Tamoanchan

Alfredo Acosta Figueroa

In memory of my youngest daughter, Xochitl

Xochitl continues to live in us and like a flower reminds us to appreciate the beauty of life.

Copyright 2013Š by Alfredo Acosta Figueroa Cuna de Aztlan, Blythe, California First Printing 2013 Other Publications by the Author Ancient Footprints of the Colorado River

All Rights Reserved Published by La Cuna de Aztlan Publishing Company No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

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Table of Contents Forward

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Introduction

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Axis Mundi

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Physical and Spiritual Duality

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Colorado River and Surrounding Area

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In Search of Tamoanchan

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Quote by Alfredo Lopez Austin

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Where Cosmos Meet Earth

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Granite Peak-Tamoanchan

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Where The Cosmos Descend To The 4 Corners Nahui-Ollin

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Drawing of Cosmos Meet Earth at Granite Peak “Ilhuicatlalpan�

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Tamoanchan Pictographs and Petroglyphs

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White Limestone Eagle on the Big Maria Mountains

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Iztaccuahtli-The Eagle Landing on Tamoanchan

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Tamoanchan Broken Tree

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Dragon and Huitzilopochtli On the Westside of Big Maria Mountain

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Huitzilopochtli Zoomed Profile on Top of Marie Peak

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Comparison of Codexes and the Big Maria Mountain Image

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Big Maria Mountains with Cihuatcoatl/Two Serpents

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Comparing Vindobonesis Codex & Huitzilopochtli‟s image in the Big Maria Mountains during the 1st sunrise of the equinox 25 Huitzilopochtli‟s Popular Image In The Codexes

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Quetzalpetlatl‟s McCoy Mountain Image Above Solar Projects

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McCoy Mountain Image of “El Creador” in Hair of Quetzalpetlal Image

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Blythe Solar and McCoy Solar Power Projects Locations

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2010 Map of Proposed Blythe Solar Energy Project Transmission Corridors 30 And Location of Kokopilli/Cicimitl Twin Geoglyph Group Destruction of Kokopilli/Cicimitl Group

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El Tosco Geoglyph

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Kokopilli Giant Geoglyph

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Kokopilli Twin-Cicimitl Geoglyph and Magliabecchi Codex Glyph

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Biography of Alfredo Acosta Figueroa

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Acknowledgement

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Forward

5

Introduction

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The “Axis Mundi” Center of the World The cosmovision of the Mexica/Maya is reflected by the cultural material, such as the architecture and its placement within the cities. In the Centers, they built temples with designs, locations and functionality that would correspond with the deity dedicated to the image in the cultural cosmic traditional ritual framework. This reminded them of the place of origin, where they came from on the Colorado River.

El Templo Mayor ( main temple) of the Mexica/Maya was surrounded by sacred walls called “La Xicana”. These temples were constructed to reproduce the cosmovision concept of the Mexica Quincunce (the four directions and center). El Templo Mayor was elevated in the center symbolizing Coatepec (the Serpent Mountain) storing the rain, lightning, and the multiplying seeds of life. El Templo Mayor was the Axis Mundi,( Center of the world) for the Mexica. It was the home of the Creator and place of excellence where the humans would descend to the nine levels of the inner-world or ascend to the thirteen levels of the cosmos. It was the place where humans would make offering and petitions to the Creator. (Dosier La Religion Mexica, Argueologia Vol XVI #9)

Picture by Bud Wilson

Physical and Spiritual Duality

The different indigenous nations all had their own traditional interpretation of their association with the spiritual world. This booklet contains information associated with the Uto-Aztecan Mexica culture.

For the Indigenous people every physical being has its spiritual duality. The Blythe Giant Intaglios are a prime example . The Giant geoglyphs are named in the Nahuatl language, Omecihuatl, Ometehcutli, Ometeotl. Ome means two, (one physical and one spiritual); Cihuatl,woman; tehcutli,male; teotl,spirit; therefore Omecihuatl is woman and Ometehcutli is man. Ometeotl, representing the Creator, is the two spirits, one woman and one man.

Colorado River and Surrounding Areas For the past 58 years, we have been researching the place of origin of the Azteca/ Mexica which is Aztlan/Tamoanchan/Chicomoztoc/Huehueltlapallan, etc., in the surrounding Palo Verde/Parker Valleys. Our research is now revealing where these sacred sites are located and what they mean to the creation story of the local indigenous tribes and the history of the Mexica.

