Note 186 — Chapter XIV · KERESAN MYTHS

Readers are very naturally bewildered by the name, which is the same as that of the monarch whom Cortés overcame and destroyed. The two were not the same, since, according to the Pueblos, their god Montezuma was among them before ever they had known of Mexico, but, after the Roman Church crushed the native religions of Peru and Mexico, Montezuma the king and Montezuma the mythical high priest became somewhat confused in their legendary history.