Chicanos call Texas by the name Tejaztlan, referencing the the legendary ancestral home of the Nahua peoples, one of the main cultural groups in Mesoamerica. Aztec is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlan". Some Chicanos feel that the name Aztlan refers to the lands of Northern Mexico that were annexed by the United States as a result of the Mexican-American War. Hence the use of Tejaztlan, Califaztlan, Arizaztlan, New Mejaztlan, Coloraztlan, Nevadaztlan, and Utaztlan.
Tejaztlan WAS Mexico. We've been here longer than any pilgrim immigrants. Tejaztlan is our home and we're an indigenous people to this land.
by xana c/s August 26, 2010