Monarch Butterfly - Mexico

Lake Xochimilco was one of four lakes in the Valley of Mexico during the time of the Aztecs. These lakes were the sites of an agricultural style known as Chinampas. The Aztecs would pile alternate layers of mud and marsh plants onto large floating rafts, merging them with the seabed to create fertile islands.

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Danaus plexippus - The monarch butterfly is a milkweed butterfly native to North America. They use the milkweed plant as a food source during the larvae stage. Each fall the monarch migrates along various routes in a quest for warmer habitats. The monarch butterfly, through multi-generational migration paths, travels between Ontario, Canada and the mountains of Central Mexico. Monarchs butterflies are aposematic, an organism with the ability to use warning coloration to ward off potential predators.

Maize - Mexico

Maize was first domesticated by the indigenous people of the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico. Maize has become an important food source throughout the world. It is a hardy plant able to flourish in diverse climates. The leafy stalk produces cobs or ears of maize containing the seeds or kernels. The Mesoamericans used a planting system called the “three sisters,” a technique of planting maize, squash, and legumes into one field, a beneficial technique known as “companion planting.”

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Spain divided its claims and conquests in the Americas into various administrative entities. The Viceroyalty of New Spain was a territory and predecessor to the current state of Mexico, formed when independence from Spain was achieved in 1821. The viceroyalty was founded in 1535 and included Spanish territory in North America and surprisingly, the Philippines. New Spain did not serve as a Spanish colony; it had the legal status of an independent kingdom under Spanish control.

The Aztec

The Aztec Sun Stone was derived from the Mayan calendar, but was not used as an astrological or astronomical resource guide. The exact purpose of the stone is unknown; it may have served as a ceremonial altar. The massive carving is 358 centimeters in diameter, 98 centimeters thick, and weighs 24 tons. The Spanish were eager to rid themselves of anything related to Aztec culture and buried the basalt stone in the Zócalo, the main plaza of Mexico City, where it remained for several decades. In 1790, the Sun Stone was unearthed during an extensive repair project on the nearby cathedral. The stone was incorporated into the cathedral’s structure and remained there until 1885; it was removed from the cathedral and added to the extensive collection of the Museo Nacional de Antropología. The Aztec referred to the ceremonial stone as the “Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl.”