Summary:
Today, Xochimilco is a major tourist attraction, but sometime between the 8th and 10th century it was the agricultural hub of the Aztec city, Tenochtitlan. Today, as in centuries past, canals surround raised agricultural fields (camellones) in a network called the chinampa system. The chinampas were crucial to the city of Xochimilco, because they served as a productive means of efficient agricultural production.
Xochimilco
Xochimilco is one of Mexico's most magnificent cities. In the Aztec's Náhuatl language, the name Xochimilco means "garden of flowers." The name describes the city perfectly because its streets and rooftop gardens are lined with flowers. Today, Xochimilco is a major tourist attraction, but sometime between the 8th and 10th century it was the agricultural hub of the Aztec city, Tenochtitlan. Today, as in centuries past, canals surround raised agricultural fields (camellones) in a network called the chinampa system. The chinampas were crucial to the city of Xochimilco, because they served as a productive means of efficient agricultural production.
Xochimilco was built on the ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan. The size of the city was enormous during the 1500s. The city alone was inhabited by over 200,000 people; it is estimated that about one million people lived in the entire valley. A Spanish writer, Bernal Diaz del Castillo and the Spanish army were astonished upon arriving into the valley, "And when we saw all those cities and villages built in the water and other great towns on dry land, and that straight and level causeway leading to Tenochtitlan, we were amazed ... Indeed, some of our soldiers asked if it was not all a dream."
Of course, all of these people had to be fed somehow. The agricultural practice most responsible for feeding such numbers is the chinampa system, a network of raised fields (camellones) on low man-made islands in the middle of lakes and marshes. While the chinampas were first developed by the Mayas in the city of Teotihuacán, the Aztecs were the ones who extensively built and cultivated them. By the fourteenth century, chinampas were the basis for the growth of the independent tribe-ruled island state of Xochimilco. The Xochimilcans made the most use out of the chinampas. Chinampas covered about 20,000 acres of land near the Xochimilco and Chalco lakes. The chinampas helped stabilize the Aztecs in a way, because they allowed them to become self sufficient. The chinampas quickly became the breadbasket to feed the Aztec armies.
Although the Aztecs were secluded from the rest of the world, they were able to develop some of the most advanced agricultural methods, especially at the time. The chinampas' productivity was astounding, even by today's standards. About two to four tons of maize were produced per acre of land. Even today, some chinampa harvests yield more than modern agricultural research centers. Crops were constantly being planted, so the chinampas were being used throughout the year.
The Chinampas were effective when controlled by the Aztecs; however, the Spanish conquests demolished this important part of Mexican history. When Cortez seized Tenochtitlan, he also acquired the Aztec chinampas. The Spanish did not really care about the agricultural techniques or the irrigation designs. This neglect of the Chinampas ultimately led to their demise in early Mexican society. The Spanish stole stones from the Nezahualcoyotl dike in order to build their colonial city upon Tenochtitlan ruins. Logically, this led to flooding which haunted the city for hundreds of years. Rather than implement a system that the Aztecs used to control the waters, the Spaniards attempted to drain the chinampas. The Spanish reasoned that they could use the land surrounding the lakes to grow crops on. They failed to realize the lakes were too salty to provide adequate nutrition to the crops. The actions of the Spaniards caused Xochimilco to be agriculturally unproductive rather than plagued by flooding. The once proud agricultural hub of Xochimilco became nothing more than a neglected garden. Although the chinampas were destroyed, they were not forgotten.
In the 1930's President Porfirio Diaz decided to tap into Xochimilco's springs in order to supply the growing population of the city with water. By now, the chinampas were bone dry. In the 1970's and the 1980's the ancient "floating gardens" became a depository for the city's waste water. The water became so contaminated that it could no longer be used for agricultural purposes, so the chinamperos (chinampa cultivators) decided to increase flower cultivation instead. Around this time, the chinamperos worked to restore the canals. They used empty oil cans to clean the mess out of bottoms of the canals. After exhaustive efforts, the chinampas were eventually successfully restored. In 1990, Xochimilco was finally declared an ecological park, and today, the waters are always kept clean. Today, some Mexican farmers still use the chinampa system to supply their crops with proper nutrients.
The "Floating Gardens" have now become a favorite spot for adventuring tourists to relax and enjoy the rich Mexican culture and history. You can navigate the canals on boats called, trajineras (flat boats). The boats are used heavily for recreational purposes. Each one is beautifully colored, almost to a point where they seem surreal. Mariachi bands also cruise the canals to entertain tourists. Many families will use the trajineras for picnics, because they offer such a great atmosphere. Tourism is such a large part of Xochimilco because many of the locals rely on it as a source of income. There are many locals who sell their goods in the area to cater to the tourists' needs while exploring the Xochimilco area.
Chinampero life as well as the chimpaneros, is quickly changing. Officials are trying to further increase the city's water supply by pumping water from deep wells. This is slowly causing the chinampas to dry out. The northern district today often floods while passenger boats in the chinampas' southern zone, now a major tourist attraction, scrape bottom. There is not enough water to keep the canals full, and the little water that the canals do receive if often too dirty. Jose Genovevo Perez, a leader of a grassroots chinampa preservation program states, "I want my three sons to follow in my footsteps, to farm like my grandfathers did. But I worry that things are changing too fast for them." Many modern chimpaneros are stuck on the middle of an awkward situation. Mexico is rapidly changing as it becomes more and more industrialized. Some of his smaller plots have been consolidated for cultivation by tractor, which allows greater economies of scale but also destroys the soil characteristics making the chinampas unique. He continued to discuss his views about the chinampas, "But the chinampas are endangered, and we want everyone to know we've got to do more to save them," "Even our schoolbooks forget there are still chinamperos alive today. We're not history yet."
Unfortunately, in our rapidly changing world, chinampero life seems to be becoming a part of Mexican history, rather than a modern day way of life. Mexico's population continues to grow, and newer agricultural methods are being developed to feed the country's massive population. Today the chinampas are more of a tourist attraction, rather than a feasible means of agricultural production. However, the city continues to be a real life example of pre-Columbian agricultural science. The chinampas have been an obscure part of Mexican history. Many people don't realize the story behind them, because Xochimilco has been driven into the industrial world, but to the natives, the chinampas will never be forgotten.
Works Cited
Mader, Ron. "Xochimilco Gardens." Planeta.com.
"Chinampas." Museo del templo mayor. January 14, 1998. Museo del Templo Mayor, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e História, Mexico. January 14, 1999.
Salloum, Habeeb. "Xochimico's Floating gardens in Mexico City." Go Nomad.
"The History of Xochimilco." Aztecs and Axolotls.
Werner, Louis. "Cultivating the secrets of Aztec gardens (the floating gardens of Xochimilco in Mexico)." Americas. Nov-Dec 1992: 6-10.
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