[Aztlan] Apocalypto

[micc2]

Dear Dr. Mendoza,

I totally agree with you! I have been the Capitan or "elder" of a 
traditional "azteca" (more correctly known as danza chichimeca, danza de 
la conquista, or danza conchera) dance group in San Diego for almost 32 
years now. I have seen the interest of our Chicano people go from 
ridicule of us danzantes as "jotos encuerados" and "apaches" to the now 
virulent "Mexica Nazi"  fundamentalism of your student.

In 1975 there were at the most  30 of us danzantes in the United 
States.  We were students of Florencio Yescas or Andres Segura.  Both of 
these men were TRULY elders of the danza tradition having spent all of 
their lives learning and teaching in their own way. They were recognized 
by most of the families of traditional danza in the central part of 
Mexico, not just a few select intellectual "elders."

Fast forward to 2006.  There are perhaps 5,000 danzantes throughout the 
U.S.  Most have "learned"  from someone who has learned from someone 
else who learned from someone else who learned from someone else who 
learned from a traditional danzante from Mexico, or a traditional 
danzante whose lineage goes back to these two pioneers. And many of 
these "someone else" "learned" only for a short time from their 
"maestros" and then took off to start their own danza circle where they 
could of course, be the Capitan.  Many of these young "elders" really 
only know  a few danza choreographies, and perhaps how to make their 
danza uniforms. Most however only know where to BUY the danza regalia 
and instruments.  They know nothing about the most important part of the 
danza tradition: the vcelacion.  For them it is too tedious, to 
Catholic, and not sexy.... Not like dancing at hurricane category 5 
speed, where you are going so fast that the danza steps
(and their attendant spiritual prayers encoded within them) become 
irrelevant. Better to out-dance the competition than  to pray together 
through dance.

Most of these young people who..."indicated that her information had 
come to her straight from the "elders./" When I asked which "elders," 
she refused to specify."../. are those that have very little actual 
knowledge of our traditions and want to have a "renaissance fair" type 
of spiritual experience.  I love it when I hear someone say "If you have 
to ask, you are not ready to learn". These young people want a Mexica 
version of the Sun Dance, Native American Church, and when they cannot 
find it within the "boring mestizo" danza azteca as it really is, they 
(or their elders) conjure  up a nice mix of new age "stuff" that goes 
down smooth and flavorful for the lost.

I am proud to say that these Mexica Nazis do not like me  at all.  They 
consider me a "christianito" and "tapado with the white man's lies"

Ocelocoatl, Tlacaelel, Pastel, etc.... the list goes on.  These are people who are NOT a part of the 400 year old evolution of Danza Azteca. Most are new age type people that take advantage of young Chicano's innocence and desperate need to find an indigenous path to self-determination. Many of these self proclaimed "elders" are simply using the indigenous traditions of Mexico (or at least their mishmash versions of them) for financial, sexual or political profit.....

Yet sadly there are also some "elders" who are in fact "herederos" of a traditional danza, but who have also seen the lucrative market in the U.S. for "spiritual teachers." Sadly, some of them also go into the business of saving Aztlan. But their modus operandi is different.  They target the more "Catholic" and mestizo amongst us.  They offer(of course for a fee) limpias, tarot card  tea, or bone readings, "ancient Aztec" massages... you get the picture.

If you go talk to the traditional families of Mexico, and most importantly of all, the the elders where the "Aztec" danza actually started... Queretaro, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, el llanito, you will find that the traditional dancers look with sadness at what some forms of danza has become in the U.S.

Just last week I received a phone call from an anonymous "dancer" from Mexico, angry at what he called the bastardization  of la danza by "la bola de pendejos Chicanos pelones" 

Some traditional danzantes don't like me either I guess.... I am not Christian enough for them.....


/..."would be coming to campus to speak on the topic of the "Myth of Human Sacrifice"...it became clear to me that such students had been seduced by the allure of the "Noble Savage" and peaceable kingdoms that exist only in the inner recesses of their minds."

