Although more than a million people still speak Nahuatl, this number is rapidly diminishing. Historically, Nahuatl was the dominant language of Coatepec de los Costales, a small village in Guerrero, Mexico. The last 50 years have seen a pronounced shift there from Nahuatl to Spanish. The ultimate cause of language shift is a disruption in…

The U.S.-Mexico border region of the Sonoran Desert is home to 30 Native nations in the United States, and about 15 Indigenous communities in Mexico. Imposed on Indigenous peoples' ancestral lands, the border is an artificial line created in 1848, following the war between the U.S. and Mexico. Tohono O'odham Community College (TOCC) seeks to…

Arming themselves with "manifest destiny" rhetoric, which claimed divine Anglo-Saxon superiority as justification for the conquest of Indigenous and Mexican peoples and the land they occupied, white settlers forcefully pushed into California territory. The two-year-long Mexican-American War resulted in the acquisition of the present-day…

In the spring of 1540, Francisco Vazquez de Coronado led an "entrada" from present-day Mexico into the region we call New Mexico, where the expedition spent a violent winter among pueblo peoples. The following year, after a long march across the Great Plains, Coronado led an elite group of his men north into present-day Kansas where,…

What is the relationship between Indigenous peoples and violent reactions to contemporary states? This research explores differing, culturally informed notions of attachment to land or place territory. Mechanistic ties and organic ties to land are linked to a key distinction between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. Utilizing the…

On July 26-27, 2008, FPRI's Wachman Center hosted 37 teachers from across the country for a weekend of discussion on teaching U.S. Military history. Sessions included: (1) The Revolutionary War and Early American Military History (Kyle Zelner); (2) The Mexican-American War (Paul Springer); (3) The Civil War (Mark Grimsley); (4) The Frontier Years…

Discusses various responses by the Tarahumaras of northern Mexico to past and ongoing evangelization by Catholic and Protestant missionaries. Focuses on the adoption of Christian symbols in traditional indigenous rituals and belief systems and the transformation of the symbols of the conqueror into symbols of Tarahumara identity and resistance.…

This text explores an isolated and indigenous people who live in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico. Isolation has allowed the Cora Indians to maintain their traditional customs to a much greater extent than many other groups of Native Americans. The historical and geographical contexts of the Cora are presented in this curriculum resource.…

The way archaeologists use tools and draw inferences about them to disembed meaning from artworks is examined. The prehistoric rock paintings of the Lower Pecos River (Texas) are used to illustrate these ideas. An overview of this rock art, specifically the Amistad reservoir, is provided. The deductions of archaeologists about the semi-nomadic…

Traditional Danza Azteca-Chichimeca (an indigenous dance society) contains the elements required for the intergenerational revernacularization of an indigenous language, in this case classical Nahuatl. These requirements entail creating an intergenerational environment in which participants can gain prestige, friendship, and affection and can…

This paper provides a general overview of Aztec education as it existed when the Spanish arrived in 1519. A brief history traces the rise of the Aztecs from lower-class squatters and mercenaries in the Valley of Mexico to the rulers of a loosely structured "empire" consisting of some 15 million people. Aztec society was highly…

This lesson plan introduces K-grade three students to Mexican Indian architecture. Students will become familiar with the cultural context of the Indian treasure house; discuss the use of wood as the sole building material; compare the treasure house with present day structures; and create miniature treasure houses using wood materials. (GEA)

This textbook for high school, college, or adult readers covers major areas of Navajo history from prehistoric times to 1846 from the Navajo point of view. A brief description of pre-Navajo cultures including the Hohokam, Mogollon, and Anasazi precedes the more detailed history of the arrival of the Navajo and contact with the Pueblo peoples.…

This simulation allows students to explore the lives of the great rulers of the Mayan culture. Students learn the mysterious history of the Maya by decoding glyphs, investigating the unusual religion of the Maya, unraveling the complex Mayan calendar, and discovering the Mayan number system's secret meanings. Specific cooperation skills are taught…

This textbook examines Spanish exploration, conquest, settlement, and colonization of present-day Mexico, United States, and the Caribbean, and the conflicts and exchanges resulting from culture contact between Spaniards and Native Americans. Chapters cover: (1) first contacts in the Caribbean, enslavement of Native Americans, arrival of African…