The origins of the Sayaco and Sayaca dancers who set the tone for Ajijic’s rambunctious Carnaval festivities cannot be pinned down in written historical records. All we know in the present day comes from legends handed down over many generations in the oral accounts of local people.
One version suggests the original Sayacos were real people who inhabited the community in the pre-Hispanic era. Their story refers to twin siblings born to the local shaman who were afflicted with a strange syndrome that caused them to salivate profusely.
The term sayaca was possibly coined from the Nahuatl name Axayácatl (he of the water mask), given to a grandson of Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, who grew up to rule the Aztec Empire from 1469 to 1481. He was known for waging war against the Tarascan tribe in Michoacán territories that partially border Lake Chapala..
In any case, the legend says that a year after the twins’ birth, a sister was added to the shaman’s family. She was named Tzicanzi, alternately spelled Xicantzy, meaning person who observes nature. Her mother died in childbirth and her father died of grief a year later. The three young orphans were then adopted and raised by local nannies.
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