Aztlán
Aztlán (from Nahuatl languages: Astatlan or westernized Aztlán, Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈast͡ɬãːn̥] ) is the ancestral home of the Aztec peoples. The word Aztecah is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlán", from which was derived the word Aztec. Aztlán is mentioned in several ethnohistorical sources dating from the colonial period, and while they each cite varying lists of the different tribal groups who participated in the migration from Aztlán to central Mexico, the Mexica who later founded Mexico-Tenochtitlan are mentioned in all of the accounts.
For other uses, see Aztlán (disambiguation).Historians have speculated about the possible location of Aztlán and tend to place it either in northwestern Mexico or the Southwestern United States,[1] although whether Aztlán represents a real location or is purely mythological is a matter of debate.
Etymology[edit]
The name Aztlán was mentioned in the colonial Crónica Mexicáyotl about the 16th century, giving it the meanings "place of herons" or "place of egrets".[11] Although it is not possible as a Nahuatl morphological form Astatlan is possible an hispanicization case due is very similar to the Spanish words hasta, "until" or "up to" and tan, "so" or "as" and was possibly borrowed during writing process monitored by colonial Spanish authorities. Other proposals with Nahuatl morphology include "place of whiteness"[11] and "at the place in the vicinity of tools", sharing the āz- element of words such as teponāztli, "drum" (from tepontli, "log").[11][12]
In popular culture[edit]
In literature[edit]
"Aztlán" has been used as the name of speculative fictional future states that emerge in the southwestern United States or Mexico after their governments suffer a collapse or major setback; examples appear in such works as the novels Heart of Aztlán (1976), by Rudolfo Anaya; Warday (1984), by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka; The Peace War (1984), by Vernor Vinge; The House of the Scorpion (2002), by Nancy Farmer; and World War Z (2006), by Max Brooks; as well as the role-playing game Shadowrun, in which the Mexican government was usurped by the Aztechnology Corporation (1989). In Gary Jennings' novel Aztec (1980), the protagonist resides in Aztlán for a while, later facilitating contact between Aztlán and the Aztec Triple Alliance just before Hernán Cortés' arrival.
"Strange Rumblings in Aztlán" is an article written by Hunter S. Thompson that appeared in the April 29, 1971 issue of Rolling Stone. The article is about the death of civil rights activist Ruben Salazar in East Los Angeles during a Vietnam War protest.