Juan Hernández’s Story

Juan Hernández’s story is about a man who is a rain god’s human companion (much like Petra), and thus a wise person (tamatque) who knows things about the weather that others do not. Juan, like many narrators (Ingold 2000: 361), grounded his story in actual experience. He began with a drought, perhaps like the one that took place in June 1969 when rain did not fall in Huitzilan for twenty-five days. This was a bad time for a drought because Nahuas usually plant their corn in early June. Hoping to end the drought, Mestizos as well as Nahuas carried the images of San Juan and several other saints to the spring at Miacaco, where Endalacia performed a rosary.1 Their ostensible purpose was to bring an end to the drought by showing the saints the low water level in the largest spring in the community.

Juan called his protagonist a quiyauhteot, by which he meant a human who has a quiyauhteonalle and, thus, shares an essence with a rain god. He happens to be the member of a sugarcane-processing work group, and his fellow workers suspect the protagonist is a wise person who knows about the weather and they pester him to tell them when it will rain.

1. There was a man, long ago there was a very old man, a very old man, his hair was all white, his hair was all white, and he was a very old man.
2. And one day his companions said to him, they told him there was too much sun and it had not rained.
3. It had not rained for a long time.
4. All the water had dried up.
5. Everyone was very thirsty.
6. There was no water.
7. And his companions said to him, there were a lot of companions, and they asked him, “Now when is it going to rain?”
8. “Well, I do not know when it is going to rain,” said the old man.
9. “I do not know when it will rain.”
10. And one of the companions said, “No, you do know.”
11. The old man said, “For God’s sake, I do not know.”
12. And he repeated, “I do not know when it is going to rain.
13. Only our god knows.
14. Only God knows.
15. I do not know.”
16. And that old man was a rain god [quiyauhteot].
17. That old man was a rain god.
18. He knew how to listen to the sky for signs the rain will come.
19. He knew.
20. He just did not want to say he knew.
21. “I do not know,” he declared.
22. “Only God knows.
23. But I do not know.”
24. “No,” said his companions.
25. “You do know.
26. But if it rains, some will thank you as if you were God,” his companions declared.
27. “But why am I God?
28. I do not know when it will rain.
29. If God gives you some rain, then all the better.”
30. “No.
31. Tell us when it will rain.”
32. “Oh God, but how can I tell you when I do not know.”
33. And at that time the [water] animals were not making any noise.
34. And then, as the animals started to make noise, the companions asked the old man when it would rain.
35. “Well, I do not know because only God knows.”
36. Then the animals started to make noise.
37. The sun was very strong, and there were no clouds anywhere.
38. The sun was strong, beautiful, and clean.
39. And again the frogs began to make noise.
40. They began to make noise.
41. The companions said, “Ah, the rain.”
42. “I do not know if it will rain,” said the old man.
43. “What are those frogs saying?” asked his companions.
44. “Well, they say it will rain,” the companions insisted.
45. “The animals say it will rain.”
46. “I do not know if it will rain,” repeated the old man.
47. His companions said to him, “If they know it will rain, then you know it will rain.
48. That is why the animals make noise.”
49. “And I,” said the old man, “do not know if it will rain.”
50. The animals in the water began to make noise.
51. There was no water [in most places].
52. But where there was water, the animals [began making noise].
53. They all made noise.
54. “But listen to the animals making noise, and as always there are no clouds.
55. If you want it to rain, even if there are no clouds,” said the old man, “it will not be difficult.
56. The rain will come soon.”
57. “Oh good, that is why you know when it will rain.”
58. Well, the wind picked up in about an hour and a half.
59. The companions asked the old man, “Is it going to rain?
60. If it rains, we shall invite you to have a drink.
61. We shall give you three turkeys all for yourself.
62. They will be yours alone to eat.
63. We shall be very grateful to you if it rains.
64. We shall hold a fiesta for you as if you were a saint.
65. We shall hold a dance for you and give you what you ask for.
66. Because it has been a month since it rained.
67. No one has any water.
68. Let’s go.
69. If it rains, we shall hold a fiesta for you and we shall give you three turkeys.
70. For your very own.
71. Yes.
72. All for you alone.”
73. And as for what happened, within half an hour, a windstorm blew up, wind started to blow and there was thunder.
74. And those companions said, they thought, “Well, right now it is going to rain.”
75. There were no clouds at that time.
76. “Dear God, and it is going to rain right away,” declared the companions.
77. “Well, you know,” the companions insisted.
78. “I do not know if it is going to rain, but you [plural] know,” said the old man to his companions.
79. “But we do not know,” replied his companions.
80. “But you know more than we do,” they added.
81. Yes, that old man did know because he was a rain god [quiyauhteot].
82. He knew when it would rain.
83. He just wanted to say he did not know.
84. But he really did know.
85. “All right, let it rain if it is really going to rain.”
86. And at that moment they were working a sugarcane press.
87. When the rain began, it was a strong rain storm with a lot of wind that dampened the loaves of brown sugar.
88. Then the workers said to the old man, “Hurry up and help us cover up the loaves of brown sugar so they will not get wet.”
89. And the old man replied, “Well, right now you want to punish me for allowing the loaves of brown sugar to get wet.
90. It was important that it rain.
91. You wanted [the rain] now.
92. Did you not see [the signs of rain in the] dawn sky?”
93. [There were signs] of a big rainstorm.
94. They stopped working.
95. They prepared a fiesta.
96. [They did what] they said they would do.
97. There were turkeys.
98. For him alone.
99. They gave him turkeys, for him alone, and they held a fiesta.
100. The next day there was a rainstorm, a big one.
101. And it was the old man who made it happen.
102. After it rained, they gave him the turkeys and they held a big dance.
103. And afterwards there they were.
104. Then one day those companions beat the little old man.
105. The companions, who all knew it would rain, struck the little old man.
106. After [the fiesta] they beat up the little old man.
107. And after they beat up the little old man, they removed one of his bones.
108. They removed a bone and dropped it on the ground.
109. The bone rotted.
110. After it rotted, the little old man walked with a cane.
111. And he walked around with a cane until he died because he fell ill with diarrhea.

