The Chalcan Women's Song: Sex as a Political Metaphor in Fifteenth- Century Mexico

The Song that Made Lord Axayacatl Dance

In 1479 (the year 13-Reed), some men from the towns of Chalco-Amaquemecan and Tlamanalco went for the first time to sing in Mexico-Tenochtitlan: the Mexica (Aztecs)¹ held hegemony in the area, including Chalco. The song they sang was a war song called the "Song of the Woman Warrior." They played it for the tlatoani,² or ruler, Lord Axayacatl (ca 1469-1481),³ performing it in the patio outside his house of women. Unfortunately, the performance got off to a rather slow start. A man from the area of Tlamanalco in Chalco, one who had never played the drums before or directed a song, made a very bad showing. Out of tune and off tempo, he finally gave up and stopped, bowing his head low over the drum. At that moment Quecholcohuatzin, a young Chalcan nobleman from Amaquemecan, quickly stepped in and took up the drum with so much skill that Lord Axayacatl leapt up from his place among his ladies, marched outside, and had a wonderful time stepping and twirling to the music. But when it was all over, the tlatoani told the musicians to never play such clumsy music again and stomped inside. The musicians, fearing death, just sat around in confusion, waiting. A servant then appeared with the orders to bring in Quecholcohuatzin, and all grimly thought that that was the last they would see of him.

Inside, Quecholcohuatzin bowed low before the tlatoani, humbly eating dirt before the great lord.⁴ Axayacatl listened to his obedient phrases, and then addressed his lady friends. Their esteemed ruler told them they should greet him warmly because this man was going to stay with them permanently as their "feminine political relative" and his personal musician. He then dressed the young man in turquoise and quetzal finery, and gave lovely gifts to his fellow musicians. Moreover, the tlatoani declared that he liked this "war song of the enemy" so much that he wanted it "ceded" to him. And that is how the song left the possession of Quiyauhtzin Cuauhquiyauhcatzintli, a great Amaquemecan composer who gained fame during the reign of the former Chalco-Amaquemecan ruler Huehue Ayocuantzin (1411-1465), and how it came into the possession of Lord Axayacatl. Quecholcohuatzin led the song many times for the tlatoani's pleasure; and when Axayacatl died, it passed on to his son and grandson, who also played it a lot. The latter was Don Diego de Alvarado Huanitzin, who was lord of Ehcatepec and later the Spanish ordained governor of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. And this is how the seventeenth century Chalcan historian Don Francisco de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Cuauhtlehuanitzin told the story.⁵

It is a curious story, as curious as the song. One might ask why Lord Axayacatl lost his temper with the songsters, only to reverse his attitude within minutes and shower them with praise and gifts. Why did he change his mind so quickly? Was it simply because he liked the song's explicit sexual imagery. Or are we still missing something? Almost all other interpreters have taken the erotic path to translation, which has created some surprisingly different results.⁶ The song contains challenging Nahuatl with many obscure metaphors and references, and numerous complex phrases. When faced with difficult choices, past translators usually have shaped their work around an assumption that the song's primary message was a sexual one. But, the song's preface says that it was composed by the Chalcans, and performed in front of Axayacatl because "he had conquered them as though they had been mere women."⁷ So more than mere sex is involved; conquest must also play an important role. Perhaps we are missing something.

I have taken a different approach. Jane...