The lower Colorado River Basin Valleys have been the home of many different indigenous linguistic families which at one time or another came to the area, stayed and then went on their journey to the four directions. Some of the nations have gone full circle returning to the Colorado River (Krober 1976).

Their migration is symbolized by the Four Movements, in Nahuatl called NahuiOllin. Some of the nations settled permanently in the area and others such as the Athapaskans left the Colorado River and went north to Alaska before the last Ice Age according to Chief Gary Harrison of the Athapaskan tribe. Other nations such as the Olmeca went south thousands of years ago. The Chichimeca followed afterwards, then the Tolteca, Yaqui, and finally the Mexica in the 12th century, approximately 1160 AD. There are five native reservations in the Lower Colorado River Basin Valleys which include Fort Mojave near Needles, California in the North, Chemehuevi, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Quechan, and Cocopah, south of Yuma. Of these five, the Mojave and Chemehuevi are most prominent in the Palo Verde/Parker Valleys.

Each Native Tribe has a unique identity and interpretation of the creation story given to them by the Creator. Yet, all the tribes relate to the same cosmic tradition of the Creator. The oral cosmic cultural traditional knowledge is still in tack despite the years of the policy of "Kill the Indian, Save the Man," by the United States Government.

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In Search of Tamoanchan Tamoanchan was the place of creation. Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the supreme couple, sent the animistic seed of the child from Tamoanchan to the motherâ€&#x;s womb; and in Tamoanchan, during primordial time, the gods gave maize to humans, after having ground the grain with their own teeth.

Thanks to the Native Mexica cultural traditions, the Uto-Aztecan still have a few Pre-Hispanic codexes that relate to the Creation Story. We have been able to compare them with the surrounding mountains, geoglyphs, petroglyphs, pictographs, equinoxes, and solstices of the Lower Colorado River Basin Valleys that are focused in the Palo Verde/Parker Valleys and the local indigenous oral history.

The majority of the Mexica codexes and artifacts at the Instituto Nacional Anthropologia Historia (INAH) museum in Mexico City relate to the surrounding mountains of the lower Colorado River Basin Valleys. Our 58 year research of the area compares these codexes and artifacts with the above mentioned sacred sites. We have specifically inter-related the codexes with the native names of the mountains and other sacred sites with our main focus being on Tamoanchan, the White Eagle (Iztaccuauhtli), the Blythe Giant Intaglios, Bouse Fisherman Intaglios, Mule Mountains.

The Aztec sunstone calendar is the relic that has the most documented history of the world. The major glyphs on the Sunstone are geographically located in the surrounding Palo Verde/Parker Valleys. The Five Suns all have a beginning and an ending and are inter-related with Tamoanchan (Granite Peak) where the cosmos meet Earth.

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Quote by Alfredo Lopez Austin The following paragraphs are excerpts from the book, Tamoanchan/ Tlalocan Places of Mist as written by Alfredo Lopez Austin: "To speak of Tamoanchan and Tlalocan is to talk about the circulation of the invisible, the paths that the subtitle substance that characterized, transformed, and animated the beings of the world followed.

Tamoanchan and Tlalocan were origins and destinations for those subtitle forces, which could be called animistic entities," souls," or divine forces that resided inside creatures. This is clearly stated in the sources that told about the constitution of humans. According to Mesoamerican concepts, human beings were composed of several animistic entities; and Tlalocan and Tamoanchan were related to either their inception or their final destiny.

The ancient Mesoamerican believed that those essences or imperceptible substances had penetrated all earthly beings at the time of creation. Moreover, the creatures owed their very nature to that substance. It was a divine substance born, like all the gods, through a process of transformations that originally divided the great primogenital being into two opposed and complementary parts, the earth and sky.

The origin of divine and earthly beings was due to an original monstrous, aquatic, chaotic goddess. Her original nature was retained in the lower part of the universe. On the other hand, the upper part acquired masculine characteristics. The separation of both parts of the goddess was maintained by "posts," referred to as trees, humans, or gods, which prevented the recombination of the goddess.

And then Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli made the water and in this water then created a big animal called Cipactli, that resembled a caiman. From this animal they made the Earth. There was a goddess, Tlalteutl, which is the Earth itself.

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Through the mouth entered a god, Tezcatlipuca. His companion called Ehecatl, entered through the umbilical and both met in the heart of the goddess, which is the center of the Earth having joined together, they created the sky too low.

