Note 55 — COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PLAINS PEYOTISM

The cane was the symbol of the Aztec merchant, and his friends did this utlatl or otate great reverence at a feast on the return from his travels; it symbolized Yiacatecutli, the god of merchants. Slaves were also sacrificed at a temple rite involving the canes (Sahagún, A History of Ancient Mexico, 1:41-42). Among the Huichol the staff of the judges in the native courts are accorded “a superstitious reverence” as symbols of authority (Lumholtz, Unknown Mexico, 2:250). And although Governor Valdes had visited most of the pueblos to appoint native governors and captains by the year 1642, in Tarahumari the native term for leaders is igúsuame, “stick-bearers” or selfgame, “lance-bearers” (Bennett and Zingg, The Tarahumara, 375-76).