In 1524, twelve Franciscan missionaries were sent to Mexico from Spain to convert the previously unknown Indigenous people to Catholicism. To help facilitate this, the Spaniards constructed the Colegio de Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco in 1536, where young Indigenous nobles were trained in Catholic doctrine and taught to read and write using the Latin alphabet. … More Tales From Aztlantis #2

In this episode, we cast a critical eye on the organization known as the Movimiento Confederado de la Cultura de Anahuac, or MCRCA, and its founder Rodolfo Nieva Lopez. Now, if you have never heard of Nieva Lopez or the MCRCA before today, you are probably not alone. However, if you are actively involved in … More Tales from Aztlantis #1

Thank you for listening, and welcome to Tales From Aztlantis! Join us each week as we explore Mesoamerican pseudohistory, new-age nonsense, archaeological misconceptions, and more!  In this series, you will learn about Maya gods that never existed, whether the Aztecs taught the Egyptians how to build pyramids, how neo-Aztec nationalist movements helped inform Chicano identity, … More Tales from Aztlantis #0

A brief history of la Virgen de Guadalupe When Spanish forces under the command of Hernando Cortes first set foot on the eastern coast of Mexico on April 22, 1519, they christened the site of their landing Veracruz, “the true cross” (Cortes et al. 2001:4). Within five years of Cortes’ arrival, a group of Franciscan … More The Virgin of Tepeyak

[ Kurly Tlapoyawa ] In my book Our Slippery Earth: Nawa Philosophy in the Modern Age, I discuss the concept of Teotl and how it relates to the Mesoamerican philosophical worldview of “Nepantlakayotl.” As a result, I am often asked if a symbol for Teotl exists in any of the surviving Mesoamerican codices, whether pre-Kuauhtemok … More Does a symbol for “Teotl” exist in the codices?

[ Kurly Tlapoyawa ] Kurly Tlapoyawa originally presented this lecture at the 2017 Northeastern Group of Nahuatl Scholars conference at Yale University. [Update 2/18/2019: edited for clarity and minor grammatical errors.] The years following the Mexican revolution saw an upsurge in a form of nationalism characterized by the exaltation of Mexico’s indigenous past. As a … More Invented Words: The Declaration of Kuauhtemok

[ Kurly Tlapoyawa ] Corn is one of the great contributions made by Mesoamerican civilizations to the world. Modified and manipulated by the hands of our indigenous ancestors, it remains a pivotal part of Chicano-Mexicano identity. Here are 68 different ways you can say “corn” in Indigenous Mexican languages! Sunuko /Tarahumara (Chihuahua) Os /Huave (Oaxaca) … More 68 different ways to say “Corn” in Indigenous Mexican languages.