Coastal Band of the Tahue Nation / Banda Tribal Costera de Origen Tahue
Our Story:
The coastal band of the Tahue, is a maritime mesoamerican indigenous group.
As the modern-day descendents from (El Molino) Sataya, Navolato (Culiacan, Sinaloa), we can trace our family history to the year 648 (Ce Tecpatl) when the Nahuatlacas (Aztecs/Aztlanecas) arrived in Hueye Colhuacan (what is now Culiacan, Sinaloa) and mixed with the Toltecs who had arrived earlier and already inhabiting Sinaloa.
The codex known as Tira de la Peregrinación, is a large strip made of maguey paper, which begins with the Aztec migration leaving Aztlán, until the time a little before the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan. The codex is a hieroglyphic itinerary that marks years, places, and main events along that pilgrimage.
The anthros and linguists call us "uto-aztecan", but we call ourselves Tahue Yoreme. And our people migrated south, having come from the north. We are the same people/migrants who constructed the beautiful places in what are now the ruins of Mesa Verde Colorado, Chaco Canyon New Mexico, and Casas Grandes in Chihuahua.
We are part of the same Taracahita family made up of Taraumaras (Raramuuri) and Cahita-speaking cultural group where modern day Yaquis and Mayos descend from. The Tahue were a pacific people and only practiced defensive warfare. Their arms were the bow and arrow with tips hardened by fire, the throwable dart with obsidian end, the macana with obsidian knives and the shield made of lizard skin.
Tahues were agriculturists; they cultivated corn, beans, pumpkin, chile, cotton, guayaba and plum; they collected wild fruits like prickly-pear-tuna, pitahaya and the seeds of mezquite. They fished in the rivers and the sea where they obtained a great variety of fish and seafood that constituted an important part of their diet. They collected salt from the numerous natural deposits that formed on the coast. Tahues spun and weaved cotton to make blankets and clothing, that they printed with the colors obtained of wild plants, like indigo that abounds in the region. My people were characterized as being skilful potters who produced pieces of ceramic beautifully decorated and of great resistance for domestic use.
They practiced the ball game, that was common to all the mesoamerican towns. In fact, our grandfathers spent Sundays playing the modern version of the ball game (UIama). Our people practiced the ways of the feathered serpent (know as Quetzalcoatl in the Nahuatl name).
Hueye Colhuacan (what is Culiacan, Sinaloa) is also considered the historic place where the Aztecs or Aztlanecas became the Mexica. That is, albeit the exact location is not known, it is assumed that it was close to the current town of Culiacancito that was the mythical birthplace of Huitzilopochtli (in the year 1065 a.d.). Huitzilopochtli means ''Hummingbird of the South or Left” and as a representation of the Sun, played the role of finding a homeland for the Nahuatl. The people, now calling themselves “Mexica” were ordered by the Huitzilopochtli energy/spirit to keep migrating and searching for that said homeland, where they find an eagle perching on a cactus. This is where they would eventually build a city known as Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City).
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Our Symbols:
In our ancient Mexican culture, we teach our history through the oral tradition and jam-pack our symbols with very deep meaning.
Amapa flower: The colors are lilac, yellow, and pink, and they fill the countryside and coastlines in Sinaloa. Our people made and still make furniture from the wood of the tree part. It symbolizes the strong heart and beauty - and the in our cosmology, the flower world is a place full of happiness and joy, even if it belongs to the realm of the Dead, which sustains the enduring renewal of life on earth.
Culture and Nature:
Two bars and a circle: Each bar has a value of 5. The circle represents the number 1. Together, they symbolize the 11 rivers in Sinaloa.
Waves: Fish and water are represented by the blue waves. The yellow wave are the mines. The green wave represents agriculture.
Tree of Life: The color of the base is brown which represents the mother earth. Two obsidian knives embrace the pitaya or round cactus fruit. This fruit served as our ancestor's staple food during their pilgrimages. This divine or sacred fruit is crowned with a halo of light. In the center you can see the outline to the Tree of Life. The Sacred Tree or Cosmic Tree connects all forms of creation.
Crescent Moon: This figure represents the moon in form of a pot and a flint stone that represents the year CE TECPATL 648, which is the year the Nahuatl or Aztecs arrived in Culiacan, Sinaloa. The tip of the arrowhead is red, which represents Mesoamerica.