/It is my theory that Mexica Nazi fundamentalism is very much related to Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu fundamentalism see round the world. These movements and their penchant for extreme hate, inhumane violence and intolerance are growing at an alarming rate. I believe these social movements have arisen due to:

1. Cultural, racial or political oppression (in the case of the 
Christian fundamentalist who have been the dominant power in White 
America for hundreds of years it is a false perception)

2. A fear of change in a rapidly changing global society where one 
cannot hide inside the cultural values that sufficed in the past.

3. Fear of losing political, economic, or cultural hegemony. In the case 
of the Mexica Nazis, it is a fear of being subsumed into the larger 
Hispanic/Latino corporate marketing  cohort and thus losing their right 
to self-determination.

4. The truth hurts.  All societies would like to believe that they are 
the ultimate in human evolution. That they can do no  harm (and have not 
done any) . Thus when the facts of human sacrifice (whether it be to 
keep the cosmos alive, to "convert the infidel" or to protect the 
profits of Haliburton, Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum or Chevron) 
are readily apparent, the believer cannot believe the facts. So they 
create a "virtual world of truth."  Truth as we know, like beauty lies 
in the eyes of the beholder.

/I continue to believe it a disservice to lure such vulnerable youth into a denial movement that minimizes the holocaust of blood sacrifice...and the elite culture that perpetrated such bloodshed in the name of power and self preservation.  Ironically, many of these same youth who so promote Mexika Aztec civilization, know nothing of their own specific indigenous forebearers...many of whom constituted the very populations from which the Mexika culled men, women, and children for sacrifice on the altars of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.

/This is perhaps the greatest tragedy and irony of all. We Chicanos, looking for the magic obsidian bullet, want to grasp onto the most "image ready" culture of the past. 


/..."T//he student in question, who I might note was phenotypically more Spaniard than Mexika, but linked to an Azteca
danzante society...was particularly offended."/

If we look at who is today's "Mexi'cas" one can see green eyes, curly brown hair, African facial and body features, and yes even white skin. The DNA of Europe, Africa, and Asia where brought to Mexico, for better or worse....that is just the way it is. Some of the most virulent Mexia Nazis are very light skinned, yet they claim "Pure Mexi'ca blood."

Very few of us can actually "know" what type of indigenous nation we come from.  I am one of the lucky few. My family is Nahua, Otomi and Purepecha....those that //..."constituted the very populations from which the Mexika culled men, women, and children for sacrifice on the altars of Mexico-Tenochtitlan." //Yet we would never presume to be "pure."  

I spent time in the beautiful land of the Eastern Huasteca in Veracruz, amongst the Nahua people there.  No one considers themselves Mexica.  They were the enemy long ago.  They call themselves MACEHUALLI. Most traditional Nahuatl speakers do not call themselves Mexica, or Azteca. As an old Nahua man once told me in the mercado in Morelia, Michoacan (2004)  "They were a people from somewhere else and they are not here." Yet we Chicanos want to cram every indigenous person in Mexico (whether they speak or ever spoke Nahuatl) onto the sunstone of Tenochtitlan. 

It has been my experience that when ever I have met an actual "pure" indigenous person that preaches the new age Mexica Nazi world truth, it is a person that has been exposed to middle class intellectuals at a university setting. These "culturales" (like their middle class Anglo brethren that get "into" Yoga, Cabalistic "science" "spirit channeling" etc.) 
are part of a resistance to Latin American conformity, right wing Catholic doctrine, and corrupt social institutions. 
But that does not make them "traditional elders." Many of these folks, like your student are honest innocent people who sincerely want a spiritual path that is meaningful- one that they cannot find in a church of any denomination. But to pretend that we are "pure-blooded Aztecs" is to envelope our quest for spiritual peace in a series of painful lies.//
////

I am mestizo, and that is that. There are many Card carrying American Indians from north of the border that are very much lighter, more European than I or my family, but no one questions their "Indianess" (to use that troublesome word).

Even more to the point, when my danza group has danced at Indian reservations through out the southwest, not one person has ever challenged our right to call ourselves "Native American." They accept us AS IS.... incomplete, Catholic, and not card carrying anything. Our faithfulness to the REAL traditions of indigenous Mexico is apparent, and that is all that matters.

