Hay Frijoles en la Casa: Beans and Ceremony in 16th-Century Central Mexico

Etl, beans in the English language and frijoles in Spanish, have a deep importance to Mesoamerican communities. They serve as sustenance, but more significantly, they also function in diverse and important ways for communities and specialists. Drawing from archival and published sources, this paper explores the ways in which etl were used by early colonial Nahua communities in the Central Mexican area. This paper argues that, along with a variety of other plants, seeds, and flowers, etl constituted a powerful tool. While recent scholarship has tended to focus on substances with mind-altering properties or materials with “confirmed” medicinal capabilities, this talk will focus on the bean—a seemingly mundane food—and show its important ceremonial and healing functions.