sol?s and ?ngel Gallegos
The days of celebration had ended in the royal palace of Tzintzuntzan. Everything was sadness and pessimism. People finally heard about Zuanga?s illness, and everybody knew his end was near.
The efforts of the xurihca ? the doctors who had looked after him ? had been in vain. Everybody anxiously waited to hear the diagnosis made by the great ambonganci xurihca, the most experienced doctor in the realm. Silence invaded the group of healers, who heard that the cazonci?s death was inevitable.
Several weeks before the rulers Zuanga had imposed on the provinces and cities of the central lake region ? all of whom were relatives ? had come to Tzintzuntzan to pay their respects. The young Tangaxoan, who had been named heir to the throne, went out to greet them. They all saw him as the new lord. Tangaxoan stood proudly next to the petamuti and the rest of the priests, and gave orders to prepare the traditional funeral ceremony.
Jewels, feathers, hides, food, and multicolored vases that had been sent from many regions arrived in Tzintzuntzan. They would be respectfully placed in the room where the cazonci had received gifts during his life. Since he was not there, the empty royal throne represented him.
Zuanga was left alone in his final moments; he had to die this way, just as his ancestors had. Outside his room, barely separated by a wall and a thin curtain used as a door, were the other lords, his son, and his relatives, who listened to his breathing until it stopped. This is how they knew that the days of that great cazonci were over. Nothing had been heard until that moment, not a single remark. They all spoke softly but once the news was broken the women?s weeping was quickly heard all over the palace.
Zuanga?s closest relatives, guided by the petamuti, carefully cleansed the body to purify it; they dressed the body with that long shirt and elegant deerskin sandals that distinguished the lords. Afterwards, they carefully followed a ritual and hung a necklace of white fish bones around his neck, and placed golden rattles around his legs, and turquoise bracelets and necklaces around his arms.
They then placed a large golden earrings and other golden bracelets around the arms; at the end of the ceremony they put on a bezote (ring worn in lower lip) with obsidian and turquoise mosaics that identified him as the supreme warrior of the Pur?pecha armies.
Young nobles covered a harness that would carry the body with colorful blankets. Then they tied the lord?s body to this kind of bed, and proceeded to wrap the dead man with more blankets, the last of which was bright red. Next to him, they placed a bundle of quetzal feathers, earrings, golden bracelets, turquoise necklaces, a pair of new sands, and bows and arrows in a quiver made of a jaguar skins for his journey.
Everybody went to see the procession that followed the bundled corpse, which would be buried in the large patio in front of the ?y?catas?, where townspeople had lit a large bonfire with pine branches.
A group of distinguished men was led by the sacrificing priest, who held a large bludgeon with both hands and was followed by a young man carrying a white flag with red feathers. Behind them walked all the people that had served the cazonci re-creating their daily activities: the garbage man, the boatman, the feather and metal artisans, the palace?s guards, the men that made weapons, and those who had looked after him during his final days. Two men blowing their trumpets and two others making sounds with seashells, announced the procession.
Behind the group that carried Zuanga?s body, there were close to forty people, men and women, who had also served him and that would be sacrificed to accompany him to his final destination, helping him with all he needed on his way to the world of the dead. The women had been in charge of preparing food at the palace and taking care of his jewelry, while the men took care of everything else at the palace.
The group finally arrived at the great bonfire where the royal bundle would be laid. After the ceremony in which the lord?s servants were killed, the ashes and pieces of jewelry were put in a bundle that was placed in a hole behind the stairs in Curicaueri?s temple. This offering was enriched with many pieces of jewelry, ritual pottery, and other items that would ensure the prestige and dignity of Zuanga.
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