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cuapatlanqui.
Headword:
cuapatlanqui.
Principal English Translation:
a head-flyer (see attestations); seemingly a reference to what are called today the "voladores de Papantla," the four men who fly head down from the top of a tall pole while a fifth man plays a flute from the very top. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danza_de_los_Voladores_de_Papantla. Note: In some records there is a confusion between the term starting with cua- (head) or cuauh- (eagle); if eagle, then perhaps the flyers are imitating eagles in flight. (SW)
Orthographic Variants:
quapatlanqui
Attestations from sources in English:
yn Omotepexihuique quapatlanque Opoztec yn cuahuitl niman yexcan Oquisqui = the head-flyers fell to the ground. The pole broke and then separated into three parts. (17th-c, Tlaxcala/Puebla)
Attestations from sources in Spanish:
Nican ipan xihuitl in omotepèxihuíquê quapatlanquê, opostec in quahuitl miman yexcan = En este año se desbarrancaron los Voladores, por haberse quebrado o roto el palo por tres partes. (Puebla, 1797)