Misconceptions: The fantastic Maya Empire (Sub. Español)

[@peterk.9571]

Yeah, it's my pet peeve when people refer to the "Mayan Empire". Even my history teachers have fallen to this habit. By the way, love your channel! Greetings on behalf of my Taino forefathers.

[@AztlanHistorian]

Glad you enjoy my work :) Greetings from the Nahua highlands!

[@grandmastercrusader8724]

Maya is just like Mesopotamia, Greece, and Medieval/Renaissance Italy just a collection of city states.

[@ibnyahud]

if you think about it without the lens of modern connectivity and communication networks, it makes a lot more sense that power used to be based far more locally in city-states...

[@brunotheartist]

Saludos y muchas gracias por el video. Crecí con el conocimiento de mis antepasados Mayas; me dio mucho gusto aprender acerca de mi cultura 😍

[@FromNothing]

Well-done. Sorry for the late comment. I'm guilty of the "Maya Empire" thing. I remember Twin actually bringing it up once. I guess it kinda happens alot with African cultures as well now that I think of it like the "Mossi" despite there being several independent Mossi Kingdoms. Same goes for the Hausa.

[@AztlanHistorian]

Sadly, both the Americas and Africa suffer from the same problem; a historical record written from a colonial perspective and by authors that didn't understand the cultures they described. Most of our popular notions about the indigenous cultures of both Africa and the Americas are still rooted in prejudices and misconceptions emerged from books and rumours from the colonial era, as well as from political propaganda from those same times, in order to justify the conquest. Fortunately, for the Mossi, the Hausa, the Maya, the Taino and many other cultures; things are changing and our understanding is improving; although we still have a lot of work to do in order to help people leave behind those colonial myths (and not to embrace new ones). And that's the main reason to keep our channels going my friend :) We still have a lot to do!

[@imperator692]

You have just earned a new subscriber my friend. Its always great to see fellow colonial people (I'm African) teaching their own history.

[@AztlanHistorian]

Glad you enjoy my work :)

[@brunotheartist]

I agree!

[@compassionatetraveler8625]

I keep on trying to tell this to everyone in my school. THE MAYA WERE NEVER UNITED JUST LIKE THE GREEEEEEKS!!!!!

[@AztlanHistorian]

I get what's to have to explain that every time I mention the Maya. I don't know if people stick to the myth because it's easier to imagine a single Maya state, or just because there aren't spaces to teach Maya history. Either way, both are good reasons to keep going with this channel :)

[@leArnau]

This channel is worth even more that all the gold and silver that the Spanish took

[@AztlanHistorian]

The support of my subscribers is just as precious to me :)

[@MajoraZ]

Great video, as always. This is a super common misconception and i'm glad you are tackling it, and I think it's a good explanation for people who might not know much about Mesoamerica to understand the topic... but as somebody who does, I have to question if the situation is a bit more nuanced. Obviously, as you yourself note in the video, there was no single unified Maya state that controlled every or the majority of Maya polities, nor an imperialistic polity which directly governed every subservient state and settlement it had authority over... ...However, we call the Aztec Empire an empire, despite it not controlling every Nahua altepetl (Tlaxcala, Huextozinco, etc were unconquered), and it has hands-off rule where for the most part it just collected tribute and required help on military campaigns, public construction, etc; without actually directly governing it's tributaries or vassals/strategic provinces. So, with that said: *Could* say the Kan Calakmul dyansty/kingdom or the Tikal Mutul dynasty/kingdom be considered empires in the same way as the Aztec or say 8-deer-jaguar-claw's "Mixtec Empire"? To a degree I suppose it's semantic, since a lot of people kindgom vs empire is just an issue of size. Regardless, how much influence did Tikal and Calakmul exert over their allied and subservient cities and towns? AFAIK tribute wasn't really collected in the same way as with the Aztec, but I know they did install rulers over conquered cities and presumably the installed rulers would follow the will of Tikal/Calakmul in most situations.What about the settlements that didn't have installed rulers? Were they just totally left alone? if so, what makes them a part of that kingdom? Lastly, can you suggest some resources for learning about the different Maya archtectural styles you mention at 7:36? I'm familiar with the Puuc style in terms of what it looks like, but not so much about it's history or spread, and i'm not familar with the other two at all. I also have another question regarding Maya and mesoamerican cultural divisions in general in relation to the second half of the video, but I think that's too long for a youtube comment and I'll send it over discord instead.

