Tamuín is a municipio (second-level administrative division) in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. Tamuín is internationally renowned for three archaeological sites representative of the precolonial Huastec culture.
Toponymy
The name Tamuín has been spelled in many ways over time: Tamui, Tamuche, Tamuchi, Tam-Ohin, Tamo-Oxxi, Tam-Huinic, Tamuyn, Tamohi, Tamnoc. Its meaning is undetermined, and there have been many proposals about it, two of which being “gar spot” (gar, a kind of fish) and “mosquito spot”. Another suggestion holds that the original name is Tam-Huinic and that this translates as “place of the book of knowledge”. This meaning is suggestive of the fact that Tamuín was the leading ceremonial center of the entire region of Huasteca. Yet another suggestion is that Tamuin is a corruption of the Huastec 'tamohi' meaning 'place of Ramon trees'. "An Archaeological Guide to Central and Southern Mexico" by Joyce & Jerry Kelly 2001. This is supported by Huastec origins from the moist south Huastec people where ramon nuts are common and a staple food.
Location
The municipality is situated in the eastern part of the State of San Luis Potosí and belongs to the region known as Huasteca, a region which covers parts of several states. Tamuín is bordered on the north by the state of Tamaulipas, on the south by the villages of San Vicente Tancuayalab and Tanlajás, on the east by the municipio of Ébano, and on the west by Ciudad Valles.
Hydrography
The Tampaón River runs through the middle of Tamuín. It joins the Moctezuma River to form the Pánuco River, which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. This region contains the following lagoons: Los Patitos, Tansey, Brasil, San José del Limón, Palmas Cortadas and Mirador.
Climate
The climate is hot for most of the year, turning to between cool and cold between November and February.
History
La Huasteca was the territory of the Wastek (Huastec) ethnicity, a branch of the Maya group of ethnicities. La Huasteca is detached from and far to the north of the main Maya region. Today, there are about 150,000 speakers of the Wastek language distributed between the states of San Luis Potosí and the neighboring state of Veracruz.
Tamuín was the site of the first royal land lease (merced de tierra) in the portion of Huasteca which within the modern day state of San Luis Potosí. In 1555, the Viceroy ordered the alcalde mayor (magistrate) of Pánuco not to hinder the fisheries of the Huastec tribe in Tamuín and Tampico.
In 1787, the Spanish empire's new system of intendancies was extended into Mexico. The old magistrate district of the Villa de los Valles was abolished and it was incorporated into the vast intendancy of San Luis Potosí, whose borders extended to Louisiana in the northeast, and Tamuín continued in the administrative status of a simple village (pueblo). In 1793 the Franciscan friar, Fray Cristóbal Herrera Alcorcha described it in his report on the missions as the “Sanctuary of Tamud or Tamuín”.
Under the constitution of the newly independent Mexican Republic, promulgated in 1824, the provinces of the former colony were transformed into "free and sovereign states". The first constitution of the State of San Luis Potosí was enacted by its constituent congress on 16 October 1826, and almost one year later, by decree No. 61 promulgated on 8 October 1827, several municipios of the state were designated, among them Tamuín. Soon thereafter a law regulating municipios (the Ley de Arreglo de Municipios) was enacted, wherein the Villa of Tamuín is mentioned as belonging to the division (partido) of Ciudad Valles.
In March 1831, the lieutenant colonel of engineers, Francisco Pocelli, sailed up the Pánuco River from Tampico in a steamboat and arrived at Tamuín. This event was quite memorable for the region, since it was the first time a steamboat had traversed there.
By a decree of 30 June 1845 issued by the Assembly of the Department of San Luis Potosí, the ayuntamiento (municipio government) of Tamuín was transferred to the district of Valles.
In this period, the village (pueblo) of Tamuín was located further south than presently, at a site whose original name was El Choyal.
In 1892, for the transfer of Tamuín to the place called La Cofradía, the hacienda of El Limón was taken over. Its 19,000 hectares were distributed among 17 ejidos, giving each farmer (ejidatario) approximately 20 hectares on average.