Where are we?

Today is day two of National Native American Heritage Month. And next year, 2026, is America’s 250th birthday. So, here’s an…

ICE-BREAKER!

Where are we geographically?

Was my ice-breaker question to my elementary through postgraduate students. Then my follow-up introduction was, “What if I told you that we were in “Asia Extended’?”

As far as one can see, this hemisphere was populated by Asians over 50,000 years ago.

So, one of the “LIES MY TEACHER TOLD” us was that “America is a suburb of Europe”Above: An example of a DC Land Acknowledgment monument, suggested for the Washington, DC’s Southeast neighborhood called “Anacostia”, who’s territory on the namesake river’s Nacotchtank people’s “town of beaver pelt traders". They were here centuries before Englishman, Capt. John Smith arrived.

Unfotunately in a city of monuments, mainly of Europeans, Washington, DC still has no monument to its indigenous First People.

Surprise! We’re not in Europe as is emphatically stated on a wall in Jamestown, Virginia “Where America began” in 1607 with the arrival of Captain John Smith and further established in 1792’s American Revolution.

Students are still not told the truth! (For more accurate information, read these books).

BOOKS TO READ

Also this book below which gives a more accurate description of our hemisphere’s highly developed Indigenous history.

THEN, RESEARCH OUR ANCIENT AMERICA!

Above: Built in grid layout, is the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuakan. One of the world’s largest cities established around 100 BCE with a population estimated at 125,000–200,000 people and a significant sphere of influence throughout Mesoamerica.

Teotihuakan's layout.

Above: The world’s oldest pyramid, Templo Mayor (Great Temple) at the Sacred City of Caral-Supe, dating to around 2600 BC. Caral is the oldest known civilization in the Americas, and the pyramids there are 200 years older than the Egyptian step pyramid designed by Imhotep the architect, making Peru’s Carla, the oldest monumental pyramids in the world.

Above: The Mayan pyramid of Chitzen Itza, in Mexico’s Yucatán, built 1,092 years before Columbus arrived in the Caribbean. When this pyramid city was built, Europe was the chaotic yet transformative period known as the Early Middle Ages, Buildings were mostly villages made of wood. The continent was a patchwork of developing civilizations, with the massive Carolingian Empire in the West, the powerful Byzantine Empire in the Southeast, and a strong civilizing Islamic Caliphate in Iberia or Spain in 711 AD.

What if I told you that we live in…UNCEDED TERRITORY?

Here’s a new way of thinking and acknowledging this people who were forcefully, by war, and imported disease, “gave us” their lands! However, in reality, this “transfer” was unceded land, which refers to territory that was never surrendered by the Indigenous peoples who lived there, through treaties or other agreements. 

Q: So, where are we Geographically?

Or, exactly where did America begin?

Ask the average American this question and you may get the answer they were mistakenly taught.

As stated, this misguided answer is on a wall in Jamestown Festival Park, Virginia, on a large sign which misguidedly states,

“America is a suburb of Europe”.

The Irony?



Is that the sign sits the unceded territory of the historic Powhatan Paramountcy!

Remember Pocahontas? The little 11-year-old minor daughter of Wahunsenachawh, the werowance of the 32-34 nation Powhatan Paramountcy? Her popular story is of bigamy, since she, at 15-years old, was married to Cuocum, an Powhatan war captain. And they may have had a son. However, the British conveniently did not recognize “heathen marriages”. So, an English serf (incidentally, this European station was actually a slave), because he was a Christian, could take away an Indian man’s Native wife, who was the actual owner of Indigenous land. Convenient thievery, huh?

This was one way of stealing land. Also, the popular Pocahontas “love story" was one of pedophilia. She was 11-years-old, and Smith was in his 30’s. No love story here since Pocahontas called Smith “father”, a sign of elderly respect.

POPULAR MOVIE LIES



The 1607 arriving at this spot in the Americas the English found it difficult to pronounce Wahunsenachawh, so kthey called him by his title, “Powhatan”, meaning “Principal Leader”.

