distinguished by focusing on claiming a mythical source to power by tracing the lineage of a people to some ancient source of power. Popol Vuh (the legendary mythological history of the Quiché people) Codex Chimalpopoca (the main source of the Aztec creation myth of the Five Suns) Codex Aubin (recounting the mythical wanderings of the Mexica from Aztlan and to Tenochtitlan) Historia Tolteca-Chichimeca (the Aztec myth of the legendary Toltec and Chichimec peoples) Poetry Some famous collections of Aztec poetry have been conserved. Although written in the late 16th century they are believed to be fairly representative of the actual style of poetry used in pre-Columbian times. Many of the poems are attributed to named Aztec rulers such as Nezahualcoyotl. Because the poems were transcribed at a later date, scholars dispute whether these are the actual authors. Many of the mythical and historical texts also have poetic qualities. Aztec poetry Cantares Mexicanos Romances de los Señores de Nueva España Mayan poetry Songs of Dzitbalche Theatre Rabinal Achí Nahuatl Theatre Ethnographic accounts Florentine Codex (Bernardino de Sahagúns masterpiece of an ethnographic account contained in 12 volumes) Coloquios y doctrina Christiana (also known as the Bancroft dialogues, describing the first dialogues between Aztecs and monks preaching Christianity) Collections of disparate treatises Not all specimens of native literature can be readily classified. A prime example of this are the Yucatec Mayan Books of Chilam Balam, mentioned above for their historical content, but also containing treatises on medical lore, astrology, etc. Although clearly belonging to Maya literature, they are profoundly syncretic in nature. Oral literatures of the Mesoamericans Ethnography of Speaking Tradition and changes to them Folktales Fernando Peñalosa Jokes and riddles Tlacuache stories (Gonzalez Casanova) Songs Henrietta Yurchenco Nahuatl songs Jaraneros indigenas de Vera Cruz Xochipitzahuac Ritual speech Mayan modern prayers Huehuetlahtolli References Bibliography The Flower Songs of Nezahualcoyotl The Songs of Dzitbalche Tedlock, Dennis. 2000 Years of Mayan Literature. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010. External links Assorted texts in Mayan languages (and an associated dictionary and concordance) by David Bolles at the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, INC (FAMSI) Sources and Methods for the Study of Postconquest Mesoamerican Ethnohistory, James Lockhart, Lisa Sousa, and Stephanie Wood (eds.), a collection of articles about particular colonial-era native-language texts Chrestomathie maya d'après la Chronique de Chac-Xulub-Chen at the Internet Archive The Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel by Ralph L. Roys (1933)