For thousands of years before the arrival of the Spanish, the people of Mesoamerica had gathered in outdoor public spaces that served as sites for ritual, commerce, and the performance of music. Shortly after invading Mexico in the sixteenth century, the Spanish organized “villages of evangelization,” or Indian communities, to attend to the religious needs of the newest converts to Catholicism. These communities were grouped around a vast space that served as a plaza mayor and a marketplace at the same time, usually on the analogous former pre-Hispanic site. The square was the heart of the town and the center of community life: “Here one found the fountain and the gibbet. It was surrounded by public buildings: the church, the schools (usually placed near the church), and the town hall.... These buildings were usually constructed of good stone.” One of the final acts when formalizing the founding of these new communities was “a great Indian military parade.”
The plazas of Mexico’s cities are located in the city center and give forth to its principal streets. The same is usually the case in Mexican pueblos, not just out of imitation or influence but also out of the logical principle of function. The plaza’s New World plan reflects both Mediterranean and Mesoamerican influences, and the fusion of the two consolidates the necessary urban criteria of a clear, enclosed area of public access.
After the Spanish invasion, the Mediterranean tradition of the plaza mayor was extensively adopted in the colonies as a principle element of urban design. The buildings that demarcated the plaza, the distribution of gardens and trees, and decorative elements both symbolic and practical denoted the activities that would take place there. The traditional grid pattern of the colonial Spanish American city placed the main plaza at the center of the political, religious, and social life of its inhabitants. The Spaniards knew what they were doing: constructing churches, arcades with market stalls, and government buildings on sites already dense with cultural meaning created a potent spatial hybridity.
Humanity’s social nature is made evident in the plaza, which provides a communal space in which to encounter, interact, and participate in social activities with fellow citizens. Here are concentrated the local inhabitants, street amusements, celebrations and civil acts, commercial transactions (when marketplaces are included), popular demonstrations and religious festivals, and annual fairs that not only stimulate recreation but also increase interactions with neighboring locales.
Through the years, municipal governments have remodeled and rebuilt these sites as a part of urban-renewal projects, and users of these spaces have responded in various ways. The plaza remains, however, one of the truly democratic forums for public celebration (and dissent) in civil society. This is certainly true in Oaxaca, as political protesters frequently occupy the Zócalo to demonstrate. Yet the massive influx of foreign capital, the burgeoning tourist trade, and rampant Mexican consumerism have combined to restructure urban life even in the plaza. In Oaxaca, though, social activists have limited the intrusion onto the plaza of foreign corporations such as McDonald’s, and the tradition of BME performances continues.
]]>Human occupation of Cozumel began in the Preclassic as the island offered hunting and fishing to semi-nomadic peoples. Population growth continued at a slow, steady level through the Classic period, but the rise of Chichen Itza during the Post-Classic strengthened Cozumel’s position within a centuries-old trade network. The settlement of offshore islands underscores Maya maritime activity, and the Maya plied sea and inland waterways, supplying cities with marine resources and other commodities. By 1200 CE San Gervasio, a great city center, and dozens of minor dependent communities, filled the island. Cozumel was also an important pilgrimage site, and the thousands of Maya living in hundreds of habitations may have provided the infrastructure to receive visitors to its shrines, the most important pilgrimage site being the shrine of the goddess Ixchel (Lady Rainbow, pictured left in the Dresden Codex), patroness of childbirth, pregnancy, and fertility. Father Diego de Landa, whose ethnography Yucatan Before and After Conquest, remains nearly 500 years later an invaluable resource, wrote that the Yucatan Maya held Cozumel “in the same veneration as we have for pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome, and so they used to go to visit these places and offer presents there…as we do to holy places.” No sculptures of Ix Chel survive and few myths are remembered today.
In the spring of 1518, Juan de Grijalva, captain general of a small expedition out of Cuba, landed on Cozumel and celebrated the first Catholic mass in Mexico. In 1519 Hernán Cortés landed there and put into motion the events leading to the conquest of Mexico. Cortés wrote of “fine buildings of stone for the idols, and a fine town,” and gained the cooperation of chief Naum Pat. Cortés persuaded his men to treat the island’s inhabitants with unaccustomed gentleness, thus establishing a prudent convention. Cozumel had a long history of accommodating outsiders who came in peace and its inhabitants saw themselves outside the Maya political arena, and enjoyed a tranquil cosmopolitanism. Disease and warfare ravaged the island’s population; the island became unimportant to the Spanish imperial project, and until the twentieth century, remained almost completely abandoned. As early as the beginning of the seventeenth century, not even the parish priest was required to live on the island!
Three centuries later new players considered the island’s attractive position and offerings. In 1842, charges-d’affaires Alphonse Duboise de Saligny of the French Legation to the Republic of Texas, reported a conversation with president of the Republic, Sam Houston. Houston had offered to take Cozumel by force from Mexico, and then sell it to France. Like many of Big Sam’s ideas, at first glance, this scheme does not seem to make sense, however, a deeper investigation may help us understand Houston’s overture to the French. For example, Saligny also reported of one Col. Martín Francisco Peraza y Cárdenas, a Mexican military officer in Yucatan who might have been persuaded to assist in the Texian conquest of the entire peninsula. Years later, in a survey of the island, Peraza, now Commander General of Yucatan wrote that cotton grew “marvelously” in Cozumel; that it was “soft and lustrous,” and rivaled American Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) in its quality, and that other commodities (sugar, corn, indigo, and tobacco) all were cultivated in the island’s virgin and uninhabited lowlands and wetlands. Houston, Savigny, and Peraza comprise a constellation of historical figures suspended over the island’s future, perhaps harboring the dream of imposing a plantation economy on the island, or at least of securing an imperial port of entry to the Mexican mainland. It should be remembered that before the Conquest, the finest cotton clothing traded within the Aztec Empire originated in Yucatan and prized by the indigenous nobility.
With the triumph of the Cuban Revolution and subsequent closing of that principal and preferred destination to North American tourists, Mexican empresarios began to organize a tourist infrastructure: hotels, restaurants, an airport, and cruise terminal sprang quickly to receive modern-day pilgrims. Today, the port of Cozumel is Mexico’s largest tourist port. On one day in 2010, Cozumel received sixteen cruise ships and 40,000 passengers. In 2010 more than 2,600 cruise ships carrying more than 6.7 million passengers called on its port, contributing $545 million to Mexican economy. Unlike other Maya zones, the inhabitants of Cozumel “warmly welcomed” the Spanish, perhaps given their mercantile pragmatism. Today, tourists scurry to visit ruins and to shop at a simulacrum of a Maya market (mall). Unfortunately, this “pragmatic approach,” the mercantile adaptability, openness, and opportunism that characterized Late post-Classic Maya seaports, may have carried the seeds of its own destruction.
On Cozumel, “tourism” is a primordial economic activity, directly related to natural and cultural resources. Today, however, instead of the pragmatic mercantilism that characterized Maya trade, there exists the antagonism of the capitalist mode of production that concentrates wealth and property in the hands of a few, pressures the environment, and marginalizes the descendants of the island’s first inhabitants.
]]>The Paseo de Montejo, considered the “Champs Elysee" of the city of Mérida, features two almost identical French-styled houses that locals and tourists alike find fascinating. Built by Camilo and Ernesto Cámara Zavala, "Las Casas Gemelas" (The Twin Houses) were inaugurated on December 24, 1911. The family built its wealth on henequen and was one of the five richest families in town. Camilo and Ernesto commissioned the plans for the buildings to architect Gustave Umbdenstock, a professor at the École Polytechnique and director of Paris' 'École des Beaux-Arts. Mérida’s bourgeoisie adopted the Beaux-Arts style to display their power and wealth. Local engineer Manuel Cantón Ramos built the houses. Upon closer inspection, the houses are not identical. The southern house has a third floor, a French roof, windows coherent in style, and a front door covered by a curved wrought iron canopy. The northern house contains Spanish architectural elements, such as a terraced top and windows with decorated blinds.
The Barbachano and Molina Méndez families owned the two houses. Each family played a prominent role in Mérida's high society during the Porfiriato (1874-1910). In Barbarous Mexico (1910), journalist John Kenneth Turner described his encounter with a leading henequen empressario. The man wore a white diamond ring and laughed when describing the brutal measures used to control the Maya, Korean, and Yaqui workers, saying they "demand it."
The Barbachano and Molina Méndez families continue to accumulate wealth on the back of indigenous labor. The Barbachanos own several hotels and tourist facilities, and the Molina Méndez hold a cruise ship concession. During the Porfiriato, artists, poets, and writers held lively cultural events at the Barbachano house. In the twentieth century, the Barbachanos hosted such luminaries as Princecess Grace and Prince Ranieri of Monaco, as well as first lady of the U.S., Jacqueline Kennedy.
Today, the northern house remains the Molina family’s primary residence. Since October 18, 1982, the Mérida historic center is protected by strict preservation laws that limit useage and modification of the homes. In a 2014 interview with a local newspaper, Maruja Barbachano Herrero proposed the possible donation of her property to the city so that it might be opened to the public. Ideally, the house could serve as a museum of the Porfiriato in Mérida, a crucial era in the city's history, but one that demands attention. As pf June 2016, however, no steps have been taken toward the transfer of the property.
]]>The second largest reef in the world is located in the Caribbean Sea. The Mesoamerican Reef borders the countries of Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico. “Stretching nearly 700 miles from the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula down through the Honduran Bay Islands” ("Mesoamerican Reef"). The section of the reef located outside of Tulum has a special history. Tulum is well known for being a walled city, “the main set by its sides north, south and west as the eastern overlooking the Caribbean Sea.” (Zona Arqueológica De Tulum). The walled city used the Mesoamerican Reef as the fourth wall to protect their city. The reef was used as an entry point to the ancient city of Tulum. The size of the entry point is unknown due to the deterioration over the years of the reef. It acted as a funnel that would guide the canoes, the only boat that was in using in this region during this time, straight to the El Castillo. At the top of El Castillo, sat a temple and the temple had more uses than just a ceremonial one. The temple doubled as a watchtower and lighthouse. Using an open flame, it would act as a beacon to friendly ships to help guide them safely into port. If an unfriendly boat found its way towards Tulum and tried to enter, they would crash due to not knowing where the reef opened.
