Justyna Olko

This work reconstructs the repertory of insignia of rank and the contexts and symbolic meanings of their use, along with their original terminology, among the Nahuatl-speaking communities of Mesoamerica from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Attributes of rank carried profound symbolic meaning, encoding subtle messages about political and social status, ethnic and gender identity, regional origin, individual and community history, and claims to privilege.

Olko engages with and builds upon extensive worldwide scholarship and skillfully illuminates this complex topic, creating a vital contribution to the fields of pre-Columbian and colonial Mexican studies. It is the first book to integrate pre- and post-contact perspectives, uniting concepts and epochs usually studied separately. A wealth of illustrations accompanies the contextual analysis and provides essential depth to this critical work. Insignia of Rank in the Nahua World substantially expands and elaborates on the themes of Olko's Turquoise Diadems and Staffs of Office, originally published in Poland and never released in North America.

The present paper examines a hypothetical correlation between language endangerment and the simplification of nominal and verbal inflections. After contrasting the complexities exhibited by two endangered languages (Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl and Wymysorys) with the complexities of their non-endangered predecessors (Older Nahuatl and Middle High German, respectively), the authors conclude that the endangerment-simplification entanglement cannot be demonstrated. First, although Wymysorys (a more endangered code) is slightly more simplified than Nahuatl (a less endangered code) as far as the nominal domain is concerned, this relationship is reversed in the verbal domain. Second, simplifying tendencies are not radical, with a number of innovative complexifying processes being also present. Third, when attested, simplification constitutes part of a “natural” language evolution rather than a process resulting from the endangerment.

The town of Wilamowice (southern Poland) is the unique home to the community of speakers of Wymysiöeryś. The language enclave originates from Colonial Middle High German and – according to diachronic dialectological analyses – is made up of a sub-exclave of the so-called Bielitz-Bialaer Sprachinsel. As a result of social and political cataclysms brought by the Second World War and the following ban on and gap in its intergenerational transmission, it faced an inescapable language death. That doom, however, has been restrained by the activities of dedicated native speakers, with Tymoteusz Król (born in 1993) functioning as an eco- and sociolinguistic relay between the generation of last speakers passing away and, unexpectedly, a growing group of potential new speakers. The microlanguage, now spoken as native by fewer than 20 Wilamowiceans, and still without any official recognition at the administrative level, is experiencing an astonishing, but well-prepared and local culture-based ...

The paper relates the results of an ethnolinguistic vitality (ELV) survey among the Kashubs in Poland. The results reveal two interrelated layers of ELV: (1) an individual ELV reflected in language use and shaped by personal experience, emotions, and language proficiency; (2) a more collective ELV associated with the perception of the group’s language strength, its status and utility. The most surprising predictor of linguistic praxis in our study, in addition to language skills, was the positive impact of experienced discouragement on language use. This remained significant when controlling for proficiency. We argue that the correlation between experiencing discouragement and increased language use is best explained by the self-empowerment of speakers who, earlier in their lives, met with negative attitudes toward their heritage language. Rather than succumbing to this discouragement and assimilating to the dominant language, their response was to develop an emotional link to Kashubian and increase their use of this minority language as a conscious act of self-determination and engagement.

Heritage languages can be not only objects and spaces of symbolic and physical violence but also powerful tools of agency, resilience, and autonomous intellectual expression and creativity. Th ey carry a still underestimated and underexplored potential for the decolonization of both the academy and speakers’ lives. In this essay I discuss the possible impacts of collaborative activities on empowerment and positive historical identities in the context of language continuity and revitalization as well as on the individual and collective capacity of community members to act with regard to their linguistic and cultural heritage.

The cultural, economic and sociolinguistic trajectory of native communities in Mexico can be explained by some aspects of acculturation theory, in which ethnolinguistic vitality is an essential predictive component. I argue that at least in the first two or even three centuries of contact successful integration strategies seem to have co-existed with separation. Many Indigenous communities demonstrated considerable resilience and ethnolinguistic vitality during the colonial period, but the situation has changed drastically in modern times. This significant transformation came in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when integrational and separationist forms of existence gradually gave way to assimilation and marginalization. These changes were of course part of complex social, political and economic processes, especially the dispossession of corporate Indigenous land that has led to the undermining of native economies and their sustainable ways of subsistence. Also racism and negative language ideologies have been widely internalized by members of Indigenous communities. The perceived low economic value of the heritage language versus Spanish and English is still supported both by the dynamics of economic and social relations in the communities and by the conditions imposed by the external job market and its mechanisms of social advancement. Cultural dispossession is probably most profound and difficult to reverse or counteract if the language of the community is lost. While diagnosing these adverse processes, this paper also discusses the opportunities for challenging economic marginalization

