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Guiovanni2
Michoacan
History of Mexico Because the Purhépecha culture lacks a written language, its origin and early history are shrouded in mystery. Its stories, legends and customs pass from one generation to the next through oral traditions. A Tarascan origin myth relates the story of how Curicaueri, the fire god, and his brother gods founded the settlements along Lake Pátzcuaro. The primary source of information about the cultural and social history of the Purhépecha Indians is Relación de Michoacán (published in English as The Chronicles of Michoacán), which was dedicated as a gift to Don Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy of Nueva España (1535-1550). For more than a thousand years, Michoacán has been the home of the Purhépecha Indians (more popularly known as the Tarascans). The modern state of Michoacán preserves, to some extent, the territorial integrity of the pre-Columbian Kingdom of the Purhépecha. This kingdom was one of the most prosperous and extensive empires in the pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican world. The name Michoacán derives from the Náhuatl terms, michin (fish) and hua (those who have) and can (place) which roughly translates into "place of the fisherman." Celebrated The Days of the Dead, celebrated throughout Mexico, coincide with the Christian All Souls and All Saints days, November 1 and 2nd. People who have died in the past year are remembered, their pictures placed on family altars and special food and drink are offered for the souls of the departed. Last year (1995) I was honored and delighted to be invited to help prepare tamales for these holidays in a small Michoacan pueblo. I don't even speak Purepeche, the language of the older people of Angahuan, but among the Indians, the heart speaks clearly. The Spanish called these people Tarascan, from the word for brother-in-law, but they call themselves Purepecha. I heard voices singing in Purepeche to tinkling music on that chilly morning. Wooden houses with steeply peaked roofs were barely visible in the thick mist lying on the pine-covered hills of Angahuan. It was the Dia de los Angelitos, and Lupita invited us to admire the garments she had made for her three-yea-old daughter who had died of pneumonia. It is believed that the little angels, having lived too short a time to fall into sin, go straight to heaven. Mexican Food Restaurants 100% Taquito REVIEWS 3245 SW Fwy Houston TX 77027 713.665.2900 12910 Skymeadow Dr Houston TX 77082 281.558.3822 9 Amigos at Minute Maid Park REVIEWS 333 Crawford St Houston TX 77002 Acapulco Mexican Restaurant & Bar REVIEWS 1868 FM 359 Rd Richmond TX 77469 832.595.0522 Adelita's Mexican Restaurant REVIEWS 4310 Bailey Rd Pearland TX 77584 Adelita's Restaurant & Cantina Add review 14700 Kuykendahl Houston TX 77090 281.587.1226 Al's Restaurant REVIEWS 2002 Waugh Dr Houston TX 77006 713.522.5170 Alamo Joe's REVIEWS 4747 Research Forest Dr The Woodlands TX 77381 281.367.5552 |
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