The Mesoamerican Reef was used in a variety of ways by the Maya that lived there. Aside from being used as a defensive barrier, they used it as a trade route as well. They used the reef as a guidance system to aid them on their trade routes. They traded as far south as Belize, and imported goods such as salt and gold. Tulum was the trade center and major port for the city of Cobá, which is located just 47.5 kilometers down the road. The Maya at Tulum would follow the reef knowing it would lead them to their destination. Using this to their advantage, Tulum soon became the largest trading hub, not only for Coba, but for the entire east coast of the Yucatan.
During the zenith of Tulum in the 13th century, the Mesoamerican Reef served them well. As they used it for trade, a defensive barrier, and many other reason, it can be contributed to as why Tulum became the great city it was. They respected the reef, and the wildlife that went with it, something we cannot say we do today. When the Maya at Tulum used the reef they were operating canoes, causing very little damage to both the reef and wildlife that live there.
Today with the use of outboard motors and overfishing the Mesoamerican reef is being damaged beyond repair. “More than 60 species of coral make up the reef, and more than 500 species of fish live in its ecosystem.” (Conserving the Mesoamerican Reef). The damage from modern day human activity is so enormous that the reef at some places is all but gone. The conservation of the reef was ignored for too long, but in 2009 as a part of an art museum called MUSA (Museo Subacatico de Arte) over 500 permanent life-size sculptures were sank off the coast of Cancun. This museum is aimed to show how art and the environment interact, but aside from being an art gallery it serves as an artificial reef as well, helping to restore the damaged ecosystem back to a healthy point. The Mesoamerican Reef was once the lifeblood of trade and culture for the city of Tulum. They treated the reef with respect and saw it not only as a tool, but as an important aspect of their society, something we as modern day humans could learn from. Today the Mesoamerican Reef is a tourist site used for snorkeling, scuba diving, and boat driven tours, a far cry from what it once was to the Maya people at Tulum
]]>Copal is a tree resin derived from trees in the Burseraceae family. Trees and other types of flowering plants in the Burseraceae are known for the aromatic saps and oils, also known as incense trees. The people of Mesoamerica received their copal from the Protium copal tree. The word copal comes from the Nahuatl word “copalli”, meaning incense. Copal is not the same as amber, though they are both just sap from a tree one difference is amber is derived from a coniferous tree that went extinct during the Tertiary period. The earliest evidence of copal was discovered at the Olmec site of El Manatí.
The significance of collecting copal relates to the indigenous fascination of blood. The sap from a tree was symbolic of blood. In the PoPol Vuh, the creation myth for the Quiche Maya, there is a reference to copal and its similarities to blood. In the creation myth the lords of Xibalba, the Mayan underworld, want to sacrifice Xquic, but Xquic convinces the henchman to use copal as a substitute for her blood. Copal was red in color like blood, and the natives believed the sap gave life to trees like blood gives life to people. Collecting copal from trees was very similar to bloodletting of humans and animals.
Copal was burned at bloodletting ceremonies to add to the symbolism of blood. Bloodletting and autosacrifice were crucial parts to the native’s tradition. Autosacrifice was seen as a form of gratitude from the indigenous people to their deities. Bloodletting was done by the people for a multitude of reasons like gaining knowledge, proving bravery, and receiving visions among other reasons. To draw blood, the indigenous used stingray spines, sharpened flint or obsidian blades, and stone needles. Blood would typically be drawn from piercings or cuts in the ears, tongue, genitalia, and legs.
To burn copal, the indigenous people made incense burners in the shape of heads or animals, for symbolistic purposes. Archaeologists found a large amount of the head shaped burners at Palenque. Also other popular styles of incense burners were shaped like a bowl, and the bowl would be attached to a stick. This style was design to spread the incense around the room to purify an area. Copal was also used to make figurines; some were found at the Templo Mayor. In the modern era indigenous people are still burning copal for their religious ceremonies. For instance, at the church San Juan Chamula, copal can be smelled from far away. When you walk in there are pine needles on the floor and copal being burned all throughout the church.
]]>The Descending or Diving God of the Maya is truly unique. This god is depicted upside down, hence its name, and found usually holding something in one or both of its hands. The god can be found at four archeological sites, but seen primarily at the trading port site of Tulum on the Caribbean coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The other three sites are Cobá, Sayil, and Chichen Itzá and are also located on the Yucatán Peninsula. In Tulum, the Descending God can be found in carvings and representations on the Temple of the Descending God, Temple of the Frescoes, and El Castillo, all of which are among the more famous of the Tulum buildings. At Cobá the Descending God is found in carvings on a small temple on top of the Grand Pyramid. At Sayil the figure is found on a relief on the El Palacio and at Chichen Itzá there is a Descending God Temple. Tulum was the main trading port for Cobá, Sayil, and Chichén Itza. We can see the diffusion of the Descending God between the sites.
Not a lot is known about the Descending God. The Descending God, however, is associated with the Maya God of the Bees, named Ah Muu Zen Caab. The species of bees used by the ancient Maya were the Melipona Beecheii and Melipona Yucatanica, both stingless bees. According to Maya lore, Ah Muu Zen Caab gave the bees to the tropical forests of the Yucatán peninsula. The bees symbolized a link to the spirit world. Historically, twice a year the Maya priests harvested honey from the log nests from live trees as part of a religious ceremony. To ensure that the number of bees and hives increased, the beekeepers regularly divided the nests and hives used by these stingless bees.
Honey was a staple export in Maya trade between Tulum and Cobá. Tulum and Cobá are about 44 kilometers or 27 miles away from each other and were major trading partners in the Maya economy. As stated earlier, Tulum was a major port in the Maya world while Cobá was a religious center for the area until power struggles brought an end to its influence. The Maya honey was used as a sweetener, antibiotic, and as the main ingredient in balché, a honey drink similar to mead. It was also used as a wax. The wax was used for various metal works as casts, and later on seals and candles. Honey was a major commodity that was traded around the Yucatán and along the trade routes of Mesoamericans. With the importance of honey and bees on the Yucatán Peninsula it is understandable to see why the Descending God was located at these four sites. The bees played an important role in commerce, daily life and religious life on the Yucatán Peninsula. The Maya not only traded commodities, but ideas as well. One of the ideas that they traded was that of the Descending God, as evidenced by its replicas at cites in Tulum, Cobá, Sayil, and Chichen Itzá.
In addition to being associated with bees, the Descending God was also associated with Venus and as with other societies, Venus was important for the Maya. For the Maya Venus was associated with war and fighting. Venus is the most frequently seen planet in our skies and battles would be planned around its presence creating a warring society for supremacy. These struggles for power and control were what brought the end of Cobá’s religious influence. Maya city-states were typically warring so their association with Venus also indicated the Descending God's importance to the political Maya world.
The Descending God was and remains associated with two key aspects of the Maya world, bees and war. That association is intricately intertwined with its the importance of the Descending God on the Yucatán Peninsula. Bees were fundamental to economics and religious authority while war was the key to gaining power and authority. While the Descending God is still not fully understood, its symbolic importance to the economics, religion, and politics for the Maya provides significant insight into their culture on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.
]]>The stories of the subjugation of the Maya are traditionally told through the infamous “Black Legend” and the horrors of Spanish Conquest. However, it is during the colonial era of the Yucatán that provides further insight into their malicious mistreatment. This subjugation and exploitation occurred at the Hacienda Yaxcopoil, located near Merida in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico. Yaxcopoil, meaning “place of the green alamo trees” in Mayan, was a former hacienda used to cultivate henequen, also known as sisal, beginning in the seventeenth century. During its zenith in the nineteenth century, it reached almost 22,000 acres in size. While today its size has been significantly reduced and it is essentially abandoned with the exception of a museum and a nearby tortilla factory, it serves as a reminder of the exploitation of the Maya people and their resources in an effort to produce mass quantities of henequen to meet demand from United States and European markets during the early twentieth century.
The Porfiriato, that is, the time in which Porfirio Diaz ruled in Mexico from 1876-1911, is viewed as a time of economic boom or the “Gilded Age,” as referred to by authors such as Allen Wells. During this time, demand for goods such as henequen skyrocketed as part of a booming Mexican economy. Wells along with Gilbert M. Joseph refer to this in Corporate Control of a Monocrop Economy in saying that “the accelerated change… accompanied the burgeoning industrial development of the United States and Western Europe...” which ultimately, “tied Mexico every more closely to the global economy” (Joseph and Wells, 69). This boom was at the expense of the Maya peasants who were forced to work on the henequen plantations as part of a system of debt peonage. Hacienda owners purchased the debts in an effort to create a labor force that was comparable to slavery. The peasants, unable to pay back debts, were forced into a cyclical life of debt and servitude by signing labor contracts with the brutal hacendados that bound them to the haciendas until their debts were resolved. The workers began in the early hours of the morning and worked in harsh conditions while they faced beatings and little to no compensation. They were paid in either cash or fichas, a form of scrip used in the haciendas. The scrip was useless elsewhere and workers paid exorbitant prices for goods within the haciendas. They received loans during their time at the hacienda which further increased their debts to the hacendados, who exerted control over many aspects of their lives. This created a system that made it almost impossible for workers to pay back their debts. In the years in which muckraking was a popular means of journalism in the United States, John Kenneth Turner described the conditions of debt peonage system in Yucatán and claimed that nearly a third of the population were part of this cycle.
Yaxcopoil is one of the most prominent examples of the rise of henequen production and the subjugation of Maya in Yucatán. The emphasis on henequen production is derived from the growth and demand of foreign plantations as a result of the invention of the mechanical reaper and the mechanical rasper. Henequen was used to make a variety of cordage for twine. Other crops such as maize could not compete with the demand for this “green gold.” It quickly became the most important export and necessity that Mexico had to offer. Countries such as the United States controlled virtually all of the production as well as the price through a trust known as the International Harvester Company. Ultimately, the haciendas served as one of the few options for the Maya peasants, who were forced into a system of capitalism because of the relationship between Yucatán and the United States.
