San Ce Tojuan: We are One -- Nosotros Somos Uno Documentary

Pola Lopez, artist

San Ce Tojuan translates into We are one in the Nahuatl language.

The documentary is the result of Frank Gutierrez of East L.A. College passing the 1847 Disturnell Map to writers (filmmakers) Roberto Rodriguez and Patrisia Gonzales. He received it from then-Hopi spokesperson, Thomas Banyacya. This is what triggered this project on origins and migrations... which is now a one hour trilingual documentary: San Ce Tojuan: We are One -- Nosotros Somos Uno. It is in English, Spanish and Nahuatl. The role of Gutierrez and Banyacya is explored in the documentary.

The documentary is not a story of ancient codices and chronicles, but it is a codex itself and a chronicle of many stories. Put another way, the message contained within is a continuation of an ancient message... of a journey of many footsteps, of origins and migrations and of connections to all the ancient peoples of the continent.

The story is that of a people whose existence has long been called into question. It is that of a people ill defined by society as immigrants, but who refuse that designation. When told to go back to where they came from, they respond: We are where we came from.

In a nutshell, that's the story, written in ancient codices -- about the origins/migrations of Mexican-Uto-Nahuatl peoples (a language family extending in the north from Canada to Nicaragua in the south, which includes the Shoshones, Utes, Pauites, and Hopi... all the way to the Nahuatl peoples of Mexico and the Pipil of El Salvador. The modern codices speak of the northward journeys of these peoples going from south to north. One such modern codex is Jack Forbes's Aztecas del Norte, (Forbes, 1973) -- who has long maintained that people of Mexican descent are native.

In that sense, the message of the documentary is already set in stone -- literally -- on rocks and on carved stones, i.e., petroglyphs, architecture and calendars throughout the continent -- depicted in the documentary when Cecilio Orozco is speaking from Utah or Laurie Weakie speaks from the Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico. The documentary goes beyond exploring the roots of Uto-Nahutl peoples, but seeks to understand their relationship to other native peoples of the continent and to the continent itself.

THE ANTS OF QUETZALCOATL

The opening begins with ants carrying a kernel of corn. In effect, the entire story is right here: the story of the continent and the history of indigenous knowledge.

The ant, particularly in Mesoamerican cultures, represents the means by which the people received Teo Cintli - their sacred maize or corn or sustenance.

San Ce Tojuan challenges 512 years of European history. Its objective is to counter a narrative - the master narrative of East-to-west U.S. history. That narrative begins with the Pilgrims and after a brief 3-day Thanksgiving White Sale, expands westward.

That said, it is also important to note that even the very method by which the story is told is contested.

First, there is no narrator. The people themselves tell their own stories. Not all the stories are linear or sequential, but together, the stories themselves are the weave. Each storyteller is the narrator. Each storyteller is the storyteller of a long ago forgotten tradition or story. The stories is the story. For that, no authority figure is needed to remind the audience of what they have just seen or heard. The theory here is that the people themselves can speak for themselves.

Secondly, and just as importantly, as previously mentioned, is the use of animals to tell the story. The ants of Quetzalcoatl are, in effect, the protagonists in this story of origins/migrations and connectedness. It is animals -- in this case insects -- from which humans first learned most everything in matters related to subsistence, survival and sustenance. The theory here is that indigenous knowledge is an unbroken chain of knowledge of millions of years - from plants to animals to human beings. The knowledge referred to is primarily about food, water and medicines.

The filmmakers can be reached at: email at xcolumn@aol.com or 608-238-3161

Featured in the documentary are:

Dolores Huerta: The co-founder of the United Farm Worker's Union emphasizes that We didn't cross the borders, the borders crossed us.

Luis Leal, emeritus professor from UC Santa Barbara speaks of coming to the United States in 1927. His research quest was to find Aztlan.

LaDonna Harris, Comanche, founder of Americans for Indian Opportunity, Albq., NM, speaks of the need for Chicanos to recognize their indigenous heritage and of Uto-Nahuatl peoples speaking to each other about their common stories.

Ted Jojola, former chair of Native American Studies at the University of New Mexico, speaks of ancient trade networks and the spread of corn throughout North and South America.

Armando Solorzano, University of Utah professor from Mexico speaks of being greeted by the chief of the Utes, informing him that he is in Aztec country.

Maestra Angelberta Cobb: Hailing from Puebla, Mexico, she stands in front of a sculpture of Quetzalcoatl in San Jose, Calif, as she reveals the story of being able to understand Hopi elders in her own native Nahuatl language.

Nora Chapa Mendoza's relacion regarding her niece perhaps best sums up the documentary. Her niece grows up being ashamed of being Mexican until one night, she sees herself in the mirror.

The mirror, alluded to previously by Tupac Enrique (Tezcalipoca and the Smoking Mirror) functions as both symbol and metaphor. Through it, she sees her actual color and is finally able to see who she actually is.

Inez Hernandez, Nez Perce, Chicana scholar, UC Davis, speaks of the need for people to hold onto their common sense as they search for their roots.

The documentary also features the music of Grammy Award winner Joanne Shenandoah, Aztlan Underground, Leilani Finau, El Vuh, Will Harjo, Michael Heralda, and Irma Cuicui Rangel.

Also featured: Gustavo Gutierrez, Alfredo Figueroa, Paola Domingo, Robetrt Upham, Velia Silva, David Castro, David Lujan, Sylvia Ledesma, Jose Garza, Helga Garza, Celia Perez, Rocky Rodriguez, David Lujan, Fernando Nenadich, Alurista, Olga Gonzalez, Thayrohari, Dennis Reinhartz, Maestro Lauro Tairire, Guillermo Rosette, Arturo Meza, Lorena Montoya, Vivian Delgado, Carlos Aceves, Enriqueta Vasquez, Don Aurelio, Maestro Tata Cuaxtle, Yolanda Broyles Gonzalez.