Nonoalca

The Nonoalca (Nahuatl for "mutes") were a group of people in Mesoamerica who played an important role in the Toltec culture. ^[1] They are believed to have originally been from the southern gulf coast, and influenced by the Maya. They later adopted the Nahuatl language. At Tula, they were the majority of the devotees of Quetzalcoatl, clashing with the devotees of Tezcatlipoca.

After the fall of Tula, they moved south, settling in Izúcar de Matamoros, Zongolica, Tehuacán, Teotitlán de Flores Magón, and Coxcatlán. They were also present in Chalco and Xaltocan. Neighborhoods called Nonoalco existed in many cities in the Valley of Mexico, such as Tlatelolco, Tacubaya, Chiautla and Coatlinchan, and were likely home to Nonoalca. ^[2] Some seem to have moved to Tabasco and the Laguna de Términos, later moving to Yucatan where they were associated with the cults of Chaac and Kukulkan. ^[3] They are also sometimes postulated as the ancestors of the Pipil of Central America.

Wigberto Jiménez Moreno proposed that the Nonoalca were "Mazatec-Popolocas, more or less Nahuatized" based on their location next to these peoples, and connected them to the civilization of Teotihuacan and the Olmeca-Xicallanca. ^[4]

The tribe's name was also given to a small sailing boat that was sailed across the Atlantic to Fenit harbour in Tralee Bay by Bill Verity.

References

1. Wauchope, R.; Ekholm, G.F.; Bernal, I. (2015). Handbook of Middle American Indians. University of Texas Press. p. 463. ISBN   978-1-4773-0675-8.
2. Wauchope, Robert. Handbook of Middle American Indians / Robert Wauchope, general editor. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964. Vol 11 pp. 463-64
3. Rivera Dorado, Miguel. «Cambios en la religión maya desde el periodo Clásico a los tiempos de Hernán Cortés». Los mayas de los tiempos tardíos, Instituto de Cooperación Iberoamericana, 1986, p. 163
4. Jiménez Moreno, Wigberto. El enigma de los Olmecas / Wigberto Jimenez Moreno. of Ediciones Cuadernos Americanos ; Nú. 5. México, D.F.: [s.n.], 1942.