From Aztecs to Aztlan: Building Cultural Bridges through Literature Introduction and Personal Goals Recently, while I was having coffee with a friend at an outdoor café in downtown Santa Fe, out of nowhere a band of about twenty brightly costumed dancers appeared and started dancing in the street below. Rhythmic footwork pulsed to the beat of a steady drum while a Spanish soldier and an Aztec slave tussled for supremacy. Living in Santa Fe, New Mexico is living in antiquity and possibility. How to reconcile these two opposite faces of the people of Aztlan and, as a language arts bilingual secondary teacher, gently guide these sons and daughters of Aztec ancestry and Spanish heredity to recognition of their cultural unity? I believe that by reading the literature of both cultures, from past to present, by recognizing and honoring their heroes and their everyday folk, and by sharing their own personal stories of their life journeys and those of their families, we may begin to accomplish this reconciliation. Rationale and Objectives
Arts Curriculum Mask. Teotihuacan, ca. 450. Stone, turquoise, obsidian, and shell, 21.5 x 20 cm. Museo Nacional de Antropología, INAH, Mexico City 10-9630. Photo: Michel Zabé, assistant Enrique Macías The Aztecs were not the first people to settle in Mexico. Perhaps the two greatest influences on Aztec art and culture came from the ancient cities of Teotihuacan and Tula. Tula (“place of reeds”), home to the Toltecs, thrived a few hundred years after Teotihuacan, and left a similarly influential legacy to later Mesoamerican cultures. The Aztecs took their inspiration from Teotihuacan, Tula, Mixtec, Olmec, and other ancient Mesoamerican cultures, adopting everything from stone-cutting techniques to calendar systems. Mask This burial mask is from Teotihuacan, a distinctive civilization that reached its peak around the sixth century, five hundred years before the Aztecs migrated from northwestern Mexico.
99.02.01: The Aztecs: A Pre-Columbian History History The Beginning The Aztecs started as a group of American Indians speaking Nahuatl (Nah-wah-tl), a language of the Siouan (See-oh-ooahn) family. They were descendants of theAsian people who arrived on the North American continent after crossing the Bering Strait during Earths last Ice Age and migrating south, following the mammoth herds. They came originally from the Northwest, from the arid cactus lands, but may have been in Mexico for several centuries before they became a powerful tribe. The Aztecs never called themselves Aztecs, but rather Mexica (Meh-shee-kah)the folk of Mexi, a priest-chief from ancient, legendary times. The Forefathers The Aztec custom of cremating rather than burying their dead has left archeologists with few of the items of clothing, furniture, and personal goods that usually accompanied individuals of other cultures to the life beyond the grave. The Toltecs The Eagle and the Serpent Their god sent the Aztecs on a pilgrimage which lasted nearly a century.
The Aztecs — Mighty Warriors of Mexico Activity 1. Meet the Aztecs Have the students carry out Web research to find out about the ancient Aztecs and answer the questions on the Student Version of the Meet the Aztecs chart, provided in pdf format. A Teacher Version of the chart has also been provided. Now let's put the Aztecs on the map! Have the students go to National Geographic's Xpeditions map site to find the geographical context of the Aztec realm. Distribute blackline printouts of the North America map and have the students color in the country of Mexico. Activity 2. Tell the students that they will now learn about how the Aztecs lived. Local Environment: Describe the geography of the Aztec territory -- were there mountains? Distribute the lists of useful websites provided in .pdf format to each group. Instruct your students to read each web page carefully and look closely at graphics before answering their questions. Activity 3. Like most early peoples, the Aztecs worshipped many nature gods. Activity 4. Activity 5.