]]>Resting beautifully on a cliff overlooking the turquoise blue waters of the Caribbean Sea is El Castillo of Tulúm, its castle. Originally presumed to be a temple El Castillo reflects the glory of Maya civilization at its height when realizing from a recent discovery in 1984, its critical role operating as a lighthouse. With many small windows perfectly aligning to the break in the barrier reef, the magnificence of this structure comes when imagined is a line of canoes, vessels and sailors traveling from afar who can unload that of their precious cargo as directed by reference points where to line and business kept in fashionable order. When late into the evening, in replacement of sunlight captured in the windows a small fire would be lit transforming the structure into a lighthouse.
Furthering its role as a lighthouse El Castillo truly lives to its name as a wondrous castle. Tulúm is one of the few fortified cities built and its walls can still be seen today standing 5 meters in width. With the Caribbean Sea to the east, the walls consist of three sides and five gates. For this reason, in the Yucatec language Tulúm translates as “wall.” With five gates facilitating inflow and out both of traffic and commerce, Tulúm was from the Classical Period, perhaps 564 A.D. by what is of known earliest inscriptions, to the Post Classic Period, 1200 to 1450 A.D., having reached its apogee as a trade center and seaport.
By its geographical location to the sea Tulúm was an important center for receiving imports and operating in the business of shipping. Activity thrived as trading canoes frequented stops from Honduras and the Gulf Coast. Overseas routes proved extensive as to reaching Costa Rica and even to Panama, by demand for precious metals inclusive of gold, copper, and silver. Via land routes Tulúm facilitated its success equally in welcoming merchants through its gates as well maximizing the use of rivers as an express by placing traffic signs along in assisting, both the distribution and timeliness of, essential and luxury goods to deliver. Tulúm was key for networking societies into the streamline of various goods and resources. Obsidian, for instance, is found in abundant supply as a household item throughout the lowlands area despite how the land, within that particular area, contains no obsidian ores. Adding to obsidian, the importance of Tulúm may also be illustrated by example of the metate, a stone-grinding tool crucial for the preparation of corn and grains. In Tikal, over 2,000 metates have been excavated and of these: 15% made of native limestone; the remaining 85% being of imported stone such as granite or serpentine. Other trade items into the lowlands or any landlocked region include shells, stingray spines for rituals, salt, and jade ornaments.
The role in allowing basic necessities to be attained made Tulúm vital and its role facilitating the accessing of luxury items representative of royalty such as gold and coral-colored shells made itself heavily sought. By the 4th century, rulers from Teotihuacán began investing their attentions into the tapping and control of the routes. Cities, such as Calakmul and Tikal, became political and economic rivals by clash of their interests to claim supreme rule, including the securement of control over a wealth generating asset.
The significance of this seaport is historically rich. Tulúm allowed the nobility to establish their prestige while becoming promotive of commoners who participated in trade. The city once populated by 1,500 inhabitants can still be seen with activity by visiting tourists and El Castillo proving in continuance a wondrous sight.
]]>The Iglesia de San Servacio, or the Church of Saint Servatius, is located in the beautiful colonial city of Valladolid on the south edge of the Parque Francisco Canton. The city itself was founded by Fancisco de Montejo on May 23, 1543 after he and his forces defeated and suppressed the Zaci Mayans. The city was named in tribute to the then capital of Spain, Valladolid. The original site of the city was moved to more favorable land in 1545 and soon after construction began on the Iglesia de San Servacio.
The church is a barrel vault cathedral style building with a simple masonry covering on the front side facing the plaza. Noticeably different from European churches of the same style are the vertical port holes on the front wall. These were used during the various rebellions to defend the church from the natives.
The church seen today is not the original, it was replaced in 1705 after a series of violent events in 1703. In January 1703, Miguel Ruiz de Ayuso and Fernando Tovar were elected Mayor and Second Mayor of Valladolid replacing the recently deposed Mayor, Don Fernando Hipólito de Osorno. Ayuso and Tovar were political rivals of Osorno and wanted him captured to fulfill the arrest orders sent down by the Governor, Don Martin de Urzua. Osorno hid in the Iglesia de San Servacio with his friend Gabriel Covarrubias but were found on July 5th, 1703. On the orders of Ayuso and Tovar, they were not arrested but instead beaten. Osorno was dead by the time they arrived at the jail and Covarrubias was then beaten again until death. They both were then hung from the window of their cell. In response to this brutality, the Viceroy ordered for the removal of the Governor and sentenced Ayuso and Tovar to death. In 1705, Bishop Don Pedro de los Rios Reyes ordered the church to be demolished and rebuilt with a new church to help erase the stain left by this atrocity.
Over the course of the next century and a half there were a series of small rebellions eventually leading to the Caste War from 1847 to 1901. Near the beginning of the war the city and church were taken over by the rebels. In 1848, Colonel J. J. Mendez retook the city and church with military force. Today, two of the canons he used during the battle are on display within the church.
]]>Merida is known for its rich history in Maya culture and tradition. The Yucatan capital was found on January 6, 1542 by Francisco de Montejo, but the history of Merida goes back to the ancient Maya city of Ichcanziho. Merida was built on the ruins of the ancient Maya city. Today Merida still embraces several Maya culture and tradition, from food, to having reenactments of the ball game every Friday, to even the people. It is no surprise why Merida is known as a colonial city, but now this cosmopolitan city has distinguished itself from other cities in Mexico by having something very particular that only can be seen in its originality in the state of Yucatan, even more in Merida. The you and me chairs, or the “sillas tu y yo” are what brings a uniqueness quality to this beautiful city. It is very rare to find in any other Mexican state to have an abundance of “sillas tu y yo”. These chairs or benches can be seen all around Merida. The chairs seat two people, they are binary and are usually painted white, and the chairs are connected by their handles on opposite sides, so when you sit down you are facing the other person. These chairs are usually used by lovers, friends and or people that share an interpersonal relationship. The name " tu y yo" is Spanish for you and me, this was the name given to the chairs for obvious reasons. The “tu y yo” chairs have become part of the Yucatan culture and identity. These chairs can be seen mainly in the Square of Independence or as many of the locals call it “la plaza grande”. The chairs were installed there in 1915 during the remodeling of the Square of Independence.
It is unsure on why these chairs were constructed. Some believe that it was a design taken from the “butacas confidentes”, this was the name of similar chairs that were designed in France during the Renaissance. Although the origin of these chairs is unclear, there is a popular legend that many people in Merida like to believe is the reason behind the “sillas tu y yo”. The tale says there once was a very overprotective father in Merida and this man had a daughter who at the time was seeing a boy who she really liked. The daughter would tell her father that she wanted to go out with the boy, but then the overprotective father would ask her “to do what?”, in which case she would reply, “just to talk”. The father agreed to let her go out and talk to the boy, but when the boy and girl were sitting down on a normal traditional bench the father saw how close they were sitting next to each other, so it was then when he decided to create the “sillas tu y yo”. This way the boy and the girl could just talk comfortably without having to sit next to each other. Regardless of what brought these chairs to the city of Merida and now the Yucatan Peninsula, the you and me chairs have become part of the city’s culture and individuality.
]]>Uxmal is the most heavily decorated and unique site in the Yucatan. It is located in the region of Puuc, which means small hill. The surrounding terrain did not possess any naturally occurring bodies of water, making it one of the most arid regions on the peninsula. Civilization existed in the region due to the reliance on rainfall and the creation of chultuns, which were artificial rain basins that acted as reservoirs for the local populace. This dependence on the fickle trends of rainfall caused the people of Uxmal to place great significance behind the rain god Chaak (also known as Tlaloc to people such as the Mexica in the north), who can be seen on the majority of major temples and buildings in Uxmal. The site has a vast array of opulent constructions such as the Pyramid of the Magician, the House of the Governor, and, most notable, the Nunnery Quadrangle.
The Quadrangle was originally created in the years of 900- 910 AD during the Post Classic Period. The origin of the structure’s name comes from the group of maidens that originally inhabited the Quadrangle. The women that lived in these buildings were held in high esteem in the Uxmal social system, comparable to that of the “Vestal Virgins” that lived in Rome (Emily Davis, The Science-News Letter, 298). They wore garb that was heavily ornamented, like the surrounding architecture, with precious stones and other decorations. The theocratic system of the Mayans held the maidens in a position that is similar to that of the native priests. Their original purpose for these maidens was to tend to the state of the temple and maintain it. If any of them failed to meet their goals, they would be summarily executed. The maidens lived in all four of the structure on the Quadrangle. Though their total number is not known, the number of rooms and cells in all four structures is around 88.
The decoration of the Quadrangle is exuberant and offers insight to the political and religious attitudes of the area and time. The buildings have a massive amalgamation of different architectural techniques, including lattice designs, visages of Chaak, serpents, Venus, etc. These various decorations all allude to certain stories. The most notable of these would be the Mayan creation mythos. These varied styles connect the site of Uxmal to Chichen Itza with its use of non-Classic imagery. This imagery also shows the importance of religion in Uxmal, and how the native leadership sought to establish the site as one of great importance. The structure also shows a certain amount of political authority, due to the presence of a decorated capstone. This stone is decorated with the name and image of “Lord Chac”, full name being Chan-Chak-K’ak’nal’Ahaw (Jeff Kowalski, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, Uxmal). He is the most well-known ruler of Uxmal. Chac ordered the construction of the Quadrangle during his reign. It is suggested that Chac himself ruled over the majority of the Eastern Puuc region and likely had an alliance with Chichen. This was possible through the creation of numerous sakbes, raised limestone roads, in the region.
]]>People migrated to the Yucatán Peninsula roughly 11,000 years ago. While ancient civilizations in the Middle East were able to develop along streams and alluvial rivers, the Yucatán Peninsula's geography is far different from the fertile crescent. Ancient civilizations in México, such as the Maya, developed with scarce water resources. A reason for water scarcity is because the Yucatán “Peninsula is formed of a porous limestone karst unable to support much surface water," explains Christopher Boyer.
Though water sources were scarce for the Maya, they did have a naturally occurring water source called a cenote. Richard Bloom defines a cenote as, "a natural occurring geographical sinkhole.” F. G. Hall describes four common shapes for these sinkholes: 1) Jug-shaped; 2) Vertical-walled; 3) Aguada-like; 4) Cave-like. Cenotes collect rainfall and ground water. The water is filtered by limestone. Cenotes were essentially natural occurring wells that supplied the Maya with clean water.
