Who are the Nahua?

Throughout this course on Taco Literacy, the Nahuatl language has been mentioned consistently. The language has attributed to many of the Mexican food words we know now, like ahuacatl (avocado) and tomatl (tomato). Therefore my curiosity about the people behind the language was piqued– who are the Nahuas? The Nahuas, also called altepetl, is one of the states that belong to the Aztec Empire. Religious wise, their beliefs surrounded the death. Nahuas prayed sum of gods, with the most powerful god being, Huitzilopochtli, the god of the sun, war, and human sacrifice. But most importantly, the Nahuas are who we look to for the model of Mexican cuisine. The Nuhuas is the reason why present-Mexico can never get rid of corn. According to James M. Taggart, author of The Rain Gods’ Rebellion, “The concentration of land by the Mestizos made it difficult for many Nahuas to achieve their goal [of growing enough corn to last a year]” (176). The Nahuas have been known to be resilient– and no matter what they were told, they continued to produce corn to provide for their community. Regardless of how colonialism altered their lives, it did not stop them from farming the famous crop that has been embedded in their history. With the eventual loss of their pagan ways, the harvest of corn has continued to survive. But, the survival of corn is becoming more and attributed to places outside of Mexico, and the country continues to emphasize unhealthy foods. On a lighter note, the Nahuas still make up a significant percentage of Mexico’s population, but to this day, they still speak the language that has influenced so many worldwide.

Works Cited:

“The Cultural Basis of a Nahua Insurgency.” The Rain Gods’ Rebellion: the Cultural Basis of a Nahua Insurgency, by James M. Taggart, University Press of Colorado, 2020, pp. 175–178.

“Indigenous Identities in Mesoamerica after the Spanish Conquest.” Native Diasporas: Indigenous Identities and Settler Colonialism in the Americas, by Rebecca Horn, University of Nebraska Press, 2014, pp. 31–38.