[Illustration: Front view. Rear view. FIG. 445.--Tzi-daltai amulet (Apache).]
In the curious commerce of the Indian tribes, some possessed articles of greater worth than those belonging to their neighbors. In the southwest the red paint sold by the tribes living in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado was held in higher repute than any other, and the green stone to be purchased from the Rio Grande Pueblos always was in great demand, as it is to this day. Vetancurt[723] speaks of the Apache, between the years 1630 and 1680, coming to the pueblo of Pecos to trade for "chalchihuites." John de Laet speaks of "petites pierres verdes" worn in the lower lip by the Brazilians.[724]
Among the Mexicans the chalchihuitl seems to have been the distinguishing mark or badge of the priesthood. Duran, in speaking of the consecration of a sacrificial stone in Mexico by Montezuma the elder, and his assistant or coadjutor, Tlacaclel, says: "Echáronse á las espaldas unas olletas [I do not know what this word means] hechas de piedras verdes muy ricas, donde significaban que no solamente eran Reyes, pero juntamente Sacerdotes."[725]
[Illustration: FIG. 446.--Tzi-daltai amulet (Apache).]
Among the tribes in Central America, a chalchihuitl was placed in the mouths of the dying to receive their souls: "que era para que recibiese su ánima."[726]
One of the Mexican myths of the birth of Quetzalcoatl narrates that his mother, Chimalma, while sweeping, found a chalchihuitl, swallowed it, and became pregnant: "Andando barriendo la dicha Chimalma halló un chalchihuitl, (que es una pedrezuela verde) y que la tragó y de esto se empreñó, y que así parió al dicho Quetzalcoatl."[727] The same author tells us that the chalchihuitl (which he calls "pedrezuela verde") are mentioned in the earliest myths of the Mexicans.[728]
In South America the emerald seems to have taken the place of the chalchihuitl. Bollaert[729] makes frequent mention of the use of the emerald by the natives of Ecuador and Peru, "a drilled emerald, such as the Incas wore;" "large emeralds, emblematic of their [the Incas'] sovereignty."
From Torquemada we learn that the Mexicans adorned their idols with the chalchihuitl, and also that they buried a chalchihuitl with their dead, saying that it was the dead man's heart.[730]