CINCO DE MAYO AND MARIACHI!
Today in music class, we learned all about the history behind Mexico's flag (see the excerpt below) and what makes Mariachi bands special! We learned that Mariachi bands include acoustic guitars and bass, violins and trumpets! (But usually no drums or percussion.) We explored a real trumpet in class today while we listened to some awesome Mariachi music and looked at photos of bands!
The Flag of Mexico, as it is today, was adopted in 1968. But Mexican flag history really goes back over 600 years earlier than that.
In the early 1300s, so the story goes, the wandering tribe of Mexica people were looking for a home. Persecuted and cast out from other nations, they believed that their god, Huitzilopochtli, would show them a sign - to guide them to their new settlement. The Mexica people (who would become part of the mighty Aztec Empire) believed that they would see an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus, and that's where they would build their new city.
But then Mexican flag history took a strange turn. According to the legend the Mexica people did indeed see the sign - but it was on an unlikely spot. A small, swampy island in the middle of Lake Texcoco.
Just as the Mexican people still are today, the Mexicas were resourceful. They invented the chinampas system, which allowed them to create small garden islands, which would eventually help to dry out the land. As it dried, they built. Causeways were built across the lake to allow access to the island. In 1325, the city of Tenochtitlan was born.
Check here for more on Mexico City history, from then until now.
When the Spanish saw this symbol of the empire - an eagle on a cactus, they misinterpreted the red and blue currents coming from the eagle's mouth. Someone thought it was a snake, and the symbolism of the eagle and snake stuck.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR CHILD
1) How do you make sound with a trumpet? By blowing air!
2) Where does Mariachi come from? Mexico!