The Akumalian
Akumal's
Newsletter for its Extended Global Community
Quintana Roo, Mexico
Current Issue of The Akumalian
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Introduction
Welcome to the home page of The Akumalian, a non-profit
newsletter serving the extended Akumal community. After being in existence
for more than four years, The Akumalian has finally made it to the Internet.
Until now, The Akumalian has always been distributed on a very random
timetable as a Microsoft Word document attached to an Outlook Express e-mail.
The distribution list has obviously been susceptible to the changing
of e-mail addresses, mail boxes being full, servers not accepting mail from
prodigy.net.mx, and a host of other issues. Hopefully, all of these
issues, and many more, are being corrected by this web site.
The Akumalian started as
a small project back in 2002 from, of all things, a conversation at the
Lol-Ha Beach Bar - where else. Years ago, Carol Larson published The
Akumal Sun Times on a monthly basis, in hard copy, and while it did cover
some controversial subject matter, it was generally well accepted by the
local community. Fortunately, or unfortunately, as the case may be,
it had a limited audience; this was before people got serious with the Internet.
The Akumalian is a small attempt to pick up some pieces of the
The Akumal Sun Times and carry that forward.
At about that time in 2002, we were also doing a brief newsletter, The Aventuras Sunrise, for the small community of condominium owners at Aventuras Akumal.
So, The Akumalian is a natural progression and outgrowth of The Akumal Sun Times and The Aventuras Sunrise, but it has a much broader audience, and it is now on the Internet
Subscription
Subscription to The Akumalian is FREE
to everyone, just by going to the Subscribe dialogue box above. The
Subscription is being used to send subscribers an e-mail, informing them
that a new issue is available on this web site. The e-mail also
allows Subscribers to unsubscribe.
Timetable
There had been no definitive date for distributing The
Akumalian. Many months the actual distribution was dependent on some
event (holiday, full moon, International Space Station sighting, etc.),
and there have been months, like in the Fall of 2006, when there have
been two issues of The Akumalian. But now, there is a (loose)
publication date set for the first of each month
Content
The content of The Akumalian is all up to the whim of the Owner /Author/ Writer/ Editor/ Publisher/ Distributor,
but the focus starts and ends with the extended Akumal community. Two
consistent sections that have been in all of the recent issues are FULL
MOON and COMINGS & GOINGS. The latter is a very important
part of The Akumalian, because it highlights the people who are
visiting Akumal, or those residents who are leaving for a vacation.
Akumal History
Akumal means the place of the turtle, and
used to be a seaport and trading center of the Maya. In 1513, a
Spanish Galleon shipwrecked off the shore of Akumal. Seventeen of
the sailors were washed up on the beach, where the Mayans captured them
and made them slaves.
Fifteen died. The two survivors were Geronimo De Aguilar, who was a friar and warrior, and Gonzalo Guerrero. It was Guerrero who would have a lasting impact on the Akumal area culture.
Gonzalo Guerrero wound up marrying the Mayan princess Zazi and fathered the first mestizos, so called white Indian. He went on to teach the Maya new war techniques they would later use in their fight against Spaniards.
The Spanish
conqueror Hernan Cortes arrived in Cozumel and heard about the ship wreck
and two
survivors in Akumal. He sent emissaries to look for them.
The search party located the two, and Geronimo de Aguilar was returned
to Cortes' camp. Later, the rescued sailor would become the first
translator and guide in the conquest of Mexico.
Gonzalo Guerrero adapted to his life with the Maya. As he told the emissaries he was no longer a Spaniard; he was Mayan. He stayed in Akumal with his wife and three children until he died in 1536. Today, a statue of Gonzalo Guerrero stands at the entrance to Akumal, just after the arch.
Acknowledgement
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Copyright @ 2010 The Akumalian |