Note 31 — Front matter

In the horrible rites of the Aztec at their midsummer ceremony, Hueytecuilhuitl, a girl personating the Corn-mother, was sacrificed before the hideous idol of Chicomehuatl and her heart offered to the image. In the dances preceding her death this unfortunate girl wore on her head an amalli or “pasteboard” miter, surrounded by waving plumes, and her face was painted yellow and red, symbolic of the colors of corn. She was called Xalaquia (pronounced Shalakia). The Hopi Corn-maid, represented by a girl with a rain-cloud tablet on her head and a symbol of an ear of corn on her forehead, is called Calako-mana (pronounced Shalako-mana).