1. Pos catca ce tacat, pos catca ce tacat cimi tahtita, tahtita cimi, nochi iztac niitzonteco, nochi iztac niitzonteco huan cimi tahtita ya.
2. Huan occe tonal quilhuia cequin compañero, quilia, ne cimi telcenca in tonal hasta ahmo quiyauh oc.
3. Hasta ahmo quiyauh oc.
4. Nochi huayic in at.
5. Nochi tel tamicti2.
6. Ahmo tei.
7. Huan quilia non companyeros, yetoyah miac companyeros, huan quiliah, “Bueno, quemanyan quiyahuiz?”
8. “Pos neh ahmo nicmati quemanyan quiyahuiz,” quihtoa in tahtita.
9. “Neh ahmo nicmati quemanyan quiyahuiz.”
10. Huan in compañero, “Ahmo, pero tehha ticmactoc.”
11. Quilia, “Por Dios, ahmo nicmati.”
12. Huan quilhuia, “Neh ahmo nicmati quemanyan quiyahuiz.
13. Solamente quimati todios.
14. Solamente quimactoc in Dios.
15. Nehha ahmo nicmati.”
16. Huan nohon tahtita catca quiyauhteot.
17. Catca quiyauhteot nohon tahtita.
18. Quimati para caquiztiz ahco para in huallaz quiyahuit.
19. Yehha quimactoc.
20. Zayoh ahmo quinequi quihtoz.
21. Quihtoa, “Neh ahmo nicmati.
22. Solamente Dios yeh quimati.
23. Pero nehha ahmo nicmati.”
24. “Ahmo,” quilhuia in compañero.
25. “Ta teh ticmactoc.
26. Pero pos como quiyahuiz cequin miac quitazohcamatic por tehha como za teh Dios.”
27. “Pos que ye ni Dios?
28. Huan ahmo nicmati quemanyan quiyahuiz.
29. Huan como Dios quitetayocoliz cequin quiyahuit para tehhan más mejor.”
30. “Ahmo.
31. Xquihto quemanyan quiyahuiz.”
32. “Ah Dios pero queniuh nimitziliti huan ahmo nicmati.”
33. Huan catca ahmo tei tzahtzia nohon ocuilin.
34. Huan peuqueh cuando nohon quilique nohon tahtita ya quemanyan quiyahuiz.
35. “Pos nehha ahmo nicmati porque solamente Dios.”
36. Pos peuhque tzahtzi catca.
37. Cimi fuerte tonal hasta ahmo canah yetoya mixti.
38. Yetoya fuerte cualtzin ca chipauh ya.
39. Huan ceppa za peuhqueh tzahtziz xe nen ranas.
40. Peuhqueh tzahtzih.
41. Quihtoah nen companyeros, “Ai quiyahuit ya.”
42. “Nez ahmo nicmatic cox quiyahuiz ya.”
43. “Para toni quihtoa non rana?
44. Pos yeh quihtoa cox quiyahuiz.
45. Bueno quihtoa ocuiltzin que quiyahuiz.”
46. “Neh ahmo nicmati quiyahuiz,” quihtoa in tahtita.
47. Quitquilia nicompanyeros, quitquilia in companyeros, “Como ye3 quimactoqueh ca quiyahuiz, pos ticmatiz ca quiyahuiz.
48. Por eso tzahtzi ocuilin.”
49. “Huan nehha,” quihtoa in tahtita, “ahmo nicmati cox quiyahuiz ya.”
50. Peuhqueh tzahtzih ocuilimeh ihcon tech in at.
51. Bueno, ahmo tei in at.
52. Pero ocuilin ompa yetoc campa oncac in at.
53. Nochi tzahtzi.
54. “Pero xicaqui tzahtzi non ocuilin huan nochipa huan ahmo tei mixti.”
55. “Pos como quinequi quiyahuiz, mazqui ahmo tei mixti,” quihtoa in tahtita, “ahmo ohuih.
56. Niman cequin huallaz.”
57. “Ah bueno, por eso ticmatiz quemanyan quiyahuiz.”
58. Pos nohon quemeh de ce hora huan tahco, huan zayoh pehuac ehecat nohon horas.
