La Malinche: Not a Traitor, but a Survivor with Gloria Arjona PhD, Audiovisua Storyteller | 6/8/22

Identified by many as “The Mexican Pocahantas,” La Malinche was the interpeter and concubine of Spanish conquistador, Hernán Cortés. Because of this, she is identified by Mexicans as a traitor to the Indians. In this lecture, Dr. Gloria Arjona highlights the fact that this young Indian woman did not have a choice: she either played the game or be killed. More importantly, in the early 16th Century, Mexico was not a nation, but a mix of ethnic groups with different languages and deities. Therefore, La Malinche did not have any ties to either the Aztecs nor the Mayans, who ultimately did not treat her better than the Spaniard did. This lecture is interspersed with traditional songs in Spanish and Indian languages.