Not Aztecs and Probably Not Mexica

Note: I don’t mean to upset my fellow Mexican-Americans, Mexicans, or native peoples from Mexico with the following post. Modern descendants of indigenous Mesoamericans (nican tlacah or “people from here”) should be clearly allowed to call themselves what they like. This post makes clarifications about the pre-Conquest group of people that history refers to as Aztecs. Many people don’t realize that it’s a relatively modern and inaccurate practice to use “Aztecs” for a group of interrelated nations that could be more accurately referred to as Nahuas. The Nahuas of the 15th and 16th century used the word “Aztecah” to mean “inhabitants of Aztlan,” the legendary nation their ancestors had fled centuries before. To them, the “Aztecah” were severe overlords in that land whose rule the various tribes had escaped in a series of long exoduses. Imagine early US citizens calling themselves “English,” and you’ll see why “Aztec” doesn’t make a lot of sense. <a href="https://davidbowles.medium.com/not-aztecs-and-probably-not-mexica-3d26a6b35bc5">Read More</a>