My name is Cloud

I live in the land of Aztlan, the place of the white heron. I'm researching many things about Aztlan and in doing that, I'm learning some Nahuatl language.

Mixtla means cloud. I have a tiger-siamese named Mixtla (pronounced Meesht-la). She looks like the clouds around where I live on the Central Coast of California. We have a foggy marine layer that usually melts around noon for sunny days. It returns at dusk to keep us warm and to create fog drip for the trees around the valley.

I have several reasons for thinking this location might have been the mythical Aztlan of the Aztecs, or Mixtecas (pronounced Meesh-take us). I'll be recounting these in my explorations of this Mixtlatlan or Land of the Cloud.

At one time, this area was supplied by a great river. The surrounding marshland created habitat for thousands of species of birds. The fish and other marine life populations were massive and diverse also. Food was plentiful and First Nations people lived around here nearly all year. They were reported to travel as far as Lake Tahoe in the summer to participate in large gatherings to collect and process pine nuts as well as to trade. These skills at food sales and trading helped create an empire later in their history.

No known warfare was recollected by these natives. They lived at peace with neighbors, with whom they rarely spoke except for a trade language. Their tribal languages were from different roots--much like English is different from Hindi (and there's an interesting historical study to look up that hits home today as it deals with Muslims, invasions, and empires).

The difference in languages indicates to anthropologists that little interaction occured. This meant the locals didn't invade, fight, conquor, intermarry, or otherwise try to control their neighbors.

Because the river delta created such a large, wet area, these people developed amazing skills that utilized the marshes, lakes, and wetlands as agricultural tools. The area is still used primarily by agriculture but white conquorers do not use sustainable practices.

When these native people, excellent traders, moved away from Aztlan for reasons both mythical and historic, they eventually ended up in Tenochtitlan, the place of Tenoch (the leader). That became a huge endeavor to reclaim land from marsh and lake.

In the present, agriculture still shapes the politics of the area. Chances are your strawberries came from here. Monocrop strawberries have replaced diverse crops such as broccoli and apples (Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider also comes from here even though the apples are now imported from elsewhere).

At one time over 700 people were employed in Frozen Food plants, packing and shipping vegetables and fruits throughout the world. These now are gone to Mexico and other places, so your frozen broccoli and strawberries no longer enjoy the U.S. protection from pesticides they once had. More stories of this industry and the changes brought about by the need for profits will occur here later.

I welcome comments about my thoughts on Aztlan. My background is in publishing and education. I studied Anthropology at the University of Washington (B.A. 1964). I'm currently studying Horticulture at Cabrillo College. I'm working on learning more about aquaponics--another skill developed by the Mixtecas.

Because the Mixtecas perfected sustainable aquaponics centuries ago as an agricultural necessity, I believe we need to use their model now. I'm following in their footsteps every day. Travel with me on this mythic journey.