That is why a lot of other gods, lots of them, came and helped raise it up high, where it is today, some of them stayed holding it up so it would not fall.

When the Earth and the Sky were created, from the body of Cipactli, and with them was also established, along with the great division of the feminine and the masculine of the cosmos, the four posts, represented by trees or gods, or men, were converted into the roads of the gods.

They were the roads of the gods because through their hollow trunks flowed the opposite divine essence (man/sun and woman/earth) they flowed between the two halves of Cipactli."

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Where Cosmos Meet Earth Seeing the falling of the sky over the Earth, all four were ordered to make through its center of Earth, four roads to be able to enter and raise up the sky and to get help. Four men were created. One was called Cuauhtemoc; the other, Itzcoal; Izmalli; and the other, Tenexochilt. Cuauhtemoc's Nagualli( your animal spiritual representation) is the descending Sun. The translation of Cuauhtli is Eagle and Temoc is descending. Cuauhtemoc means Descending Sun which is represented by Eagle Mountain.

These are the four corners of the base of the sky falling (The Borgia Codex Plate 72) and its Earth cosmic duality geographical site is Granite Peak.

Granite Peak when seen from West Blythe (Acacitli) looks just like a pyramid. It is prominently seen at the Northwest end of the McCoy Wash Valley. This is where cosmos meet earth that gives the image of the X or hourglass. The top V of the X represents the cosmos and the upside down V of the X represents Granite Peak and Mother Earth.

Tamoanchan in Nahuatl is interpreted as follows: Ta is tata which means cosmic grandfather. It refer to the cosmos. Moan means merge or meet,. Chan is chante meaning house which refers to Mother Earth. Therefore Tamoanchan means cosmos meet earth.

When the Mexica left the Colorado River, they left based on the following words

by Iztacuauhtli, the eagle calling to them “Tihui, Tihui, Tihui, Mexica, Tamoanchan� which related to Mexica , go find your house. That meant to take the message to the four directions. This glyph can be found in the Siguenza codexes.

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Granite Peak-Tamoanchan

Granite Peak, (Tamoanchan), is located approximately 45 miles northwest of Blythe and is a mountain which represents a pyramid. It is seen here from the Arrowhead overpass of I-10 in west Blythe overlooking McCoy Wash Valley. To the right are the Little Maria Mountains and on the left are the McCoy Mountains.

The McCoy Valley extends from Granite Peak to the Blythe airport. The McCoy Valley is the site of the proposed Blythe Solar Millennium and the McCoy Solar Projects. For the Mexica, Tamoanchan is the worldâ€&#x;s most sacred site and represents the center of the world (the axis mundi).

Granite Peak- Tamoanchan

White Eagle Image Blythe Giant Intaglios

Arrowhead Blvd I-10 Overpass Red arrow traverses McCoy Valley, site of the proposed Blythe Solar Millennium and McCoy Solar Power Project.

White Eagle image is approximately 20 miles east of Granite Peak on the Big Maria Mountain.

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Illustration of Tamoanchan Where The Cosmos Descend To The 4 Corners Nahui-Ollin

Geographic landscape of the 4 corners that represent the location of where the cosmos descend to Eastern Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

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Drawing of Cosmos Meet Earth at Granite Peak “Ilhuicatlalpan” Drawing of the Hourglass image where the cosmos meet earth which symbolizes the meeting of the Creator, “El Tata” coming to earth The Nahui-Ollin at the bottom turns counter-clockwise and in the cosmos, it is clockwise like the symbol on the Chemehuevi gourds.

Glyph of Nahui-Ollin From The Borgia Codex. The Horney Toad Glyph is in the center.

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Tamoanchan Pictographs and Petroglyphs

The pictograph depicts the image of the hourglass (“X�) representing Tamoanchan where the cosmos meet earth. The top V of the X represents the cosmos and the upside down V of the X represents Granite Peak and Mother Earth.

Petroglyph that depicts Tamoanchan (the hourglass)

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White Limestone Eagle on the Big Maria Mountains 20 miles due west from Granite Peak

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Granite Peak, where the eagle merges with the earth

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The top photo represents the eagle that lands on Tamoanchan, which is represented by the dark shadow hill. Tamoanchan in Nahuatl means Ta/tata/ grandfather, -moan/merge/meets, chan/chante/house. The white eagle image on the Big Maria Mountains located approximately 20 miles to the right of Tamoanchan (Granite Peak), represents the universe merging with earth. This eagle is approximately 6 miles west of the Blythe Giant Intaglios.

