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161 At the time of the Spanish conquest, clothing of maguey fiber was common over a large area of western Jalisco and southern Nayarit. There are specific statements written in 1525 of its use in Tenamaxtlan, Ayutla, Autlan, Tequesquitlan (then in the Purificacion ), Etzatlan, Ocotitlan, Aguacatlan, Ixtlan (del Rio), and in most of the settlements listed as subject to those just mentioned. For the first two pueblos and for one subject to Autlan, only maguey clothing is noted; the others are credited with both cotton and maguey. These data come from a 1525 visita, made the year following the entry of Francisco Cortez. The entire account appears to be systematic, conscientious , and reliable (Nuño de Guzmán 1937). Today maguey fiber (ixtle) is used extensively in Mexico for rope and cordage, for scouring pads, mattresses, sweat blankets, floor mats, and bags and sacks of many kinds. When one reads of clothing of maguey fiber, therefore, one is inclined to think of a heavy, coarse, rough textile. This is not necessarily the case, as witnessed by the remarkably fine ixtle weaving still produced on a small scale in the little Jaliscan town of Chiquilistlan. Chiquilistlan lies in the central part of the state, in the uplands north of Tapalpa, northwest of Sayula, southwest of Zacoalco, and southeast of Tecolotlan. It is not, as most published maps indicate, on the Rio Juanacatlan but on a small perennial stream which is said to drain to the Jalpa. I visited Chiquilistlan in the spring of 1941, in the course of an archaeological survey supported by a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. At that time Chiquilistlan was accessible by horseback from Tapalpa or from Tecolotlan, a trip requiring close to six hours from either point. However, during the past year, a new road has been opened to approach Tapalpa from the north; during the dry season this is traversed by trucks and is said to pass within a short distance of Chiquilistlan. Concerning the etymology of Chiquilistlan, there are differences of opinion, with versions varying from Place of Crickets to Place Where One Cries Out and Scraped or Rasped Place (Arreola 1935: 14; Paez Brotchie 1940:22). Local residents have still a different interpretation, namely Place of the Weepers, saying that this refers to early and incessant appeals for more land. In Tapalpa the current and somewhat uncharitable translation is Place of Fleas or Place of Bedbugs. During the middle sixteenth century Chiquilistlan was a part of the Provincia de Avalos, which centered in the Sayula drainage and included the western shores of Lake Chapala (Papeles de Nueva Espana 1905:1, no. 104, under Xequilistla). It is not certain, however, that cultural ties were with Sayula. Asmall collection of surface sherds, although not yet studied in detail, seems to suggest a local development , perhaps with ultimate ties to the north, with the modest culture of the Tecolotlan-TenamaxtlanAtengo area. The history of Chiquilistlan is little known. Municipal archives were destroyed during the Cristero uprising; the church records may have escaped, but we were unable to arrange an audience with the priest, who was engaged in Holy Week ceremonies. N o t e s o f M i d d l e A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y a n d E t h n o l o g y Carnegie Institution of Washington Division of Historical Research No. 42 November 7, 1944 Ixtla Weaving at Chiquilistlan, Jalisco Isabel T. Kelly iSaBel t. Kelly 162 It is known, however, that in 1563, at the request of a local delegation, a formal title was issued and boundaries with adjoining pueblos were established. The title has been published (Cuadro 1881:4–9), and a copy of the pictorial map said to have accompanied the original title soon is to be published by Don Jose Ramirez Flores of Guadalajara. Of subsequent history there is almost no record. The Chiquilistlan zone seems to have had a considerable if intermittent flurry as a mining center. Iron evidently was the mainstay of the town in 1843 (Noticias geograficas 1843:93); but gold, silver, copper, mercury, and lead also occur (Villasana 1916:150). Large-scale activities appear to have ceased before the middle of the nineteenth century (Cuadro estadistico 1881:13), but there must have been a subsequent renascence. There is a statement to the effect that the quicksilver deposits were worked twenty-five years prior...

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