59. Quiliqueh, quilia, “Cox quiyahuiz?
60. Como quiyahuazquia, mitzmacazqueh motrago.
61. Mitzmacazqueh quiera eyi huehuehxolomeh para teh moaxca.
62. Nochi mocelti ticuaz.
63. Hasta como quiyahuazquia, miac titazohcamati por tehha.
64. Timitzchuilizqueh baile, como ce santo yazquia.
65. Timitzchihuilizqueh ce baile hasta mazqui timitztayocolizqueh lo que den tiquihtoz.
66. Porque quichihuac de ce mezti catca den ahmo quiyahuia.
67. Pos nochi ahmo tei in at.
68. Ándale.
69. Como quiyahuizquia, timitzchihuilizca ce baile huan timitztayocolizquia eyi huehuehxomeh [huehuehxolomeh].
70. Teh moaxca.
71. Uh hu.
72. Nochi mocelti.”
73. Huan pos de lo que quichihuac adentro de tahco hora, huan pehuaco ce ehecat, pehuaco ce ehecat pero huan tatecuinic ce viaje.
74. Huan quihtoah non companyeros, quitmoliah, “Pos yequintzin quiyahuiti.”
75. Pos cacta ahmo tei mixti.
76. “Ay Dios, huan yequintzin quiyahuiti.”
77. “Pos namehhan nanquimactoqueh.
78. Nehha ahmo nicmati cox quiyahuiz, pero namehhan nanquimactoqueh.”
79. “Pero tehhan ahmo ticmatih,” quihtoah in companyeros.
80. “Pero tehha tahta cachi más ticmatic.”
81. Quenahmo yeh quimatiz ne tahtita porque yehha quiyauhteot.
82. Yehha quimati quemanyan quiyahuiz.
83. Pos ma ya yeh quihtoa que ahmo quimatiz.
84. Pero pos mero quimactoc yehha.
85. “Ándale, como de veras quiyahuiz, ma quiyahui.”
86. Huan catca tequitoya itech ce trapiche.
87. Pos cuando pehuac ma ya pehuac pero fuerte in quiyahuit huan ica ehecat hasta non panela nochi ayohuac.
88. Después quilia in tahtita, “Ándale xitechacompanyaro ma tictzacuacan in panela para ahmo nochi ayohuati.”
89. Huan quitquilia, “Pos yequintzin nannequizqueh ma nechcobraroa ma quiyahui.
90. Ma importa ma quiyahui.
91. Axcan quemeh nannequizqueh.
92. Pos ahmo tiquitta tanecic?”
93. Hasta telcenca in quiyahuit.
94. Ahmo tequitiqueh.
95. Pos quichiuqueh in baile.
96. Lo que quiliqueh.
97. Oncaqueh huehuehxomeh.
98. Icelti.
99. Quimacaqueh huehuehxomeh icelti huan quichihuiliqueh ce baile.
100. Pero . . . imoztica ce tonal quiyahuit pero melauh quiyahuit.
101. Huan yehha za ma ya tahtita quichihuac.
102. Después de nohon quiyahuic huan quitayoquiliqueh nohon huehuehxomeh, huan melauh quichihuac in baile.
103. Huan después ihcon ma ya mocauhqueh.
104. Ihcon ce tonal quimacaqueh non companyeros tahtita.
105. Quimacaqueh aqui quimatih parejo in companyeros aqui quimati quiyahuiz.
106. Después quimacaqueh in tahtita.
107. Huan de quimacaqueh in tahtita, pos quiquixtiliqueh can ni omit nican.
108. Quiquixtiliqueh huan huetzic.
109. Palanic nican.
110. Axcan den palanic, quizac huan nemia ca bordon.
111. Huan de nemia ca bordon, pos ihcon hasta miquic pero zayoh porque quicuic chorrillo ya.4

