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During the time that we were working at this town, when the school children filed past, they always removed their hats in the most respectful manner. While there are many mestizos in the town, it may truly be called an indian town, the largest of those belonging to the Tepehuas. According to Orozco y Berra, Tepehua is not related to any other language in Mexico.
We had no opportunity to see any of the popular danzas, in some of which, we were told, songs were sung in the Tepehua language, but we did see examples of the little teponastls, or drums, used on these occasions; they are made from a round block, perhaps ten inches long and three inches in diameter; these are hollowed out below, so that two thin lips only are left above, which, when struck, give out far more musical tones than one might expect.
In Tlaxco, a small village in this municipio, four idioms are spoken Aztec, Otomi, Totonac and Tepehua. Two years before, just as my work was ending, we were in the great Otomi town of Huixquilucan, in the state of Mexico. While resting at midday, I noticed a neatly-dressed and clean young indian, plainly not Otomi, with whom I conversed.
From there, by coach and on horseback, we visited Otomi, Aztec, Tepehua and Totonac towns in the states of Puebla and Hidalgo. With the field season of 1901, our work in Indian Mexico ended. It was pursued in three separated areas. From the City of Mexico, we went by rail to Tampico. From that point, a journey by canoe and horse enabled us to see the Huaxtecs of the state of Vera Cruz.
They assured me that the nearest point for finding Totonacs or Tepehuas, in sufficient numbers for my purpose, was in the district of Tenango del Doria, where, at Huehuetla, we would find the largest Tepehua town, and that in Pantepec, which is in the district of Huachinango, and near Huehuetla, we would find Totonacs.
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