According to an article in Wikihow ,
The Native Aztecs believed that spirits returned as hummingbirds. The Aztec people believed that hummingbirds were resurrected warriors who should never be chased or hunted. The hummingbird even became the symbol of the sun and war god, Huitzilopochtli, who guided the Aztec people on their journey to modern-day Mexico.
Huitzilopochtli’s name is a combination of the Nahuatl (the Aztec language) words “huitzilin” (meaning “hummingbird”) and “opochtli” (or “left”).
Aztecs believed hummingbirds were dead warriors and considered the south to be the left side of the world, so his name most likely meant “reincarnated warrior of the south.”
The Aztec people believed that spirits of the dead also return as Monarch butterflies.
Dia de los Muertos came in part from the traditions of the Aztec people. This is why you might see hummingbirds painted on masks and skulls during the Day of the Dead.
The Mayans believed that hummingbirds were beautiful and sacred. The ancient Mayans believed that hummingbirds’ feathers had magic powers because they could hover over flowers without touching a single petal. Mayans also believed the hummingbird was created when the Gods ran out of corn and mud and were unable to create more animals.
So, the Gods took a jade stone, carved a small arrow into it, and blew on it to bring it to life. That’s how they created the hummingbird.
Today, the Maya people still say that hummingbirds came from the best pieces of what God was creating.
