Cannibalism In Mesoamerica

There are many words that one can use to describe the indigenous people of Mesoamerica: brilliant architects, pioneers in mathematics and astrometry. However, there are a few words that are hardly ever utter out loud; cannibals and superficial individuals who perform human sacrifice. To our modern society, the practices of the Aztec people may seem a bit strange and a little bit extreme but to the Native people it was a part of their religious practices. If you can imagine it, it would be like trying to explain why the catholic eat the blood and the body of Jesus Christ. In this essay, I will explain how human sacrifice and cannibalism may play the hand in hand with each other, for instance in times of great hunger. Cannibalism was also used as a political tactic to deter …show more content…
It is said that Moquihuix, a ruler from Tlatelolco was looking for allies from "within and beyond the Valley of Mexico" (Isaac 2005, 3). Moquihuix believed it was wise to ask help from Chalco and sent four ambassadors to hopefully make an alliance. Sadly, Chalco wanted no part in helping Tlatelolco and took the ambassadors prisoners. The Chalco people bound and gagged the ambassadors and were quickly brought to King Axayaxatzin where they were promptly hung in front of the king. After their deaths, King Axayaxatzin declared that the bodies be taken down, bathed and boiled to be served in a banquet to the Moquihuix and other notables in Tlatelolca. Little to Moquihuix and the other dignitaries knowledge, Tenochcas served them the very ambassadors they sent out looking for allies. After discovering the horrifying fact that Moquihuix ate the very people he sent out, he declares war. A war between Tlatelolca and the Tenochcas lasted five years. In the second story, the Aztec people used cannibalism as a tactic to provoke and humiliate their political