Oct 09, 2020 Rare Books Virtual Lecture — Armchair Indigeneity

“An object is not an object. It is the witness to a relationship” — Cecilia Vicuña

The Rare Books Department invites you to view its most recent virtual lecture, “Armchair Indigeneity: Memory, Language, Dissolution, Exile, Extinction.”

We look at writings by and about indigenous peoples in Mexico, reflecting on some of the consequences of conquest, and attempts to recover an identity lost and then reimagined.

Explore Mesoamerican manuscripts

Western European texts in indigenous languages

myths about the Spanish encounter with Mexican indigenous peoples

writings by nineteenth century indigenous leaders 

and contemporary reflections on colonization, uncertainty, insecurity, collision, memory, identity theft, cultural impersonation — all found in books, past and present, as witness to a relationship that went before, changed, and prevails.