1.Black Schist Granite Hill represents Tamoanchan where the Eagle lands and the cosmos merge 2.Head of the Eagle looking east to the sunrise with his wings spread, his legs landing on top of Tamoanchan, represented by the dark shadow below it. 3. North end of the McCoy Mountains that forms the northwest/ southeast border of McCoy Valley where the geoglyphs are being threatened.

4.Little Maria Mountains is the right side of the Eagle landing on Tamoanchan representing the North west side of McCoy Valley.

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Iztaccuahtli-The Eagle Landing on Tamoanchan as a Tree as Shown in the Borgia Codex

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Iztaccuahtli means Iztac-white, Cuahtli-eagle Iztaccuahtli represents the Big White Eagle on the Big Maria Mountains.

The White Eagle Represents the Cosmos that Land on Granite Peak. In the Borgia Codex, it is represented by the tree.

1. Earth (Orange) 2. Right Foot of the Eagle merging with Earth 3. Piltzintecuhtli in the form of a sun ray coming down from the cosmos 4. The Cosmos

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Tamoanchan Broken Tree Boturini Codex 5th fold Pilgrimage of the Aztecs The broken tree represents Tamoanchan (Granite Peak) when the Creator comes down from cosmos (Tata) to meet Mother Earth, (Nana). The tree represents the 3 images of the Creator. The branches represent the cosmos, the trunk where the hands are represents humans and all creation on earth. The roots represent the inner-world.

Migration-4 Directions

Everybody is happy and they build Huitzilopochtli a Teocalli.

The molcahete represents the Mule Mountains/Calli/Earth and for the Mojave it represents Avi Hamoc or three peaks

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Image of Dragon and Huitzilopochtli As Seen On the Westside of Big Maria Mountain White Limestone Dragon Head & Mouth

2 white limestone veins

Profile Head and face of Huitzilopochtli

Photo above was taken of the Big Maria Mountains looking northeast from the McCoy Mountain where the Blythe Solar and McCoy Solar Projects are proposed to be built.

The images that are seen on the Boturini Codex relate to this photo of the Tree of Tamoanchan that is represented by the dragon. The tree is broken and the head of Huitzilopochtli is seen on top of Big Maria Mountains called Marie Peak on the Topographic map.

Here we see two white limestone veins that seem to come out of the dragonâ€&#x;s mouth going to the top of the peak where the profile head and face of Huitzilopochtli is.

The white limestone dragon is coming from the direction of Granite Peak which is 20 miles northwest.

Huitzilopochtli profile is also seen from the Blythe Giant Intaglios and receives the first sun ray coming from between the two peaks that represent the womanâ€&#x;s vulva in the Moon Mountains during the Spring Equinox 21

Huitzilopochtli Zoomed Profile on Top of Marie Peak

Forehead

Nose & Mouth

The head of Huitzilopochtli is looking south toward the southern hemisphere because all the world is sacred. His head is the white limestone because it represents the cosmos and his face is dark because it represents Mother Earth.

That is why he represents the male image of the Creator coming down from the cosmos to earth.

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Comparison of Codexes, and the Big Maria Mountain Image

Zoomed face of Huitzilopochtli facing south

Topiltzin, 2nd Fold Historia de las Indias de nueva Espana e Islas de Tierra Firme, Numero 2, Fray Diego Duran Topiltzin is sitting on a litter that has a throne on a rug held by two snakes that have a head in the front and the back plus the litter is held up by two triangles.

Tlalocâ€&#x;s face image is formed by a two-headed serpent that is right below the litter. In the background on the left is a tree that has 3 branches, Tamoanchan and on the right, is a mountain that has a split in the middle.

The image of Topiltzin is Huitzilopochtli with a beard. He represents the cosmos and man and is associated with Quetzalcoatl, the Creatorâ€&#x;s image of Ophiuchus. The throne represents the highest authority. The two serpents with a head at both ends represent the two giant serpents that are coming east and west on the Big Maria Mountains seen during the late afternoon during the winter solstice on December 21.

