The Hummingbird's Daughter

Cayetana is now in labor. A woman named Huila pays Cayetana a visit. Huila is known to the People (the Indigenous workers) as a midwife and commander of spirits. In addition to being a revered figure among the People, she is also the respected head of Tomás’s household staff. As she goes to Cayetana, Huila sees Tomás and his men and thinks that she does not like “Yoris,” the People’s word for white people. She also regards Tomás as “El Rascacielos,” the Sky Scratcher. She is relieved when she finally reaches Cayetana and does not smell death at the woman’s door.

Tomás, Aguirre, and Segundo wait for the wagon of supplies early in the morning. They hear Cayetana’s screams, and although Tomás is curious to see a birth, he remains with his men. When Tomás’s friend Enríquez arrives with the wagons, he Tomás asks him if there are any women in the wagon train for Aguirre, who struggles to meet women. Meanwhile, Cayetana tells Huila that she has sinned, but Huila dismisses her concerns. The baby is born with a red triangle on her forehead, which signifies she is a powerful child. Huila was also born with such a triangle, but she does not mention its meaning to Cayetana.

Cayetana names her baby Rebecca. Two years pass. Cayetana does not love motherhood and is annoyed by the toll it takes on her body and by the constant cleaning and care that a baby requires. She does occasionally feel intense love for the baby, but she notices that the child has blonde hair like Tomás. One day, as Cayetana works, she watches Tomás receive visitors, the first of whom is an old man whose land was seized by the government and given to an American. The old man tells Tomás that he was whipped and that his wife died on their journey to the ranch. Tomás sends him to Huila and receives his second visitor, who tells him of approaching Rurales, or government police. The Rurales soon arrive with the severed head of El Patudo, a notorious bandit, to serve as a warning to all. Cayetana gasps when she recognizes the head as that of the man who once gave her cherries.

Tomás eats dinner with Huila. His wife, Loreto, is feeling unwell. Meanwhile, Cayetana packs her few belongings and walks into the night with her child. Tomás asks Huila why everyone fears her, and Huila tells him that the People respect her. In turn, she asks why he loves the People. Tomás tells her of Don Refugio, an Indigenous man who helped to raise him while his father was busy.

Tomás states that Don Refugio survived Bácum, the slaughter of Indigenous people by Yoris. He survived by grabbing a crying boy from the child’s unconscious mother and hiding in a bush, where he watched in horror as 450 people were locked in a church and burned. One day, Tomás and Don Refugio saw a line of Indigenous women who were chained together. Many had missing hands, and they were all being led to their execution. Seeing this, Don Refugio asked Tomás for a cigar, doused himself with gasoline, and lit himself on fire.

The girls of the ranch see Huila as a god-figure, and everyone wonders how someone of her stature and power could work for Tomás and his family. Cayetana thinks of Huila as she walks to her sister’s home. She asks her sister to watch the baby until morning while she helps to deliver a cow across the ranch. Her sister calls Cayetana a liar, but Cayetana denies this. With Rebecca now in her sister’s hands, Cayetana leaves, heading for the nearby town of Ocoroni.

Huila sees a child as she walks across the ranch early one morning and recognizes her as Rebecca. The child corrects her, telling Huila that she calls herself Teresa, after the Saint Teresa who loves God more than anyone. Huila tells the girl that she does not look like she is of the People. When Teresa, or Teresita, as she is often called, asks her Tía (her aunt) about her identity, the woman dismisses her. Teresita’s life with Tía is hard, and Tía resents the burden of an extra child. One day, Teresita goes to find Huila and meets a boy who claims that Tomás is his father. Curious, Teresita follows Tomás into the big house, looking for Huila. When Tomás finds her, he sits and speaks with her instead of punishing her for entering uninvited. He brings her to the kitchen for juice and cookies and directs the serving girl to bring Huila to Teresita.

Huila watches as Teresita eats her cookies. She teaches the child manners before taking her on a walk. Hearing about the child’s homelife, she explains that it is wrong for Tía to call Teresita’s mother a “whore,” and that it is a sin to accuse Teresita of being the same. Later that day, Teresita returns to Tía and gives her a cookie. Tía does not save the cookie for her own children, and when Teresita explains that she got the cookie from the main house, Tía beats Teresita unconscious and throws her into the pig pen.

Teresita wakes up in the pig pen, and the boy who claims that Tomás as his father reappears and introduces himself as Buenaventura. He lifts her out of the pig pen and brings her to Huila, who takes Teresita inside and tends to her cuts. As Huila washes Teresita, she feels heat in the girl’s hands and realizes that she has a spiritual gift. Loreto, Tomás’s wife, joins them and recognizes that Teresita is an Urrea. Loreto tells Teresita that she can stay the night in the house; she even gives the girl a gown to wear. That night, Teresita dreams of a hummingbird gifting her a feather. After instructing Teresita on how to pray, Huila brings the girl back to Tía and makes her wait outside. She then speaks with Tía, cursing the woman.

As Aguirre and Tomás ride to the house, Aguirre asks Tomás about the Indigenous people who work on the ranch. Tomás acknowledges that this land originally belonged to the Indigenous people. After briefly meeting Loreto and the children, the men retire to discuss politics over drinks and express concern over President Porfirio Díaz’s increasingly corrupt regime. The president is installing more allies in government positions across the country, and this could prove dangerous for Tomás. Aguirre warns of encroaching Americans, but Tomás soon shifts the conversation to his desire to keep bees.

Teresita proves to be a troublemaker. One morning, Huila begins Teresita’s spiritual education. She tells Teresita of the Mayos seeing the Virgin Mary. In the story, when the Virgin Mary descended to meet them, she got stuck on a cactus. Because she was the first white person the Mayos had seen, they shot arrows at her until she told them to fetch a ladder. In addition to relating such stories, Huila also shows Teresita how to ask the plants for permission to use their leaves. She explains that although God is everything, everything is not God.

Teresita tells Huila of her hummingbird dream and states that the bird turned to the left after giving her the feather. Huila explains that the hummingbird is a messenger of God and that the left is the side associated with the heart. She tells Teresita that the feather is a key, though for what she does not know. She goes on to teach Teresita how to use plants medicinally and how to feel their power. Huila warns the girl never to tell Yoris (white people) about the plants. She urges the girl to accept mystery into her life and to not always feel compelled to seek definitive answers. Finally, Huila tells Teresita to pierce her ears to show God that she is listening. She gives the girl two gold hoops.

On a Saturday morning, Segundo comes to the village and tells the People that because of Díaz’s government interference, Tomás and his family are no longer safe in Sinaloa and are moving to their northern ranch in Sonora. He explains that everyone will have the day off to decide their futures. To stay means accepting a new patron, but leaving will guarantee work. Everyone begins packing, and nostalgia sweeps through the community.