Maps
Aztlanahuac: Mesoamerica in North America Map Exhibit
The Wisconsin Historical Society and Memorial Library at the University of Wisconsin at Madison are the sites this spring of a special and historic exhibit of 19th-16th century maps that indicate or allude to an ancient Mesoamerican presence and migrations from what is today the United States.
The exhibit also includes chronicles, codices, annals and interviews regarding oral traditions that speak to ancient connections between peoples of the north and south. Part of the objective of the map exhibit examines how cartographers addressed this subject from the 1500s through the 1800s.
This exhibit is the result of part of the work of several Hopi elders, including the late David Monongye and Thomas Banyacya, who passed on their knowledge of these maps. The documents firmly establish that the Hopi never surrendered their sovereignty and point to an ancient Mexican presence in their midst. A special thanks to Frank Gutierrez, counselor and instructor at East L.A. College, who passed them on to the researchers, and the many other elders who passed on other knowledge, guidance and words to them.
The overall theme of this exhibit is an examination of maps and chronicles from the 1800s-1500s that show Mesoamerican roots in what is today the United States. It is part of a larger collaborative and ongoing research effort that examines ancient connections between peoples of the north and south. Many of the maps point to several sites, purportedly associated with Aztec/Mexica peoples and their migrations, but also with older ancient Mexican, Chichimeca and Toltec migrations and that of Central and South American peoples as well.
It challenges the mainstream narrative of U.S. archaeology that tells us that it was the romanticism of 19th century U.S. archaeologists that caused them to place such place names (Montezuma, Aztec, Anahuac, Tula, etc) throughout what is today the U.S. However, these maps (representative of hundreds more and found at most major libraries and research institutions around the world) clearly demonstrate that such sites were well-established long before 1776.
The research also examines oral traditions, many which speak of connections (beyond migration stories of Uto-Azteca peoples) between the north and the south. The concept of origins/migrations is complex, philosophical and spiritual. The researchers here did not set out to find one migration route, but rather, to understand why this information exists on these historic documents. In the process, a clear connection between the peoples of the north and south has been established to the entire continent or Turtle Island. One such connection includes agriculture, specifically maize, which is itself another form of a map.
Map Highlights
* These are but a few of the many, many dozens of maps with similar information found not just at the Wisconsin Historical Society, but virtually every major library or research institution in the world that specializes in the Americas.