AL Æ
AM
Y
generations, ravaged by exposure to European diseases, that
many people – Spanish and indigenous alike – believed that
they might be on the road to extinction. Domingo thought it
was possible. At the very least, it was becoming clear to him that
there was almost no one left alive who could understand the
painted glyphic histories of the pre-conquest years, and there
were even relatively few people who could still truly comprehend
the transcribed written histories, because their style was very
different from that of European texts. In the evenings, when he
had finished his work for the church, he took it upon himself to
gather together all the native history he could find and write it
out in one grand compendium. He wrote in Nahuatl, and also
began to again style himself ‘Chimalpahin’ more regularly.Victory from defeat
One of Chimalpahin’s favourite stories from the sources con-
cerned Shield Flower, daughter of a late-13th-century warrior
chief. (She was sometimes given the even more valiant name
Shield-Bearer Flower.) Her ancestors had arrived in the preced-
ing century, among the last of a wave of migrants from the north,
from regions known today as Arizona and New Mexico. When
they arrived in the central valley of Mexico, they found that
all of the best land had already been claimed, so they offered
themselves for hire as mercenaries in other city-states’ wars, livingIsland life
A map of Mexico City,
from a mid-16th-
century Spanish
atlas. The colonisers
built their new capital
on the site of the Az-
tec city Tenochtitlán,
which had been razed
during the conquest,
and destroyed most
literary sources pre-
dating their arrivalhand to mouth. Eventually, Shield Flower’s father had had
enough. He declared war on Culhuacan, a leading chiefdom,
thinking that his people’s place would be assured – if they won.
They lost. Shield Flower was among many women taken
prisoner. She was selected to be sacrificed – a surprising choice:
it was usually men who were thus killed. But their enemies dith-
ered and delayed for days, apparently having no taste for the
deed. The girl was brave – beyond brave, even. At length, she
shouted to her enemies to bring her the feathers and the chalk,
the ceremonial items needed to perform a ritual sacrifice. She
would adorn herself and do the deed, if they were too cowardly
to do so, she said. Someone brought her what she demanded
and, as she died, she screamed at her enemies: “People of Cul-
huacan, I go to where my god lives. My people’s descendants will
all become great warriors – you will see!”
After she died, the Culhuas washed away her blood and ashes,
but they could not wash away the dread her words had awakened.
Indeed, Shield Flower’s people went on to build the magnificent
Aztec empire. She had inspired them to fight for their future, to
master their fear and overcome their dependence and poverty,
to work night and day to accomplish great things. She was quite
a woman, Chimalpahin no doubt thought as he scribbled.
Chimalpahin wrote for over two decades, in an era when
many other Nahuatl-speaking people likewise participated in