Monumento a los Indios Verdes

{{Main|Ahuitzotl|Itzcoatl}}

Itzcoatl was the son of Acamapichtli. He served as the fourth {{lang|nah|Huey Tlatoani}} of Tenochtitlan and he was the first emperor of the Aztec Empire, ruling from 1427 to his death in 1440. He was the father of Tezozomoc.{{cite web|url=https://arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antiguo/itzcoatl|language=es|title=Itzcóatl|first=María|last=Castañeda de la Paz|date=June 2017|work=Arqueología Mexicana|access-date=5 December 2021}}

Ahuitzotl was the grandson of Moctezuma I (on his mother's side) and Itzcoatl (on his father's side), as well as the son of Tezozomoc and Atotoztli II. Ahuizotl served as the eighth Huey Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan and the sixth ruler of the Aztec Empire, ruling from 1486 to his death in 1502. He was the father of the last ruler of Tenochtitlan, Cuauhtémoc.{{cite web|url=https://arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antiguo/ahuitzotl-el-espinoso-del-agua-1486-1502|title=Ahuítzotl, 'El Espinoso del Agua' (1486-1502)|trans-title=Ahuitzotl, 'the Prickly of the Water'|language=es|work=Arqueología Mexicana|first=Enrique|last=Vela|date=October 2011|access-date=5 December 2021}}

File:Entrance to Paseo, Mexico City, Mexico, ca.1905-1910 (CHS-668).jpg ({{circa|1900}}), opposite to the equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain]]

Antonio Peñafiel and Antonio Anza were asked by the Ministry of Promotion of Mexico to represent the country at the 1889 Paris Exposition. The project resulted in the creation of the Aztec Palace. Among the symbols created for it, there were two bronze sculptures created by Alejandro Casarín Salinas, one of Ahuitzotl and the other of Itzcoatl. They are around {{Convert|3|m|ft|0|sp=us}} to {{Convert|4|m|ft|sp=us}} tall and weigh around {{Convert|3|t|sp=us}}. The reason why Ahuitzotl and Itzcoatl were selected to have statues while other rulers were represented with reliefs is unknown.

The statues, however, were not displayed at the event and instead they were placed along Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, in Mexico City,{{cite web|url=https://arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antiguo/quien-representan-los-llamados-indios-verdes|title=¿A quién representan los llamados 'Indios Verdes'?|first=Eduardo|last=Matos Moctezuma|work=Arqueología Mexicana|date=17 July 2016|access-date=5 December 2021|language=es|trans-title=Who do the so-called 'Indios Verdes' represent?}} in September 1891.{{cite web|url=https://www.excelsior.com.mx/expresiones/tizoc-y-ahuizotl-los-discriminados-indios-verdes/1424626|title=Tizoc y Ahuizotl, los discriminados Indios Verdes|trans-title=Tizoc and Ahuizotl, the discriminated Green Indians|first=Humberto|last=Musacchio|date=30 December 2020|work=Excélsior|language=es|access-date=5 December 2021}} The installation was never well-received as the style of the avenue was inspired by that of Europe. By 1902 the statues were moved to the {{ill|Calzada de la Viga|es}}, next to the Canal de la Viga (Viga Canal). In 1920, the government piped the canal and by 1939 the sculptures were moved to the northern section of Avenida de los Insurgentes, the main northern entrance to the city. The statues remained there until 1979 due to the construction of a Mexico City Metro station that was later named after them. They were placed in an area next to the station, but in 2005 they were relocated again due to the construction of a bus rapid transit station. Since then, the monument stands in Parque del Mestizaje (Mestizaje Park).{{Cite web|year=2010|title=Distrito Federal – Gustavo A. Madero|language=es|trans-title=Federal District – Gustavo A. Madero|url=http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/EMM09DF/delegaciones/09005a.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518234340/http://www.e-local.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/EMM09DF/delegaciones/09005a.html|archive-date=18 May 2013|access-date=23 July 2011}}{{Cite book|last=Borboa Gómez|first=Martín|language=es|publisher=Plaza y Valdés|date=1997|title=Itzcóatl, emperador mexica|trans-title=Izcoatl, Aztec emperor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3-yHjPORxMC&dq=indios+verdes&pg=PA286|access-date=23 July 2011|pages=284–287|isbn=9789688565353}}{{Cite web|first=Atalo|last=Mata Othón|location=Mexico City|work=Noticieros Televisa|publisher=esmas.com|date=11 May 2005|title=Reubicarán a Los Indios Verdes|trans-title=The Indios Verdes will be relocated|language=Es|url=http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/investigaciones/445283.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101103022747/http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/investigaciones/445283.html|archive-date=3 November 2010|access-date=23 July 2011}}

Due to the aging process and exposure to saline water and the sun, the statues have turned verdigris. They still stand on their original plinths, which have inscriptions in Nahuatl.

