HEAVEN BORN MERIDA AND ITS DESTINY - Histomesoamericana

40 INTRODUCTION
shuffled. Atikuhe also seated this katun, and heart sacrifices are mentioned
for 1485 in connection with the calendar round ceremonies (Oc
Na) at Mayapan. Although Mayapan had already fallen, it was not until
this katun that it was destroyed, according to the Tizimin.
Sixteenth Century. Katun 2 Ahau opened in 1500 with a great hurricane
and fire, and in 1516 there was a plague. The latter, tersely described as a
fever [kakil), may have been a consequence of the first contacts with the
Spaniards. The celebrated encounter between Columbus and a boatload of
Maya on the high seas in the preceding katun is not mentioned in any of
the Books. But Spanish entradas began in earnest in 2 Ahau: Aguilar in
1507, Valdivia in 1511, Ponce de León in 1513, Córdoba in 1517, Grijalva
in 1518, and Cortés in 1519. The arrival of Ponce de León appears to be
recognized and correctly dated in line 140. Other apparent references to
dates in this katun are, however, erroneous because they are stated in the
Valladolid calendar: when corrected they prove to be later. The katun was
seated at Chacal Na and also at Cozumel. The sermon of the katun by its
Spokesman, Puc Tun, is brief and vague, but dire.
The final katun in the Itza may, 13 Ahau, was a turbulent and eventful
period. At least four towns (Cozumel, Kin Colah Peten, Euan, and Coba)
tried to seat the katun, clear enough evidence of the continuing chaos left
by the fall of Mayapan. The sermon of the Spokesman, Xopan Nahuat,
predicts the imminent arrival of the Spaniards (no great trick, as they had
already arrived) and attempts to relate it to the origin myth of the Xiu,
"The Birth of the Flowers."
In 1526 Francisco de Montejo landed on the east coast with the intent
of initiating the long, hard conquest of Yucatan. Three years later a new
calendar round began, coinciding with the mid-katun ceremonies and further
exacerbating the political troubles, since this was the moment for
designating the Jaguar for the next katun.
Matters came to a head in 1536. Because of a drought in the province of
Tutul Xiu (according to the Mani), the governor of Mani, Pot Xiu, decided
to lead a water pilgrimage to Chichen Itza. He was accompanied by his
lieutenant, Kin Chi, and eleven other lords from adjacent towns: Iban
Can of Telcit, Pa Cab of Oxkutzcab, Kan Caba of Panabchen, Ku Pul of
Sacalum, Nahuat of Teabo, Ul Uac Chan of Cauich, Zon Ceh of P'en
Cuyut, Ahau Tuyu of Muna, Xulcum Che of Tipikal, Tu Cuch of Mama,
and Zit Couat of Chumayel. As a water priest {pul ha) and as a pilgrim,
Pot Xiu (and his companions) should have been secure enough, and he had
been assured of a safe-conduct by Chi Cocom, governor of Otzmal. However,
when they reached Otzmal, the whole party was seized and murdered.
This was on February 2, 1536 (Craine and Reindorp 1979: 77, note
60). The Mayan date was a calculated insult. It fell on 9 Imix, the day
after 8 Ahau, the traditional end of the Xiu cycle, and hence it was a direct
assertion of the Itza intention of seating their own cycle, which they
did, three years later.
It must be remembered too that the Spanish had reached Campeche the
year before and that Pot Xiu's father, Tutul Xiu, was their first important
convert. He had even headed a delegation of most of these same lords to