Interpretation

Line 1: Juan Hernández’s first act of dissimulation was to set the action of his story in the distant past. His second act was to describe his protagonist as an old man with white hair, an unassuming figure who does not want to draw attention to himself, just like the rain god’s human companions that other Nahuas described in interviews.

Lines 7–32: Juan presented the old man as a worker in a sugarcane-processing group and described his work companions as asking the protagonist when it will rain because they are tired of the drought and suspect he knows how to predict the weather because he is a wise person (tamatque). The old man denies he knows, his companions reject his denial, and the old man replies by insisting that only God knows. However, Juan notes that the old man does know “how to listen to the sky for signs the rain will come” (lines 18–19).5

The story takes a crucial turn when one of the companions says (line 26): “But if it rains, some will thank you as if you were God.” The old man protests (line 27): “But why am I God?” If the old man were to agree to his companions’ proposal, he would allow them to elevate him above others, giving the impression that he wants to be big (huei nequi) and act big (huei chihua). Lines 36–58: Juan describes the signs of approaching rain, which a rain god’s human companion would easily recognize. One sign is frogs making noise that the companions suspect is a harbinger of rain despite the sun shining cleanly, with strength and brightness (line 38). The work companions are anxious to know what the quiyauhteot are going to do and are not content to wait and watch patiently.

Lines 60–72: The companions say that if it rains, they will give the old man drink (line 60), three turkeys for him alone to eat (lines 61–62), hold a fiesta for him as if he were a saint (line 64), and hold a dance for him (line 65) to show him their gratitude (line 63). This promise, when carried out, does not end well for the old man.

Lines 73–111: When the wind, thunder, and rain come, his companions hold the fiesta. Afterward some of them strike him, remove one of his bones, and leave him walking with a cane. The bone rots, and the old man dies of diarrhea, a water-related form of death that destines him to the luxuriously green and watery place of talocan6. The lesson is that by treating the old man as a saint, the work companions ironically turn him into a focus of their envy because they elevated him above them; so they set him on the road of aging and illness that ends with his death.