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Big Maria Mountains with Cihuatcoatl/La Llorona on Top and the Two Serpents Coming East and West 3 1

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5 Picture of Big Maria Mountain taken from West Blythe, Acacitli. This photo is what is depicted in the above drawing of the Tovar Codexes

Top peak is Crying Woman, La Llorona (3), Cihuatcoatl, pregnant with Huitzilopochtli looking up and to the east. She has her mouth open because she is crying. Below Cihuatcoatl is the dragon/serpent with its mouth open facing west (4) ready to eat the goat(2) (at the dragon's/serpent’s mouth) facing east. The dragon/serpent about to gobble the goat depicts the ending of an era. On the left is the dragon/serpent (1) facing east pursuing a human's head (5), also, the end of an era.

The sacred mountain of CoatĂŠpetl is the Big Maria Mountain, 10 miles directly north of West Blythe, California, which was known as Acacitli.

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Comparing Vindobonesis Codex & Huitzilopochtli’s image in the Big Maria Mountains during the 1st sunrise of the equinox

Huitzilopochtli‟s image in the Vindobonensis Codex at sunrise during the equinox

Face of Huitzilopochtli looking south

Huitzilopochtli‟s image is also seen from the east on Hwy 95 at the Blythe Giant Intaglios. This picture was taken during the sunrise of the equinox when the sun rises between the two peaks on Moon Mountain that represents Mother Earth‟s vulva. The Moon Mountains are directly across from the Blythe Giant Intaglios where the Island of Aztlan was on the Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation.

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Huitzilopochtli’s Popular Image In The Codexes After He is Born During the Winter Solstice in the Big Maria Mountains. Here He is Armed with Quetzalcoatl’s Image Coming Down From The Cosmos

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Quetzalpetlatl’s McCoy Mountain Image Above the Blythe Solar/McCoy Solar Project Feet

Body

Head

Hair

Quetzalpetlatl, the female duality of Quetzalcoatl as seen from the Palo Verde Valley, above the Kokopilli/Cicmitl/El Tosco Geoglyphs. The McCoy Mountain in Nahuatl is called “Nonoalcatepetl” which means “Lying down in her house in the mountain.” from the Codex Anales de Cuauhtitlan

Human stick image

Universe geoglyph image at the base of Quetzalpetlatl‟s head with human stick image (Quetzalcoatl) coming down from the direction of Granite Peak (cosmos) is within the Blythe/McCoy Solar Projects . Circle represents the Universe.

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McCoy Mountain Face Image of the Creator, “El Creador” in the Hair of Quetzalpetlal Image

Mouth

Downward “V”

Upward “V”

This photo was taken during the Winter Solstice on December 21.

The photo on the left depicts the face image of the Creator, “El Creador” with his mouth wide open. Also seen is a “V” pointing down and a “V” pointing up. The “V” pointing down represents the Creator came down from the cosmos and the “V” pointing up represents Granite Peak/Tamoanchan (Mother Earth). Photo was taken from Buck Avenue, approx 5 miles north of I-10 looking west across the McCoy Valley.

The picture on the right is a statue image of “El Creador” which represents Quetzalcoatl and Ophiuchus, representing the 13th constellation which is now being accepted by modern day astronomers. The Mexica/Maya have always recognized the 13th constellation. This statue is thousands of years old. The statue has the snake wrapped around the male similar to the snake wrapped around Ophiuchus.

He has his mouth open and has a long beard. This statue was found in Yucatan in 2012 and is in exhibit at the Museum , Instituto Nacional de Antropologia (INAH) in Mexico City.

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Blythe Solar and McCoy Solar Power Projects Locations

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Solar Power Projects Proposed Location (Green Outline) 1.Petroglyphs describing Sacred Sites 2. Sleeping Woman Quetzalpetlatl 3.Quetzalcoatl Human Quartz Image 4. Creator's Throne 5. Kokopilli/Cicimitl Twin Group Geoglyphs 6.The Temple Geoglyph group 7. El Tosco Spirit Geoglyph Group Descends From Tamoanchan 29

2010 Map of Proposed Blythe Solar Energy Project Transmission Corridors and Location of Kokopilli/Cicimitl Twin Geoglyph Group

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After protest by the Indigenous people, Blythe Solar proposed to move the transmission corridor to the approximately 1 1/2 miles to the west but that road will also destroy Sacred Sites such as Quetzalcoatl Human Quartz Image.

All of the McCoy Valley is the most sacred place and is inter-related with the other Sacred Sites along the Colorado River.