With a scarcity of water came the conceptualization of water being holy. The water within cenotes can be used for two things: a well for drinking water, or a holy landmark to hold ceremonies. Chichén Itzá is one of the archeological sites that has a ceremonial cenote. The site is located in the Yucatán Peninsula and dates back to the Pre-Classic Period (1500BC - 300AD). Archeologists know this particular cenote was used for ceremonial sacrifice because near the top is a small building where a priest lived.
Another indication that the cenote was wholly ceremonial is the site’s name. Chichén Itzá roughly translates to “the mouth of the well” of the Itzá people. At Chichén Itzá, the well was associated with a mouth. Mouths were visual depictions of a portal between the underworld, Xibalba, and the terrestrial world. In this case, the mouth of the cenote would be affiliated with Chaac, because of the rain god’s popularity in the region. Unfortunately, there are no other indications or artifacts left at Chichén Itzá to suggest the cenote is holy.
However, when archeology was developing into a new field of study, a new archeologist by the name of Edward H. Thompson attempted to empty Chichén Itzá’s cenote, so he could excavate it. On March 5, 1904, Thompson began dredging into the site’s ceremonial cenote. Thompson’s failed to empty the cenote because he did not know about the underground river. After Thompson arguably desecrated the holy cenote, he did manage to find artifacts; He found gold, jade ornaments, and a human skeleton. It’s unclear if the human skull was sacrificial. However, the gold and jade were extravagant, and to toss them at the bottom of a cenote suggests they were gifts to the gods.
Today, Chichén Itzá is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world. The cenote at the site is protected. While some cenotes are preserved at archaeological sites, other cenotes have developed their own tourism base.
]]>The Sak Nuk Naah, or “White Skin House,” in Palenque, is built on an artificial terrace that is part of the Palace complex. The Palace represented both a residential place, as documented by the discovery of tools of everyday life, and a political and administrative center. According to Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube’s "Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens: Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya," the White House was built in 654 C.E., during the Late Classic, under the rule of Pakal I the Great from 615 to 683 C.E. (Martin and Grube, 162). The house is also named House E by archeologists. Although not different from traditional domestic buildings, it was the place where the ceremony of accession to the throne took place and, probably, where the Council House met. The main room opened in three large doorways to the Western side of the Towers Court and contained a stone functioning as a throne. The throne was decorated with a low-relief sculpted oval tablet representing Pakal I receiving the crown from his mother, Lady Sak K’uk’, successfully empowering him in spite of his non-royal descent.
The status of conservation of the structuire is poor; the wall paintings are almost vanished, and large patches of plaster are missing. The house was named “White Skin” because the stucco was uniformly white, a characteristic that is unusual in Maya art being red the traditional background color for architectural structures and low and high reliefs. Immediately under the roof line, a decorative motif continously repeats in a geometric pattern (see picture 2). On the walls, figures of different nature are arranged in vertical rows. Commonly interpreted as flowers, there are at least two still visible images that challenge this hypothesis: A well-defined figure of an animal (see picture 3), probably a bird, and a repeated decoration containing a single, well identifiable eye in the center (see pictures 4 and 5), possibly representing an insect. Although the arrangement of the figures in decorative frets allows speculating that they functioned as a delimitation of larger areas possibly decorated with scenes of warriors, gods, or rulers, there is evidence that the painting of isolated motifs was not unusual in Palenque.
When painting, the Maya obtained a smooth surface with a plaster of powdered limestone. It is debated if the drawings in Palenque were made on a dampened stucco (“fresco” technique) or the plaster was completely dried before tracing the images. The choice of the colors was probably an expression of the personality of the painter, but according to Diego De Landa’s "Relación de las Cosas de Yucatán" the use of color was correlated to the cardinal points. The color white, represented the North, black the West, yellow the South, and red the East (De Landa, 13). In Palenque, the color palette is particularly rich, including orange, purple, and green-blue that were obtained applying different colors on top of the others. The pigments derived from plants and minerals, with the rare “Maya blue” being a mixture of vegetable substances and white clay. Natural elements were added to the pigments for densification and stabilization with the purpose of improving the adherence to the support. The outlining of the images with a black line exalted the final result. Each time the decoration became obsolete, a new, thin layer of white stucco provided unlimited possibilities to new artistic expressions. The practice helped to preserve the oldest paintings. In fact, some of the images still visible on the facade of the White House emerge from the effacing effect of time on the subsequent layers of stucco that the Maya added for renewing the decoration.
]]>Calakmul is situated in Campeche, Mexico on the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. It is now an isolated archaeological site on the largest bioreserve in Mexico, but it was once the seat of one of the most powerful dynasties in the Maya world. A Maya group currently lives on site and maintains the entrance to the bioreserve. The architecture is in the Petén style, but maintains the monumental architecture that is found throughout the Mesoamerican world. Stucco friezes, a horizontal carving or painting as decoration made out of stucco, and painted murals have been found at Calakmul that are truly one of a kind because they depict the life of the commoners or the daily life of Calakmul. This genre depicting the daily life of the non-aristocratic life in friezes is not seen elsewhere in the Mesoamerican world. Calakmul is a UNESCO heritage site as of 2002, to be selected as a UNESCO site the location must be of universal cultural or environmental value and meet the criteria set by the organization. The site was extended in 2014 to include the biosphere.
Yuknoom Ch'een or Yuknoom the Great was born in 600 CE and was the ruler of the city state of Calakmul from 636 to 686 CE. He was a part of the Kaan Dynasty that has been nicknamed Snake Dynasty due to Calakmul's emblem glyph being a snake’s head. This places his reign during the Classic Period of Maya civilization and during Calakmul's height of power and prestige. With this great leader Calakmul became one of four powerhouses of the Maya world during the Classic Period. Yuknoom Ch'een was the ruler that brought Calakmul to its height and led to its victory in 677 CE over its arch rival to the south, Tikal, its Bat Dynasty and their allies. The political ties made between Calakmul and its allies were personal ones, some made through marriages. They ruled over their weaker domains through political dominance and defeated their enemies with military might. Yuknoom Ch'een has many monuments dedicated to him within the archaeological site of Calakmul.
It is believed that Yuknoom the Great is buried in the tallest temple, Structure 2, where four tombs have been found within this temple, including his son's tomb, Jaguar Paw or Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk. Since Yuknoom the Great was in his late eighties during the end of his reign, it is argued that his later achievements were led by his successor Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk. Upon Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk’s ascension to the throne in 686 CE another war with Tikal began. He ruled until around 695 CE when Tikal defeated Calakmul for the first time. Calakmul was defeated once more by their archrivals after that in 744 CE.
]]>The Church of Santo Domingo in Oaxaca was established by the Dominicans in the seventeenth century. Construction for the Church of Santo Domingo began in 1575, it did not finish until 1731 when the Chapel of the Rosary was completed. Starting in 1812 the church was used as military barracks. In 1859, during the Reform War, the military closed the Chapel of the Rosary and the Dominican friars were forced into exclaustration. The Chapel of the Rosary was not re-opened until 1898, but the military continued to stay in the church. The military did not fully vacate the church until 1994 and returned it to the Dominicans. In 1998 the Santo Domingo Cultural center was created with the help of local artist Francisco Toledo, consisting of the ethnobotanical garden, Museum of the Cultures of Oaxaca, and two libraries Francisco de Burgoa, and Nester Sanchez. Francisco Toledo is an artist from Oaxaca that is known for helping create museums and develop culture in Oaxaca. In 1993 he created the “Museo se Arte Contemporeáno de Oaxaca," or translated in English the Contemporary Art Museum of Oaxaca.
The “Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca” has twenty-three permanent exhibits, and it contains artifacts from Pre-Hispanic times through the colonial period. The most prized exhibit is the treasures found in Tomb Seven at Monte Alban. Tomb Seven was discovered by archaeologist Alfonso Caso in 1931. He found over 400 pieces of carved bone, gold, silver, and turquoise. Caso also found approximately thity-four craved bones that were Mixtec style, not Zapotec. An iconic discovery made was of a skull with jade affixed to it like a mosaic laying on an altar. A large sum of those findings are found at the exhibit in the museum.
The Francisco de Burgoa library is named after a Dominican friar that lived and taught theology in the church during the seventeenth century. Burgoa also wrote two books, Palestra historial in 1670 and Geográfica descripción in 1674. Burgoa thought of his two books as a set of the history of Oaxaca. He even had meetings with native leaders to discuss their history. Though he took an interest in the history of Oaxaca, like other Christians he believed the native religions to be works of the devil. He strived to destroy all remnants of the indigenous religions. Burgoa believed that the Dominicans were going to lead humans to redemption through their teachings.
]]>The Institute of Public Education of Oaxaca (IEEPO) serves as the center of education located in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico. It has currently been in the news as a result of the ongoing teachers’ strike and the growing disdain for the changes brought on by education reform laws proposed by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto. This reform, in reality, is targeting the teachers’ union, or the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE) in an attempt to dissolve the union. The conflict lies specifically between the Mexican government and the dissident Section 22 of CNTE.
Oaxaca consists of a largely rural population, and public school teachers work diligently to target the various needs and demands of their students despite multiple significant barriers. The mountains of Oaxaca, while contributing to a plethora of cultural and linguistic diversity, also serve as a physical barrier in that the spread of knowledge is limited because of the mountainous terrain. Travel is extremely difficult, and the system in place within Oaxaca requires novice teachers to travel to remote locations by themselves, miles away from their homes. Oaxaca possesses a large indigenous population, with almost forty percent of the population considered indigenous. The Mexican state of Oaxaca has the worst literacy rate in Mexico, with just 93.5 percent of the adult population considered literate. The population is just under 121,000 people as of 2012 and is plagued with isolation. .7 percent of the population are considered to be below the poverty line of $1.25 per day. Issues with literacy and poverty contribute to a variety of societal problems that impact education such as domestic violence against women and children. Teachers feel that the odds are stacked up against them.