Dissimulation in Water Rituals

The reluctance of Juan’s protagonist, the quiyauhteot, to allow his work companions to venerate him as a saint is part of a broader strategy of dissimulating a theory of water in which Nahuas give credit to the quiyauhteot for bringing water as rain and to the achane for making water appear from the earth in springs. Nahuas in Huitzilan extended this strategy to their rituals, in which they concealed their theory of water from Mestizos when expressing their gratitude for rain to make crops grow and for the water in springs that women fetch for household use.

The most public rituals for the rain gods are the morality plays that Nahua impersonators of San Miguel enact during saint’s day celebrations. The Nahua impersonators of San Miguel do not accompany their dance with dialogue that might reveal that they interpret the drama as rain gods attacking the achane animal companions of secular authorities. Nahuas in Huitzilan are also discreet about the existence of a mountain-top shrine dedicated to the rain gods on Cozoltepet and the place where Ahuehueht once made his home, until the rain gods removed him so that he would not destroy Huitzilan with a heavy rainstorm and mudslides. Stresser-Péan (2012: 131) wrote that Cozoltepetl (Nahuatl spelling of Crevices Mountain) “is still the object of veneration among the Totonacs and Nahuas of the region.” Citing Bernardo García Martínez, he adds:

This mountain is probably the one Fray Juan de Torquemada (1977–1983: 202–204) climbed with so much difficulty at the end of the sixteenth century. There he found a sort of conical stone slab, about eighty centimeters high, covered with a cape (tilma) and surrounded by offerings. This may have been the idol of the mountain itself.

Few Nahuas in Huitzilan openly talked about this shrine, but an exception was Manuel Castillo, a Huitzilan Nahua whom Nacho and I interviewed in 2007. Manuel described the shrine on top of Cozoltepet [Nahuat spelling] in the following way:

Manuel: “They take those [offerings] up there, they make a meal, it is our house. And that is our house, and they stick corn to the walls and the badgers do not eat it.”

Nacho: “The badgers do not eat it.”

Manuel: “They do not eat it. And there is a clay jar. And because [the shrine] is there, they placed the vessel [clay jar] for incense, [and] that vessel is there. And up there where one reaches the summit, they put rockets on top and they also spread incense.”

Nacho: “On the summit of Cozolin.”

Manuel: “Because that is the only place where the corn is very clean. Now as for joking [disrespectful] words, they are on the ground [below the summit].”

(Manuel: “Eso den cosas7 quicuih ahco, quichihuah in tacual, yetoc techanti. Huan yetoc ce techanti, huan ompa ya quichihua quizalohyetoqueh tzinti huan ahmo quicua pezoh.”

Nacho: “Ahmo quicua pezoh.”

Manuel: “Ahmo quicua. Huan ompa yetoc in comit. Huan quemeh ne yetoc, quitalia popochti, ompa yetoc ne caxit. Ompa ihcon ahco campa mero pahuitzi ya, no quitaliti cohete ne ahco huan no tapopoxhuiya.”

Nacho: “En la cumbre de Cozolin.”

Manuel: “Porque ompa zayoh yec chipahua in tahtol. Axcan den camayot, talixco yetoc.”)8

Like their counterparts in many other Mexican villages,9 Nahuas in Huitzilan perform rituals giving thanks for the water in springs on May 3, the day of Santa Cruz, when neighbors gather to clean and adorn springs with flowers and crosses, paint the cement structures, and shoot off rockets.10

However, they deny that they are showing their devotion to the achane for bringing the water. Nacho acknowledged that the purpose of these rituals is to show thanks because “water is our life. It is what gives us life. Without water, we would die.” (“Ait ye in tonemiliz. Ye techmacnemiliz. Como ahmo in at, timiquih.”)11 He added, however, that one adorns a spring to thank God for the water, not the achane who originally made it bubble up from under the earth:

“One does not place the flowers [at the spring] for them [the achane]. One places them for our God. One gives God thanks because the water has not dried up. One always wants water because during the month of May it is really hot.” (“Ahmo non, ahmo non yehha quitalia. Quitalia yeh in todios. Quitazohcamatilia por in at quinequi ma [macamo] huaqui. Quinequiya ma nochipa onca porque in tiempo mayo melauh ca tatotonia.”)12

The History of Dissimulation

As noted earlier, the Nahuas of today in Huitzilan have carried out a difficult balancing act, cultivating a relationship with the Church while attempting to maintain their cultural autonomy. This strategy was necessary because they could not oppose their spiritual conversion and the incursion of Mestizos into their territory at the same time. Occasionally Nahuas have benefited directly from this arrangement when the priests have taken their side in conflicts with secular authorities. Just recently, the first priest to reside in Huitzilan was an adherent of liberation theology who advocated for the Nahuas’ human rights.

The history of accommodation with the Church has allowed the Nahuas in Huitzilan to retain some aspects of the ancestors’ meaning of teot, as in quiyauhteot, while adopting the Christian notion of a loving and moral god. Louise Burkhart (1989) explained that in the sixteenth century, the friars’ strategy of translating Christian concepts into Nahuatl allowed the Nahuas to hold onto the connotative meanings of words like teot while accepting some aspects of the Christian god. However, the pressures to conform to the beliefs of the Church are relentless, and Nahuas like Nacho, who are devoted to the Catholic Church in Huitzilan, are caught between the beliefs of their ancestors and those of the priests with whom they often have close relationships. To preserve their cultural autonomy, some Nahuas in Huitzilan practice what Scott (1990: 18–19) calls the “politics of disguise” to shield their religious practices and beliefs from the scrutiny of priests as well as from Mestizos.

To get a measure of where the Nahuas stand today relative to the Church and their ancestors, I asked Nacho, his brother Miguel Ángel Hernández, and Juan Hernández to compare their rain gods with the Christian god and saints. Their responses varied depending on how strongly they identified themselves as members of the Catholic Church in Huitzilan. Nacho and Miguel are strong Catholics who take their religion seriously, and at first they assigned a greater role in providing water to God and the Virgin of Guadalupe than to the rain gods. Miguel declared that the Bible says that God brings the rain.13 He asserted that the Virgin of Guadalupe makes rain possible because of her strength by saying: “The Virgin of Guadalupe has the force.” (“Tonantzin quipiya chicahualiz.”)14 He explained that it is crucial that rain fall around December 12,15 the Virgin of Guadalupe’s day in the Church’s calendar, in order to have a good crop of winter corn. Miguel is not alone in holding these views because the Nahuas in the Huasteca of Veracruz also regard the Virgin of Guadalupe, or Tonantzin, as a water spirit who sends rain (Sandstrom 1991: 247). There is a difference, of course, between the Miguel’s idea of the Virgin of Guadalupe and that of the Church. As will become apparent below, the brothers eventually expressed their belief in the Nahuas’ theory of water and weather.

Nacho offered a nuanced perspective on changes in beliefs about the quiyauhteot, water, and weather. He said: “A long time ago, [the rain gods] did the work of gods but now, later on, we no longer say that they still do it. . . . Of course we say they are gods who are God’s helpers. . . . For that reason they say that they bring the water. Before the rain comes it begins with lightning. There is lightning so that the rain comes. . . .” Nacho distinguished the ancestors’ views of Ahuehueht from his own. Earlier he had identified Ahuehueht as the being who scoops up the water from the sea that rain gods to bring to land as rain: “Our ancestors called him the god of water. But for my part, I do not know. . . . Bu the is not God. He is not like God.” (“Bueno huehcauh, quidioschihuaya pero tehhan nin zatepan ahmo tiquiliah chihua oc. . . . Claro que dios ma tiquihtoh ca in dios itaquehual. . . . Por eso quihtoa que yehhan cualcuitih in quiyauhuit. Antes de hualla in quiyauhuit pehua tapetantoc ya. Pehua tapetani para huitza yeh in quiyahuit. . . .”16 “Totahthuan quitoayah [Ahuehueht] in dios den at. Pero para no parte, ahmo nicmati. . . . Pero ahmo Dios.17 Ahmo quemeh Dios.”)18

