La Malinche was a young linguist forced to serve the Spanish conquerors
Her complex legacy after 500 years as a survivor and, to some, a traitor is explored in festivals and a major museum exhibition.
A young Indigenous woman known as La Malinche played a central role in communicating between the Spanish and Indigenous populations of Mexico 500 years ago. The teenager had been gifted to Hernán Cortés, and she translated negotiations and conflicts between him and Aztec Emperor Montezuma. She is remembered as a survivor and sometimes as a traitor for aiding the Spanish conquerors, but always as a woman with valued linguistic skills.
La Malinche is the centerpiece of festivals
It's a blustery day in the village of San Isidro de Sedillo, a cluster of adobe houses around a church in the mountains east of Albuquerque. Dozens of
