Aztlan

historical:

the ancestral home and nation of the aztec people and their descendants. presumably existed the area of what is now known as the southwestern united states, possibly in utah.

current use:

an unrecognized and unallyed theoretical nation consisting of the lands of northwestern mexico (all of baja california, and the states of sonora, chihuahua and sinaloa) and the southwestern united states (new mexico, arizona, california and parts of nevada, utah and colorado). justifications for the creation of such a nation primarily rest on a few -ssertions:

1. the area (as distinguished above) of aztlan has been under the rule of invaders; ruthless, war-like, greedy imperial powers, since the spanish first colonized it. as the fate of people must be determined by their own self rule, the people of aztlan have the right to demand a government that truly represents their collective will. clearly, the respective nations of mexico and the united states of america are not such governments. therefore a new one must emerge.

2. aztlan has a culture truly distinct from the rest of mexico and the united states. food, customs, art, architecture, all aspects of culture have been ingrained with particular indigenous, hispanic and, to a lesser part, anglo influences unique to the area. there exists a physical border (the u.s.-mexico border wall) where there exists no significant cultural boarder, and indeed one can safely -ssert that there exists a mexican culture, an american culture and the culture of aztlan, each side by side and perhaps similar, but ultimately distinct from one another.

3. size. this is the -ssertion that the creation of aztlan is simply a practical move, as no nation can be said to have a truly representative form of democracy if its population exceeds 300 million spread across a continent. this argument primarily comes from the camp that says nations must be small enough to truly represent the will of the people, since large nations end up sacrificing the will of the downtrodden minority to the tyranny of the m-ssive majority.

4. aztlan would allow indigenous tribes within its borders to truly be independent, sovereign nations, a right never fully given to tribes within the u.s. and mexico.

though there are certainly more -ssertions, these seem to be the primary ones.
from new mexico to california, from baja to chihuahua, the pueblos of aztlan wait for that day of freedom, unity, and joy when we finally will be reunited as brothers and sisters, people of the desert.
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the southwestern united states which includes territory sold by mexico to the u.s. after the mexican-american war of 1848, through two acts of the mexican and u.s. governments — the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo, which halted armed conflict between the two nations and netted mexico $15 million 1848 dollars, and the gadsden purchase.
aztlan wasn’t stolen by the united states in 1848. aztlan is being stolen by mexico, now.
the mythical homeland of the aztecs. it is said to include parts the southwest including california, new mexico and arizona
there are two meanings:

the place of origin of the mexica people, also known as the aztecs. somewhere far north of present day mexico city, though n-body knows exactly where. different places claim to be the home of the original aztlan, but experts have found strong evidence that it was in the area now known as the state of utah.

during the civil rights movement, chicano rights activists began refferring to the u.s. land that once belonged to mexico as aztlan, this being more of a figurative meaning than a literal one. often when someone speaks of aztlan they are speaking of the southwestern united states as a common place where their mexican ancestors once lived, not literally meaning that the aztecs/mexica occupied the entire area, though there is no proof of whether or not they did actually occupy the entire area at one time.
“aztlan is the home of the aztecs” (literal meaning)

“born in aztlan, aka california” (not literal meaning)
originally a mythological homeland. in contemporary times it is used as a rallying cry for ethnic seperatists, angry that conquerors came along and conquered the area from conquerors who had previously conquered it from the original group of conquerors.
chicano activist: “aztlan is the rightful homeland of my people”

informed person: “which people? the pueblo nations? chichimechs? tarascans? aztecs? spanish? commanche? mestizo?”
there is very little americans really need to know about this: san jacinto and the treaty of velasco. google it. if chicanos want to blame someone for losing mexican holdings to the usa, you can lay all the blame at the feet of your beloved generalissimo lopez de santa anna, “napoleon of the west.” get over it.

important dates: march 2, 1836 texas independence, april 21, 1836 battle of san jacinto.

mexican army defeated by sam houston’s texians at the battle of san jacinto. the casualties, according to houston’s official report, numbered 630 mexicans killed, 208 wounded, and 730 taken prisoner. as against this heavy score, only nine texans were killed or mortally wounded, and thirty wounded less seriously.
remember the alamo!! remember goliad!! const-tution of 1824, come and take it!!! (and meet the business end of a texan’s firearm) the future of aztlan is a pipe dream.
aztec- literally means -place of wings-
the dream or vision of a spiritual homeland of the indigenous chicano people, this land m-ss considered to be in southwestern states of north america combined, from california thru texas, north of mexico.
my ancestors journeyed far & wide to make an offering in aztlan, the land of heron & reeds, thankfully, they returned with stories & songs