ohuatl (TK224v)

This painted simplex Nahuatl hieroglyph represents a green maize stalk (ohuatl) with two ears of corn (what could be called xilotl) and a tassel (what could be called miyahuatl) at the top of the plant. While the Spanish gloss refers to this plant as “mahiz” (maize), this glyph is very similar to the ohuatl glyph in the Codex Mendoza. Here, the leaves are green, and the ears of corn are white with red silk. The contextualizing image shows how this plant is painted within a rectangle that represents an agricultural field (called a “sementera” in the Spanish gloss). The notations show that three such fields were expected to produce 2,000 measures (probably fanegas) of kernels that had to be presented in tribute (a type of taxation) to the Spanish overlord whose name was Espinosa (or Espinoza). This same man also required lots of wheat grain, gold discs, and other food and household goods. The people of Tepetlaoztoc protested his demands and his abuse of the local people. He is portrayed on this same page beating a man with a stick, drawing blood from his nose and his rear end. He is also pulling his hair, which is a grave insult, dishonor, and cause of intense emotion. Sonya Lipsett-Rivera writes about the ritual humiliation of hair pulling in Religion in New Spain, eds. Susan Schroeder and Stafford Poole (2007), 79.