Aztlán

THE LEGEND

The legend relates that seven tribes departed from Aztlan, specifically from a place called "Chicomostoc", or "the place of the seven caves". Each cave represented a diferent Nahua group: The Acolhua, Tepaneca, Xochimilca, Chalca, Tlaxcalan, Tlahuica and Mexica. Because of a common linguistic origin, those groups also are called "Nahuatlaca" (Nahua people).

The role of the homeland of Aztlan takes a backseat to the role of the Migration to Tenochtitlan itself in the legendary histories. According to the legend, the southward migration began around 830 CE . Each of the groups is credited with founding a different major City-state in Central Mexico. The city-states reputed to have an Aztec foundation were Xochimilco , Tlahuica (in the modern-day State of Morelos ), Tlaxcala , Huexotzinca (the modern-day city of Puebla , Puebla ), Tepaneca (now Azcapotzalco , a '' Delegación '' of the Mexican Federal District ), Alcohua, and Matlazinca (whose language was not of the Uto-Aztecan Family ). These city states formed during the " Late Postclassic " period of Mesoamerica ( 1300 - 1521 CE).

According to Aztec legends, the Mexica were the last tribe to emigrate and they took 302 years to reach their destination. When they arrived at the Anahuac Valley, the present-day Valley Of Mexico , all available land had been taken, and they were forced to Squat on the edge of the Lake Texcoco .

PRIMARY SOURCES

The primary sources for Aztlan are the Boturini Codex , the Telleriano-Remensis Codex , the Aubin Codex , and the Vatican-Latin Codex . Aztlan is also mentioned in the "History of Tlaxcala", by Muños Camargo, a Tlaxcalan Mestizo from the 17th Century .

It is often difficult to reconcile legendary accounts with the archaeological record. The scholarly consensus gives less credence to specific legendary details, given the apparent presence of Nahuatl-speaking people since the time of the Teotihuacan civilization.

PROBABLE ETYMOLOGY

Aztlan is believed to mean "place of whiteness" or "place of herons", derived from the Nahuatl words "''aztatl''" ( Heron s or white-plumed birds) and "''tlan(tli)''" ("the place of"). The priests of the Aztec Religion used esoteric language. In their interpretation, white symbolizes "origin", so Aztlan may be interpreted simply as "The place of origin". (Laurette Sejourne: "Burning water"). This explanation gives Aztlan a more of a lengendary and symbolic significance than a definition as a concrete place.

''Aztlán'' is the Spanish Language spelling and pronunciation of Nahuatl ''Aztlan'' . The spelling ''Aztlán'' and its matching last-syllable stress cannot be Nahuatl -- words in this language being always stressed in their second-last syllable. The accent mark on the second ''a'' added in Spanish marks stress shift (from Oxytone to Paroxytone ) typical of several Nahuatl words when Loaned into Mexican Spanish.

After the Spanish Conquest Of Mexico , the story of Aztlán gained importance and it was reported by Fray Diego Durán in 1581 and others to be a kind of Eden -like paradise, free of disease and death, which existed somewhere in the far north. These stories helped fuel Spanish expeditions to what is now the Southwestern United States .

PLACES IDENTIFIED AS AZTLAN

Archeologists have sometimes considered Aztlan an actual place, and have at times identified specific sites as the its location.

The name of Aztalan, Wisconsin (a Mississippian site) was proposed by N. F. Hyer in 1837 because he thought it might have been Aztlán, following a suggested etymology of "Aztatlan" by Alexander Von Humboldt .

In 1887, Mexican anthropologist Alfredo Chavero claimed that Aztlán was located on the Pacific coast in the state of Nayarit . While this was disputed by contemporary scholars, it achieved some popular acceptance.

In the early 1980s , the Mexican President José López Portillo suggested that Mexcaltitlan , also in Nayarit, was the true location of Aztlán, but this was denounced by Mexican historians as a political move. {Link without Title} Even so, the state of Nayarit incorporated the symbol of Aztlán in their Coat of Arms with the legend "Nayarit, cradle of Mexicans".

Today most historians believe Aztlán, like Tamoanchan , Chicomoztoc, Tollan and Cibola, to be a mythical place.

USE BY MEXICAN AMERICANS

, used by Chicano nationalists in San Diego, California, and Denver, Colorado, during the Chicano Movement.]]
Due to the association of Aztlan with Mexican national identity and an indeterminate northern location, the name Aztlán was taken up by Chicano activists of the 1960s and 1970s to refer to the area of the Southwestern United States Ceded to the United States after the Mexican-American War . This is reflected in the title of the 1968 Manifesto issued by the Chicano youth movement, the Plan Espiritual De Aztlán , as well as the names of several organizations, such as MEChA , (''Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán'', "Chicano Student Movement of Aztlán").

IN FICTION

"Aztlán" has been used as the name of speculative fictional future-states that emerge in the southwest US and/or Mexico after the central US government suffers collapse or major setback. The novel '' Warday '' and the role-playing game Shadowrun offer two such examples. In Michael Flynn 's Alternate History story " The Forest Of Time ", Colorado is part of a nation-state called Nuevo Aztlán.

EXTERNAL LINKS

"Aztlan and the Origin of the Aztecs" Laputan Logic, December 3, 2004

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Aztlán

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