Now you know where we are, and it ain’t Europe!

SOME DESCENDANTS

SURVIVORS OF THE AMERINDIAN HOLOCAUST

As for the surviving descendants of the historic Powhatan Paramountcy?

Above: A print titled “Pocahontas Unmasked” by artist and a distant relative, Rose Powhatan (Pamunkey/Tauxenent). She challenges the notion that Pocahontas was white.

Above: Artist/tribal historian/ storyteller Rose Powhatan (Pamunkey/Tauxenent).

Above: A pivotal book by Dr. Helen Rountree, an expert on the Powhatan people and history.

Above: Late Tauxenent Chief, Kezia Boston (Tauxenent/Pamunkey) the first elected Virginia Tauxenent or Dogue since 1755’s burning down of the Fairfax County Courthouse by her relative, werowancesquaw (female leader) Kdzia Powhatan and her warriors since King Charles II “gave” her territory to his cousin, Lord Fairfax.

Above: DAR plaque at Tyson’s Corner, Fairfax County, VA. The Boston family of DC and Fairfax County knew that their ancestors were the “Indian Hostiles” referred to on the plaque.

Above: The annual 1677 Treaty Observance on the Virginia Governor’s Mansion, with the Pamunkey’s deer as part of the tribute honoring the agreement with the British governor after the 3rd Anglo-Powhatan War of Homeland Security, to no longer war, but live in peace. The annual tribute was originally with valuable beaver pelts.

Above: A painting by Washingtonian Native American, Rose Powhatan (Pamunkey/Tauxenent), titled, “Where are you from, Honey?”, a question American immigrants in DC have asked all her life,

Above: Our website header informing social media about “People of the First Encounter”, the Caribbean’s Taino and Kalinago civilizations, and the Powhatan Paramountcy.

Above: Our “Indian on an Indian” silkscreen print with Pamunkey Chief, George Mayor Cook who advertised for Indian Motorcycle Company in the 1930s.

Above. The 1907 Pocahontas Patent put on by the State of Virginia with Pamunkey tribal members. The young women at the far left, played Pocahontas, while the sitting man in the center, front row is chief George Major Cook, playing Powhatan or Wahunsenachawh.

Above: Years earlier, school children on the oldest American reservation, the Pamunkey Reservation next to the Pamunkey River in King William County,

bove:,Our museum’s T-shirt with over 500 Native American tribes in the background which says it all!

Divine Inspiration?

VIA ARTISTIC INTERPRETATION

Above: A composite wooden sculpture turned into a Mother’s Day card. It is of Itiba Cahubaba, Fifth Earth Goddess, also known as the “Bloodied One”. The Taino believed that she gave birth to the Four Fathers of Humankind via a cesarean procedure and died in childbirth. Called, the Four twins, one of them is Deminan, the father of the Taino. The other three brothers translate as “Of No Importance.”

Above: The author's Marohu the Sun-god with his iguana-el symbol, whose dorsal spikes of the sun-loving lizard’s back, soaking up the ultraviolet rays to keep its blood warm, resemble the sun’s rays. Silkscreen print on handmade paper.

Above: My interpretation of Boinayel, the twin god of rain whose symbol is the Black Raincloud snake Boina, represents storm clouds. Silkscreen print.

Today on September 26, 2025 my Kacike in Jamaica, Robert “Kalaan” Pariman of the island’s Yucayeke Yamaye Guani a Peoples Community, an indigenous tribal group, of which I am a follower, sent message below about honoring our Indigenous Yamaye Taino spiritual guides who represent the East.

 

Above: Jamaica’s Yamaye Taino’s seal with an image of the island and the island’s national bird, the endemic “doctor bird” or sissors tail hummer, called a colibre and zum-zum, for the sound that this fighter’s wings make. Their shimmering features represent golden or 14k guanin.

I found this day’s message from the Kacike below somewhat revealing. Some artists, when creating artwork, “leave themselves open” to whatever inspirational “vibes” care to enter the creative work process. For example, Leroy Clarke, a Trinidadian painter would blow his blood from a nostril, spraying it over an Africa inspired painting which he was creating. Now deceased, his artworks in color, were beautiful.

