And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Received: from UMF-EMDAT/SpoolDir by flint.umich.edu (Mercury 1.43);
6 Apr 99 08:53:37 -0400
Received: from SpoolDir by UMF-EMDAT (Mercury 1.43); 6 Apr 99 08:53:17 -0400
Organization: The University of Michigan - Flint
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1999 08:53:12 EDT
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
Subject: Re: Migration Trails are Ancient
FROM UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
FOR RELEASE: WEEK OF APRIL 2, 1999
COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS by Patrisia Gonzales and Roberto Rodriguez
MIGRATION TRAILS ARE ANCIENT
After an arduous five-mile mountainous hike, we arrive 1,000 feet above the
confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers in Utah. The awe-inspiring view of
the two rivers merging appears to be "Concepcion," which is adjacent to the
"Ancient Homeland of the Aztecs" site on the 1847 Disturnell map.
Witnessing the beauty of these two rivers merging amid green, brown and
red-orange land and waters, it's no wonder that the ancestors of Mexicans
(Mexicas, Aztecas or Nahuatl peoples) once called this Four Corners region of
the United States "Huehuetlapallan" (old, old, colorful land).
Finding Concepcion -- which seems to mark the confluence, rather than
indicating a lost village -- signals the beginning, rather than the end, of
our search for the ancient homeland site. It began several years ago when we
came across the map that is attached to the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo.
This trip also took us to nearby Sego Canyon, which scholars Cecilio Orozco
and Alfonso Rivas Salmon have visited for the past 20 years. Glyphs there,
dated back to 500 B.C., they posit, correspond to the Venusian calendar --
markings that are central features of the Aztec calendar.
In this recent trip, we sought evidence that some of the Mexicans' ancestors
once inhabited Huehuetlapallan.
We've also recently ventured to other ancient sites (Chaco Canyon, Mesa
Verde, Anazasi Heritage Center and the National Navajo Monument) and to
research and archival institutions. What we've found are older maps and
documents that refer to the homeland of the Aztecs -- a place called Teguayo,
near Lake Copalla (purported to be Utah Lake). In "Explorers, Traders and
Slavers," the author, Joseph P. Sanchez, cites various documents, including
one
from 1686 that refers to Teguayo as being the homeland of the Tigua and Tewa
peoples and the ancient peoples of Mexico, Guatemala and Peru.
These journeys have exposed us to many rich oral and written native
traditions, including those of the Hopis, that speak to ancient migration
stories. One even speaks of Moctezuma I as having been born in
Huehuetlapallan.
Attesting to the ancient belief that Mexicans originated from this region --
prior to the famed Aztlan of the Aztecs, which is purportedly farther south --
some indigenous groups are planning a pilgrimage this summer, commencing in
Mexico City and concluding in the Four Corners region.
What's missing from these beliefs, however, is a time line regarding these
ancient migration trails. What is known is that the old "Spanish Trail," which
spans the entire Southwest, is actually an assortment of old Spanish mining
trails that are superimposed over ancient indigenous trade routes.
Research conclusively debunks the racist mantra of telling Mexicans and
Central Americans to "go back to where they came from." The Southwest is where
they come from.
It also shows the need for further research, particularly migration studies
of the Americas. Vine Deloria Jr., a well-respected native scholar, has
pointed out that most indigenous peoples in the Americas do not accept the
Bering Strait theory that all native people came across that northern route
beginning at about 12000 B.C. Most have migration stories that speak to
different origins. Even many scientists now acknowledge that there was human
habitation in the Americas at least 40,000 years ago. Additionally, in
Veracruz, Mexico, the state museum there shows a collection of ancient
indigenous statues of people from the world over -- seemingly a testament to
pre-Columbian contact between all peoples.
The call to study the origins and migration of humanity in the Americas
should not exclude indigenous scholars. In fact, they should lead these
studies, lest we get sidetracked by controversies such as that of the
9,200-year-old Kennewick Man. In this controversy in the Northwest, some
archeologists claim he's actually Caucasian.
Missing from our basic knowledge of the Americas is a coherent narrative of
where each indigenous group migrated to and from, even after the arrival of
Europeans. Interestingly, we are familiar with stories (the work of University
of Houston professor Emilio Zamora) of Nahuatl-speaking peoples fleeing from
Spaniards in all directions upon first contact, with some winding up in what
is now Texas.
We are confident that a migration-studies discipline of the Americas will
enrich humanity. Ultimately, we'll learn that all human beings are indeed
connected, to each other and to the Earth, and that there are no such things
as aliens anywhere on this planet. One needs only to go to the colorful
confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers to understand this connection.
COPYRIGHT 1999 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE
The maps we have found are too numerous to mention, though we can say that
many of them -- from the 16th-19th century -- show or allude to the ancient
migration of Mexicans or their ancestors from the Four Corners region and
many of them specifically point to Utah. Apparently, this was common
knowledge to map makers. The reason the Disturnell Map s important is because
it is in fact part of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo -- a living treaty.
Much more research needs to be done on this subject, though one thing needs
to be made clear is that virtually all maps of the Americas attained most of
their original knowledge from native people.
If anyone is doing research on this subject, please contact us.
Roberto Rodriguez & Patrisia Gonzales are authors of Gonzales/Rodriguez:
Uncut & Uncensored (ISBN 0-918520-22-3 UC Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library,
Publications Unit. Rodriguez is the author of Justice: A Question of Race
(Cloth ISBN 0-927534-69-X paper ISBN 0-927534-68-1 Bilingual Review Press)
and the antibook, The X in La Raza II and Codex Tamuanchan: On Becoming
Human. They can be reached at PO BOX 7905, Albq NM 87194-7904, 505-242-7282
or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Gonzales's direct line is 505-248-0092 or
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