As our discussion continued, Nacho expressed views more similar to those of Juan Hernández. Juan and Nacho agreed that Ahuehueht plays an important role in providing water for their community. In an interview that took place in 2010, Nacho said that he and his brothers can hear sounds of Ahuehueht’s presence: “We occasionally hear the sound of someone slapping water with the palm of a hand around June, July but that someone is slapping the water of the sea. It is Ahuehueht.” (“Ticactinemi quemazah cocomotza in at tech in junio, julio pero cocomotza in mar. Entonces yeh in Ahuehueht.”)19

Nacho and Juan both associated Ahuehueht with John the Baptist, whose saint’s day is June 24, near the beginning of the rainy season.20 They assigned the name Juanito (Little John) to Ahuehueht in their versions of the Spanish folktale “John the Bear.” They described the origins of Ahuehueht as the son of a human mother and a monkey, using the Nahua word for monkey (ozomahtli), which sounds like the Spanish word for bear (oso) (Taggart 1997: 46–70, 248–295). Juan Hernández added that Ahuehueht ended up living on top of Cozoltepet to get away from his abusive father, who beat him (Taggart 1997: 65).

Juan Hernández made a forceful argument that a rain god is on par with the Christian god after telling a second version of his story about how the rain gods removed Ahuehueht from Cozolin and took him to the sea. It was Juan’s argument that persuaded me to translate quiyauhteot as rain god rather than rain spirit. As mentioned, he considered Ahuehueht to be a rain god, in contrast to Nacho who declared he was an achane.21 I present in full what Juan Hernández said about the quiyauhteot that was so convincing. He began with the rain gods helping the people of Huitzilan by removing Ahuehueht from Cozoltepet:

"It is possible that [the other rain gods removed him from Cozolin] so that we shall not perish in a flood. [Ahuehueht] is there by the sea, where there is a lot of water. There he went also to become like a god. Because it is as if he were God. He knows when it will rain. And it is as if he were the seed of water. . . . The rain gods also love us because they are also like gods. That is so because it is as if the rain gods were the seed of water [they provide us] so that we might have something to plant and something to eat. They know everything. They know everything. They are like gods.” (“Hueli ca chiuhqueh para ahmo techpoloti ca in at. Porque ne campa yetoc in mar, huei in at yetoc. Ompa yazquia mochihuato no como dios pos. Porque yeh mah Dios. Yehha no quimati quemanyan quiyahuiz. Huan mah ya semilla de at. . . .22 No techtazohta porque quiyauhteomeh como no diosmeh yazquia. Porque pos, casi quiyauhteomeh semilla de at para tehhan tehza tictotazqueh para titacuazqueh pos. Nochi quimatih no yehhan. Nochi quimatih no yehhan. Yetoqueh quemeh diosmeh yazquia pos.”)23

I interpreted Juan Hernández’s story and his comment as making an appeal for the importance of rain gods by placing them on par with the Christian god, but in a separate category. This was his way of pushing back against the Church and Mestizos, a few of whom had heard of Ahuehueht but dismissed him as a silly character of Nahua folklore. I wrestled for a long time about whether to translate quiyauhteot as rain spirit or rain god. Rain spirit has the advantage of drawing attention to the Nahuas pre-Hispanic past and would be in accord with the ancient Nahua concept of teot as an amoral force. However, the quiyauhteot in the stories of the rain gods’ rebellion that appear in the following chapters are moral beings who punish the municipio presidents and non-Nahua settlers who act in immoral ways. One moral principle that carries weight for many Nahuas in the Sierra Norte and elsewhere (Sandstrom 1991; Good 2004a; Maffie 2014: 355) is reciprocity. The following chapter presents the first story I recorded in Huitzilan of the rain gods’ rebellion, and it describes the rain gods organizing and striking the animal companion spirit of a municipio president who practiced negative reciprocity.