The name Usila, also spelled Ucila, derives from the
Nahuatl Huitzillan, meaning "place of the hummingbird". Its name in
Chinantec is
Geugeín. Usila, or Huitzillan, was a prehispanic Chinantec settlement. Cacao and cotton were grown here in addition to the typical Mesoamerican crops of maize, squash, beans, and chile. In order to participate in the main religious festival of the year, one had to undertake a 140-day fast from any ritually impure acts and from all food besides tortillas, a small amount of cooked maize and tobacco. One ceremony celebrated biannually in the spring and fall involved the sacrifice of a child who had never sinned, a turkey, a dog and a cat. The occasion was met with the burning of
copal, dancing, and feasting on the flesh of slaves who had been purchased for the occasion. Usila was conquered by the
Aztec Empire, probably by
Moctezuma I. It sent tribute of cacao, gold, cotton, maize, beans, chiles,
mantas, mats and fruit to the Mexica governor at
Tuxtepec, and gold and feather adornments directly to
Tenochtitlan. It waged war against
Tlacoatzintepec and Tepetotutla, other Chinantec settlements located to the southwest and south respectively. ==References==