A contemporary painted interpretation of Lord 9 Wind descending from the sky with rain, wind and lightning over mountains, rivers and maize fields, with people gathered around a fire and an open painted book.
A contemporary artistic interpretation of Lord 9 Wind. It is an illustration made for 9 Tachi, not a reproduction of a historical codex page.

Our name

9 Tachi.
Nine Wind.

The store takes its name from Lord 9 Wind, a creator and culture hero in the sacred history of the Mixtec peoples of southern Mexico. This page explains where the name comes from, what it means, and the limits of what we can claim.

Where the name comes from

Lord 9 Wind appears in the painted histories of the Mixtec peoples, whose homeland—the Mixteca—spans parts of present-day Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero. We use the name with respect for a living culture, not as decoration. Oaxaca is home to many distinct peoples, languages and traditions; the Mixtec story of 9 Wind is one of them, and it is not interchangeable with the others.

What “9 Wind” means

The name is a calendrical name, the kind given to divine, legendary and historical figures in Mixtec painted manuscripts. It is formed from two parts: the coefficient nine, and the sacred day sign Wind. It does not mean nine separate winds.

On spelling and pronunciation“9 Tachi” is a modern scholarly, Hispanized rendering of the name. Other forms include 9 Viento and Yaa Ìn Tatyi, and related names such as Coo Sau or Koo Savi, often translated as “Rain Serpent.” Mixtec is a family of tonal languages with many regional variants; “Tachi” is not the single universal spelling or pronunciation, and we do not present it as one.

Creator, organizer, culture hero

In scholarly interpretations of the Codex Yuta Tnoho—more commonly known as the Codex Vindobonensis or Vienna Codex—Lord 9 Wind is a central figure who prepares and orders the world. He is associated with descending from the celestial realm; receiving sacred regalia from primordial elders; carrying and distributing the waters of heaven across the Mixteca; gathering the winds that precede rain, and bringing the first rains; lighting the sacred fire; giving names and identities to sacred beings; establishing ritual and religious order; and preparing the world for communities, priests and civilization—connecting the celestial, natural and human realms.

Some interpretations describe his birth or emergence from a great flint knife, following offerings made by primordial creator figures.

These are readings of painted manuscripts by scholars. They are not one fixed story accepted identically by every Mixtec community, and we present them as interpretations rather than as settled fact.

Wind and rain

Wind

Not merely weather. Breath, movement, communication and transformation; the force that carries clouds and announces rain; the passage from potential into life.

Rain

Fertility, agriculture and maize; abundance and continuity; the relationship between people and the landscape they live in.

Lord 9 Wind is shown carrying and distributing heavenly water across the Mixteca—rivers, springs, rainfall and mountains bound together in one act of ordering the world.

Why it matters to a store

We chose the name because the story is about preparation and order: making the conditions in which things can grow, be made and be named. That is close to what we hope to do—make the conditions in which skilled makers can be seen and paid well for their work, beginning in Oaxaca.

We will keep this page under review. If you are a Mixtec speaker, scholar or community member and something here is wrong or incomplete, we want to hear from you.

Write to us