They (especially the REAL elders)acknowledge what the Mexica Nazis are afraid to accept. over 500 years of history have passed and NOTHING can change that.  What we can change is our people's understanding of what is our heritage, why it is important, can how it can help us humanize, "concientizar", and liberate humanity from oppression.  

Unless we do that, all the ceremonies, prayers, sweats, and yes, even danza in the world will not help us find our place as
members of the great mother Earth's Children.


Tlazcamati compaleh
Nitlanqueya

mario e. aguilar
www.mexicayotl.org

/

/





Archaeology Institute wrote:
> Dear Dito,
>
> 	You have touched upon the very issue that most disturbs me about some of my students...particularly those who define themselves as direct decendants of the Mexika Aztec.  One such student once questioned my motives after I presented a slide show
> concerned with the theme of Epiclassic warfare...and the particularly graphic mural art of the site of Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala, Mexico.  The student in question, who I might note was phenotypically more Spaniard than Mexika, but linked to an Azteca
> danzante society...was particularly offended.  When I expressed concern about her apparent confusion and anger at my presentation, I asked her what it was about my presentation specifically that disturbed her...and she indicated that she was
> convinced that the Cacaxtla murals were a lie, a fabrication of archaeologists and "arqueo-locos" who were attempting to denigrate her ancestors.  I informed her that I'd been monitoring the Cacaxtla excavations since they were first exposed in the
> mid-1970s, and she reiterated her "belief" that the murals were "planted."  I then asked her what underlay her beliefs...in particular, which specific texts, to which she responded that she absolulely refused to read these texts as they were "filled
> with the lies of archaeologists" (which of course reminded me of another discourse about "we burned them as they were filled with the lies of the Devil").  When I then indicated that I was willing to entertain other sources of information...or other
> sources of discourse, she indicated that her information had come to her straight from the "elders."  When I asked which "elders," she refused to specify.  To which I then posed the question, "did you information come from the Centro del Cultural
> Pre Americana" in Mexico City...she seemed surprised at my question, and refused to answer.  When I asked if she'd studied among the Nahua or other "Azteca" groups in the Sierra de Puebla or other adjacent Nahua regions...she indicated that she had
> a personal relationship with the elder in question...but again refused to identify the elder in question.  As it turned out, this same student then sent out fliers some months later indicating that her "spiritual" mentor, the "elder" Ocelocoatl
> would be coming to campus to speak on the topic of the "Myth of Human Sacrifice"...it became clear to me that such students had been seduced by the allure of the "Noble Savage" and peaceable kingdoms that exist only in the inner recesses of their
> minds.  Please note, however, that while I fully respect the need for Latina, Latino, Hispanic, and Mexican American youth to find a "peaceable past" (particularly given the particularly violent, impoverished, and drug infested neighborhoods in
> which many of us are raised), I continue to believe it a disservice to lure such vulnerable youth into a denial movement that minimizes the holocaust of blood sacrifice...and the elite culture that perpetrated such bloodshed in the name of power and
> self preservation.  Ironically, many of these same youth who so promote Mexika Aztec civilization, know nothing of their own specific indigenous forebearers...many of whom constituted the very populations from which the Mexika culled men, women, and
> children for sacrifice on the altars of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.
>
> Best Regards,
>
> Ruben G. Mendoza, Ph.D., Director
> Institute for Archaeological Science, Technology and Visualization
> Social and Behavioral Sciences
> California State University Monterey Bay
> 100 Campus Center
> Seaside, California 93955-8001
>
> Email: archaeology.csumb at gmail.edu
> Voice: 831-582-3760; Fax: 831-582-3566
> http://archaeology.csumb.edu; http://archaeology.csumb.edu/wireless/
>
>
> "Science progresses at the rate of one funeral at a time."
>
> -Albert Einstein
>
>
> "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?"
>
> -Albert Einstein
>
>
> "He who argues with a fool proves that there are two."  
> -Anonymous
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