In Episode 3 Amanda and guest host Joseph LeBrun and have an amazing conversation with Dr. Camilla Townsend, historian and professor of history at Rutgers University. She spent over 10 years learning the Náhuat language to be able to analyze the historical annals written in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Nahuas (or Aztecs) in their own language. Spanish friars taught them the Roman alphabet so that they could be better Christians, but in the privacy of their own homes, the native people used the phonetic system to record their own traditional histories, which had previously been kept orally. They did this not for the Spaniards, but for the sake of their own posterity. Through the texts that they produced, we can gain insight into the ways in which Indigenous people conceptualized history at first contact and imagined the future. And Indigenous perspectives, in their own words, are given their deserved full weight.

For those of you who’d like to dig deeper into this subject, here is a link to Dr. Camilla Townsend’s book, Fifth Sun.

Canada: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/fifth-sun-a-new-history-of-the-aztecs/9780190673062.html

USA: https://www.abebooks.com/9780190673062/Fifth-Sun-New-History-Aztecs-0190673060/plp

*Content warning:* In this episode, Indian Residential Schools, gravesites, sacred sites and ancestral remains are discussed. These discussions may re-traumatize or trigger listeners because of the sensitive content related to the search for unmarked graves of children who attended Indian Residential Schools. If you experience trauma or are feeling triggered, help is available 24/7 for survivors and their families through the Indian Residential School Survivors Society Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. Mental health support for Indigenous Peoples across the land known as Canada is available through the Hope for Wellness chatline at 1-800-721-0066 or using the chat box at https://hopeforwellness.ca/. The Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society provides information about these and other supports that are available: https://www.irsss.ca