This paper focuses on theoretical and practical approaches to decolonizing, participatory research in Indigenous communities and on ways of fostering those decolonizing methodologies in the areas of ethnohistory, sociolinguistics and language revitalization. I discuss the results of several complementary projects involving the Nahuatl language in Mexico, including methods and practices which we developed and implemented, both with regard to ethnolinguistic fieldwork in Nahua communities and to the analysis and usages of historical and modern data. Empowerment and capacity building of Indigenous participants have been essential aspects of this work; it has also embraced attempts to create spaces for the development of Indigenous research methodology. Another important focus has been the development and promotion of ‘participatory historical culture’, consisting of jointly reading and discussing Indigenous texts written by ancestors of modern Nahuas. I discuss the possible impacts of these activities on positive language attitudes and historical identities in the context of language revitalization, as well as on the individual and collective capacity to act with regard to their linguistic and cultural heritage.

Looking at the Spanish impact on Nahuatl both in its full historical trajectory and
modern synchronic dimension, I focus on the differentiation between ‘balanced’, long-term language contact and ‘unbalanced’ contact leading to rapid language shift in
contemporary indigenous communities. I discuss the connection between accelerated
contact-induced language change and language endangerment and shift, highlighting
and assessing the mutually interdependent extra- and inter-linguistic variables that
influence and shape both processes. Of special importance is the synchronic variation
linked to speakers’ proficiency that influences language transmission in the diachronic
perspective. On the basis of extensive fieldwork and linguistic documentation I identify
several types of Nahuatl speakers as agents of this accelerated language change which
leads to individual attrition and shift at the community level. This kind of multidisciplinary
approach, taking into account both historical and modern data, can also
potentially be useful for other minority languages in the scenario of long-term contact
with a dominant language.

Any eye wandering through the dense lines of Nahuatl text found among the rich contents of the so-called Codex Indianorum 7, presently held at the John Carter Brown Library in Province, Rhode Island (henceforth JCB-Ind. 7), will be caught by the elegant heading “Ju Das”. It will lead the reader into an appealing and colorful legend that apparently attracted the attention of an indigenous writer, so much so that he included this exotic story in the book’s diverse materials.  This manuscript, which probably dates from the late sixteenth century and was presumably made in Mexico-Tenochtitlan, is a compilation of devotional materials of various kinds, assembled and written by literate native authors (Burkhart 2001, 32–33). The Judas story in Nahuatl reveals the challenges and results of a translation process that brought an important component of the Old World’s medieval tradition to an indigenous audience: a medieval and early modern hagiographic bestseller and a pan-European folktale.

The success of Nahuatl revitalization efforts in the coming years will depend to a large degree on the empowerment of native speakers from different regions of Mexico that will collaborate with each other in the planning and implementation of projects for the development of their language and culture. However, external/international support will be crucial for overcoming negative attitudes and helping to make communities’ voices heard. One element of this commitment is the special
role that ethnohistorians, anthropologists, linguists and other professionals
will play in recovering historical identity, and sharing knowledge about the
past and present of indigenous cultures; in effect, bridging the perceived gap between preconquest and modern times in favor of cultural continuity.

This article examines several key gestures and postures documented in the early postconquest Nahua world: the eating of earth, squatting and kneeling, prostration, bowing, and finger pointing. Combining distinct genres of sources, ranging from linguistic evidence to iconographic data, I attempt to reconstruct pre-conquest practices through postconquest filters as well as to illuminate the ways in which local traditions coalesced with European practices and concepts. The study of body language illustrates broader phenomena related to change and continuity in the postcontact era, revealing the survival of preconquest elements, their transformation under European impact, cultural convergence, and adoption of new forms of bodily expression. An inherent part of this endeavor is the study of the postcon-quest terminology referring to gestures and postures, adding to our knowledge of the mechanisms of coinage of native terms referring to Christian religion.

This paper discusses major historical, cultural, linguistic, social and institutional factors contributing to the shift and endangerment of the Nahuatl language in Mexico. As a practical proposal, we discuss our strategy for its revi-talization, as well as a series of projects and activities we have been carrying out for the last several years. Crucial to this approach are several complementary elements: interdisciplinary research, including documentary work, as well as investigation of both the historical and the present state of Nahua language and culture; integration of both Western and native-speaking indigenous researchers as equal partners and the provision of space for indigenous method-ologies; creation of teaching programs for native and non-native speakers oriented toward the preparation of language materials; and close collaboration with indigenous communities in developing community-based programs. The operability of this strategy will depend greatly on our ability to foster collaboration across academic, social, and ideological boundaries, to integrate theory, methodology and program implementation, and to efficiently combine grassroots and top-down approaches. An important aim is to restore the culture of literacy in Nahuatl through our monolingual Totlahtol series, publishing works from all variants of the language and encompassing all genres of writing. We also strive to strengthen the historical and cultural identity of native speakers by facilitating their access to the alphabetical texts written by their ancestors during the colonial era.