[@AztlanHistorian]

Glad you liked the video:) Now, let me tackle this: 1. The comparison with the Aztec Empire is nonsensical. The Aztecs were just one of many Nahua peoples; please remember that not all Nahua were Aztec (I already made a video on that subject). We call it Aztec Empire because it was controlled by the Aztecs, and also, all Aztecs did live within the Empire at some point. Just remember Aztec =/= Nahua 2. There were many Maya kingdoms that like Kaan established their hegemony over other city-states and kingdoms, so yeah; you could call them empires; although as you already clarified, my issue was with the notion of a single unified "Maya Empire". 3. I have sources for those architectural styles, but only in Spanish (like this one www.revista.unam.mx/vol.5/num7/art47/art47-5.html) Hope you keep enjoying my work!

[@marcelacruz7661]

Where do you find the background music? I love it

[@AztlanHistorian]

I'm glad you like it. I go looking for music every time I make a new video, so I often pick music I find at the moment... and later forget where I got it 😔 Sorry for not being able to help you.

[@maquinavoladora2289]

Great work! Would you make some Spanish content? ¿Sí, lo harías?

[@AztlanHistorian]

Quizá, quizá...

[@giuseppelogiurato5718]

It appears that it was more like a "Maya-sphere" than an "empire"... akin to the Greeks, for sure... Sometimes one "polis" would get uppity and try to be the boss of some of the others, but it never lasted for very long.

[@kategrant2728]

First! So excited to watch!

[@AztlanHistorian]

Thanks for your support Kate :)

[@kategrant2728]

@@AztlanHistorian Can you recommend an up to date text that highlights the differences of these Maya cultures?

[@AztlanHistorian]

@@kategrant2728 Most of the information I used on this video is a synthesis of many sources (mainly in Spanish), because as far as I know, no one has especifically tackled the pre-Columbian Maya cultural diversity :(

[@kategrant2728]

@@AztlanHistorian That's extremely frustrating, but I know how that goes. Looking at distinct Maya cultures would make a good video series, and you'd be basically the first person on the English language internet covering that.

[@AztlanHistorian]

@@kategrant2728 The lack of information about the pre-Columbian Americas is indeed very frustrating; but fortunately for us, things are now improving. And as for the series, that's indeed a good proposal, but I want to expand first to other cultural areas, as I barely have covered non-Mesoamerican cultures and my channel is supposed to cover the Americas :)

[@the_major]

4:59 - Can we take a moment to appreciate how supremely and effortlessly Yuri Knorosov looks like a Bond villain?

[@AztlanHistorian]

Although he was far more brilliant than any of those :)

[@the_major]

@@AztlanHistorian indeed he was!

[@SomasAcademy]

~3:18 *shakes fists* KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

[@janespright]

The Mixteca are my favourite culture but I love the whole Mesoamerica

[@Geodendronitrian]

Great video!!!! Keep up the good work!!!!!!

[@AztlanHistorian]

I will :) Hope you keep enjoying my work!

[@Geodendronitrian]

@@AztlanHistorian I sure do, keep up the great work.

[@matthewmann8969]

Enjoyed this vid like many others you made anyways do you consider Eskimos as invaders too due to Amerindians being in places like Canada And The United States Of America before them?

[@AztlanHistorian]

Well, native peoples in the Americas often invaded each other; so I don't see what would so special about the Inuit doing the same. If an ethnic group invades another, they are invaders; no matter who they are.

[@luciapat5146]

I really appreciated this perspective on Maya peoples :) but why does your logo have the junab k’uj symbol when it was created by missionaries as a tool of conversion?

[@AztlanHistorian]

You may notice that my username is based on a place that doesn't exist and which description was distorted by Spanish missionaries as well, any idea of why I would use those when I so obviously focus on debunking myths? Also, the Hunab Ku symbol is actually Nahua in origin, but was credited to the Maya by Chicano New Age authors

[@luciapat5146]

oo okay that wasn’t clear to me, will u upload videos debunking new age/popular beliefs on aztlan and junab k’uj?

[@AztlanHistorian]

@@luciapat5146 I've already debunked some of those, but yes, I intend to touch more of those topics in the future

[@the_major]

Loving your videos and thank you for using the Maya names of their cities. Educators need to make a better effort to refer to them by their indigenous names.

[@AztlanHistorian]

I agree on that. We need to start recovering as much of the past as we can in academia. Hope you keep enjoying my work!

[@M.M.83-U]

Very fascinating video!

[@AztlanHistorian]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@bigdurk4115]

Awesome video

[@AztlanHistorian]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@bigdurk4115]

@@AztlanHistorian you do good work

[@ATLevi-qw2su]

That's so cool

[@AztlanHistorian]

Pre-Columbian American history is cool indeed :) And I still have a lot to cover!

[@garret16]

hey are you still around

[@AztlanHistorian]

Yes. Although I'm more active on Discord discord.gg/R3ENvmz

[@kenan2044]

Mayan is still hard to talk

[@AztlanHistorian]

Mayan is not a language; but a family of around 30 languages

[@dawnlandspodcast8217]

Great video

[@AztlanHistorian]

Glad you liked it