Amajac Woman to Replace The Columbus Statue in Mexico City

On Tuesday, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced announced that a replica of the Amajac Young Woman will take the place of the statue of Christopher Columbus which is currently on La Reforma Boulevard.

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"We should feel proud that a Mexican Indigenous women will be represented in such a special place," Sheinbaum said referring to a pre-Hispanic artwork, which was found in the Hidalgo Amajac community in Veracruz in January.

"This piece is linked to the Huastecan sculptural tradition and culture, although it presents certain features of the Central Mexico art style... Most likely it is a work from the late postclassic period (1450-1521 A.D.)," the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) explained

The Amajac Young Woman is preserved in the Mexico City Museum of Anthropology and History. Its replica will be six meters high and its construction will be in charge of the INAH.

"Given the woman's posture and trappings, the sculpture possibly represents a powerful person from the elite. For this reason, we can affirm that she is not a deity," INAH Director Diego Prieto stated and pointed out that Amajac Young Woman is made of limestone rock and is 60 centimeters wide, about 25 centimeters thick, and 2 meters high.

Mayor Sheinbaum considers that the placement of the replica in the Reforma Boulevard is an act of social justice towards the Indigenous peoples since racial discrimination was perpetuated in the Mexican everyday culture even after the Colonial era.

Prieto also announced that Mexico City authorities unanimously decided to move the Columbus statue towards the America Park.