Thanks to the statues, the zone between Deportivo 18 de Marzo metro station and the beginning of the Mexican Federal Highway 85D (Mexico City–Pachuca section) is known as "Indios Verdes". Because of this, the statues are not moved away from the area even though there have been requests to return them to their original place.{{cite web|url=https://www.milenio.com/cultura/indios-verde-quienes-son-y-por-que-son-de-ese-color|title=¿Quiénes son los Indios Verdes del famoso monumento y por qué son de ese color?|trans-title=Who are the Indios Verdes on the famous monument and why are they that color?|language=es|work=Milenio|date=20 January 2021|access-date=5 December 2021|url-access=registration}}{{cite web|url=https://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/los-indios-verdes.html|title=Los Indios Verdes, los otros monumentos que fueron retirados de Paseo de la Reforma|language=es|trans-title=The Indios Verdes, the other monuments that were removed from Paseo de la Reforma|access-date=5 December 2021|work=México Desconocido|date=8 September 2021}} For historian Dalia Argüello Nevado, arguing that the monuments should return to their original site with comments that Paseo de la Reforma would dignify them in a better way denotes in itself a form of racism against the inhabitants of the north of the city.{{cite web|title=Monumentos, historia y poder: El caso de los Indios Verdes en la disputa de la identidad nacional|language=es|trans-title=Monuments, history and power: The case of the Indios Verdes in the dispute of national identity|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180120074641/http://www.correodelmaestro.com/publico/html5072014/capitulo6/Monumentos-historia-y-poder-El-caso-de-los-Indios-Verdes.html|first=Dalia|last=Argüello Nevado|url=http://www.correodelmaestro.com/publico/html5072014/capitulo6/Monumentos-historia-y-poder-El-caso-de-los-Indios-Verdes.html|url-status=dead|work=Correo del Maestro|access-date=26 December 2021|archive-date=20 January 2018}}

After their installation, the statues received derogatory commentary. In an article written for the newspaper El Tiempo, a columnist called them "the Aztec Mummies of Paseo", further saying that it contrasted with the "magnificent" equestrian statue of Charles IV of Spain by Manuel Tolsá formerly located in front of them. A columnist from El Universal wrote that supporters of the On the Origin of Species work by Charles Darwin would think they "are more human than a gorilla". Monitor Republicano labeled them as "big dolls" and said that tourists would think that "these eyesores" were created by the settlers of Anahuac, and that the government preserved them as "archaeological relics". The writer concluded that although these were favorable comments, those who realized that they were actually recent works would judge the citizens as "savages". Other comments said it would have been better to use their materials in candlesticks and pennies instead.

Other criticisms they received were due to anachronistic issues such as proportions that do not resemble reality or that they are holding weapons from another era.{{cite web|url=https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/entrada-de-opinion/colaboracion/mochilazo-en-el-tiempo/nacion/sociedad/2016/07/23/los-indios-verdes|title=Los Indios Verdes querían ir a París|trans-title=The Green Indians wanted to go to Paris|first=María Angélica|last=Navarrete Rodríguez|date=23 July 2016|work=El Universal|access-date=5 December 2021}} One journalist said that the "proportions of the limbs sin against anatomical laws".

File:Metro Indios Verdes 01.jpg|Indios Verdes metro station is named after the monument and its pictogram features the silhouettes of the sculptures (sign pictured)

File:Monumento a los Indios Verdes (2020, cropped).jpg|The monuments in 2020

{{Portal|Mexico|Visual arts}}

• Indigenismo in Mexico
• Monumento a la Raza (Mexico City), a monument featuring multiple castings created for the 1889 Paris Exposition.
• Porfiriato, the era when the statues where created.

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category inline|Indios Verdes monument}}
• [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/green-indians-monument "Indios Verdes (Green Indians Monument)"] at Atlas Obscura

{{Avenida de los Insurgentes}}

{{Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City}}

{{Paseo de la Reforma}}

{{Public art in Mexico City}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1889 sculptures

Category:1891 establishments in Mexico

Category:Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City

Category:Indigenismo in Mexico

Category:Indigenous peoples in Mexico City

Category:Monuments and memorials in Mexico City

Category:Outdoor sculptures in Mexico City

Category:Paseo de la Reforma

Category:Relocated buildings and structures in Mexico

Category:Sculptures of Indigenous Mexicans