Above: Leroy Clarke’s black and white print is just one style he used, plus multicolored acrylic paintings.

My experience with the spiritual beings above, one of Itiba Cahubaba, the Taino’s Fifth Earth Mother, got accolades in a DC gallery exhibition 31 years ago in 1964. The oneman exhibition was titled, “Honoring the Memory of Itiba Cahubaba”, which was held at DuPont Circles’s Fondo del Sol, Multicultural Museum. As can be seen, in the attached Washington Post’s article, the art critic loved the piece.

While doing these above pieces I was not aware then that the three deities above, would be honored today.

The Message: “Today, we honour and reflect on the beauty and gifts of the East. As we do so, we are grateful for all the teachings, laws, and medicines it provides. We give thanks to our Cemi Marohu, the giver of the Sun, and Boinayel, who brings us the blessings of rain, restoring and bringing balance to our lives. As always, we give thanks to our dear Great Mother, Itiba Cahubaba, who teaches us about responsibility, commitment, compassion, and our relationships with one another, our community, and our ancestors. We honour them and give thanks for the presence of the ancestors' voices in these stories, healing us and helping our community to stay connected and maintain its continuity. We are grateful for the ancestral knowledge of the East that guides us on how to live our lives in a Yamaye way, and that centers us in who we are, so that we will continue to commit to learning and sharing for generations to come.”

Knowledge Of Our Homelands

 In this time of attacks on Amerindians, do you know where we are geographically? 

Copyright 2025 by Michael Auld

Left: Illustration by the author of an ancient (1200 BCE) Olmec ruler in Mexico's Yucatan, based upon a gigantic stone sculpture with pyramids in the background.

Right: A painting of Christopher Columbus arriving much later in the Caribbean around 1492 AD.

The above title has an ice-breaker question that I would ask my students from the elementary school level to adults on the postgraduate level.

For that matter, ask the average American, Caribbean, Central or South American this question:

“Where do you think that we are geographically?” 

And I guarantee few will correctly answer this simple question beyond their country's current names and education! 

So, with my students, I went further: “What if I told you that we in the Americas are in Asia Extended?”

Silence! 

"The reason why it's Asia Extended is that Amerindians are genetically "Asiatic", I offered.

The looks on their faces was priceless!

But, I got my point across. 

This was my Modus Operandi because of a misleading wall sign which I saw at Jamestown Festival Park in Virginia. often touted as "Where America began!".

“America is a suburb of Europe,” the dismissively Eurocentric sign declared. 

HOWEVER, WHAT WE SHOULD REALY KNOW?

As an educator for almost 40 years in the Nation’s Capital, the above approach was my icebreaker introduction. I would then introduce "Amerindian aesthetics" as a part of my curriculum.

Asia is so large that it has the most human beings on planet Earth. This territory which I call "Asia proper"is in the Eastern Hemisphere of the continent. However,  many eastern Asians during periods of time moved all the way over to our Western hemisphere from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego in South America and into the Caribbean islands. Over 50,000 years ago or more, some believe. Others say 33,000 years ago. Then, genetic evidence now shows that movements occurred 40,000 to 50,000 years ago.

Widespread misnaming of aboriginal territories began after the arrival of foreigners like Christopher Columbus in 1492, who began by renaming the Caribbean islands with Spanish religious names. For example, In October 1492 when he arrived in the Taino’s Lucaya islands now called the Bahamas, he renamed Guanahani, meaning the “Island of the iguana” (populated by many of these sacred lizards), as an ode to the Sun god, Iguana-el. Columbus renamed the island with the Christian name of San Salvador, (the Savior in Spanish). He like those who came after him, began to rename the Amerindian territories with European names. Following suit, European names first in Spanish, then in English, French, Dutch and other so-called "Christian names" appeared on their maps. Not consulting the Amerindians, these were substitutes for what the ancient civilizations in the Americas previously called their territories for hundreds of years. 

