Definition of Totonaca Culture

In the current Mexican states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo live the descendants of a civilization Pre-Columbian, the Totonacs. It is estimated that in Mexico there are more than 200,000 people who still speak the language Totonac.

This indigenous people was settled in the coastal areas of eastern Mexico and its period of splendor took place between the IV and XIII centuries of the Christian era.

The archaeological remains that are preserved show that the fortifications they built were intended to defend themselves against the Aztecs.

When the troops of Hernán Cortés arrived in Mexican lands, the Totonacs and other peoples joined the Spanish to defeat the Aztec Empire, whose center was in the city of Tenochtitlan. Despite the military aid to the new conquerors, the Totonacs ended up being subdued by the Spanish Empire and later annihilated by the effect of infectious diseases brought from Europe.

Main signs of identity

From the religious point of view they were polytheists and especially worshiped the Sun and the Moon. As with other peoples, each element of nature was associated with a divinity (for example, the god Centeotl represented the

corn and the god Xochipilli was the god of flowers) Today their ancestral beliefs have been mixed with the Catholicism.

His economy was based on farming, especially corn, turkey farming, fishing and the textile trade.

Socially it was a collectivity based on extended family clans. The men did community work one day a week and the new marriages were located close to the husband's family

From a technical and artistic perspective, this culture stood out for its advanced knowledge in temple building and for its creativity sculptural and artisanal (the current Totonocas preserve their traditional crafts, such as smiley faces or yokes).

The Volador game has been a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2009

The Volador game is actually a ritual dance practiced by the Totonacs, but also by the Nahuas. This ritual is directly associated with fertility and is normally performed with four dancers symbolizing the four cardinal points.

The dance is accompanied by music and a singular component, an elongated trunk known as a "flying stick" (the dancers hang from this stick with ropes at the waist and perform movements in the air as if they were flying).

Photos: Fotolia - NoraDoa / Fuancordero

Topics in Totonaca Culture