by Clyde Winters
Today over 500,000 Mexicans live in Mexico. On the Gulf coast we find the Afro-Vercruzanos, who claim descent from African slaves and Cubans.
But 70,000 Blacks live in Costa Chica. These Negrocostachicanos claim they arrived in Mexico due to ship wrecks. They live in areas (especially mountains) where their is no history of slavery. They practice many African traditions.
The Negrocostachicanos may be our link to the Africans who lived in Mexico that date back to pre-Olmec times.
We usually talk about the Olmecs as representatives of Pre-Columbian Blacks. But there are also Blacks dating back to Mayan times. It was the Olmec who gave the Mayans writing. In the Mayan Madrid Codex and Troano Codex for example, we see the Mayan gods Ekchuah, and gods L & M.Ekchuah was recognized by the Mayan as the god of traveling merchants due to the influence of Blacks in the Mayan world as merchants.
Ekchuah has affinity to the Olmec bird god. Ekchuah is often called the long nose god.
Posted By: Dr. Okpara Nosakhere
Tuesday, May 11th 2010 at 9:22PM
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