Article III of the Constitution of Mexico requires that all children within Mexico have access to free public education. Despite this, the rural education system in Oaxaca has been plagued by inconsistencies and broken promises that have now transformed into a sometimes violent struggle between teachers and state officials. The teachers are fighting an unjust system in an effort to advocate for themselves and their students. IEEPO has contributed to this conflict, as they have not only ignored the needs of teachers and students, but they have also worked with the Mexican government to put people in positions of power that are corrupt and unwilling to compromise. Teachers feel that they must tread carefully as they are relentlessly evaluated and tested at multiple times of the year instead of given the support they need to target the needs of their students. This is in comparison to education agencies in the United States such as the Texas Education Agency (TEA), which typically evaluates teachers just two to three times during school year and requires testing just once in a teacher’s career, depending on the situation. In an interview with a former school teacher in Oaxaca named Juana Sánchez Jiménez, she shared that students in Oaxaca are subject to terrible conditions within the schools, as the classrooms lack the necessities such as proper ventilation, enough desks, bookshelves and textbooks, school supplies, restrooms, and even running water. It is no wonder that the teachers want change.
The teachers’ crisis in Oaxaca is not a conflict merely destined to disappear. It has been a decades-long struggle that has now transformed into a social revolution. How the Mexican government responds to this struggle is pivotal in determining their reputation both domestically and internationally. True reform, starting with IEEPO, is a good start.
]]>Plaza Mariana is the current name for the area in Northern Mexico City south of Tepeyac Hill. The area has long been a cultural center even before the arrival of the Spanish. The scale of the area has grown over the years, especially in the last few decades, but continues to be an area of cultural importance.
Before the arrival of the Spanish and with them Catholicism, some Aztec groups used this area to worship the mother goddess Tonantzin, going as far as building a temple at the base of Tepeyac Hill. Some time after the arrival of the Spanish the temple was destroyed and a chapel put in its place, though the exact date of the chapel's construction is debated.
Historical records from between 1556 and 1575 make references to the chapel but make no mention of its exact construction date or more importantly to the story that makes up the other argument for an exact date. While the historical evidence points to sometime between 1555 and 1556, the Catholic Church has long supported the legend of Juan Diego and the Lady of Guadalupe as an explanation of when and why the chapel was built.
The story says that in December 1531, the Lady of Guadalupe appeared to a mestizo Christian named Juan Diego near Tepeyac Hill. She told him to tell the bishop Juan de Zumárraga to build a chapel at the base of the hill. Zumárraga did not believe Juan Diego and wanted proof that it was the true Lady of Guadalupe that had appeared to him. She gave Juan Diego fresh roses to carry in his tilma and show to Zumárraga. When Juan Diego opened his tilma the roses spilled out and an image of the Lady of Guadalupe appeared on the cloth. Zumárraga swiftly requisitioned the construction of a church. So while historical records point to a date around 1555, the story supported by the church points to an earlier date between 1531 and 1532. Interestingly, the story itself didn't appear in print until 1648 in a book by a priest named Miguel Sanchez. When asked why this was the first time anyone had heard of this story, he said that people had simply forgotten the story. While the date of the first chapel is still disputed, the other buildings at Plaza Mariana are much less of a mystery.
Some time after the first chapel's construction it was replaced by another chapel that is today called the Ex-Parroquia de Indios. Inside of this chapel you can see the foundation of the original chapel. More outward dedication to the Juan Diego legend began in 1695 with the beginning of the Templo Expiatorio a Cristo Rey, also called the Old Basilica or the Sinking Church. Construction was completed in 1709 and was the first to house the tilma with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The church reached its peak in 1904 when it was given the status of Basilica. In 1921, a bomb inside of a flower pot exploded damaging the building interior but the tilma was not damaged. As the years went on the foundation of the Basilica began to sink into the ground. Rather than demolishing the Basilica, it was restored and a new Basilica built next door to replace it. Between 1974 and 1976, today's main attraction, the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, was built and now houses the original tilma from the Juan Diego story.
]]>Drinking was a large part of the Mesoamerican culture. Not only used as an enjoyable pastime, the Maya would drink to get closer to their gods and to communicate with them. The Mural of the Drinkers, known as “Los Bebedores” in Spanish, is one key piece of art that depicts the relationship between the consumption of alcohol and religion.
The Mural of the Drinkers was discovered in 1969, but it was kept away from the public’s attention for quite some time. The Mural is located in the city of Cholula, near Puebla. “The 1,800-year-old mural provides the first evidence of the ritualistic consumption of Pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the agave plant.” (Ancient Mexican Mural Depicting Drunken Revelry Revealed for the First Time). The process of making Pulque was strenuous, and the outcome was a mildly alcoholic beverage. The drink was consumed every day, in fact being drunk in moderation was an everyday occurrence. During important religious celebrations the drink was consumed in more copious amounts, and the potency of the drink was increased with the addition of certain roots and herbs. Pulque was not just used as a daily and celebratory drink, it was also used as an agent to induce hallucinogens, as can be seen on the Mural of the Drinkers.
The Mural, which is one of the longest pre-Columbian murals found in Mexico, is fifty-seven meters in length. The mural depicts 164 people drinking Pulque out of varying sized vessels and doing other things such as making offerings to Gods and even vomiting and defecating. The Mural shows a depiction of revelry, or maybe even a ceremony in which something has to be drunk. The Maya in the Mural would use the drink to connect to their gods. There is a close relationship between the production of Pulque and the moon, as the moon governs how much sap would come from the agave plant, this spirit that helped make the Pulque would house help the Maya who drank the drink turn into their own spirit animals (Mark Cartwright). This is evident on the Mural of the Drinkers, as people are shown transforming into various animals. In the Mural we do not know what God the participants are drinking to or are trying to honor, but many in the field do believe that they are partaking in honor of Mayahuel, the Pulque Goddess. This connects to the Mural of the Drinkers not just because she was the deity of Pulque, but during the many festivities that celebrated they were permitted to be completely intoxicated. The drink was given to priests to increase his enthusiasm during the ritual and to sacrificial victims to ease the pain and suffering they would face.
The Mural of the Drinkers is an artistic masterpiece that shows the clear connection to alcohol and religion. Pulque was consumed every day in this region, but it was made more potent during times of religious ceremonies. To become their spirit animal, to transverse to the heavens to communicate with their gods, as shown on the Mural, the Maya would drink Pulque.
]]>San Cristóbal de las Casas during colonial times has been largely described as in Thomas Benjamins’ A Time of Reconquest: History, the Maya Revival, and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas, a “small Spanish island” within a vast sea of indigenous culture (Benjamin, 423). The cobblestone paved streets and two-story buildings with iron balconies, adorned colorfully with flowers, creates a picturesque Euro-charmed atmosphere in addition to the opportunity presented in experiencing the culture of the surrounding villages outside the municipality. Nestled in the pine-forested Valley of Jovel, the city is a crown jewel in culture, of its people, and history.
Similar to the excitement of a hidden gem unearthed is the mural of Bartolomé de las Casas by artist, Carlos Jurado. Donated as a gift to the University of Chiapas, this mural is beautifully part of a collection displayed in the hallway of the law school building or Facultad de Derecho. Bartolomé de las Casas, portrayed in the mural as protecting Mayan natives from Spaniards and their rapacious dogs, is an important historic figure. His story is one the city San Cristóbal, 1848, deemed righteous having appropriated his name to as San Cristóbal de las Casas.
Bartolomé de las Casas, sixteenth century friar and bishop, became known as “Defender of the Indians.” In 1502, he arrived to the island of Española (or Hispaniola) where he joined the military campaigns against the Tainos. For his contribution of the island’s conquest he was rewarded with a substantial encomienda of tribute paying natives. Yet, to many a Spaniard’s dismay, while reading a passage in Ecclesiastes 34 preparatory for a sermon dated 1514, he experienced an epiphany. The passage pertaining to God’s refusal of offerings made by ill-gotten gains was as de las Casas wrote in retrospect, “removing the blinders from his eyes,” as quoted from Davd Carrascos’ The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. Following conviction, he renounced his encomienda in devoting the rest of his years, until 1566, to protecting natives from the greed and abuse of the encomendero class.
Via writing, de las Casas asserted his position defending the humanity of native populations by works such as The Only Way advocating peaceful catechization and perhaps most famous writing, A Brief History of the Destruction of the Indies. This work in particular, addressed to King Charles V and dedicated to Prince Philip of Spain, exposed the abuses directed by encomenderos. It was purposely provocative for reasons to intensify one’s reaction, wherein producing enough rage by accounts revealed, so enough sympathy be generated for the natives and ultimately, bringing justice. By relating the abuses, de las Casas provided a voice leading to reformation where the Crown passed the New Laws of 1542. Paper-wise, these laws required a gradual elimination of the encomendero's holdings.
De las Casas is by Carrasco’s description a “theologian-jurist-activist” and no place befits more for the mural than that of the law school. The city echoes his legacy with a statue of built and his legacy continues, more importantly, by the people who find inspiration. In 1974 at the town hall was the first Indigenous Congress event where 1,200 delegates representing 300 communities met marking first time a uniting of various linguistic populations. In this meeting plights over land, commerce, lack of education and health were expressed by groups inclusive of the Tzeltales, Tzotziles, Choles, and Tojolabales. Each having identified a shared struggle, one delegate rose to state as in the recorded, Testimonios del Congreso Indigena quoted in Benjamins’ A Time of Reconquest: History, the Maya Revival, and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas, “All of us together can be Bartolomé” (Benjamin, 427).
]]>There are few Mexican photographers more influential and well known than Manuel Alvarez Bravo. He was an artist, not just of photography, that focused on the principles of the Mexican people and its social movements. His legacy is one that is evident in his revolutionary and iconic works of art. It is only appropriate that the modern day exhibit that bears his namesake is located in the heart of Oaxaca. His lifetime of photography has played a role in forming the national and political identity of Mexico.
Manuel Alvarez Bravo was born February 4, 1902 in Mexico City. He lived and was raised in downtown Mexico City until the death of his father. This led to him dropping out of school at a young age to work in the nearby textile factory. His love for photography was not an accidental one, both his father and grandfather had been amateur photographers. When he was in his twenties, he had begun to work for the government. It was during this time that he decided to take on photography and art seriously. His foray into photography began with his own practice and experience, but he received education and practice in painting from the San Carlos Institute. He was enamored by a great multitude of styles and forms. Yet, in the end he took after a more modern approach and aesthetics. Manuel eventually died on October 19, 2002 at the age of 100. Though he dabbled in painting and worked in film industry at various points, he is remembered for his work in photography and is featured in hundreds of exhibitions in Mexico and elsewhere.
