This series of Indian Notes and Monographs is devoted primarily to the publication of the results of studies by members of the staff of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, and is uniform with Hispanic Notes and Monographs , published by the Hispanic Society of America, with which organization this Museum is in cordial coöperation. Only the first ten volumes of Indian Notes and Monographs are numbered. The unnumbered parts may readily be determined by consulting the List of Public

So little has been written in regard to the ethnology of the Maya Indians of Yucatan, and especially concerning their beliefs, which persist to the present time, that we publish here a translation of an important and practically unknown account of this subject. This report was printed in Mexico in 1870, but it is buried in a study by Antonio García y Cubas entitled "Materiales para formar la Estadistica General de la Republica Mexicana," in Boletin de la Sociedad Mexicana de Geografia y Estadist

The character of the Indians of Yucatan is such that, were they to be judged only by their customs and their habits, we would have to qualify them as stupid and devoid of reason. It seems indifferent to them to be in the shade or exposed to rain or to the scorching rays of the sun, even though they could avoid it. It does not matter to them whether they go dressed or naked. They never try to obtain commodities they see other races enjoy, even though the trouble or sacrifice it would cost to get

It is quite astounding how in this climate woman in general passes very rapidly from childhood into womanhood, but this development is still more remarkable in the case of the native Indian woman, prompted no doubt by their mode of life and native customs. It is quite usual to see a little Indian girl of three trot daily to the woods with her parents to help cultivate the fields; very often her excursions extend to neighboring villages, and she seems to make those trips of four and even six leag

The ordinary costume of the men consists of a shirt of white cotton like ours, worn outside the white drawers of the same material, which are wide and reach to the calf of the leg; a belt, white or in colors, is worn around the waist under the shirt; a kerchief; a straw hat, and sandals consisting of only soles which are adjusted to the foot by cords of agave fiber, complete his costume. While at work in the field they take all their clothes off and wear only a loin-cloth, which they call huit ,

The Indians of Yucatan speak the Maya language, though somewhat adulterated through contact with Spanish. Several Spanish expressions have gradually crept into their idiom, especially in cities and principal towns where the Indians are in almost constant intercourse with whites and mestizos. Many among them can speak Spanish perfectly well, but as a rule they avoid it, and will answer in Maya to those who speak Spanish to them....

Generally speaking, the Indians of Yucatan are of about the same stature as all intertropical races, of a round face, straight black hair, rather coarse, not very pronounced eyebrows, very little beard or none at all, a low narrow forehead, black and expressive eyes, a somewhat flat nose, small but outstanding ears, protruding cheekbones, a regular mouth with thin lips and beautiful teeth, a stout neck, broad chest and shoulders, arms, thighs, and limbs of robust and muscular build. Their hands

Of real savage tribes there are none in Yucatan. After the greater part of the peninsula, cities as well as villages, had been reconquered from the possession of the Indians who had taken them during their insurrection in 1847, which was general, the most tenacious and unruly ones among them settled in the eastern part of the peninsula, where they have built several towns, the principal one being Chan-Santacruz. From these fastnessess they frequently sally forth to attack and even to raze our ab

After having written about several groups of aborigines who inhabit the central part of the republic, I wish to extend these notes with the aid of documents in my possession to the Indians of Tabasco and Chiapas. The customs, habits, and inclinations of all those Indians in general do not, with any certainty, evoke any hope for the improvement of their race and their subsequent utility and usefulness to the nation. The task I have set for myself is a very delicate one, and there may exist a grea

The abuses and superstitions in which those Indians of Yucatan believe and the abuses which they cherish are mostly inherited from their forebears, and are as numerous as they are varied in kind. I am including in this report all I was able to investigate, so that they may enable the curates to disapprove them publicly, and in their sermons to reprimand the Indians on account of them. They believe in dreams which they try to interpret to suit the occasion. On hearing the cawing (or cackle) of a

When our people discovered the kingdom of Yucatan they found crosses there, and one cross in particular which was made of stone and mortar, of a height of ten palms, and was erected in the center of a court or enclosure, very prominent and fair, and crowned with battlements; it stands alongside of a sumptuous temple and is very much frequented by a great number of people. This is on the island of Cozumel, which lies near the mainland of Yucatan. It is said that this cross was really adored as th

Alux , h'lox , or more fully h'loxkatob . According to Brinton the meaning is "the strong clay images." He writes in his paper, The Folk-lore of Yucatan, that "the derivation of this word is from kat , which, in the Diccionario Maya-Español del Convento de Motul (MS. of about 1580), is defined as 'la tierra y barro de las olleras,' but which Perez in his modern Maya dictionary translates 'ollas ó figuras de barro'; ob is the plural termination; lox is strong, or the strength of anything; h' or a

Baeza, Bartolomé José Granado. Los Indios de Yucatan. Informe dado por el cura de Yaxcabá D. Bartolomé del Granado Baeza, en contestacion al interrogatorio de 36 preguntas, circulado por el ministerio de Ultrámar sobre el manejo, vida y costumbres de los Indios, que acompaño el Illmo. Sr. obispo á la deputacion provincial. Registro Yucateco , Mérida, tomo I , pp. 165-178. This account was written in Yaxcabá, April 1, 1813. It is one of the principal sources of information used by Brinton in his

Carrillo, Estanislao. Papeles sueltos de P. Carrillo. Fantasmas. Registro Yucateco , tomo IV , pp. 103-106. The material in this article was used by Brinton in his paper, op. cit. Hernandez, Juan José. Costumbres de las Indias de Yucatan. Registro Yucateco , Mérida, tomo III , pp. 290, 298. This report is dated Mérida, April 24, 1846....

Carrillo, Crescencio. Estudio historico sobre la raza indigena de Yucatan. Vera Cruz, 1865, 26 pp....

Bancroft, Hubert Howe. The native races of the Pacific states. 5 volumes, San Francisco. In the several volumes of this work Bancroft has assembled most of the early accounts of the manners and customs of the Maya of Yucatan. He was unaware of the existence of the report by Mendez which forms the basis of our publication....

Brinton, Daniel G. The Folk-lore of Yucatan. Folk-Lore Journal , London, vol. 1, part viii, pp. 1-13. This study is based largely on the report of Baeza, with additions from the article of Estanislao Carrillo, and manuscript notes of several other persons, notably those of Carl Hermann Berendt. Carrillo y Ancona, Crescencio. Historia de Welinna. Leyenda Yucateca. Segunda edición, Mérida, 52 pp. The first edition was printed in 1862....

Brinton, Daniel G. A Primer of Mayan hieroglyphs. Publications of the University of Pennsylvania, Series in Philology, Literature, and Archæology , vol. III , no. 2....

Rejón García, Manuel. Supersticiones y leyendas Mayas. Mérida, 1905....

[1] For the meaning of this and of other Indian words, consult the glossary . [2] Fotuto is a musical instrument used by the Carib Indians and also by the negroes of the Antilles. [3] Luneros are Monday-workers. [4] Fagina — faena , manual labor. [5] Milpa roza is, literally, field cleared of underbrush and ready for planting. [6] Milpa caña , literally cane field. [7] An almud is a dry measure equivalent to twelve English bushels. There seems to be an error in the quantity here. [8] The author