The origin of the name Ichtaca suggests that this is a myth that originated from the Aztec. Ichtaca is a gender...

The origin of the name Ichtaca suggests that this is a myth that originated from the Aztec.  Ichtaca is a gender neutral name that means Secret. Nahuatl is primarily spoken in Central Mexico. If the mountain from the tale actually exists it would probably be there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahuatl 

http://whp.uoregon.edu/dictionaries/nahuatl/index.lasso?&dowhat=FindJustOne&theRecID=1597494&theWord=ichtaca.

The presence of cougars which are also native to Central Mexico corroborate this interpretation.
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/233513963_Cougar_and_jaguar_habitat_use_and_activity_patterns_in_central_Mexico

Originally shared by Yuri Alaric Nagassa

Stein Lightman has a gift of sorts, every time he speaks it transports me to a vivid memory I have buried somewhere in the back of mind.

When I was perhaps 10 or 11, my young Anazktec friend told me the legend of a leader named Ichtaca who had led the tribe to great prosperity.  A deep sickness overcame him, a blackness that spread for days until it covered his entire body.  One day he left his brothers and sisters and walked into the mountains.  A man from the village followed him for many days as he walked further and further away.  He saw Ichtaca go into a cave where many cougars lived, and the cougars devoured his flesh and bones.  The man came back to the village and told the tribe what had become of their leader.  Some days later, a young man walked down from the mountains and came into the village.  He had no name, and the tribe named him Ichtaca.