Ocho Venado, Garra de Jaguar - Eight Deer Jaguar Claw
The story of the greatest mixtec leader of all is difficult to pin between fact and legend, since the four ancient codices who chronicle his history have a tendency to endow him with supernatural powers. What all agree on is that he achieved unprecedented success in uniting the different Mixtec groups by a mixture of war and matrimonial alliances, being the only Lord to conquer territories in the Low, High and coastal regions.
Ocho Venado was born to Five Lizard Rain Sun, High Priest of the coastal region Tilantango in 1063. Although he was a son of his father's second marriage and he had half brothers much older, it was he who took the lead in the family from an early age, with the others forming valuable sources of advice and alliance. His right hand man both in Government and War Council was his oldest half brother, 12 Movement Bloody Jaguar.
When the Lord of Tilantango died and his one year old son assumed power, Ocho Venado's father was named regent of the realm. He himself died in 1082. At this time the codices tell us that Eight Deer left to go travelling around the Mixtec, realizing ritual ceremonies in different parts of the region.
A year later he was summoned to an important meeting held at the temple of the goddess of death, 9 Herb Skull, by local leaders. According to the codex Nutall, the goddess herself was present and gave him various symbols of power. There he was awarded the stewardship of the coastal town Tutupec, his first fiefdom. He went on to solidify and expand his territory, gradually conquering and subduing the region through political and military means.
According to the codex Nutall he and his allies conquered ninety four cities in the mixtec region, dominating the political centres of the Low, High and Coastal regions. Since horses had had not yet been introduced to the area and animals were not used to carry humans, this was all done by foot, an incredible task given the vast distances in the area and the mountainous terrain. He was also to take five wives, four of whom were to bear a total of eleven children. These matrimonies had significance both in terms of cementing his authority over a place and creating new alliances.
In 1097 he finally took control of his homeland Tilantongo. However, he still had two rivals, 6 House and 10 Perro, sons of his half brother 11 Winds Bloody Jaguar, Lord of Xipe Bundle, a place whose exact location is unknown today. Xipe Bundle rivalled Tilantango as a Mixtec centre of power and it was perhaps inevitable that Eight Deer would wage war on it. In 1101 the royal family of Xipe Bundle finally fell into the hands of Eight Deer who promptly ordered the death of 11 Winds and the sacrifice of his sons.
However, one of them, 4 Winds, a son of 11 Winds by a previous marriage, survived the purge and formed an alliance with other Mixtec leaders to rise up and overthrow Eight Deer. Fourteen years later they would defeat him, as records the Codex Bodley. After taking him prisoner the allies sacrificed him, ripping out his heart. It was a bloody end for a ruthless Machiavellian leader who left behind a legacy that has been analysed, mythologized and admired until the present day.
By John Holman