1. Roadway leveled out 5 miles long and 300 foot wide by the bankrupt Blythe Solar Millennium 2. Quetzalcoatl Quartz Human Image leaving to the sunset.

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Destruction of Kokopilli/Cicimitl Group by the Bankrupt Blythe Solar Millennium

These are aerial photographs of the geoglyph images of Kokopilli and Cicimitl. Comparison of the two photos shows the destruction to the site by the solar projects, including the destruction of the Sun Complex and True North Geoglyphs.

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El Tosco Geoglyph The Geoglyph is the Spirit Descending Straight from Tamoanchan Granite Peak

The photo on the left is of El Tosco geoglyph, representing the spirit that descends from the cosmos to Granite Peak. The photo on the right is El Tosco taken from the air. You can see his small arms, legs and his head. This geoglyph site is right in the middle of the McCoy Valley Solar Projects. The major east/west trail can be followed from the Blythe Giant Intaglios to El Tosco group geoglyphs.

There are over 10 large geoglyphs in this group within a quarter mile.

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Kokopilli Giant Geoglyph

In Nahuatl, Kokopilli means “koko” hurt, “pilli” our Lord. It is the Creators Image of Quetzalcoatl in the form of half-human/half-bee. (He left during the end of the 3rd sun as shown in the Aztec Sun Stone Calendar).

Kokopilli is playing the flute because it creates wind. The wind is represented by Ehecatl.

Also, it represents a straw where he is sucking the pulque (Agave drink) from McCoy tank. He is hunchback because he is taking all the knowledge of the world to the 4 directions. The seven lines on his back represent the balance of the universe. The five feathers on his head represent the axis mundi, the center of the world.

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Kokopilli Twin-Cicimitl Geoglyph and Magliabecchi Codex Glyph

Cicimitl Geoglyph is in the Kokopilli Group where the Blythe Solar Millenium and McCoy Power Projects are Proposed to be built in the McCoy Valley.

Cicimitl is the spirit that is 13 magnetic north straight to Topock Maze where the spirits repose.

Cicimitl is also called “El Cucu-uy� and its Nagualli is the horny toad lizard that is very sacred to all the Indigenous people. It is seen in the center of the Nahui-Olin glyph from the Borgia Codex and its geographical center is the Arika Mountains in the Rice Valley where the Rice Solar Power Project is proposed to be built.

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Biography of Alfredo Acosta Figueroa Alfredo Acosta Figueroa was born in Blythe, California, in 1934. He is the fourth son of a fifth -generation family of Indigenous-Xicano heritage from the Colorado River Indian Reservation, which encompasses the Palo Verde/Parker Valleys.

Alfredo‟s family was the only existing mining family that began mining during the famous La Paz, Arizona-Colorado River Gold Rush in 1862. He retired in 2006 Alfredo‟s mother was a long-time midwife and volunteer social worker and was well known for her resourcefulness and generosity to the community similar to what her mother Dolores Mollinedo was on the reservation.

His father was of Yaqui-Pima descendent from San Jose de Pima, Sonora, Mexico. He instilled in his sons a strong independent virtue as self-employed miners and he would say, “Your boss is your biggest enemy.” He believed that we should share with others and that the biggest crime one could commit was to deny workers a just wage.

He credits his mother, father and siblings for his healthy and strong upbringing as a youth and this has been the fundamental base of his family. Alfredo and his siblings grew up in “El Barrio Del Cuchillo,” a neighborhood in Blythe referred by the Chemehuevi elders as, “Barrio de la Liebre,” “Acacitli.”in Nahuatl.

Alfredo and his wife, Demesia, have been blessed with nine children, twenty-seven grandchildren and twenty-six great-grandchildren. All are the cornerstone of his multiple activities.

In the late 1950‟s, Alfredo and his brothers became actively involved in politics in Blythe. During this time, Blythe was known as “The Little Mississippi” because of the rampant racial discrimination by the Anglo dominated powerbrokers against Xicanos and other minorities. The Figueroa brothers fought against civil injustices in Blythe and throughout California.

He has worn many hats and undertaken numerous roles including that of a “gambusino” (miner) all his life, 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.

His fascinations with his geographical surroundings in the lower Colorado River Basin Valleys and Northwest Sonora, Mexico and cultural heritage have been the main focus of his interests and accomplishments.

