Indian reason and myth of time-decided otherness: The case of the ethnonym “Otomí”

Abstract

There is a widespread belief that the word Otomí is offensive, due to its association with negative stereotypes whose origin is often traced back to the pre-Hispanic era. This article presents the results of a documentary-explanatory investigation with a hermeneutic and decolonial approach, which consisted of a critical rereading of various sources that take for granted the idea that the term’s derogatory character stems from the period prior to the conquest. The central thesis argues that, before the arrival of the Spanish, the term Otomí did not have a pejorative connotation. It is a Nahuatl exonym, whose original meaning was linked to the esteem this people held within the Mesoamerican world for their military skills. It is proposed that the later semantic degradation of the term forms part of a timocidal myth of alterity, a construct of indigenous reason, aimed at destroying the self-image of the Otomí people and inducing their self-contempt. This strategy sought to foster discord and division among native populations, in order to prevent alliances that might lead to uprisings against the colonial order—particularly among those peoples distinguished by their warrior ethos. The article suggests that their military expertise was the main reason behind the construction of this image, which was later uncritically adopted by subsequent authors and continues to persist today as part of the coloniality of power, being, and knowledge.