The extensive corpus of colonial Nahuatl texts lights on almost every sphere of colonial life and cross-cultural interactions between the Europeans/Spaniards and the indigenous world. This corpus contains rich language data related to contact-induced change that reveal a simultaneous, prolonged use of neolo-gisms and loanwords, a widespread " Nahuatlization " of foreign terms as well as adoption of Spanish ideas and cultural stereotypes. The linguistic phenomena discussed in the present paper focus on lexical change, neologization, meaning change, borrowing and the creation of calques. These language innovations reveal the nuances of the complex process of cross-cultural translation, the recep-tivity of European influence, the domestication of the new and the survival of traditional language resources.

For the Nahuas the ability of communication was one of
the basic criteria of barbarism and limits of “humanity”
projected from an entirely ethnocentric perspective.
“Barbarian” and “inhuman” traits, along with ethnonyms,
served to construct negative models of members
of the society. This paper shows that ethnic stereotypes
registered in the colonial period in their huge part
originated in preconquest times, but were extended and
subject to different modifications in response to
European ideas and contemporary phenomena.

Alphabetic writing in Nahuatl, originally promoted by friars, was quickly adopted and developed by native writers, including notaries and chroniclers, who left the biggest corpus of indigenous writing in the Americas. They used this new tool prolifically and practiced it in their own ways. In doing so, they created new spaces and forms of expression for elements of preconquest pictorial genres and traditional orality. Writing flourished at the hands of particular members of different social classes of the indigenous population, including the nobility, middle-class and sometimes even lower-class individuals who used it efficiently for legal and economic purposes. In addition, we have evidence pointing to the production and translation of devotional religious materials by the Nahuas themselves, paralleling the preparation of official ecclesiastical texts by friars and priests. As argued in this paper, the Nahuas did not perceive alphabetic writing as something imposed and culturally alien, but used it both to preserve their tradition as well as to negotiate successfully with and challenge the Spanish administrative, judicial, political and religious order. Resumen La escritura alfabética en lengua náhuatl, originalmente promovida por frailes, fue rápidamente adoptada y desarrollada por escritores nativos, incluyendo notarios y cronistas, que dejaron el corpus más grande de escritura indígena en las Américas. Usaron esta nueva herramienta de una manera prolífica y la emplearon de sus propia manera. Y así crearon nuevos espacios y formas de expresión para elementos de los géneros pictóricos de origen prehispánico y para la oralidad tradicional. La escritura florecía en las manos de los miembros de diferentes clases sociales de la populación indígena, incluyendo la nobleza, la clase media y a veces incluso individuos de la clase baja. Todos ellos la usaban eficientemente para varios fines de índole legal y económico. Además, existe evidencia de la producción y traducción de materiales religiosos por los propios nahuas, lo que constituye un proceso paralelo a la preparación de textos eclesiásticos oficiales por frailes y sacerdotes. Como se demuestra en este artículo, los nahuas no percibían la escritura alfabética como una imposición o algo culturalmente ajeno, sino que la empleaban tanto para conservar su tradición como para negociar con y desafiar el orden administrativo, judicial, político y religioso de los españoles.

The focus of this paper is the native concept of chichimecayotl, studied through pictorial and written evidence. Images of nomad ancestors, founders of altepetl and their descendants display Chichimec traits
that are important in the iconography of rank of pre-Hispanic and postcontact native nobility; these attributes reveal a constant tension between humble and prestigious connotations. A significant aspect of this
analysis is the transformation of the Chichimec tradition across the sixteenth century under the impact of European concepts; another essential factor was the outbreak of a violent and prolonged war with pagan inhabitants of the northern regions. It is argued that pictorial images of "contemporary" Chichimecs mirror conceptualizations expressed in verbal language recorded in Nahuatl and Spanish sources. However, despite the profound changes that the term chichimecatl underwent, native communities continued to view the arrival of the founders as a source of prestige and legitimacy through the late colonial period.

