This book is the result of more than fifty-three years of research in the Lower Colorado River Basin Valleys and in Mexico. Most of the work is based on the sacred images that are in the surrounding mountains which provide a majestic view seen from our home located in the ancient Barrio de Acacitli. The Xicano Movement has motivated the foundation of this book. This in-depth research brings forth the truth of the Aztec/Mexica place of origin of Aztlán, and Moctezuma and Cuauhtémoc. Time is measured and time is based on the rising of the Pleiades to its zenith. This Seven Sisters constellation rises to its zenith every fifty-two years, and the last time this event occurred was on November 14, 2003. This cosmic mathematical event is recorded on the Azteca Sun Stone Calendar and is referred to as the Binding of the Years. One of the main objectives in the teachings of the history of the Xicanos/Mexica has been to identify the true location of Aztlán somewhere in the southwest area of the United States. Our research was conducted within the lower Colorado River basin valleys and is based on the sacred mountain images, sacred ancient trails, landmarks, pictographs, petroglyphs, intaglios/geoglyphs, solstices and equinoxes. These overwhelmingly geographical and cosmological connections cannot be denied. Our research is also based on the native oral language, traditional songs, and history of the lower Colorado River basin Valleys. The map of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is one of the official United States documents that substantiate our compelling evidence of the location of Aztlán. The Azcatitlan Codex shows La Cuna de Aztlán portrayed by a child in a cradle. The child that is shown in a cradle represents the birth of humanity. Below the cradle is a "petate" (mat), which represents earth, and to the right of the cradle there is a woman, who represents Malinalxochitl/Chimalma which is the child's mother. The cradle is well manifested in the Big Maria Mountains, thus the origin of La Cuna De Aztlan. The abundance of geographical and cosmological evidence found in the Lower Colorado River Basin Valleys serves as a guide for further in-depth studies. Our quest for knowledge is now coming to light. The dual prophecy of the last Mexica Tlatoani Cuauhtémoc will be fulfilled: "Our Sun will shine again and the greatness of Mexico/Tenochtitlan will never perish." The birth of the Escuela de la Raza Unida and the Xicano Alternative School Movement served as the catalyst that opened the door to a new horizon, escalating our quest and persistence in the revelation of the truth of Aztlán and of our indigenous origins on the Colorado River. Finally, this study and investigation by Colorado River natives has resulted in the ethnology, the true meaning, of the word Mexico/Aztlán and the location of the mystical ancient Aztlán. Again, we emphasize that history will be rewritten by descendents of the Mexica. We are learning how to interpret the codices and correlate them with our natural geographical surroundings as they pertain to the lower Colorado River Basin Valleys. This is the first step in challenging the deliberate lies that we find in the text books that our younger generations are being subjected to in the public schools. The evidence brought forth to you in this book provides intense thought provoking concepts that will leave you with a new found perception of who we are as a people here on earth and of our relationship with the cosmos. The wisdom of our ancestors goes back thousands of years on this earth and their "footprints" here on the Colorado River tell us their story of origin; our story of origin which has been obscured from the world for hundreds of years by the lies written by historians whose fictitious accounts served only to defend the European conquest.
About the Author: Alfredo Acosta Figueroa was born in Blythe, Ca, in 1934. His mother, Carmen Acosta Figueroa, was a long-time midwife and volunteer social worker. His father, Danuario Gomez Figueroa, was of Yaqui-Pima from Sonora, Mexico. He credits his mother, father and siblings for his healthy and strong upbringing, the fundamental base of his family. Alfredo and his siblings grew up in Blythe, Ca Alfredo and his wife, Demesia, have been blessed with nine children, twenty-six grandchildren and twenty-seven great-grandchildren. He has worn many hats and undertaken numerous roles including that of a "gambusino" (miner), civil rights activist, humanitarian, farm labor organizer (UFW), staunch environmentalist, anti-nuclear activist, historian, political coordinator, boxing coordinator, folkloric singer and guitarist and Indigenous traditionalist. In 1963, Alfredo's life changed forever when he was brutally beaten by a couple of Anglo police officers. Alfredo was arrested and beaten inside a local restaurant "El Sarape." Finally after 4 years, on April 17, 1967, he was able to win his suit in the Superior Court in Indio. During the early years of the Coachella grape strike he was involved in what was publicized as the Coachella Four Clap-Down Case. The Cough Syrup Case of 1969 involved the physical abuse and unjustified incarceration of Alfredo and his brother, Gilbert by US Customs officers in Calexico, Ca at the border crossing. The case was heard in the 9th U.S. District Federal Court of San Diego, Ca. and they were released. On April 6, 1972, Alfredo's daughter, Patricia was manhandled by the principal of Blythe Junior High School leading to a 4-week boycott of the high school and junior high, thus, the official beginning of La Escuela de la Raza Unida on May 1, 1972, under the famous phrase, "A la sombra de un arbol, una aula escolar, asi a los cuatro vientos". Under the leadership of Alfredo in 1976, ERU was instrumental in organizing local residents, Riverside County Cahuilla Tribes and Mexico to stop the proposed Sun Desert Nuclear power plant of SDG&E. Plant. It was the first plant in the United States that was stopped. In 1992, Ron Van Fleet and Alfredo, under the auspices of Fort Mojave Nation, organized the Colorado River Anti-Ward Valley Coordinating Committee to stop the proposed construction of the Ward Valley Nuclear Toxic dump. Alfredo's philosophy is that all humans must come together as a family; Anglos, Blacks, Indigenous and Asians, etc.