Arriving foreigners to the continent were even unaware that North America's indigenous translated name is Turtle Island. Still called this by the indigenous, the continent is continued to be known to those who have respected Mother Earth fot thousands of years. Why? Because from the sky, the shape of the continent is that of a giant turtle. The question is, how did these ancients know what their continent looked like from the sky? The same goes for the Caribbean's Taino women who illustrated the hurricane in the same "S"-shape on ceramic pots, as now seen by satellite photography? (See the above title of this blog for Guabancex's image, as The Angry Woman Goddes, Rider of the Winds, was known).

The Native American's Turtle Island in a sacred circle and with the spiritual colors of the 4-Directions.

KNOWING THE HISTORY OF WHERE WE ARE

Perú's sacred Caral-Supre pyramid and "Amphitheater" complex, built 2600 BCE. 

 

Egypt's first step pyramid built in 2780 BCE, for King Djoser's by his architect, Imhotep.

For example, when we are taught about ancient civilizations, pyramid building rise to the top of the list. However, Egypt does not have the first pyramids, Perú's Caral-Supe, built around 2600 BCE were at least 100 years before Egypt's step pyramid at Djoser. "Perú's structure was step pyramids had flat, terrased sides and had diverse purposes, including ceremonial and administrative functions." While "Egyptian pyramids primarily served as tombs."--AI.  

Countries in the Americas that incorporate ancient history into their education curriculum include Mexico, Peru, and America.

- *Mexico*: Mexico's education system draws from the rich cultural heritage of Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Aztecs and Mayans. Their curriculum highlights the history, mythology, and contributions of these ancient cultures to modern society.

- *Perú's*: Peruvian education includes the history of the Inca Empire, emphasizing their achievements in mathematics, astronomy, and architecture. Students learn about the empire's social structure, traditions, and cultural practices.

- *United States*: While not exclusively focused on ancient history, the US education system does cover the history of pre-Columbian cultures, including the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, as part of its broader curriculum on world history and cultural studies.

ROCKET SCIENCE OR GEOMETRY?

Perú's Caral–Supe pyramid (2627 BCE) may be the world's oldest pyramid which predates Egypt's Djoser step pyramid (2667-3646 BCE) by around 100 years.

America's current dismissive attitudes towards those Amerindians south of our border, and ignorance about their profound histories, engenders distrust, hate, and expulsion from the northern portion of their hemisphere. It is not rocket science that this dismissive attitude continues today. In some countries in the Americas they begin their history where the ancient cultures had, for example, a Pyramid city in Perú's dated from 5000 years BCE. Plus later, the Mexican city known by the Aztec name as Tenochtitlan, was larger than all European cities. 

 

 

A layout of Mexico's Aztec (or Mexica, pronounced Meh-she-ka) Tenochtitlan.

  

Tenochtitlan's cmplex.

The population of Tenochtitlan (1325 AD), the ancient Aztec capital, is estimated to have had between 200,000 and 400,000 people at its height in the early 1500s, making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time. Some historical estimates vary, with some suggesting numbers as high as 500,000, while others suggest a minimum of 100,000 inhabitants. 

Chichén Itzá

Then, there is the Yucatán’s Mayan Chichén Itzá.

Chichén Itzá pyramid has sculptures, with human remains inside. The deity, Kukulcán, the feathered serpent god, alights from the heavens, blesses his worshipers on earth, and then makes his way to the underworld, or Xibalba. In reality, the setting sun during the spring and fall equinoxes casts a shadow on the northern balustrade that resembles the body of a snake slithering down the stairs, an effect which is heightened by joining with the heads of four sculpted heads at the base.

Chichén Itzá pyramid complex.

JUST A FEW AMERINDIAN GIFTS

 

 

A Spanish woodcut of a Taino smoking sacred cohibi or tobacco  the oldest medicinal herb in the Americas which was used mainly for spiritual and healing purposes. Later misused recreationally, it caused cancer.

