MC Quixote

Circles Collide Part 13

Learning can be a humbling experience. I was flying pretty high after hearing the lecture about the origins of the Aztecs. I'd written an email to my mentor Theresa Martinez about the experience and she said she'd like to hear about the presentation. We scheduled a lunch date up at the University and I was pretty excited to hear Theresa's take on the origins of the Aztecs.

I noticed she had her laptop with her for our lunch date, but I had no idea that this was going to be a sort of working lunch. She asked about the lecture and I gave her a summary as best I could. Theresa asked about the name of the presenter,

"Where did he teach?" "What has he written?" "What research has he done?"

I tried to answer her questions as best as I could. She started searching for information on her laptop while I summarized the presentation.

I made sure to use the same four lines of evidence which were given in his presentation (linguistic, oral histories, maps, and DNA) and I was surprised that Theresa seemed somewhat skeptical. When I asked her why she doubted the four lines of evidence she said,

"Testing theories is what scholars do. And using science is the way we test theories."

Hmm, sounds valid, but my ego started deflating at this point. She continued,

"Finding the origins of the Aztecs or finding the legendary old "Aztlān" has been pursued by many people for centuries. Most of these early efforts were motivated by the hope of finding hidden Aztec gold that the Spaniards kept hearing about. Some say that the Aztecs came from Chaco Canyon, descending from the Anasazi culture. Others have proposed the Aztecs descended from the pyramid / mound-builders of Cahokia, which was a huge trade center located in present-day Missouri. I've also heard the idea that the Aztecs came from an island on a river in the state of Nayarit in Mexico, and yes, others have hypothesized the origin might be The Great Basin in the southwest part of The U.S. and possibly Antelope Island. Is this making sense?"

She waited for me to nod to this and then went on,

"But if you look at the anthropological and archeological evidence up to this point there's no definitive single place that we're able to say the Aztecs are from. A well-respected anthropologist from Northern Arizona University has a theory that the early Aztecs started in central Mexico, migrated to the north and then went back south as the result of a devastating drought." Theresa continued,

"When you look at the most recent scientific research about the migration patterns of the Aztecs, most scholars have backed away from the idea that the Aztecs came from any one place. Today we have more evidence that these early Native American groups moved around a lot, which makes it difficult to locate one particular place of origin."

Hmm, this was making more and more sense and I remembered reading that the Ute culture was based on hunting and gathering, and this is what kept them moving around in a vast area. Theresa saw that I was reflecting on what she was saying. She took a sip of her coffee and then kept going,

"The Numic people were all over the Southwestern United States, all the way into Central Mexico. Where are the bones? Where are the artifacts? Is there any physical evidence to support the theory the Aztecs came from Antelope Island? I'd make sure to check my sources and see if there are any other archeologists, anthropologists, or researchers who back up this Antelope Island claim." She could tell that I was trying process everything she was talking about and she paused.

"Are you hungry? Do you want anything?" I just looked down at my hands and said,

"No, keep going"

I then looked Theresa in the eyes and pleaded,

"What about the linguistic connections between the Ute and the Aztec?"

"This is a great research question. I wish I had the linguistics background to address it. Obviously both the Ute and the Aztec cultures have associated or integrated with one another over thousands of years and they might be considered the same people based on the linguistic evidence. An interesting feature of the Aztecs is that they've been a sedentary culture for the last millenia. They've stayed in one place and altered their environment to sustain themselves. They've built a great empire with a sophisticated capital city and we keep unearthing more and more artifacts that support this. The Aztecs have had a huge influence on Mexican Culture, U.S. Culture, and the world. The culture is still here and people like you and me are evidence."

"Caylee, I love your passion for learning, and I don't want to discourage you, but I want you to understand how important it is to use scientific principles in your pursuit of knowledge. I only say this because I respect your intelligence and I know you will accomplish great things in your life."

Well, what do I do now? Now that my clever idea, the idea that I was somehow completing an ancient Aztec circle, has been shattered. Where do I stand now? Now that the person I respect more than any other has revealed something that collides with my sacred theory. An idea that has become the basis for a bunch of my beliefs.

So my "return to Aztlān" theory has been debunked by my mentor, dead in the water. I thought I was completing this Aztec circle and now I'm back out on a limb, alone, here in Utah and all my Aztec ghost friends are starting to fade. But for some reason I can't completely kill them. Theresa did say,

"We just don't know yet. We don't have the physical proof, yet."

I won't kill these Aztec ghosts of mine, but I'll shelf them until I get more evidence.

When I think about it, the Aztec ghosts are behind the eyes of every other Latino I meet up with. In this sense, they are here in Utah; they're all around me. There are more Latinos in this school district here than any other ethnic group, and this is one of the largest school districts in the state. That's a lot of Aztec ghosts.

All these Aztec ghosts seem like they're sleeping, blind. They have noidea of their power, the power of their numbers, and the power of their deepculture. I want to shake them, wake them. I want to write something to shockthem out of their slumber.