Introduction to the Nahua and Nepohualtzitzin TEKS: Social Studies: K.2B, 2.1A, 2.16A, 2.16B, 3.13A, 3.13B, 4.19B, 7.19C Science: K.10D, 3.10C, 5.8C, 5.8D, 8.7B

Nahua History Nahuatl is an ancient language of central Mexico. The people who speak Nahuatl are called the Nahua1. The speakers of Nahua first came to central Mexico from the north in 600 AD. These tribes first gained power in central Mexico in 1000 AD. Around 1430 AD, a group of Nahuatl people called the Mexica founded the capital of the Nahua Empire, called Tenochtitlan. The Nahua are also known as Aztecs2.

How did they live? Some Nahua people lived in small villages, like the village of Capilco with only 21 houses3. Many people in villages, or rural areas were farmers. They grew maize (corn), beans, and cotton. They had to grow crops for themselves on their land. They also built large platforms on slopes and ravines to grow extra crops to take to towns and trade in the market place. Other Nahua people lived in large towns, like the town of Cuexcomate that had 150 buildings, like houses, temples, and storehouses. In the Nahua nation, every one depended on each other to contribute to the community.

Nahua Community & Connections

The Nahua believed that things only have meaning when they connect with something else4. They saw these connections in the way that their families connected to other families to make communities, and those communities connected with other communities to create nations, and they shared their roots and their knowledge. The act of happily cooperating in the community was called tekio. Many of our communities today still practice tekio. Supporting education in schools is a way we can see tekio in our community.

Everything in Nahua life was connected to every thing else. Nahua culture and beliefs help us to understand their search for perfection. For example, the Nahua used squares to remind people to try to stay in harmony with the four points of the earth and the cosmos (the four cardinal directions)5. Balls, round pebbles, and marbles symbolized the constant spiral motion of the earth and the stars. These round objects also represented the path of growth, which goes up and in a spiral. In team games, the game represents the balanced universe, while the opposing teams or players represent opposite forces, like darkness and light. It is the players’ job to bring balance back to the universe by battling like opposing forces.

Nepohualtzitzin6 In the Nahuan beliefs, numbers have a spirit and people contain numbers. To the Nahua, we are all small universes with a mathematical order that matches the mathematical order of the universe.

The idea of Nepohualtzitzin is at the center of the way the Nahua thought about math and science, which is translated as:

Ne, the person. Pohualli, count. Tzitzin, transcend (to go beyond).

The big idea behind Nepohualtzitzin is: The person who can transcend (go beyond) the place where creation began has the knowledge of the harmony and simplicity of counting.

The Nepohualtzitzin belief was the reason that the Nahua created and used a counting tool that was also called the Nepohualtzitzin. The tool is used to count and to make calculations. Some people wore a small version of the Nepohualtzitzin on their arm. Each piece of the Nepohualtzitzin corresponds to important cycles in Nahua life, like the moon’s phases in each season, the cycle of planting and harvesting corn, the time it takes for a baby to grow in the mother’s womb, and the period of the moon’s astronomic cycle (you can refer to page 41 of the Nepohualtzitzin book7 on the eCofP to read more about how the Nepohualtzitzin was structured).

1 Aztec-History.com. Aztec Timeline. Rerieved on Aug 17, 2016 form: http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-timeline.html 2 Smith, M. E. (2013). The Aztecs. John Wiley & Sons. 3 Smith, M. E. (2013). The Aztecs. John Wiley & Sons. 4 Lara Gonzalez, E. (2004). Mi trascender a traves de la cuenta y el juego. Metafora Espiritual Matematica.

5 Lara Gonzales, E (2013). The Nepohualtzinzin within the Nahua figurative model: Evidencia de su existencia a traves de un retrato figurative hablado en Nahuatl. ACUDE.AC: Mex 6 Lara Gonzalez, E. (2004). Mi trascender a traves de la cuenta y el juego. Metafora Espiritual Matematica. 7 Lara Gonzales, E (2013). The Nepohualtzinzin within the Nahua figurative model: Evidencia de su existencia a traves de un retrato figurative hablado en Nahuatl. ACUDE.AC: Mex