Macehual Urbanism

After last September’s earthquake, I had Mexico City (CDMX) on my mind quite a bit. Not just the city and its residents, but also what it represents to people in Mexico, both the good and the bad. I ended up going down a historical rabbit hole trying to break down this complicated relationship, which led to the idea of ‘Macehual Urbanism’, a type of Indigenous urbanity that existed in pre-contact North America.

Origins of CDMX

CDMX was founded in 1325 as Mēxihco-Tenōchtitlan, part of the Triple Alliance. When the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés and his crew rolled in two centuries after its founding, about 212,500 people lived there. It was by far the largest city in the continent and one of the largest in the world.

History Time! Soy Xicoténcatl

The Disturbance of San Francisco del Rincón is considered an important precedent of the Mexican War of Independence that freed Mexico (and California) from Spanish rule. San Francisco del Rincón also happens to be my family’s town, so it is something I’ve research and thought about.

Around March 17, 1755, the Indigenous people of my town rose up and liberated their town from Spanish colonialists. After three days, the Native insurgents were defeated and taken captive by the colonial Spanish forces.

Looking up…