ANCIENT MAP OFFERS KEY TO MESOAMERICAN HISTORY

Wed Sep 2 04:48:02 UTC 2009

Hi Michel,

I can easily see how this can very rapidly go “off-topic”
for the list, and I’m fine with that.  But while I have the floor…

The point I’m trying to make is about how identities are
constructed and at what level.  The
U.S., for instance, has built a substantial amount of its identity on
exaggerations or outright misrepresentations of historical events.  The fact that you can believe that
common contemporary perspectives on Galileo or Columbus are in any way
“innocent” demonstrates precisely how far the intellectual/cultural movement
behind their interpretation has pervaded contemporary “mainstream” culture.  (These (and other) misrepresentations
resulted from the nineteenth and early twentieth century battles over the
respective places of religion and science. (For a well-written and entertaining
account, see Jeffrey Russell’s “Inventing the Flat Earth”.)  They were far from innocent and they
continue to inform our common sense concerning important issues that we
confront everyday (e.g. from stem cell research to the disposal of nuclear
waste, global warming, etc).)

So my point wasn’t about the relative “innocence” of an
“historical error;” my point was about the role of scholarship within larger
cultural phenomena.  Chicana/o
culture/movement(s) is(/are) about much more than pinpointing (or not) Aztlan,
just as the U.S. is about much more than whether its architects have any reason
to incorporate Greek architecture into its public monuments, etc., etc.  But do academics have the right to
police this?  Certainly, we are
charged with organizing existing and generating new knowledge according to
specific methods, but that does not give us the authority to evaluate uses of
such knowledge outside of our own self-imposed limitations.

And this, I think, is where our opinions meet.  If I may generalize your statement:
‘when we as scholars write, or express in any other way, things that are not
academically accurate, we have a serious problem because it's our job to know
these things.’  I would contend
only that by the same token, we should recognize the limits of scholarly work.  Chican at s should be afforded as much
flexibility in “constructing identities” beyond academia as any other group. 

Now, as I mentioned, because I haven’t read the book yet, I
have to leave the door open as to whether Carrasco might be making such
arguments under an academic banner, or whether, as you suggest, this is simply
a problem of “translation” by the reporter.  (And I have to confess that professionally, my current
opinions on Aztlan are probably not far at all from your own, but) I’m happy to
make that call after I’ve read it.

Best,
Gerardo

________________________________
From: Michel Oudijk <oudyk at hotmail.com>
To: gvaldana at yahoo.com; tezozomoc at hotmail.com; nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 3:11:29 PM
Subject: RE: [Nahuat-l] ANCIENT MAP OFFERS KEY TO MESOAMERICAN HISTORY

 Dear Gerardo,

It's one thing what people may think and another what historians feed them. Yes, I agree that there are many ideas out there in society with which historians may have problems because they are not historically accurate. This may or may not be a problem. The examples you give (Galileo and Columbus) are quite innocent, because they don't have a particular importance in our present day society. In fact, I would be happy if everybody would know who Galileo was. But when historians write, or express in any other way, things that are not historically accurate, we have a serious problem because it's their job to know these things.

Now, I think I made it clear in my message that I don't know up to what point the text reflects what Carrasco may have said or what the reporter may have understood. Rather, my problem is with the contents of the text which contains many mistakes, in the sense of historically inaccurate. Some people have a problem with the use of the word 'error' in historical studies. But there are, in fact, errors. Saying that Hitler died in 1946 is an error. Some people say that man never set foot on the moon, but I think it's pretty much accepted that he did and I would say that idea would be 'erroneous'. Historiography is full of facts and errors. Some of these one may discuss and others we can't for whatever reason. Of course, historiography is controlled by those in power and so 'errors' may become accepted as historically accurate. North Korean historiography is doing a good job at this at the moment. But I think we all know that it's just a matter of time before
 these errors will be corrected.

In this sense, to claim that "The history begins in a sacred city under attack and continues with the people of Aztlan coming to the city's rescue.", is historically inaccurate according to the historical sources we have. The claim is based on the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca and concerns Cholula. The people who come to the rescue are those from Chicomoztoc and although that place has many other names, Aztlan is not one of them. One could argue that the Mexica tried to equate Aztlan with Chicomoztoc and so in some sense Aztlan is Chicomoztoc, but it certainly doesn't work the other way around. And even less so in regard to the historical sources from Puebla like the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan and the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca. I do invite you or anybody else to read the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca as it's one of the most incredible sources we have. One may discuss the 'historical accuracy' of the source in regard to what we consider 'accuracy' in 'Western'
 historiography, but that would be a different, and interesting, discussion. That's, however, not what happens in the text which supposedly represents Carrasco's words. It says something that is clearly based on an historical source, while that source, or any other, does not contain that information. That is why I used the words 'mistake' and 'erroneous'. One may claim that the English translation for 'mesa' is 'chair' and maybe even convince some people, but in the end it's a mistake.

Un abrazo (a discussion does not mean one cannot be friends or collegues),

Michel

________________________________
 Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2009 13:56:30 -0700
From: gvaldana at yahoo.com
Subject: Re: [Nahuat-l] ANCIENT MAP OFFERS KEY TO MESOAMERICAN HISTORY
To: oudyk at hotmail.com; tezozomoc at hotmail.com; nahuatl at lists.famsi.org

Hi Michel,
I wonder to whom your sign-off "abrazo" is sent?  To me, your message sounds more divisive than conciliatory... but maybe that's just me.

