About canals, rivers and saints in San Juanico Nextipac, Iztapalapa

Abstract

San Juanico Nextipac is one of the 16 original urban towns of the Iztapalapa mayor's office whose pre-Hispanic origin is identified in its place names in Nahuatl which means "on the ashes". However, this town is not only on the ashes but also over centuries relation to water. Its geographical location to the east of Mexico City, in a space that was formerly the Iztapalapa peninsula, allowed this town to be a place where its inhabitants had access to water from canals, rivers, springs and artesian wells. With this, a lake culture was configured throughout the centuries, from its foundation to the present day, the strongest links were the economic occupation of the population in the chinampas and the commercial circuits that derived from it, as well as the worldview with water; this last relationship can still be identified in the saints venerated by the Nextipecos, despite the intubation of the Churubusco river, the drying up of canal de la Viga, and the closure of artesian wells.