Malinali was also known as Malintzín, Doña Marina, and Malinche, but I didn't know her by any of those names until today. As a young native of Mexico, she was sold into slavery by her own mother and bought by the infamous Hernan Cortez. I can't imagine living under the thumb of a bloodthirsty conquistador, but he recognized her way with words and tagged her to be his interpreter of many languages: Nahuatl, Maya, and later Spanish. Malinali became known for "facilitating cross-cultural connections." Now, how's that for a resume?
Her powers of language did nothing to help the Cortes navigate the restaurant scene. She grasped the intricacies of the complex Aztec system and conveyed them to her dense owner. Malinali guided him through the brutal defeat of Tenochtitlan and later in the building of a new empire.
Some say she was a traitor for all who suffered in the Spanish defeat. But like her mother before her simply trying to survive, what choice did Malinali have? It's more likely that Malinali long felt the burn of betrayal when she was sold like cattle. And with history books so heavy with the tales of ruthless men like Hernan, why should we point the finger at her anyway?
Isn't it wonderful to learn something new that you thought you already knew all about? History has a way of doing that, I think. Thanks for the lesson today!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. History is told by the "winners" yet the quiet courage, unique circumstances and patriotism of history's less known people is fascinating. We shouldn't judge people from other eras- because we see them from our time with our perspective, and our own history. If we look at our founding fathers from England's point of view- they were rabble rousers, rebels and traitors. Native Americans called Sand Creek a massacre- the U.S. Army a relocation of rebels-While I tend to side with the Native Americans on this one- people of the time didn't. So it's good to hear all sides.
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