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Mexicayotl (Nahuatl word meaning "Essence of theMexican", "Mexicanity";Spanish:Mexicanidad; see-yotl) is a movement that aims to revive theIndigenous religion,philosophy andtraditions ofancient Mexico (Aztec religion andAztec philosophy) among theMexican people.
The movement came to light in the 1950s, led byMexico City intellectuals otherwise known as the descendants of The Aztec Triple Alliance Elite.
The Mexicayotl movement started in the 1950s with the founding of the groupNueva Mexicanidad byAntonio Velasco Piña. In the same years Rodolfo Nieva López founded theMovimiento Confederado Restaurador de la Cultura del Anáhuac,[1] the co-founder of which was Francisco Jimenez Sanchez, who in later decades became a spiritual leader of the Mexicayotl movement, endowed with thehonorificTlacaelel. He had a deep influence in shaping the movement, founding the In Kaltonal ("House of the Sun", also called Native Mexican Church) in the 1970s.[2]
From the 1970s onwards Mexicayotl has grown developing in a web of local worship and community groups (calledcalpulli orkalpulli)[3] and spreading to theMexican Americans orChicanos in theUnited States. It has also developed strong ties with Mexican national identity movements andChicano nationalism.[4] Sanchez's Native Mexican Church (which is a confederation ofcalpullis) was officially recognised by the government ofMexico in 2007.[5]