“No one’s child died today": A Nahua Record of Epidemic Death, 1619-1640.

• In Event: Indigenous Voices in Colonial Mesoamerica

Abstract

It is often noted that the arrival of the Spanish to the Caribbean and then to the mainland caused one of the greatest population declines in history. In the first century after the conquest of Tenochtitlan (the capital of the Aztec empire and present day Mexico City) in 1521 the native population of the Americas had decreased by upwards of 90%. Discerning how the Aztec people, or the Nahua, felt about this unprecedented loss of life is difficult to say the least. The Nahua did not leave behind diaries and letters where we can read their thoughts and feelings. Yet, they did leave us the burial registry of Huexotzinco, titled El Libro de los Difuntos, which kept a consistent record of the deaths in that parish from 1619 to 1640.
This is remarkable not only because it is more consistent than many European records, but that it is the only such record kept consistently in Mexico in the time of an epidemic. Using these records, which are mostly formulaic lists about those who had died on a specific date, we can see the waves of epidemics coming through and taking the lives of many people before moving on to another region, only to return after a time to take a new batch of children. Additionally, though, there are points of departure from the list format to reflect, for example, that "no one’s child died today.” It is these points of departure that will help us understand the uniquely Nahua sentiments about the epidemics they were experiencing.

Author

• Tara Malanga