Resumen: El artículo se centra en el estudio de las genealogías pictográfi cas indígenas de los siglos XVI y XVII procedentes del México Central, enfocándose en su dependencia de las tradiciones prehispánicas para demostrar la supervivencia de un género de origen precolombino. Entre los elementos precoloniales se encuentran varias convenciones que forman parte de las representaciones genealógicas (como el orden de lectura), así como rasgos y expresiones gráfi cas que aluden el concepto indígena de linaje y parentesco. La evidencia discutida parece implicar que lo que varios investigadores perciben como la adopción rápida de la idea española de la línea recta en manuscritos genealógicos puede ser en realidad la expresión del concepto indígena de tlacamecayotl, y no –o no sólo– el mero ajuste a las ideas europeas. La discusión del papel de estos documentos en la iconografía del poder de la nobleza nativa abarca el problema de los esfuerzos de este grupo para construir y negociar su identidad en el mundo socio-político y cultural de la Nueva España, incluyendo las referencias frecuentes a las raíces chichimecas como un componente importante de esta identidad. Abstract: Th e paper focuses on Central Mexican pictorial native genealogies from 16 th and 17 th centuries, and, especially, on their dependence from pre-Hispanic traditions so as to argue to demonstrate the survival of an actual genre of pre-conquest origin. Pre-Columbian elements include diff erent conventions belonging to genealogical representations (such as the reading order), as well as traits and graphic expressions alluding to the indigenous concept of lineage and kinship. Discussed evidence seems to imply that what various scholars take as a rapid adoption of the Spanish notion of línea recta in genealogical manuscripts, may be in reality an expression of a native concept of tlacamecayotl, and not–or not only–a mere adjustment to Spanish ideas. While discussing the place of these documents in the iconography of power of the indigenous nobility, I focus on the attempts of this group to construct and negotiate its identity in the socio-political and cultural world of the New Spain, including frequent references to Chichimec roots as an important component of that identity.

This paper discusses the available evidence on the Mexica influence in native pictorial manuscripts from colonial Central Mexico, including former imperial provinces and neighboring territories. In order to distinguish possible imperial loans from local or regional conventions, it focuses on specific markers of the Mexica impact: royal attributes. Their acceptance and imitation seems to have been of great importance for different groups of provincial elites. Of special interest is also the predominance of the Mexica influence versus potential Texcocan impact and the applicability of colonial documents in reconstructions of pre-Hispanic phenomena.

El artículo discute la evidencia disponible sobre la influencia mexica en manuscritos pictográficos indígenas del período colonial procedentes de distintas regiones del centro de México, incluyendo las provincias impe-riales y territorios vecinos. Se trata de discernir los posibles préstamos imperiales de las convenciones y tra-diciones locales o regionales, con un enfoque particular en marcadores específicos de la influencia mexica: los atributos reales. Su aceptación e imitación parece haber sido de gran importancia para varios grupos de las elites provinciales. De interés especial es también la preponderancia de la influencia mexica versus una posible influencia texcocana y la aplicabilidad de documentos coloniales para reconstruir fenómenos prehis-pánicos. ABSTRACT This paper discusses the available evidence on the Mexica influence in native pictorial manuscripts from colonial Central Mexico, including former imperial provinces and neighboring territories. In order to distinguish possible imperial loans from local or regional conventions, it focuses on specific markers of the Mexica impact: royal attributes. Their acceptance and imitation seems to have been of great importance for different groups of provincial elites. Of special interest is also the predominance of the Mexica influence versus potential Texcocan impact and the applicability of colonial documents in reconstructions of pre-Hispanic phenomena. SUMARIO: 1. Introducción. 2. Marcadores específicos de la influencia mexica. 3. Influencia mexica en el Valle de México. 4. Rasgos mexicas en las regiones periféricas del México central. 5. Conclusiones. 6. Referencias bibliográficas.

RESUMEN Este trabajo se dedica a un particular esquema del procedimiento esencial en la guerra azteca y realizado por mensajeros reales. Ese procedimiento se suele describir más frecuentemente como advertencia del enemigo o declaración ritualizada de la guerra. El análisis de todas sus ocurrencias y descripciones en las fuentes escri-tas e iconográficas permite no sólo mostrar las interdependencias y discrepancias entre ellas o las transfor-maciones de varios datos, sino también sugerir otros sentidos y funciones del dicho procedimiento tanto en la política, como en la tradición histórica azteca. Los resultados del análisis sugieren que la noción de la «guerra justa» fue un concepto indígena arrojando alguna luz sobre las posibilidades de sus realizaciones prácticas. ABSTRACT This paper deals with a conspicuous practice in the preliminar phases of the Aztec war activities, as performed by royal messengers. They used to deliver a special message and symbolic gifts to certain enemies or rivals. Ethnohistoric sources and literature (this one scarcely) describe it as a warning or a ritual war statement. But a more thoroughly analysis reveals other possible meanings and functions for the said practice, one of them could be related to the conception of a 'just war'.