Essays on Mesoamerica

The Hopi people are one of the most ancient of Native American peoples, with their history stretching back thousands of years. Today, they are a distinct ethnic group inhabiting the northeastern corner of Arizona near the border with New Mexico and Utah. The most important aspect of the Hopi way of...

The Great Migration was the exodus of African Americans from the South to cities in the North and West, an event that shaped the course of American history. During the first three-quarters of the twentieth century, a massive wave of African Americans left the South and moved to major cities...

Pocahontas is one of the most famous Native American heroines of all time. It has been more than four hundred years since her passing and her story remains an integral part of our culture, inspiring young people everywhere to become leaders of their communities and countries. She is a strong, intelligent,...

The Maya civilization is one of the most fascinating cultures in human history. Their sophisticated civilization was shaped by their vast pantheon of gods and complex belief system, centered around 13 layers of heaven and nine levels of the underworld. The underlying structure of the Maya worldview was an intricate...

The Aztec empire was a complex society of thriving cities that spread across the continent from central Mexico to South America and lasted until around 1500 AD. Knowledge of the culture, language and politics of these people rests on a variety of sources including archaeological finds, written texts and pictorial...

The film examines how the Aztecs handled objects that predated their civilization. This guides the audience through the Aztecs' parallels and contrasts with contemporary civilization. One striking similarity between the two cultures is their shared interest in the ideas, traditions, and history of the past. The two ancient settlements were...

Tecumseh, born in 1768, used to be the Shawnee Native Americans' chief who led a exceptional tribal confederacy at some stage in the duration of the War of 1812 towards the United States, in which Britain (Tecumseh's ally) participated (Cave, 2002). Tecumseh’s confederacy shaped an alliance with the Britain throughout...