He was fortunate to have served for many years under the personal leadership of two highly respected Xicano leaders, Humberto „Bert‟ Corona of the Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) and Cesar Estrada Chavez, (UFW). His experiences with Corona and Chavez deepened his esteem for humanity and encouraged him to pursue his goals.

In 1975, Alfredo and his family represented Xicanos at the Smithsonian Folk Life celebration in 35

Washington D.C. In 1976, he was again invited during the Bicentennial celebrations.

Alfredo‟s involvement in the farm worker movement began in 1960. He first joined the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AFL-CIO/AWOC) lettuce strike in the Imperial Valley as a volunteer organizer.

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.” After winning his case in the Justice of the Peace Court in Blythe, his family then sued the police officers and the City of Blythe. Finally after 4 years on April 17,1967, he was able to win his suit in the Superior Court in Indio.

His case became a “cause célèbre” in the Civil Rights Movement because he was one of the first Xicanos to sue City Hall and the police department and win in the State of California. His case appeared in the 1970 publication of the Mexican Americans and the Administration of Justice in the Southwest, a report issued by the United States Civil Rights Commission (Washington DC, March, 1970).

In 1962, Cesar Estrada Chavez started organizing the United Farm Workers Association (UFWA) which later became known as the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO. In 1966, Alfredo once more became involved in organizing campesinos to fight for their rights and needs of a union to protect them.

During the early years of the Coachella grape strike he was involved in what was publicized as the Coachella Four Clap-Down Case. Alfredo was arrested and incarcerated with three other men, Raul Loya, Thomas Patrick Kay and Jim Caswell. They were accused of disrupting a public assembly when Alfredo lifted the United Farm Worker Flag during a Fourth of July, 1968 celebration at the Dateland school field in Coachella and the crowd cried out in unison “Huelga, Huelga, Huelga.” This case was appealed all the way to the California Supreme Court and won after one of the defendants, Jim Caswell, died because of lack of medical attention after spending 52 of a 120-day sentence in the Riverside County jail.

The Cough Syrup case of 1969 is another incident that involved the physical abuse and unjustified incarceration of Alfredo and his brother, Gilbert by US Customs officers. It started in Calexico, Ca at the border crossing and that ended in the 9th U.S> District Federal Court of San Diego, Ca. Alfredo and Gilbert sued the Customs officers in the case of Figueroa v. Donald Quick. The presiding federal judge, Clifford Wallace issued a historical memorandum opinion that stated, “any violation of the Fourth Amendment could not be considered within the scope of the official duties of an officer of the government and therefore he has no immunity for such acts.” Prior to this case, Customs and Border Patrol Officers of the U.S. Department of Treasury had always been immune to lawsuits. This case became a landmark which provided the rights of abused victims to sue the U.S. Department of Treasury.

On April 6, 1972, Alfredo‟s daughter, Patricia was manhandled by the principal of Blythe Junior High School. They were having a “MECHA” (Xicano Student Organization) meeting and 36

were showing an 8mm video where the United Farm Workers were protesting against the former U.S. President, Richard Nixon at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The Blythe Junior High principal, Earl Trout came in and became upset because two high school students were showing this movie in the meeting. He then disconnected the movie camera, grabbed Patricia and threw her out the door where she landed on her shoulders causing her injuries.

There were over 70 young Xicano students present who became enraged. This led to the four week boycott of the high school and junior high. After seeing that the principal had not been reprimanded, the students and parents decided to start their own school at the city park. Thus, La Escuela de la Raza Unida officially began on May 1, 1972, under the famous phrase, “A la sombra de un arbol, una aula escolar, asi a los cuatro vientos” (a classroom under the shade of every tree, to the four winds).

Alfredo was the driving force in starting their own Bilingual Educational Radio station, KERU (88.5 FM) in 1982. It is now affiliated with Radio Bilingue from Fresno, California.

Under the leadership of Alfredo in 1976, ERU was instrumental in organizing local and international opposition of the proposed Sun Desert Nuclear power plant of the San Diego Gas and Electric Company. It was to be built 15 miles southwest at the base of the sacred Mule Mountains of Blythe. SDG&E purchased 10,000 acres to obtain the water rights to supply the proposed Nuclear Power Plant displacing hundreds of local farm workers. This plant posed a major threat to the contamination of the Lower Colorado River. The proposed Nuclear Power Plant was the first plant in the United States that was stopped.

