Saving languages: An introduction to language revitalization

American Antiquity, 2020

Historia Crítica, 2021

Objective/Context: This article emphasizes the distinct duties of interpreters general, primarily working in legal matters, and mediators at the margins of colonial control. The widespread flight of Mayas seeking relief shifted the linguistic map of the interior, requiring speakers of multiple languages rather than the service of interpreters general who resided in Yucatan. Methodology: Research in the Archivo General de Indias and published primary sources show that mediation with migratory Mayas avoiding colonial rule required polyglot indigenous interpreters who moderated encounters between friars and neo-conquistadors, on the one hand, and resistant Mayas, on the other, in Yucatan’s interior, even as the holders of the office of interpreter general— the primary legal translators—were overwhelmingly European-descent creoles. Originality: This article seeks to add depth to our current understanding of the role of translators during the often overlooked seventeenth century. Conclusions: Official translators—interpreters generals whose duties were increasingly circumscribed as court functionaries—diverged from mediators in unconquered terrains whose knowledge of diverse indigenous languages, cultural broker abilities, and similar backgrounds made them ideal intermediaries with resistant Mayas. * Objetivo/Contexto: este artículo enfatiza en los distintos oficios de los intérpretes generales, que trabajaban principalmente en asuntos legales, así como de mediadores que operaban en los márgenes del control colonial. La huida generalizada de mayas que buscaban escapar de la presión de la Conquista cambió el mapa lingüístico del interior, lo que requería hablantes de múltiples lenguas, en lugar de los servicios de los intérpretes generales que residían en Yucatán. Metodología: a partir de una investigación adelantada con documentos del Archivo General de Indias y fuentes primarias publicadas, pudo establecerse que la mediación con los mayas que migraron para evitar el control colonial requirió intérpretes indígenas políglotas que sirvieron como moderadores de los encuentros entre frailes y neoconquistadores, por un lado, y mayas rebeldes, por otro, en el interior de Yucatán, aun cuando quienes ejercían el oficio de intérprete general —los traductores legales principales— eran mayoritariamente criollos de ascendencia europea. Originalidad: este trabajo busca ampliar nuestra comprensión del papel de los traductores durante el siglo xvii, que a menudo es subestimado. Conclusiones: los traductores oficiales —los intérpretes generales, cuyas funciones se circunscribían cada vez más a las ejercidas por funcionarios vinculados con tribunales— se diferenciaban de los mediadores que operaban en los territorios no conquistados, cuyos conocimientos de diversas lenguas indígenas, habilidades de intermediación cultural y orígenes comunes los convertían en intermediarios ideales frente a los mayas que aún no habían sido conquistados. * Objetivo/Contexto: neste artigo, enfatizam-se os diferentes ofícios dos intérpretes gerais que trabalhavam principalmente em assuntos legais, bem como de mediadores que operavam às margens do controle colonial. A fuga generalizada de maias que procuravam escapar da pressão da Conquista mudou o mapa linguístico do interior, o que requeria falantes de múltiplas línguas em vez dos intérpretes gerais que residiam em Yucatán. Metodologia: a partir de uma pesquisa realizada com documentos do Arquivo Geral de Índias e de fontes primárias publicadas, foi possível estabelecer que a mediação com os maias que migraram para evitar o controle colonial exigiu intérpretes indígenas poliglotas que serviram como moderadores dos encontros entre frades e neoconquistadores, por um lado, e maias rebeldes, por outro, no interior de Yucatán, ainda quando os que exerciam o ofício de intérprete geral — os tradutores legais principais — eram predominantemente crioulos de ascendência europeia. Originalidade: neste trabalho, procura-se ampliar nossa compreensão do papel dos tradutores durante o século xvii, que, com frequência, é subestimado. Conclusões: os tradutores oficiais — os intérpretes gerais, cujas funções se circunscreviam cada vez mais às exercidas por funcionários vinculados com tribunais — se diferenciavam dos mediadores que operavam nos territórios não conquistados, cujos conhecimentos de diversas línguas indígenas, habilidades de intermediação cultural e origens comuns os tornavam intermediários ideais ante os maias que ainda não tinham sido conquistados.

2014

Diachronica, 2015

Journal of Latin American Studies, 1991

Choice Reviews Online, 2013

This volume has its origins in a in a 2009 symposium at the Society of American Archaeology meetings in Atlanta, where it that won the Amerind Conference award for best symposium that year. It's goal is to compare the different types of interactions between sixteenth-century Indigenous and Spanish peoples in the Southwestern and Southeastern United States, primarily as the result of the Spanish entradas in those two areas. In particular, the organizers sought to place these encounters in a broader context by examining the "social, economic, political, military, environmental, and demographic components" associated with Native and European interactions in the two regions. To facilitate comparisons between the Southwest and Southeast, the volume is organized into six thematic chapters-Native perspectives, historiography, climatic influences and impacts, disease, political organization, and conflict-usually with two to three papers presenting comparative data for the two regions in each thematic chapter. The single exception, unfortunately, is the chapter on native perspectives, which includes just a single paper examining the interaction that occurred between sixteenth century Zuni communities and Spanish entradas. There is much to like in this book. In my view, the standard to which a study of this type should be held is: Does it present significant new information that alters our perceptions, either archaeologically or historically, of a particular place or event in time? The Native and Spanish New Worlds volume aims to do just that, and I believe it succeeds admirably. In particular, I would draw attention to Robbie Ethridge's chapter on contact-period studies and the Southeastern Indians and the chapter by Ethridge and Jeffrey Mitchem on the interior South at the time of the first Spanish explorations (Chapters 4 and 10). Both studies do an excellent job of using archaeological and other data to bridge the conceptual divide between the prehistoric southeastern Mississippian chiefdoms and the Creek, Chickasaw, and other historic-period peoples who were their descendants. It is a mark of just how far southeastern studies have come-most notably as the result of the work done by Charles Hudson and his students-that we can now see how the lives of southeastern Native peoples were transformed during the sixteenth and later centuries. Ethridge and Mitchem thoroughly document how the encounters of late Mississippian peoples with the various entrada, introduced diseases, the fur trade, and slaving, led to the creation of the historic period groups of the same region.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 2014

Dialogue with Europe, Dialogue with the Past. Colonial Nahua and Quechua Elites in Their Own Words, 2018

Dialogue with Europe, Dialogue with the Past is a critical, annotated anthology of indigenous-authored texts, including the Nahua, Quechua, and Spanish originals, through which native peoples conveyed their own perspectives on different aspects and dimen- sions of postconquest life. It is the first volume to bring together native testimonies from two different areas of Spanish expansion in the Americas to examine comparatively these geographically and culturally distant realities of indigenous elites in the colonial period. In each chapter a particular document is transcribed exactly as it appears in the original manuscript or colonial printed document, with the editor placing it in historical context and considering the degree of European influence. These texts show the nobility through docu- ments they themselves produced or caused to be pro- duced—such as wills, land deeds, and petitions—and prioritize indigenous ways of expression, perspectives, and concepts. Together, the chapters demonstrate that native elites were independent actors as well as agents of social change and indigenous sustainability in colonial society. Additionally, the volume diversifies the commonly homogenous term “cacique” and recognizes the differences in elites throughout Mesoamerica and the Andes. Showcasing important and varied colonial genres of indigenous writing, Dialogue with Europe, Dialogue with the Past reveals some of the realities, needs, strategies, behaviors, and attitudes associated with the lives of the elites. Each document and its accompanying commentary provide additional insight into how the nobility negotiated everyday life.

International Journal of American Linguistics, 2015