Masks of Mexico Teacher Resources
Vocabulary & Who’s Who
Ancient - very old; a long-ago time
Aztec - Native people who built a great civilization in south-central Mexico that was at its height from about 1300 to 1500 A.D., before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors. Known as fierce warriors, the Aztecs developed an advanced, complex society and conquered neighboring people. With the Spanish Conquest in 1521, much of Aztec civilization was destroyed, including their temples and books.
Carve - to cut; in art, to shape a material by cutting away
Colonial - having to do with a colony, or a group of people, from one land living in a new land and having control over the new land and its people. Spanish Colonial Mexico is the time period in Mexico from about the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1519 until Mexican Independence in 1821
Conquistador - one who conquers, or wins; a leader in the Spanish military takeover of America in the 1500s
Cortés - a Spanish military leader and conquistador who sailed to Mexico in 1519 and was welcomed by the Aztec ruler Montezuma. Hernando Cortés was searching for gold and riches when he conquered the Aztecs in 1521. In Mexican masks, Cortés is usually shown with fair skin and a lot of hair, including a beard and mustache.
Diablo - Spanish word for devil
Fiesta - Spanish word for celebration
Generation - a group of people born about the same time; the average length of time between the birth of parents and that of their children
Hispanic - coming from or having to do with one of the countries where Spanish is spoken
Indigenous - having come from a certain area originally; native to a place
Inspire - to fill someone with an emotion or an idea
Lucha Libre - freestyle wrestling popular in Mexico, performed wearing masks and costumes
Maya - a group of Native Mexican people who live in southern Mexico and Central America. The Mayans, who battled and traded with the Aztecs, built a major civilization that reached its height about 900 A.D. After that time, the Mayans left the major cities with their temples, aqueducts and bridges, and moved to small villages in the jungles.
Missionary - a person carrying out a mission or a goal, especially a religious mission. In Colonial Mexico, missionaries were priests who spread the Christian religion and served Spain.
Montezuma - the last, great, tragic leader (or Tlatoani) of the Aztec empire who lived from 1467 to 1520. Also known as Moctezuma II, he thought the Spanish Conquistador Cortes might be the god Quetzelcoatl. Aztec religion predicted that Quetzalcoatl would return from the east (the direction from which Cortes arrived) to oversee the destruction of the world at the end of the Aztec 52-year calendar cycle – which matched the year of Cortes’ arrival in 1592. At first, Montezuma welcomed Cortes and gave him gifts, but Cortes grew greedy seeing the riches of the Aztecs and took Montezuma hostage. Reports of his death don’t agree, but sometime in 1520, Montezuma was killed either by his own people who thought he had betrayed them, or by Spanish soldiers.
Moor - Arab or Berber from northern Africa, of the Muslim faith, who conquered and inhabited Spain for 800 years until they were driven out by the Christians in 1492. In Mexican masks, Moors are often shown with highly decorated eyes, large nose, pink cheeks and sometimes, red skin.
Pageant - A public show where people, often in costume, march or act out historical events or stories.
Parachico - A special type of finely finished face mask worn in the town of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas, with a large, bristly head-piece. Parachico comes from combining para and chico – meaning “for the boy.” This dance tells the legend of Doña María de Angulo, a wealthy woman who lived in Chiapas in the mid-1700s. She prayed to San Sebastian to cure her son of a terrible illness and promised to give her money to the poor if he lived. The boy recovered and she kept her promise, so the dance is done in her honor every year
Pre-Hispanic - the time before Spanish contact and conquest in the New World; before the 1500s
Priest - a person educated in the ways of a certain religion and trained to perform religious rites and ceremonies
Religion - belief in a supernatural God or gods; a system of belief, faith and worship
Ritual - an act or set of acts carried out according to certain rules; often a religious act performed on special days or after certain events.
Sacred - holy, or having to do with religion
Santiago - St. James, patron saint of the Spanish conquest of Mexico and earlier credited with helping drive the Moors out of Spain in 1492. He is usually shown on horseback.
