Week 9: The Story of Milpa Alta and Tlacotenco
John H -
During my visit in Mexico, I got to meet an incredibly kind and welcoming Nahuatl teacher, and during my visit with her, she gave me a short history lesson – the history of Milpa Alta, the borough of Mexico City where I was at the time. Afterwards, I tried tirelessly to find a similar story or version of the story online or on some forum, and eventually resorted to using AI to no avail. Rather, I would find a tall tale of two people turning into the two volcanoes in the region. While I can’t be certain that the story I heard was based in reality, I found it all throughout the town, and since my mission has been to spread awareness about Nahuatl, I thought I should share the story I heard in its original form.
Centuries ago, there was a meeting being held outside of Tenochtitlan, what is now known as present day Mexico City. From this ancient Aztec capital were three men, one father and two sons, who were to attend the meeting. They all took the long trek to where the meeting was being held but once they arrived, only two of the men went in and one of the sons waited outside.
While waiting outside, a lady had walked by who captured his attention. He began to talk to her until the meeting had ended. When the meeting finished, he realized that the woman’s father was also in the meeting with his family. They got to talking and the father asked if he was interested in his daughter. The man replied yes which led to the following response from the father. He claimed that to prove his worth he had to perform a task – he’d have to go and capture a live white-tailed eagle and bring it back.
The man was shocked with the request but luckily was a skilled archer. He went into the surrounding mountains around Milpa Alta and was able to capture the eagle. He returned to Tenochtitlan with the eagle and presented it to the woman’s father. He was impressed but thought his daughter still deserved better. Therefore, he offered another task. He said in order to take his daughter’s hand, he now had to capture 20 white tailed deer and bring them back alive.
The man set out into the mountains again in search of the deer, and after a long and tiring search, found all 20 deer. He walked back to Tenochtitlan, with all the deer and greeted the father. The father, who was still hesitant, designated one final task for the man. He now had skin the deer and with that skin, turn the fur into a yarn. With that yarn, he was to return to the mountains and outline the 12 towns that would make up that region.
The man set out into the mountains one last time, now with his yarn in hand and outlined 12 towns in the region. Following this final task, he returned to the father who was now certain of the man’s love for his daughter. He finally gave him his approval and the two got married.
As for the 12 towns, those became the 12 modern day towns that make up present day Milpa Alta. Their favorite of the towns was Santa Ana, then known as Tlacotenco. Therefore, that’s where the man and his wife decided to settle.