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face="Times New Roman" size=3>Source: EFE: 08/27<BR>====<BR><BR>ANCIENT MAP
OFFERS KEY TO MESOAMERICAN HISTORY<BR><BR>A map painted by Mexican Indians in
the mid-16th century has become a<BR>key document for understanding the
migration of Mesoamerican peoples<BR>from their land of origin in what is now
the U.S. Southwest,<BR>according to a scholar at Harvard University Divinity
School. "Five<BR>years of research and writing (2002-2007) by 15 scholars
of<BR>Mesoamerican history show that this document, the Map of
Cuauhtinchan<BR>2, with more than 700 pictures in color, is something like
a<BR>Mesoamerican Iliad and Odyssey," Dr. David Carrasco told Efe in
a<BR>telephone interview. "The map tells sacred stories and speaks
of<BR>pilgrimages, wars, medicine, plants, marriages, rituals and heroes
of<BR>the Cuauhtinchan community, which means Place of the Eagle's Nest
(in<BR>the present-day Mexican state of Puebla)," he said. The map, known
as<BR>MC2, was painted on amate paper made from tree bark probably
around<BR>1540, just two decades after the Spanish conquest of
Mexico.<BR><BR>Through images and pictographs, the map recounts the
ancestral<BR>history of the Mesoamerican people of Chicomoztoc, meaning Place
of<BR>the Seven Caves, followed by their migration to the sacred city
of<BR>Cholula and the foundation of Cuauhtinchan, probably in 1174.
The<BR>document was apparently meant to resolve a dispute between
the<BR>indigenous peoples and the conquistadors as to land ownership
in<BR>Cuauhtinchan and surrounding areas, following the evangelizing<BR>process
that began in 1527 and was intensified in 1530 with the<BR>building of the
town's first convent, which seems to have entailed<BR>the dismantling of the
Indian temple. "The history begins in a sacred<BR>city under attack and
continues with the people of Aztlan coming to<BR>the city's rescue. In
compensation they are granted divine authority<BR>to travel long distances until
they find their own city in the land<BR>promised them. Their travels are guided
by priests, warriors and<BR>divinities," Carrasco said.<BR><BR>That sacred city
and the original land of Aztlan would have been in<BR>what is today the
Southwestern United States. MC2 remained in<BR>Cuauhtinchan until 1933, the year
it was sent to a regional museum<BR>and later came into the possession of an
architect. In 2001,<BR>philanthropist Espinosa Yglesias acquired the map and
shortly<BR>afterwards contacted Harvard's Center of Latin American Studies
to<BR>ask who could analyze the map. Harvard chose Carrasco.<BR><BR>The result
of five years of interdisciplinary studies was the<BR>publication of the
479-page book "Cave, City, and Eagle's Nest: An<BR>Interpretive Journey Through
the Map of Cuauhtinchan No. 2." Carrasco<BR>said that in 2010 the University of
New Mexico, which published the<BR>original version, will edit the version in
Spanish. "This map and the<BR>book we published to decipher it have changed our
understanding of<BR>the Mesoamerican codices and of the sacred lands of that
region,"<BR>Carrasco said.<BR><BR>That new understanding has political and
social significance today.<BR>"This map links the identity and politics of
Mexican-Americans, that<BR>is, the Chicano people, with the art, rituals and
philosophical<BR>practices of pre-Colombian Mexicans," he said. "The insistence
of<BR>Mexican-American scholars and activists on using Aztlan as their<BR>symbol
is strengthened by the history recounted by this map, since it<BR>places
Mexicans in the United States within a wider history of<BR>migration, ethnic
interactions, religions and rituals," the academic<BR>said. MC2, according to
Carrasco, links Chicanos "with the lands<BR>where the struggle for their freedom
and rights took place before the<BR>oppression."<BR><BR>So great is the
connection of this map with Chicanos that Colgate<BR>University astronomy
professor Anthony Aveni and independent<BR>journalist Laana Carrasco - David's
daughter - published a children's<BR>book telling the story of 10-year-old
Mexican-American twins who<BR>"travel in time" and go on pilgrimage with their
ancestors 100 years<BR>before the Spaniards arrived. This book "connects many of
the<BR>concerns and hopes of the present-day Chicano Movement with
the<BR>cosmology and life of the ancient indigenous Mexicans," David<BR>Carrasco
said. Together with his students and his interdisciplinary<BR>team, Carrasco
continues to study the sacred objects and numerous<BR>plants that appear on the
map. "This map is a treasure for academics<BR>because it reveals with artistic
splendor and in detail the way of<BR>life of an Indian community that told its
own story in the midst of a<BR>serious social conflict," he said.<BR><BR>Source:
EFE: 08/25<BR>====<BR><BR>The above articles were originally published and
copyrighted by the<BR>listed sources. These articles are offered for educational
purposes<BR>which CIS maintains is 'fair use' of copyrighted material
as<BR>provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.<BR><BR>end: Mexico
Week In Review: 08.24-08.30</FONT><BR></SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>