326
Comcaac Governance Through Time
The ancestral territory of the Comcaac extended along the coastal plains of what
today is Sonora, including the islands Angel de la Guardia, San Esteban Island, and
Tiburón (see Fig. 18.1). Shreve (1964) recognized seven subdivisions for the
Sonoran Desert, and this area of study corresponds to the Central Gulf Coast subdivision characterized as Sonoran Desertscrub (Van Devender et al. 1994). This
ecological- geographic typification is characterized by its extreme aridity and water
scarcity. In the past, the Comcaac relied on springs and seasonal tinajas or bedrock
tanks that collected rainwater which likely limited the size of encampments at different times. The absence of water in this sense can be considered a key factor in
their fission dynamics. In contrast, their intertidal marine habitats are among the
most diverse of the world (Álvarez-Borrego 2002) creating a tendency for social
fusion during specific bonanzas. It is against the background of these contrasting
realities of scarcity and abundance that the Comcaac people found in the Sonoran
Desert their life-stage (Felger and Moser 1985).
Archaeological evidence places human presence in the ancestral Comcaac territory between 11,050 and 10,800
14
C years BP (Waters and Stafford 2007). Regional
material cultural differentiation is evident later in time with the development of
pottery alongside the establishment of agricultural villages (Martínez-Tagüeña
2015). The Ancestral Comcaac cultural area is defined in specific by the presence of
Tiburón Plain pottery type: a thin, light, and hard well-fired ware made without
added temper (previously defined by Bowen (1976) as Central Coast Archaeological
Tradition). Complementing these understandings, deep-time oral tradition of the
Comcaac recognized two kinds of ancient predecessor conceived of as “Giants”
(Felger and Moser 1985, p. 10; see Fig. 18.2 for a time line and Martínez-Tagüeña
2015 for an ethnohistorical discussion of these ancestors). Contemporary Comcaac
speak Cmiique iitom, an isolated language (Marlett et al. 1998; O’Meara 2010) that
corroborates a long history of occupation in the area (Marlett ms.26 quoted in
O’Meara 2010, p. 16).
Initiating with the Colonial period and extending to Mexico’s independence era,
the Comcaac experienced drastic process of intercultural exchange that redefined
their lifeways, settlement patterns, and social organization. Oral tradition and colonial archival documents indicate that the Comcaac lived in small, shifting, dispersed
family groups that belonged to a number of subdivisions or bands reflecting geographic areas (Moser 1963; Smith 1947). The six subdivisions recognized by the
Spaniards in late 1600s and early 1700s (Sheridan 1999) were: the Xiica hai iic coii
or Tepocas or Salineros, the Tahejcö Comcaac or Tiburones or Comcaacs, Heeno
Comcaac or Tiburones who lived in the central valley of Tahejcö or Tiburón Island,
Xnaa motat or Guaymas and Upanguaymas, Xiica xnaii iic coii or Tastioteños, and
Xiica hast ano coii or the people from San Esteban Island (Moser 1963). Each of
this subdivision was at the same time composed by a small number of ihiizitim.
Across time and space these bands had varying social interactions among themselves and also with their mobile and agricultural neighbors.
N. Martínez-Tagüeña and R. F. Rentería-Valencia
Comcaac Governance Through Time
The ancestral territory of the Comcaac extended along the coastal plains of what
today is Sonora, including the islands Angel de la Guardia, San Esteban Island, and
Tiburón (see Fig. 18.1). Shreve (1964) recognized seven subdivisions for the
Sonoran Desert, and this area of study corresponds to the Central Gulf Coast subdivision characterized as Sonoran Desertscrub (Van Devender et al. 1994). This
ecological- geographic typification is characterized by its extreme aridity and water
scarcity. In the past, the Comcaac relied on springs and seasonal tinajas or bedrock
tanks that collected rainwater which likely limited the size of encampments at different times. The absence of water in this sense can be considered a key factor in
their fission dynamics. In contrast, their intertidal marine habitats are among the
most diverse of the world (Álvarez-Borrego 2002) creating a tendency for social
fusion during specific bonanzas. It is against the background of these contrasting
realities of scarcity and abundance that the Comcaac people found in the Sonoran
Desert their life-stage (Felger and Moser 1985).
Archaeological evidence places human presence in the ancestral Comcaac territory between 11,050 and 10,800
14
C years BP (Waters and Stafford 2007). Regional
material cultural differentiation is evident later in time with the development of
pottery alongside the establishment of agricultural villages (Martínez-Tagüeña
2015). The Ancestral Comcaac cultural area is defined in specific by the presence of
Tiburón Plain pottery type: a thin, light, and hard well-fired ware made without
added temper (previously defined by Bowen (1976) as Central Coast Archaeological
Tradition). Complementing these understandings, deep-time oral tradition of the
Comcaac recognized two kinds of ancient predecessor conceived of as “Giants”
(Felger and Moser 1985, p. 10; see Fig. 18.2 for a time line and Martínez-Tagüeña
2015 for an ethnohistorical discussion of these ancestors). Contemporary Comcaac
speak Cmiique iitom, an isolated language (Marlett et al. 1998; O’Meara 2010) that
corroborates a long history of occupation in the area (Marlett ms.26 quoted in
O’Meara 2010, p. 16).
Initiating with the Colonial period and extending to Mexico’s independence era,
the Comcaac experienced drastic process of intercultural exchange that redefined
their lifeways, settlement patterns, and social organization. Oral tradition and colonial archival documents indicate that the Comcaac lived in small, shifting, dispersed
family groups that belonged to a number of subdivisions or bands reflecting geographic areas (Moser 1963; Smith 1947). The six subdivisions recognized by the
Spaniards in late 1600s and early 1700s (Sheridan 1999) were: the Xiica hai iic coii
or Tepocas or Salineros, the Tahejcö Comcaac or Tiburones or Comcaacs, Heeno
Comcaac or Tiburones who lived in the central valley of Tahejcö or Tiburón Island,
Xnaa motat or Guaymas and Upanguaymas, Xiica xnaii iic coii or Tastioteños, and
Xiica hast ano coii or the people from San Esteban Island (Moser 1963). Each of
this subdivision was at the same time composed by a small number of ihiizitim.
Across time and space these bands had varying social interactions among themselves and also with their mobile and agricultural neighbors.
N. Martínez-Tagüeña and R. F. Rentería-Valencia