for its pottery. The Tlaxcaltecos told
Cortez that the inhabitants of Cholula were a tribe of traders; what
more natural, then, than that their tutelar deity should become, in the
eyes of foreign tribes, the god of traders.<55>

Quetzalcohuatl was but one of the four principal gods. The tutelar deity
of the Mexicans was Huitzilopochtli. His altars were almost daily wet
with the blood of sacrificed victims. No important war was undertaken,
except with many ceremonies he was duly honored. If time were so short
that proper care could not be bestowed on the ceremonies, then there was
a kind of deputy god that could be served in a hurried manner that would
suffice.<56> After a successful battle, the captives were conducted at
once to his temple, and made to prostrate themselves before his image.
In times of great public danger, the great drum in his temple was
beaten. The Spaniards, by dire experience, knew well the meaning of that
awful sound.

Illustration of Huitzilopochtli.------------

The plate represents what was probably the idol of Huitzilopochtli. "It
was brought to light in grading the Plaza Mayor in the City of Mexico in
August, 1790. It was near the place where the great Teocalli stood, and
where the principal monuments of Mexico were. They were thrown down at
the time of the conquest and buried from sight. It is an immense block
of bluish-gray porphyry, about ten feet high and six feet wide
and thick, sculptured on front, rear, top and bottom, into a most
complicated and horrible combination of animal, human, and ideal
forms."<57> This idol is generally stated to be that of the goddess of
death. But Mr. Bandelier, after carefully reviewing all the authorities,
concludes that it represents the well-known war-god of the Mexican
tribe.<58>

To properly conduct the services in honor of these various gods,
required established rites and a priesthood. What we call "Medicine men"
wizards, and names of similar import among the northern tribes, were
more correctly priests. There was no tribe of Indians so poor but what
they had these priests. But we would expect this office to increase more
in power and importance among the southern Indians. Among the Iroquois,
we are told each gens elected certain "keepers of the faith." These
included persons both male and female. Their principal duty was to see
that the feast days were properly celebrated. From what we know of the
gens we feel confident that they would be pe