tecocouh (TK214v)

This painted iconographic example features a Nahua female servant (perhaps a tecocouh). The Spanish gloss refers to her as an “india de servicio,” but there is no Nahuatl term for this mentioned on the manuscript page. Thus, we are suggesting a term for female servant from our Online Nahuatl Dictionary. Tecocouh is one possibility, as is coco and tepi. The verb would be cocoti. Judging by her neaxtlahualli hairstyle, this is an adult woman. She wears a hand-woven blouse and skirt, apparently made of white cotton, with red and white trim. She sits next to what we might identify as a metlatl (grinding stone) and metlapilli (hand-held stone for grinding maize and other things). The implication is that she will be required to provide domestic service, including the preparation of food. On the manuscript page, the demand from the local Spanish colonial overlord (encomendero) is for ten of these women to provide him with service, which, besides cooking, would also probably include cleaning, nursing, and probably sexual service. This manuscript was produced as part of the community’s resistance to the unreasonable taxation being demanded.