Stylistically speaking, Manuel differed heavily from his peers in the way he formed his message through his chosen medium. Some of his peers, such as Juan Rulfo, preferred to form scenes of the Mexican landscape and people. Manuel, in contrast, took a much more direct and particular way of getting his point across. Take for example the photo Obrero en huelga, asasindo (1934). The photo shows the prone body of a recently killed Mexican worker. For additional effect, the blood trail from the victim’s blood pool leads directly to the position of the photographer. Bravo’s photos are meant to portray the problems of the class warfare that was commonplace in Mexico during the 1900s. Bravo’s style can be divided into three different attitudes, as described by Arthur Ollman. The first of these is a person that focuses on the pre-Columbian aspect. This perspective takes a personal interest and fanaticism in the aspects of the native life, gods, and culture. The second of these is the Revolutionary. This one places an importance on the social struggle of the Mexican people in the social warfare that was previously touched upon. Finally, there is the perspective that is Europeanized. This aspect is aware of the Anglo expectation of the Mexican culture and people and utilizes it to extend his culture (Benjamin R. Fraser, Chasqui, 115-119).
Whether it is revolutionary or Euro-centric, Manuel Alvarez Bravo is an important aspect of the Mexican culture and history. His work epitomized the revolutionary movement and the attitude of the Mexican people.
]]>San Juan Chamula is an autonomous Indian village inhabited by Tzotzil Mayan Indians. It is located in the highlands of Chiapas, a state with a historic reputation for political rebellion. The church of San Juan’s patron saint is St. John the Revelator. It is marked by examples of religious and cultural syncretism. While it is a Catholic institution, the local practices are a blend of pre-Hispanic Tzotzil customs and traditional Catholic procedures. For example, copal and pine needles both fill the interior of the building, along with Catholic statues, traditional Catholic candles and paintings of saints. The copal incense was used commonly in indigenous religious ceremonies and the pine needles were representative of a link between the heavens and earth in pre-colonial customs. Syncretism is present in other aspects of Chamula life. The Tzotzil people still carry out business using the same methods as they have for hundreds of years, in the form of an open, public market. As one walks toward the church of San Juan, he is overcome by sights and smells of everyday items for sale. This market constitutes a grocer, a clothing store, and supplies household items to the residents of the village, all the while they compete in a modern capitalist society just as the rest of Mexico. The area is mostly agrarian and there is a prevalence of traditional Tzotzil garments, all existing alongside banks, vehicles, pharmacies, and other modern entities.
The city itself has literary significance as well. It is the subject of Rosario Castellanos’s 1962 novel, The Book of Lamentations, which fictionalizes indigenous rebellions which occurred in Chiapas in colonial New Spain. The story is set in 1930s San Juan Chamula and San Cristobal and epitomizes the struggle between the Tzotzil people and their Spanish counterparts. This legacy of uprisings continued into the later part of the century when an indigenous group which called itself the Zapatistas rose up on December 31, 1994, taking San Cristobal and demanding expansion of indigenous rights.
In his article entitled, “From Olmecs to Zapatistas: A Once and Future History of Souls”, published in American Anthropologist, Gary H. Gossen examines the ever evolving indigenous identity and how it fits into a modern and globalized society. Rather than letting outside influence threaten their pure Indian identity, the Tzotzil people coopt these forces and form their identity on their own terms. What appears to be syncretism by the simple bleeding together of adjacent cultures is actually much more complex. Gossen argues that by taking on European cultural aspects, the Tzotzil people were able to maintain their own traditions while thriving in a modernized world. He uses the specific example of the Zapatista Rebellion in 1994. Why did the Tzotzil people use Emiliano Zapata as their namesake when there are dozens of Indian revolutionary heroes from which to choose? Despite his Ladino ethnicity, Zapata is a national hero, not just an indigenous one. He stood for agrarian reform and land rights. By taking his name, the Zapatistas gave themselves national legitimacy. By incorporating their specific local cause into a formerly national movement, they were able to gain more success than if they would have chosen someone of Tzotzil ethnicity, (Gossen, 553-570). This concept is clear in the religious syncretism as well. The indigenous uses of copal and reverence toward the pine tree are clear in their practice of Catholicism although they are purely Tzotzil and not Catholic in origin. Rather than try to maintain their ancient religious practices in their totality and face repression, they incorporate them into the fully accepted religion.
Overall, San Juan Chamula is an example of the ways in which indigenous life and globalized modernism coexist. In many ways, this coexistence is harmonious, such as in the religious and cultural syncretism. However, this interaction has also been the source of violent conflict.
]]>Monté Albán is an archaeological site dating back to the Late Classic Period from 650 to 800 A.D (World Monument Fund). Monté Albán means “White Mountain” (“Visit Mexico”). Many tourists flock from around the world to the outskirts of Oaxaca to visit the Zapotec ruins, which are known for having a spectacular mountain view.
The mountaintop city contained a complex culture. For example, their art can be seen in their sophisticated architecture and sculptures. The city contains buildings, such as an observatory, a ball court, residential palaces, temples, and many tombs. The structures within the city suggest that the city’s social structure can be compared to an acropolis with a feudal system. The tombs indicated the complex burial rituals and customs. Another example is seen in the Zapoteca’s simplified calendar system. The Zapoteca kept time by using the Calendar Round, which is a combination of the Tzolkin and the Haab’. The Tzolkin was a 260-day calendar that kept sacred days. The Haab’ was a 365-day solar calendar. The Calendar Round was actually round, and it functioned much like two gears would. The effect was that both calendars synchronized into a simpler, an all-in-one calendar. Lastly, the city traded with Oaxaca and developed their own system of pictographic writing.
What is interesting is that around 700 A. D., Monté Albán was abandoned. Many of the high priests and royalty left. The commoners did not immediately leave the city. The city was not abandoned because of war; There are no signs of military force. A likely story is an economic downturn. The city Teotihuacan had undergone a great fire. The fire subsequently placed the Zapoteca’s economy into stagnation, which once combined with infertile crops, created the city’s decline in the 14th century. Shortly after the decline, Monté Albán was later reused and reoccupied by the Mixtec.
Alfonso Caso, an archaeologist, arrived in the once Zapotec capital and started digging around. He was credited with the site’s discovery. Caso was attributed for proving that there are at least five major phases in the long history of Monté Albán. He provided a chronology of its history and its relations to other sites, as well as, deciphering the Mixtec Codices. Caso found an area where there were as many as 170 tombs, all of which were filled with paintings, carvings, and other artifacts.
The tombs in Mesoamerica were chamber-like burials locations that were spacious enough to hold the remains of one or more individuals, as well as any material items. Often these uncovered tombs and the artifacts they hold offer great insights into pre-conquest Mesoamerican art and craftsmanship. The artifacts aid archaeologist “interpretation of Mesoamerican worldviews, religious ideologies, and artistic canons” (Andrews).
Out of the 170 tombs, Caso uncovered was Tomb Seven. This tomb has gained its own reputation for being one of the richest archaeological finds. The structure was originally built in the Classic Period. It was reused during the Late Postclassical. Some of the artifacts include skeletons, bone carvings, jade necklaces, earplugs, bead work, and other offerings.
Seven’s findings included nine skeletons and over 500 grave offerings. Of the nine bodies, one was named Individual A. According to Geoffrey McCafferty, Individual A was found with “a human skull covered with turquoise and shell mosaic plaques and with a flat shell representing a knife projecting from the nasal cavity” (McCafferty 144). Caso found the skull on an altar. As Caso documented the items he found, he made guesses as to what the items were, their purpose, and the like. Caso happened to assume the remains of Individual A were male. However, it is now believed that Individual A was a female.
In fact, recent studies suggest a more engendered perspective. When McCafferty revisited Tomb Seven, he found there was substantial evidence pointing at Individual A is a woman. The artifacts and offerings found were feminine. For instance, McCafferty found sewing items, such as battens, spindle whorls, onyx, and crystal spinning bowls within Tomb Seven that support the new interpretation. In fact, if Individual A is a female, it is likely that she was associated with the Crass Lady, a goddess. Other items like carved bones, were not interpreted as weaving tools by Caso despite how “he did identify a scene on one of the bones in which a possible batten was carried by Lady 9 Reed, whom he associated with an Aztec goddess Tlaxolteotl, patroness of weavers” (McCafferty 146). This new development calls archeologist to have an open mind in revisiting artifacts.
Today, people can go and visit Tomb Seven at Monté Albán and see it’s artifacts at the San Domingo Cathedral. Unfortunately, there are consequences of tourism. As Foote points out, Monté Albán only offers a tourism revenue. Foote expresses that one of the consequences of tourism is that people are living too close to the site and it persists as an issue in preservation, as well as, aiding the impoverished obtain aid from the government. Despite this issue, the rediscovery of Monté Albán and Tomb Seven have given valuable insight into the Zapotec society, culture, religion, and history, much of which is still being studied.
]]>In the Castle of Chapultepec, Mexico City, the mural “From the Porfirianism to the Revolution,” by David Alfaro Siqueiros, narrates a pivotal moment in Mexican history. Covering 4,500 square foot, the painting fascinates the visitor with the story of the first Mexican strike in Cananea that represented an epical fight between capitalism and revolutionary socialism. Siqueiros, who painted the mural between 1957 and 1966, was incarcerated from 1960 to 1964 for expressing political dissent.
