Aztec Nation

The Aztec Nation A distant sound is heard. It sounds like a deep drum being hit with a heavy instrument. You hear it again and strain your eyes in the direction of the sound. All around you is dense jungle. Snakes slither between your legs. You hear the sound once again. In front of you is a dense stand of ferns. You part them and look down into a wide open valley. The valley gets so wide and it is so green that it takes your breath away. But that is not what you are looking at. You are staring at a huge city with glittering buildings shining in the spring sunlight. Smoke rises up from some of the many houses. You can see and hear children playing in the wide open fields in front of the shining buildings. Lamas and chickens are being bought and sold. You see bags of gold jewelry being bought and sold. Beyond the market place you can watch a religious ceremony. You hear the scream of a person being sacrificed to one of the gods. Beyond the city there are roads made of stone and canals full of pedestrians and canos. Who are these people and what are they doing here you wonder? The above paragraph describes what an early explorer in Mexico might have seen between 1400 and 1500 AD. The Aztec nation is one of the largest and most advanced Indian nations to ever exist on earth. Just about every part of the Aztec life was advance to such a state that at that time of the world the people were living better than many European nations.

The Aztec nation is unique in its history, economy, environment, and way of life then any other nation at that time. Perhaps three to four thousand years ago, small bands of hunting-gathering peoples made their way across the land bridge that was the frozen Bering Strait, migrated southward through what is now Alaska, Canada, the United States, Central America, South America, and Mexico, settling along the way. One such hunting- gathering group settled in the Central Valley of what is now Mexico (Nicholson 1985). There is a long history of civilizations in the Central Valley of Mexico; as early as several centuries before Christ agricultural tribes had already settled, and by the birth of Christ had established as their great religious center TeotihuacÐ"ÐŽn. The history of the Central Valley after circa the tenth century A.D. is one of tribal conflict and superiority. About the time of the fall of this agricultural civilization, which flourished from approximately the second to the tenth centuries A.D., a new tribe, who we know as the Toltecs, settled at Tula, Hidalgo. They belonged to a larger group known as the Nahua, or Nahuatl- speaking, and seem to have entered the Central Valley from the north or northwest.

The Toltec civilization gradually replaced the older, agricultural civilization, as Toltec influence was felt as far as the YucatÐ"ÐŽn Peninsula and other areas occupied by the Mayan peoples. Yet by the eleventh century A.D., another tribe, the Chichimecs, had already begun to eclipse the Toltecs as the dominant group of the Central Valley. By approximately the thirteenth century, the Chichimecs had replaced the Toltecs (Wolf 1998). About this time, another Nahua tribe known as the Aztecs began their migration, in c. 1168. They left their mythical mysterious homeland called AztlÐ"ÐŽn, place of the herons, or Chicomoztoc, place of the seven caves, and migrated southwards through MichoacÐ"ÐŽn (LeÐ"Ñ-n-Portilla 1992). The Aztecs, or "Crane People," arrived in the Central Valley and obtained permission to settle at Chapultepec in c. 1248 (Caso 1958). The tradition of tribal conflict in the Central Valley was continued; however, it seems that the Aztecs, at first, were practically enslaved by the other Nahua tribes inhabiting the Central Valley. The Aztec culture would not be subjugated, however, and continued in its struggle for power.

By the fourteenth century the Aztecs had founded two settlements on islands in lakes: Tlaltetalco and TenochtitlÐ"ÐŽn. The traditional founding date of TenochtitlÐ"ÐŽn is 1325; the quest for the sacred site on which to found TenochtitlÐ"ÐŽn is relayed to us by an Aztec myth, ...[its] beginning is found in ancient times, when a humble tribe was banished-- by the original Aztecs (Castillo 1908)-- from a mysterious homeland it called AztlÐ"ÐŽn(place of the herons) or Chicomoztoc(place of the seven caves). During the long exile the Mexicas wandered among hostile strangers while anxiously searching for the divine sign, whose presence, prophesied by their god, would mark their arrival in the promised land. The tale continues with the discovery of the omen and the subsequent founding of Mexico-TenochtitlÐ"ÐŽn on the sacred site. (LeÐ"Ñ-n-Portilla 1992) By the fifteenth century TenochtitlÐ"ÐŽn had become the center of the Aztec world-- the center of Aztec growth, conquest, and expansion. As early as the sixteenth century TenochtitlÐ"ÐŽn dominated all other cities in the Central Valley and had reached the height of its power and magnificence (Caso 1958). The center of the Aztec empire was located near the Lerma river which is near the southern part of the Mexican plateau. The plateau is the largest of Mexico's land regions and it is the most varied region consisting of five sections. The Volcanic Axis is located across the southern part of the plateau. Many of the volcanoes are still active.

This area receives a lot of rain and the soil is fertile. This area is the main area where corn and beans were grown for the Aztec empire. The Bajio lies north of the volcanic axis and has an average elevation of 7,000 feet. This region houses the Aztec capital of TenochtitlÐ"ÐŽn. Here there is very little rain and thus the region is very dry. The Mesa del Norte area makes up for more then half of the plateau and has an average elevation of 9,000 feet. Since it is so high crops are always in danger of freezing. The Sierra Madre Occidental is a long mountain range that forms the western ridge of the plateau. It remained a barrier for the Aztecs and their enemies. Some of this region still has not been explored by people. The Sierra Madre Oriental is the plateau's eastern rim. The Aztecs had no use for this area but today there is a major coal and old industry in the area (Aschmann 1985). The average January temperatures of the plateau is from 10 to 15 degrees Centigrade while in July the average temperature is around 20 to 25 degrees centigrade. Thus the weather is much like B.C. Average precipitation is from 30 - 50 cm at the Aztec capital to less than 30 in the highlands. The central part of life for any Aztec citizen, man or woman, was religion. For example, if a baby was to become a priest, immediately after birth it was painted in black and a beaded necklace placed about its neck, and certain rites were conducted. The necklace was