Secular - not religious
Taller - Spanish word for workshop or studio
Tigre - Spanish word for tiger
Toltec - ancient Native Mexican people who ruled central and southern Mexico before the Aztecs.
Tradition - beliefs and behaviors passed down over time, one generation to the next
Tribute - payment in the form of goods (textiles, food, weapons, etc.) sent to a ruler
Viejo - old man. In Mexican masks, viejos are often shown with many wrinkles, big noses, and a gap-tooth smile. The dance of the viejitos (little old men) usually starts with the viejos stooped over their canes and later they become very athletic and energetic. The Aztec “Old God” was also shown as a gap-toothed old man.
Aztec Vocabulary
Aztec - see above
Causeway - a pathway raised above the level of the surrounding ground or water.
Codex - a book, especially an ancient written record. Aztec codices (more than one codex) were made with paper from bark or animal skin and folded accordion-style. The codices recorded many details of Aztec life and history. The Spanish conquerors destroyed all the codices they could find, but some (like the Codex Mendoza) were reproduced from memory.
Calendar Stone - carvings on a round stone that show the Aztec solar calendar system. The calendar shows the sun god in the center surrounded by symbols of the four previous worlds that were destroyed (this world is considered the fifth), with carvings for each of the 20-days in the Aztec calendar on the outer edge.
Chinampa - land reclaimed from the marshes close to the shores of the great lakes in the central valley of Mexico
Cortés - See above
Gods - Aztecs worshipped many gods, and their rituals asked the gods for good crops, good health and good fortune. The gods represented forces in nature (like rain and fire), creation, death, and agriculture. Aztec gods were not all good or bad, but could be either, depending on their moods. Some of the important gods were Huitzilopolchtli (god of war), Tlaloc (god of rain), Xilonen (goddess of corn), and Quetzalcoatl (god of nature).
Huitzilopochtli - a major tribal god of the Aztecs and the god of war. Huitzilopochtli promised to show his wandering people where to settle, and instructed them to build their capital where they saw an eagle on a cactus with a snake in its claws. This led to the founding of Tenochtitlan (in 1325 or 1345), which was destroyed by the Spanish after 1521 and on top of which Mexico City is built today. The image of an eagle with a snake in its claw perched on a cactus can be seen on Mexico’s national flag.
Mexica - the Aztec name for themselves
Montezuma - see above
Nahuatl - the language spoken by the Aztec people and still spoken in Mexico today
Quetzalcoatl - Important Aztec god of nature who’s name means feathered serpent. Can be recognized in art with the head of a snake, or serpent, and body covered with feathers. Quetzalcoatl was a legendary priest who left and would one day return to the Aztecs from the east and signal the end of the world.
Sacrifice - the act of giving by suffering a loss; an offering, or gift to the gods. In Aztec practices, people were killed in ritual sacrifice and blood was considered a gift to the gods. Captured enemies were often sacrificed.
Scribe - one who writes; a member of an upper, educated class who can read and write
Tenochtitlán - Central city of the Aztecs, it was built on an island in lake Texcoco. At one time, there were 70,000 temples and over 100,000 people in Tenochtitlan, which was protected by causeways and drawbridges into the city. The ancient city was destroyed by the Spanish when they conquered Mexico, and Mexico City was built on top of Tenochtitlan.
Tlaloc - Aztec god of rain and agricultural fertility; can be recognized in art by what look like big round goggles for eyes.
Tlatoani - The chief, or high ruler of the Aztec people. Montezuma was the Aztec Tlatoani when Cortes arrived in 1519.
Toltecs - Ancient Native Mexicans who ruled central and southern Mexico before the Aztecs.
Tribute - payment by one nation or ruler to another
Warrior Societies - Aztec soldiers were trained in the art of warfare from an early age. Those who showed they were brave, or took many prisoners in battle, became members of the Eagle or Jaguar Warrior Societies.