I can't speak to the larger claims concerning Aztlan and the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan since I haven't read the book yet.  As for 'feeding constructions of any identities', though, I wonder how many Americans believe that Columbus argued against a flat-earth theory, or that Galileo was jailed (or worse) for championing science over religion?  Is it historically accurate or erroneous to have Greek architecture in Washington D.C.; or is it something else?  Finally, which "errors" should be given priority for "correcting," and how do "we" set that prioritization?

These all seem like much more complicated issues than determinations of correct v. incorrect.  But maybe I'm misreading the intent of your message.

Sincerely,
Gerardo

________________________________
 From: Michel Oudijk <oudyk at hotmail.com>
To: tezozomoc at hotmail.com; nahuatl at lists.famsi.org
Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 6:18:04 AM
Subject: Re: [Nahuat-l] ANCIENT MAP OFFERS KEY TO MESOAMERICAN HISTORY

 Dear all,

I'm not sure how to read this message and its contents. Is it just a journalist who didn't understand anything of what a scholar was saying or is this a failed attempt of a scholar to relate his investigations to laymen? Either way, the contents are deplorable and full of mistakes. The attempt to relate the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan with the Chicanos goes so far as to consider Chicomoztoc to be the same as Aztlan and the Chichimeca who leave Chicomoztoc to be people from Aztlan. Mind you, the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan doesn't contain ANY reference to Aztlan which is a purely Mexica-Tenochca invention. Nor does the Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca where this misconstrued story comes from.
I don't know if this interview has anything to do with Carrasco or not, but it seems to me a mistake to feed the need for the construction of Chicano identity with erroneous information.

Un abrazo,

Michel

Source: EFE: 08/27
====

ANCIENT MAP OFFERS KEY TO MESOAMERICAN HISTORY

A map painted by Mexican Indians in the mid-16th century has become a
key document for understanding the migration of Mesoamerican peoples
from their land of origin in what is now the U.S. Southwest,
according to a scholar at Harvard University Divinity School. "Five
years of research and writing (2002-2007) by 15 scholars of
Mesoamerican history show that this document, the Map of Cuauhtinchan
2, with more than 700 pictures in color, is something like a
Mesoamerican Iliad and Odyssey," Dr. David Carrasco told Efe in a
telephone interview. "The map tells sacred stories and speaks of
pilgrimages, wars, medicine, plants, marriages, rituals and heroes of
the Cuauhtinchan community, which means Place of the Eagle's Nest (in
the present-day Mexican state of Puebla)," he said. The map, known as
MC2, was painted on amate paper made from tree bark probably around
1540, just two decades after the Spanish conquest of Mexico.

Through images and pictographs, the map recounts the ancestral
history of the Mesoamerican people of Chicomoztoc, meaning Place of
the Seven Caves, followed by their migration to the sacred city of
Cholula and the foundation of Cuauhtinchan, probably in 1174. The
document was apparently meant to resolve a dispute between the
indigenous peoples and the conquistadors as to land ownership in
Cuauhtinchan and surrounding areas, following the evangelizing
process that began in 1527 and was intensified in 1530 with the
building of the town's first convent, which seems to have entailed
the dismantling of the Indian temple. "The history begins in a sacred
city under attack and continues with the people of Aztlan coming to
the city's rescue. In compensation they are granted divine authority
to travel long distances until they find their own city in the land
promised them. Their travels are guided by priests, warriors and
divinities," Carrasco said.

That sacred city and the original land of Aztlan would have been in
what is today the Southwestern United States. MC2 remained in
Cuauhtinchan until 1933, the year it was sent to a regional museum
and later came into the possession of an architect. In 2001,
philanthropist Espinosa Yglesias acquired the map and shortly
afterwards contacted Harvard's Center of Latin American Studies to
ask who could analyze the map. Harvard chose Carrasco.

The result of five years of interdisciplinary studies was the
publication of the 479-page book "Cave, City, and Eagle's Nest: An
Interpretive Journey Through the Map of Cuauhtinchan No. 2." Carrasco
said that in 2010 the University of New Mexico, which published the
original version, will edit the version in Spanish. "This map and the
book we published to decipher it have changed our understanding of
the Mesoamerican codices and of the sacred lands of that region,"
Carrasco said.

That new understanding has political and social significance today.
"This map links the identity and politics of Mexican-Americans, that
is, the Chicano people, with the art, rituals and philosophical
practices of pre-Colombian Mexicans," he said. "The insistence of
Mexican-American scholars and activists on using Aztlan as their
symbol is strengthened by the history recounted by this map, since it
places Mexicans in the United States within a wider history of
migration, ethnic interactions, religions and rituals," the academic
said. MC2, according to Carrasco, links Chicanos "with the lands
where the struggle for their freedom and rights took place before the
oppression."

So great is the connection of this map with Chicanos that Colgate
University astronomy professor Anthony Aveni and independent
journalist Laana Carrasco - David's daughter - published a children's
book telling the story of 10-year-old Mexican-American twins who
"travel in time" and go on pilgrimage with their ancestors 100 years
before the Spaniards arrived. This book "connects many of the
concerns and hopes of the present-day Chicano Movement with the
cosmology and life of the ancient indigenous Mexicans," David
Carrasco said. Together with his students and his interdisciplinary
team, Carrasco continues to study the sacred objects and numerous
plants that appear on the map. "This map is a treasure for academics
because it reveals with artistic splendor and in detail the way of
life of an Indian community that told its own story in the midst of a
serious social conflict," he said.

Source: EFE: 08/25
====

The above articles were originally published and copyrighted by the
listed sources. These articles are offered for educational purposes
which CIS maintains is  'fair use' of copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

end: Mexico Week In Review: 08.24-08.30

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