A brilliant statesman, lawmaker, a renowned poet and engineer, Nezahualcoyotl Acolmiztli, the Acolhua offspring of the royal house of Texcoco, was born into turbulent times.At the end of the 14th century, the Mexican Valley of Central Mexico was dotted by city-states/altepetls, each with a different... Read More
Not overly strong alcoholic beverages were certainly a part of pre-contact Mesoamerica and had their undeniable presence in people’s lives. In Central Mexico it was a fermented sap of agave/maguey plant that provided local populations with a slightly bitter-tasting and not overly strong, milky beverage... Read More
In the previous article on Nahuatl and its dominance over huge chunks of Mexico and Central America, we looked into its growing outreach through the last two centuries of the pre-contact times and then its surprisingly even greater reach in the first two centuries of... Read More
Back in the pre-hispanic days, even before the hugely important and greatly influential Triple Alliance that we know today as the famous Aztec Empire, the Nahuatl/Nawatl language was spoken widely all across the Mexican Valley and beyond it. Not only the Nahua people used it,... Read More
The year in the Natchez Calendar began around the early spring according to Antoine-Simon Le Page du Pratz and other among his French contemporaries. A grandiose celebration called Deer Feast that opened the year took days to complete, a magnificent festival of traditional food, games... Read More
As mentioned in the Natchez Calendar, the Mississippian new year began on the new moon of the early spring (roughly equivalent to mid-March). Celebrated with magnificent festival called The Feast of the Deer, it lasted for several days and involved many different feats and festivities.Several... Read More
The second most important celebration of the Natchez’ year was held through mid-September, or on the Moon of the Great Corn, the festivity that began the time of the harvest.The Feast of the Grain it was called it times according to the French annalists, Du... Read More
Fashion of decorating one’s body was not limited to tattoos or other permanent markings. Another important part of the Mississippians’ lives came certain dress codes, ornaments as well as the fashion that demanded complete removal of one’s body hair. One of the early French chronicles... Read More
Among the Mississippians and their neighbors the art of decorating one’s body with permanent markings of colorful designs was widespread and beautiful to look at. Or so claimed the later-day French that lived among the Natchez and other nations that considered themselves to be descendants... Read More
Upon the great mounds of Cahokia and the rest of the great Mississippian cities, life was reported to be significantly different than among the dwellers of the countryside and the simpler towns and neighborhoods. As mentioned in the previous article, the lower class people did... Read More