The Olmec invention of latex rubber was used to make waterproof shoes, toys. balls and capes. Later used as latex, before plastics, to make gloves, tires, belts, electric wire insulation, condoms and much more.

A Caribbean Taino rubber ball player as seen by the arriving Spanish in the 1500s AD and its influence on all games played with a rubber ball. To the arriving Spanish, they thought that the bounce of the rubber ball was caused by witchcraft!

If you like corn, here is the grain which the Caribbean Taino’s called “mahisi”, the root word’s maize. 

Corn, the evidence of hemispheric trade, the grain which originated in ancient Mexico, was traded as far north as Canada, south to Argentina, east into the Caribbean, and west into early India where corn cob sculptures adorn an ancient temple. Ancient Indian temple sculptures in Karnataka feature detailed carvings of maize (corn) majsi or maize, or corn. The grain was invented by ancient Mexican horticulturalists who cross-pollinated teosinte grasses to the left, creating various types of corn for a variety of climates, and stories about "Corn Mother" who passed it on to many cultures. Now it feeds millions of humans, cattle, and chickens, etc. This is why corn can only be propagated by humans.

Amerindian corn in an ancient Indian temple. Sculpted in 12th and 13th Century A.D. India as Indicators of Pre-Columbian Diffusion. 

The Bread of Life: Yuca, cassava, or manioc came from South America via the Caribbean to the Tropical regions around the world.

Considered a Super Fruit with more vitamin C than an orange, the guava fruit here has an association with the Taino God of the Afterlife. Guayaba (2 & 3), and his search dog of the Afterlife (4), guava jelly (5), guava paste or cheese (6), manatee bone vomiting stick used in the spiritual cohoba trance ceremony (7) connecting with the deity.

INDIGENOUS EDUCATION

Early Mexican scribe who could also be a teacher.

Ancient Mexico featured two main types of formal education for adolescents: the Calmecac, for the sons of nobles and gifted children focusing on leadership, religious duties, and complex subjects like astronomy and literacy; and the Telpochcalli ("House of Youth"), where commoner boys learned practical, military skills and trades. While not a formal classroom in the modern sense, these institutions served as the primary places of higher learning, with rigorous discipline and different curricula tailored to social class and gender. 

The Calmecac

Purpose: For the commoner youth, focusing on practical and military training to prepare them for life as warriors. 

Curriculum: Emphasized physical endurance, martial arts, and participation in religious songs and dances. 

Students: Boys of commoner families.

 

Key Characteristics

Gender Separation:
Boys and girls attended separate schools after early childhood. Girls typically attended schools that taught household skills, religious practices, singing, dancing, and crafts. 

Community-Based:
Schools were often associated with neighborhoods, known as calpulli, each with its own schools. 

Discipline:
Both the Calmecac and Telpochcalli were known for strict discipline and harsh punishments for misbehavior. 

Home Education:
Before their teenage years, children were educated at home by their parents, learning various skills and cultural practices. 

EDUCATION IN THE AMERICAS

Countries in the Americas that incorporate ancient history into their education curriculum include ¹ ² ³:

- *Mexico*: Mexico's education system draws from the rich cultural heritage of Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Aztecs and Mayans. Their curriculum highlights the history, mythology, and contributions of these ancient cultures to modern society.

- *Perú's*: Peruvian education includes the history of the Inca Empire, emphasizing their achievements in mathematics, astronomy, and architecture. Students learn about the empire's social structure, traditions, and cultural practices.

- *United States*: While not exclusively focused on ancient history, the US education system does cover the history of pre-Columbian cultures, including the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas, as part of its broader curriculum on world history and cultural studies.

In these countries, the inclusion of ancient history serves to:

- *Preserve Cultural Heritage*: By studying their ancient roots, students develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of their national identity.

- *Promote Cultural Diversity*: Learning about diverse ancient civilizations fosters respect for the contributions of different cultures to modern society.

- *Contextualize Historical Development*: Understanding the past helps students contextualize the historical development of their countries and the world at large.Keep in mind that specific curriculum details may vary depending on the region, school, or educational level.