Middle American Indian, Any member of any of the indigenous peoples inhabiting the area from northern Mexico to Nicaragua. The mountain chain that forms the physical spine of Middle America crumples the face of the land into a multitude of valleys and microenvironments, and the result is a mosaic of peoples and cultures about which it is difficult to generalize. The Indians of Middle America are descended from Asian forebears who crossed the Bering Strait and moved southward, ultimately establishing the Mayan and Aztec empires. Contemporary Indian culture in Middle America is a blend of indigenous elements, the culture of the Spanish who invaded, and the historical precipitate of the centuries since the conquest. The basis of subsistence is maize (corn), cultivated in small plots, but there is a myriad of crafts and artisans, and communities tend to be economically specialized. Today, population increase, the expansion of physical and cultural communication, industrialization, urbanization, and the power struggle between factions of the left and right are the basic forces that influence the lives of the Indians of Middle America.
Middle American Indian Article
Middle American Indian summary
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Learn about the indigenous peoples of Middle America
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Olmec Summary
Olmec, the first elaborate pre-Columbian civilization of Mesoamerica (c. 1200–400 bce) and one that is thought to have set many of the fundamental patterns evinced by later American Indian cultures of Mexico and Central America, notably the Maya and the Aztec. The Nahuatl (Aztec) name for these
Aztec Summary
Aztec, Nahuatl-speaking people who in the 15th and early 16th centuries ruled a large empire in what is now central and southern Mexico. The name Aztec is derived from Aztlán (variously translated as “White Land,” “Land of White Herons,” or “Place of Herons”), an allusion to their origins, probably
Maya Summary
Maya, Mesoamerican Indians occupying a nearly continuous territory in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and northern Belize. In the early 21st century some 30 Mayan languages were spoken by more than five million people, most of whom were bilingual in Spanish. Before the Spanish conquest of Mexico and