In 1906, Cananea was a Mexican village of 23,000 people in the present-day state of Sonora, Mexico, near the border to Arizona. Lumber trading and copper mines were the primary industries of the area. The population consisted of about 7,000 Americans, 5,000 Chinese, and 11,000 Mexicans attracted to the area by job opportunities. An American enterprise, the Greene Consolidate Copper Company, employed the largest part of Cananea’s population. Described by Charles Leland Sonnichsen in “Instant Millionaire” as a man whose career “was unique in the annals of the West” and who had the “ability to charm Mexican officials all the way up to President Porfirio Diaz himself,” William Cornell Greene envisioned a capitalistic venture capable of transforming Northern Mexico into a flourishing market, in line with Diaz’s political agenda (Sonnichsen C. L., Instant Millionaire, The American West, Nov. 1981, vol. VIII, No. 6, pages 4-9). The rising discontent among Mexican laborers in Cananea seized on the inequality in wages and amount of working hours among workers of diverse nationality. In particular Mexicans complained about working longer shifts for lower wages than the American laborers. On May 31, 1906, the company entitled the foremen to deal with their teams’ members, fire them, or ask for prolonged shifts. This sounded to the laborers as an implicit authorization to continue and aggravate the exploitation. The laborers reacted asking a reduction of the working hours, an increase of minimal wage, and a reduction of 25% the number of foreigner workers. On June 2, 1906, after Greene's denial of discussing the issue, the miners went on an initially peaceful strike. When Greene persisted in his refusal of a dialogue, the riots started. From Naco, Arizona, unauthorized Arizona Rangers responded to Greene’s request for support, crossing the border to help the American citizens and defend their properties. On June 3, after New York Times’ denounce of the lack of authorization from the Arizona governor, the Military Secretary Office in Washington blocked a squadron of cavalry ready to reach Cananea from Huachuca, Arizona, and declared that the Rangers’ participation was voluntary. The repression of the strike by the Mexican troops resulted in eleven Mexicans and two Americans dead, several injured, and many to run away in fear of a violent repression. The Cananea strike is considered the cradle of the Mexican Revolution.
The explosion of colors in the Siqueiros' mural exalts the physical and spiritual dimension of the protagonists. Two groups converge: The Mexican Rural Guard, joined by the Rangers, on one side, and the Mexican laborers on the opposite side. The Rangers are painted with no face, as to deny their role in the events and claim the strike to be a Mexican-only affair. One of the Union’s leaders, Calderón, and Greene fight for the possession of the Mexican flag; A man dramatically holds in his arms a dead companion. Among the strikers, Marx, the ideological father of the revolution, is represented holding his book, the “Capital.” On the left wall, the revolutionary army and its leaders face a severe Porfirio Diaz that is painted on the opposite wall surrounded by his counselors, stepping on the Mexican Constitution. Finally, a horse is represented in the sudden arrest of its run, as a symbol of the Mexican Revolution’s end. The dynamic pose of the horse and its rider contrasts the stillness of the dead bodies of Mexican revolutionary and the stoned face of a Porfirio Diaz unable to control the Country.
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]]>A postal service in Mexico existed before the Spanish arrival, expanded through colonization, and endures in modern society. The natives of Mesoamerica created their postal service with men who were specially trained at Telpuchcalli, a school in becoming a messenger. These boys were chosen from each community to be the delivery men. In order to be selected, the boys had to be able to run up to five leagues, 27.78 kilometers or 17.26 miles, an hour and deliver messages along the common routes. These messengers were divided into specialized groups of mail much like today with express, priority, regular, or packages. There were four types of delivery men: paynanis, the government messengers, ycihuca, the urgent or express messengers, tequihuatitlantis, the war messengers, and tamemes, the package deliverers. A delivery man could be both a paynanis and a ycihuca. The tequihuatitlantis had to be exact in their messages; otherwise, they could be sacrifices if their message proved to be false or incorrect by another messenger.
Mail progressed and spread after the Spanish conquest and colonialization. The Spanish did continue to use the natives as messengers after conquest. With the implementation of the horse and oxen to the postal service, more messages and heavier packages could now be sent with quicker speed. The Spanish also introduced the mailbox to Mexico in 1762 for the purpose of dropping mail off to be picked up and delivered. The postage stamp was first used in 1856 and twenty-three years later Mexico was included in the Universal Postal Union. As a result of this ability to send messages farther, faster, and across the ocean, the post became the main source of communication and transmitting ideas. The post was a vital source of communication even after Mexico won its independence from Spain.
In 1931, Mexico declared November 12 as Postal Workers’ Day because the postal workers were the ones that made this vast amount of communication possible. Mexico continued to grow in population so they introduced zip codes in 1981 and created a postal agency in 1986. This postal agency is currently called Correos de Mexico. Today Mexico has 32,466 zip codes, 1,492 post offices, and 200,529 post office boxes.
The Palacio de Correos, Postal Palace, started construction in 1902 and was finished in 1907. President Porfirio Díaz, president from 1876 to 1911, inaugurated the Palacio de Correro by mailing two Palacio de Correro postcards in 1907. The two floors above the mailing center were once the Bank of Mexico. Today the second floor is a museum dedicated to the history of mail in Mexico, and the Bank of Mexico moved next door. The Postal Palace was declared a monument May 4, 1987 and was renovated in 1996.
The mail center is no longer as busy as it was during the earlier parts of its career, despite surviving the telegraph during one part of its history. If one walks through the Palacio de Correros today, they may see people buying postage for their letters, wrapping their packages to be shipped, addressing and licking stamps for the eye-high pile of wedding invitations, or even a tourist sending a postcard home. Mail was the lifeline of Mexico and still persists despite the overwhelming cellular usage of the Mexican people and the world and the increase of online communication.
]]>What was once thought to be a single piece of a Maya ritual outfit, is now found to be only a small piece of what was once a full body suit. The piece, a ritual garment that resembles an oversized necklace or perhaps even a chest plate, can be found at the Templo Mayor Museum in Mexico City, but was found over 1,400 km away, in Oxtankah, Quintana Roo. The garment is constructed of over 1,600 pieces, made from local mollusks.
The garment was found during the exploration of a burial chamber on the south side of Quintana Roo, in 2000. The piece was found upon a pile of bones, which belonged to a high dignitary of the city of Oxtankah, he is thought to have died over 5,000 years ago. The high dignitary who was buried with the garment, was most likely a fisherman who spent his life fishing the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Oxtankah. Just like many of his Maya brethren during this time, he may have used the Mesoamerican Reef, which is located just off the coast of Quintata Roo, as a traditional fishing spot. The garment also reflects the seafaring ways of this man, as the 1,620 circular beads, and the 34 different pink tones, blended with one another to refer to the vast water world that was venerated by Maya society.
The components of the garment are what makes it spectacular. From what we know about the man, being a high dignitary, we dive deeper and find that the mollusks shell’s that make up the garment show the true meaning that it held to the Maya. The piece is spun from more than 1,600 shells, from four different types of local mollusks, three of which come from the Caribbean, both seawater and freshwater, most likely from either Belize, or the Guatemalan Petén, geographically the northernmost part of Guatemala. “Based on specialized manuals it was determined that 1,620 circular beads were made with sequins mollusks Pinctada imbricata and Psoronaias cocodrilorum” (Oxtankah, Luxury and Power). The placement of these shells, are made to resemble the scales of the slivery fish, Xihua, which had a very high population in the waters around Oxtankah and was of great value to the Maya people who lived there. The importance of Xihua, and the symbolism that the piece displays, gives homage to fishing and maritime culture of the Maya at Oxtankah. With the use of both freshwater and seawater shells, it allows a visual example of the artistic style they planned for not only this piece, but for the whole body suit, which has yet to be recovered. The freshwater pearls emitted light colors, while the seawater ones emitted darker tones, with the mixing of these two pearls, the makers of the piece were looking for the pearlescent color. Also found alongside of the necklace or chest piece, were twenty-eight rectangular ear rings and three L-shaped pendants. This insinuates that this man was buried in much more than just a ritual necklace or chest plate, and that there is still more to be discovered about it in Oxtankah.
The discovery of this piece brings a little light on how the Maya viewed and used the vast waterways that they lived on. Paying respects to the fish that provide their sustenance, the Xihua, making a full body suit to resemble it gives us a glimpse into the Mayan culture. In the Templo Mayor Museum, this piece is accompanied by an entire exhibit. The exhibit shows and explains the pain-staking task of reconstructing the piece, to show how it looked as the day it was buried.
]]>The Mexican Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) building is located near the center of Mexico City. It is rich with public history, including a series of murals from the famous Diego Rivera such as the “The Rural Schoolteacher.” The building currently serves as the headquarters for SEP, which has a multitude of purposes including the maintenance of public schools and ensuring that educational requirements of the Mexican Constitution are upheld.
Victoria Andrade de Herrara describes the progression of the Mexican education system in her work titled “Education in Mexico: Historical and Contemporary Educational Systems.” She states that, first, the history of Mexican public education began with the establishment of the first university in 1551 by the Catholics in the years after Spanish Conquest in 1521. In the years following Mexican Independence from Spain, Mexico took control of their education system. However, this was soon followed by a series of political upheavals that made it almost impossible to regulate education until the Mexican Revolution in 1910. The Mexican education system was then decentralized, ultimately leading to a chaotic lack of organization and resources that would prove to be detrimental until revolutionary and intellectual José Vasconcelos was given authority to reform the Mexican education system. As a result of this, the Secretariat of Public Education was created on September 25, 1921 and has worked since its creation to provide organization to the Mexican school system. Article 3, in addition to Article 30 and 31 of the Mexican Constitution, guarantees Mexican citizens the right to public primary and secondary education. As a result, it became necessary of the SEP to develop an education system that would support the articles of the Mexican Constitution. Originally, SEP targeted the high illiteracy rates that plague the Mexican people. Multiple reforms went into effect, including reforms aimed at providing classroom structures and missionary teachers for rural schools. The emphasis on educational reform continued through new leadership until more political conflict ensued. Socialism became part of the reform under Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas, though it eventually became the root of a social conflict that led to brutal attacks on teachers. Eventually, socialist education in Mexico failed. The SEP then spent decades combatting illiteracy and targeting woes in the system with reform after reform. Today, Articles 30 and 31 provides the basis of the Mexican education system, while the SEP serves as the primary entity of Mexican education system. Education is divided into multiple stages including “basic preschool, primary, secondary (junior high), prep school, higher education, and postgraduate” while basic education includes “initial, preschool, primary, secondary, and special education” (Herrara 20). Each stage is comprised of multiple requirements, goals and objectives. SEP continuously maintains that each state meets those requirements in addition to other criteria.
