the hands and the feet of the altepetl; this is a metaphor for to refer to the parts of the larger socio-political unit (see attestations)
To constitute hands and feet was also a metaphor for dependents. We see this in the Historia Tolteca Chichimeca: yn ima yn ihicxi = "en sus manos y sus pies," referring to people who arrived late in Cholula. Lockhart wrote "dependientes" in the margin of his copy of the book. (sixteenth century, Quauhtinchan)
yn ueycan Tollan centecpantli yn altepetli yn ima yn icxi mochiuhticac = La gran Tollan se formaba de estos veinte pueblos, que constituían sus manos y sus pies (Quauhtinchan, s. XVI)