Continuing with the anti-nuclear campaign in 1992, Ron Van Fleet and Alfredo, under the auspices of Fort Mojave Nation, organized the Colorado River Anti-Ward Valley Coordinating Committee. This committee was organized to stop the proposed construction of the Ward Valley Nuclear Toxic dump. The dump was proposed to be built 20 miles west of Needles and it was going to contaminate the aquifers that lead to the Colorado River. They were successful in getting the five indigenous reservations of the Colorado River to join together to fight the proposed dump. After struggling for 8-years together with the help of over 200 environmental organizations in the United States and Mexico they were able to stop the construction of the proposed Ward Valley Nuclear Toxic Dump.

In 1985, Alfredo and his brother Miguel were instrumental in lobbying for the construction of the Chuckwalla State Prison located 17 miles from Blythe.

Throughout his life, he has received many recognitions and awards. He was the recipient of the prestigious Taller Escuela Julian Carrillo Honorary Award for his cultural investigations of Aztlan. He is also a descendant/ founder and president of the International Association of the Descendants of Joaquin Murrieta which he founded in 1988. He was co-organizer of the annual “Caravana Del Recuerdo” celebrations in Trincheras, Sonora (birthplace of Joaquin Murrieta) from 1988-2002.

In 1992, he was the coordinator for the Colorado River area Peace and Dignity Journeys that began in Alaska and Tierra del Fuego, South America. These journeys began simultaneously and ended in Teotihuacan, Mexico on October 12, 1992 (Commemorating 500 years of European resistance) and again in 1996.

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In 2000, together with the indigenous communities of the Lower Colorado River Basin and environmentalist groups, they managed to detour the north route of the proposed PG&E natural gas company line route (which went from Blythe, south to Baja California, Mexico). The proposed route threatened to destroy some of the most sacred sites of Palo Verde Peak. Thanks to their efforts, the sacred sites were preserved.

Alfredo‟s traditional spirituality and his faith in the creator have given him the motivation to pursue his goals and to seek the knowledge in revealing the truth of the creation story.

Alfredo is a founding member of La Cuna de Aztlán Sacred Sites Protection Circle that signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to preserve the Blythe Giant Intaglios and other sacred sites, on March 14, 2008.

Today he and La Cuna de Aztlan Sacred Sites Protection Circle are fighting one of the biggest struggles of their lives in their effort to protect the giant Kokopilli, Cicimitl and Tosco geoglyph group and hundreds of sacred sites that stand to be destroyed by the construction of the approved mega solar power plants funded by government fast track stimulus monies.

La Cuna de Aztlan Sacred Sites Protection Circle is working in collaboration with local tribes and other concerned citizens and environmentalists to prohibit the destruction of the giant Kokopilli, Cicimitl and Tosco and hundreds of sacred sites threatened by the proposed mega solar power plants.

In spite of the enormous obstacles that he has encountered throughout his life, Alfredo is not one that will give up. His long-life desire is to share, educate, and organize and regain the indigenous cosmic traditional culture which is the only solution for human salvation. One of his famous sayings is, “La Lucha Indeterminable,” The Never Ending Struggle. The compelling force behind Alfredo has been his strong dedication and the persistence in the belief of "El Nuevo Saber,” The Birth of the New Knowledge, the Neltiliztli, meaning “to seek the roots of the truth without a shadow of a doubt.”

Alfredo‟s philosophy is that all humans must come together as a family; Anglo-Saxons, Blacks, Indigenous and Asians, etc., like the ancient Nahuatl teachings of „Tloque Nahuaque,‟ which is represented by the fingers on the hand, separate, different sizes and shapes, yet joined all together at the wrist as the human race, symbolizing, “that among all we do all for the benefits of all.”

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Tloque NahuaqueLike the fingers of the hand, among ALL, we do ALL for the benefit of ALL, different sizes, different shapes but ALL together in hand of the human race.

Alfredo Acosta Figueroa, La Cuna de Aztlan Sacred Sites Protection Circle 39

Acknowledgement

For all of you that have fought to preserve the Sacred Sites of all people.

The everlasting struggle will continue until we are successful in preserving these most sacred sites. The solution for human salvation is for us to focus and regain our traditional roots. We must bring back the culture, respect for elders, morals, and respect for our fellow humans, animals and the environment.

Thanks to the Creator, he who has no name yet has all the names, we have flourished and are striving to bring forth the truth of our native culture.

TLAZOCAMATLI– THANK YOU

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