Currently, the Mexican public education system is facing a crisis as political leaders such as Mexico’s Secretary of Education, Aurelio Nuño Mayer, attempt to pass educational reforms that are met with opposition by teachers who do not support the implications of the reforms. In fact, during our time here, we were not able to enter the building because of a press conference held by the Secretary on the issue. In the months and even years to come, it will be interesting to see what reforms SEP puts into place to alleviate pressures from the teachers and rural populations.
]]>Teotihuacan, located in the modern day State of Mexico, was originally an empty site prior to the first century AD, but the eruption of the Xitle volcano at the end of century caused a massive migration of indigenous groups to the valley, since their ancient cities were destroyed. The migrant people who settled in the valley from the time frame of 1-150 AD, commonly referred to as the Tzacualli phase, began to build the three main constructs of Teotihuacan. These constructs were the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. The most imposing structure at the site of Teotihuacan is the Pyramid of the Sun. It is the third largest pyramid in the world at 65 meters in height, 22 meters taller than its twin construction the Pyramid of the Moon. These twin contsructs are built on the same level. It was the first main structure to be made in Teotihuacan and is responsible for the city’s growth into a trade hub and place of religious significance, similar to Cozumel.
The first of these massive edifices was the Pyramid of the Sun. The pyramid was built with the idea of three concepts: to be the physical embodiment of Tonacatepetl, temple of Tlaloc, and the religious significance of the cave beneath the structure. The concept of the Tonacatepetl, which means “mountain of significance,” comes from the Mesoamerican belief in creating massive mountain-like structures to appease the rain god and, as a result, produce rain. Tlaloc, who is the chief god of the sky and fertility, is the god to which the pyramid was constructed. The Sun pyramid is meant to honor him, while the Pyramid of the Moon is built for his wife Chalchiuhtlicue the goddess of flowing water. The cave under the pyramid is seen by the native people as a way to the “center of the universe.” Since caves hold a variety of supernatural meanings to the indigenous groups, the cave underneath the temple has a great amount of religious significance (Linda Manzanilla, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, Teotihuacan).
The cave located under the Pyramid of the Sun was uncovered in 1971 by a group of archeologists. The cavern was naturally formed around a million years ago due to the flow of lava. The cave was found with a staircase and was a formerly decorated site of religious sacrifice, until the arrival of grave robbers. Since the corpses of victims are no longer available for dating, there are no accurate estimates at the earliest time of ritual sacrifice. The cave is a symbol to the native people of Mesoamerica as a representation of creation. In some stories, the god Quetzalcoatl retrieves the bones of man and the variations of corn from a cavern in the earth. As stated by Doris Heyden in American Antiquity, native groups believed that the god of fire, Xiuhtecuhtli, is housed in the center of the earth in a “turquoise enclosure” (Doris Heyden, American Antiquity, 131-141). In a much more general sense, the caves are also related to the homes of ancestors, a place of revival or origin, oracles, and the supernatural.
Though the structures such as the Pyramid of the Moon and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent are certainly significant, the Pyramid of the Sun and its natural cavern helped to make the city of Teotihuacan a place of religious significance. This spirituality caused the migration of the people to the site, and made the city one of the most important sites in Mesoamerica in terms of trade and pilgrimage.
]]>El Monumento a la Independencia, or the Angel of independence, is a tribute to Mexico’s victory over Spain in its War of Independence. Its construction was finished in 1910 under the presidency of Porfirio Diaz, on the centennial of the War of Independence. Under the monument are the remains of revolutionaries including Father Hidalgo. Father Hidalgo is credited with inciting the rebellion against New Spain. It is located within a busy intersection in Mexico City on Reforma Avenue.
While the construction for this monument was completed in 1910, the Mexican Revolution occurred this same year. The aim of the Revolution was to overthrow Diaz, who oversaw the building of the monument. While Diaz was responsible for modernizing the nation, he also subjected many agrarian and indigenous groups to poverty in process. He invited foreign investment into Mexico to build its wealth, but foreign companies exploited the poor of Mexico. The Mexican Revolution is certainly a defining moment in the country’s history. However, the events which surrounded the building of the Monumento a la Independencia were also a turning point in Mexican culture.
According to Mauricio Tenorio Trillo, the construction of the Angel of Independence by Porfirio Diaz has special and complex cultural significance. In his article entitled “1910 Mexico City”, published in the Journal of Latin American Studies in 1996, he explains that the centennial celebrations of independence under Diaz are more culturally significant today than the beginning of the revolution that same year. In 1910, there were countless constructions, renovations, and renaming of buildings, monuments, streets, and national landmarks to honor those who fought for Mexican Independence. Trillo describes these events as parades and processions occurring one after another on a near daily basis. These preparations began years ahead, so that they would be unveiled in time for their respective celebrations. The month of September was of specific importance for these events because the legendary “grita” occurred then. The “grita” was the first cry for Independence made by Father Hidalgo. Multiple processions per day occurred in September of 1910. Trillo explains that the dedication of the Angel of Independence was the most important of these processions. It occurred on the sixteenth, the day that Mexico celebrates its independence every year. Every celebratory event from 1910 was dedicated to that day, one century earlier. Of all of the tributes to the fight for liberation from Spain, El Monumento a la Independencia is the most significant because it specifically commemorates the most important moment in Mexican History, the moment of Independence. Trillo argues that these events in 1910, particularly those in September of 1910 had a lasting effect on Mexican culture. He argues that while most Mexican nationalist sentiment comes from the Revolution that began in 1910, the way that it is expressed is in the same way that Diaz commemorated independence. Porfirio Diaz changed the way that Mexico as a nation celebrates itself and the way that Mexican people celebrate their nation. The Angel of Independence was the pinnacle of the events which caused this change (Trillo, 1996).
]]>The Cathedral of Puebla is a Baroque style cathedral in the City of Puebla, the capital of the state of Puebla. The cathedral is located on the southern edge of the Zocalo de Puebla but has its side doors instead of its main doors facing the plaza. Construction on the cathedral began in 1575 under the architects Francisco Becerra and Juan de Cigorondo. While construction was delayed between 1626 and 1634 due to mismanagement and lack of funds, it resumed during the time of Bishop Juan de Palafox y Mendoza.
Palafox spent most of his time in New Spain, from 1640 until 1655, trying to combat the Jesuits and convince them to pay tithes that was required of them by the Vatican. The tithes were an important part of the church structure because they were to be used to fund the building of churches and cathedrals throughout New Spain. At the end of his struggle, the Jesuits and the Viceroy managed to get Palafox reassigned to a remote diocese in Spain. However, before his departure, Palafox issued the completion of the cathedral, and on April 18th, 1649 consecrated the church in the name of the Immaculate Conception. Construction continued after the cathedral's consecration and was not finished until 1690 when the front facade was added.
The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is a Catholic teaching that deals with how Mary was born without sin. The teaching says that in order for Mary to be fit enough to bear the son of God, she needed to be without sin completely, including original sin that was passed down from Adam and Eve through regular conception. According to Catholic teaching, Mary was conceived within her mother Saint Anne the same way that Jesus was conceived within Mary. Interestingly, though the church was dedicated to the Immaculate conception, the main dome has a painting depicting the Assumption of Mary. Today, the teaching of the immaculate conception is not officially supported by the Catholic Church.
The Assumption of Mary is a Catholic teaching describing the end of the Virgin Mary's life. The story says that at the end of the her life, the Virgin Mary was assumed into heaven wholly as body and soul rather than dying and only her soul going to heaven. This is important to the Catholic Church because according to the church the soul of every person who accepts God goes to heaven but not their bodies. The story was not recognized as religious dogma until 1950 but was taught in some parishes as far back as the 4th century. Today it is taught by Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox churches.
The city of Puebla was founded in 1531 as a planned city, meaning when The Zocalo of Puebla was the built as the first block the rest of the city was constructed around it in a grid pattern. Typical of Mexican plazas, it is surrounded on its sides by the Government Palace, the cathedral, and several other governmental and commercial buildings. The Zocalo was the primary marketplace for the city at its founding and was also the center of amusement for the people, a source of water through its fountain, and the place where executions were carried out. Over time the city became a stopping point between the port city of Vera Cruz and the capital of Mexico City. Eventually the city grew as an industrialization center.
]]>Templo Mayor, Spanish for Great Temple, is located in the middle of Mexico City. It is believed that the Mexica called the Templo Mayor Hueyteocalli. Originally Templo Mayor was located in the center of the great plaza of Tenochtitlan. The site was discovered in the modern era by electricians in 1978. After their discovery archaeologists began excavation, and those findings are located at the museum on site. A majority of the artifacts uncovered were offerings to the gods, including human and animal bones, jewelry, and sea shells.
Templo Mayor is composed of seven constructions, one built on top of the other. The oldest construction was dated to the 14th century during the Post Classic period. At its peak Templo Mayor would have been between forty to fifty meters high, and the base would have measure 82 meters by 82 meters. The Templo Mayor stood proud until it was destroyed in 1521, by men under the command of Hernán Cortés.
The temple is facing the west and consists of two shrines at the top. The shrine on the south side is designed for Huitzilopochtli god of war, and the north side shrine is for Tlaloc god of water and fertility. The Mexica people, believed that the temple was the center of the universe, and also a portal to the underworld. The two parts are considered to be sacred mountains. The section for Tlaloc was called the mountain of sustenance, according to the Mexica seeds and water were inside this mountain. The Mexica also prophesied the seeds and water were put there solely for the humans. The mountain dedicated to Huitzilopochtli was called Coatepec, meaning serpent mountain. It was there that Huitzilopochtli fought and defeated his sister Coyolxauhqui, the moon goddess. The Aztec myth described Coyolxauhqui as leading her 400 brothers against their pregnant mother and Huitzilopochtli came out of his mother’s womb in full armor and defeated his siblings. The Mexica had so much respect for this story they created a stone disk showing the dismemberment of Coyolxauhqui.
The Templo Mayor is the host to two major themes the Mexica's means of support , and the myth of Huitzilopochtli and Coyolxauhqui. The importance of water tied to the need for the Mexica to cultivate their own food. Approximately half of the ceremonies on the Mexica calendar were for Tlaloc. The significance of war to the Mexica people involved the desire and need to conquer nearby land to grow their city.
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