Funeral Traditions in the World of the Zapotecs
Nelly M. Robles Garc?a
She was the sister and advisor to the previous ruler of Monte Alb?n, Se?or Rabbit 6 Water and therefore she was entitled to be buried in the family tomb, among others who had come from a notable lineage, as per Zapotec tradition.
She was very old when she died ? 48 and she was surrounded by her family, brothers and sisters etc. Her husband had died a few years ago. The witch doctor was also there, not to cure her but to help her to die and to prophesy her journey to the underworld; priests carrying masks belonging to Se?or Desollado , Xip? Totec were already spreading red powder through the room, which indicated the solemnity of the moment and warded off the evil spirits.
Some women have come to the house to dress Se?ora (Mrs.) Herb 2 Cane. They have carefully chosen the attire she will wear during the funeral rites: a cotton sleeveless blouse, sandals, a selection of her best jewels and family emblems, the most important being the greenstone breastplate that has an image of a jaguar on it.; large gray obsidian earrings, and three jade necklaces; one of snails? shells, one of green stone and another of black stone beads, grains of corn and small green feathers, A leather diadem embroidered with color threads was placed on her head and a band of plaited cotton was placed on her forehead and intertwined in her hair.
The mourners have also arrived; these are women dressed in sleeveless blouses and their plaits are up over their heads and held there with thick cotton strings. They mourn the departure of Herb 2 Cane and their weeping is interrupted only by the prayers of the priests who are requesting that she have a peaceful journey into the beyond; all the family members and other people attending the funeral are drinking chocolate from wooden bowls.
The family tomb has been re-opened. Three men from the cortege are needed to remove the heavy stone. Inside, the bones and objects of the last family member deposited here are solemnly moved into the corner by a priest. He has to make the necessary space for the new member of the family. The other priests ask authorization for this from the gods guarding the entrance.
The tomb is strong; it is made of large stones that make up the walls, floor and roof. There is a ritual space that is decorated with paint and stone sculptures; the journey into the unknown starts here. The new urns decorated with the images of the main gods, including Cocijo, who is identifiable through his headdress of precious feathers and his eye patches, have already been placed in this space; it is Cocijo who makes life and survival possible. There is also an urn dedicated to the goddess of corn, Pitao Cozobi and one to the god of the old, or Huehue, the god of wisdom, and several others. Placing the different urns with ashes, copal, water at the entrance to the tomb ensures that the dead person will have a peaceful trip to the next world, the world of spirits, shadows, the non-material world, from which new men will emerge, wiser and more powerful. That is why it is so important to provide the gods with a pleasant atmosphere, one that is tinged with copal resin and red powder, as a way of offering them the death of the woman and asking them to accompany her forever in her new life, as she now belongs to them.
The inside of the tomb is profusely decorated; the walls show paintings of richly attired personages, priests and priestesses leading a procession over a strip of land that is spatially interrupted by niches in the walls. Three-foot, clay incense burners, so characteristic of the Zapotec rituals and festivities, are placed in the niches. Finally, Se?ora Herb 2 Cane is placed on a mat amid the weeping and prayers; this task?s done by the two most important priests, who also place objects she will need on her journey around her; these include bowls of food, chocolate and glasses of water. Her personal objects like her sewing needles, wooden bowls and some spoons from her kitchen are placed next to her. There is the dead body of a little bird in one of the glasses; this bird shall sing to her and make her new life more pleasant. This custom is also done with human beings, as in Suchilquitongo, where the deceased noblemen are accompanied by their servants, who are specially sacrificed for this.
According to visitors, there is a majestic, palace-like tomb in Suchilquitongo that was constructed for a well known noble lord and warrior who ordered that the walls be painted with processions of priests and priestesses, mourners and people wearing great feather headdresses and carrying bags of copal and canes in their hands. This man also ordered the best sculptors to decorate the jambs and lintels of the entrance with images of important men, especially priests who guarded the entrance and protected those in the tomb. The same man ordered that a stone tablet be sculpted with part of the history of his people as he remembered it.
They say the entrance to the tomb is the most impressive part. It is guarded by a great mask of the god Bird-Serpent, whose great, open, bleeding jaws intimidate and warn visitors to the tomb of its power.
The funeral rites of Se?ora herb 2 Cane come to an end when the stone door is replaced over the tomb. Upstairs, in her house, her relatives wait and make offerings to the gods so that her spirit does not abandon them, because she should stay with them in the house.
In the meantime, they patiently place copal resin in the incense burners on the permanent altar that they have laid out for her, so that the flame of her spirit is not extinguished.
A few months after this event, Lizard 2 House died; he was one of the woman?s sons-in-law. As he did not have a social rank, he lived with his family on a plot of land. He cultivated the land and had his house there. He died of fever and stomach pains, in spite of the fact that the witch doctors had made herbal cures and temazcal baths and had prayed. Lizard 2 House?s illness was combined with his general ill health. Being poor, he lived off what he produced and he was undernourished; he was physically short in stature, thin and fragile, and he had problems moving his left leg that had been injured when he was young. In spite of that, he had had to work all his life. He had few defenses against the illness.
When he died, his wife asked the main rulers and mourners to come to the house; two priests with their canes and bags of copal resin came from Monte Alb?n. They ordered the body to be wrapped in a clean mat and the room cleaned with herbal water and ashes and to be perfumed with incense. His clothes were burned far from the house, as they were infected. They also ordered the women to move away from the house.
Like all Zapotecs, his body was buried within the context of his own home, albeit in an impromptu grave. Some objects with food, some rustic plates and only one small urn with an image of the god Cocijo on it were placed next to his body. Cocijo would accompany him to the underworld.
They also took care to bury some of his personal effects like his tools, a pair of axes, his planting stick and a flint knife that he used daily. Lastly, the tomb was covered with several rocks. The priests left, and the people met in a small hut to mourn, pray and have a meal with the family.
This contrast in the nature of the funeral arrangements is very common in the city; the rich are privileged and have servants; the poor, like Lizard 2 House have nothing and usually die poor. However, both share the feeling that death is a part of life, that the deceased should stay at home and that physical death is only a different way of living, as one passes into a non-material, spiritual world. That is why death is celebrated in Monte Alb?n; it is not feared; on the contrary, it is celebrated as a means of transcending the earthly world and it is called upon by young people wearing Xipe masks during the autumn festivals?
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