cuicani

Updated: May 4, 2025

The singer was called cuicani, and is distinguished from the composer of the song, the poet, to whom was applied the term cuicapicqui, in which compound the last member, picqui, corresponds strictly to the Greek poiaetaes, being a derivative of piqui, to make, to create. Sometimes he was also called cuicatlamantini, "skilled in song."

Daniel Garrison Brinton - Ancient Nahuatl Poetry: Brinton's Library of Aboriginal American Literature Number VII.

This does not alter the fact that a professed bard usually sang songs of his own composition, as well as those obtained from other sources. This is obvious from the songs in this collection, many of which contain the expression ni cuicani, I, the singer, which also refers to the maker of the song.

Daniel Garrison Brinton - Ancient Nahuatl Poetry: Brinton's Library of Aboriginal American Literature Number VII.

Niyolpoxahua in nicaquia ni cuicani, acoquiza in notlalnamiquilizo quin pepetlatiquiza in ilhuicame, nelcicihuiliz ehecayotiuh in iquinalquixtia in ompa ontlatenehua in zacuanhuitzitzil in ilhuicatl itic, ohuaya, ohuaya.

Daniel Garrison Brinton - Ancient Nahuatl Poetry: Brinton's Library of Aboriginal American Literature Number VII.