The story is the same in the Americas with the serpent gods at the heart of the ancient myths and legends of North, South and Central America . The books of the Mayans called Chilam Balaam say the first settlers of the Yucatan in Mexico were the Chanes or "People of the Serpent". They were said to have come across the sea led by a god-figure called Itzamna, a name that apparently comes from the word itzem, which translates as lizard or reptile. Itzamna, the sacred city of t