Tales From Aztlantis

In this episode we address the loss of those who have loved and inspired us, as well as those who have betrayed our trust. listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text! Lignum is a haven for culture, rest, and resistance. We believe in celebrating community and honoring the land that holds us. At our urban “milpa,” we practice indigenous science that respects the natural cycles of the region, and...

The year is 1966, in Santa Monica, California. Inside a large, dimly lit room, members of a controversial and increasingly violent group known as Synanon gather in a circle. At the center sits a single figure—another “Synanite”—alone on a folding chair, surrounded on all sides. Around the edges of the room, a few silent observers watch, waiting. Then it begins. One by one, the circle turns inward....

Today we join Kurly as he descends into madness doing Archaeological fieldwork in southern New Mexico! listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text! Support the show Order "NEVER WILL IT BE LOST" and get $5 off! Support Lignum: A Cultural Haven in Mérida Your Hosts: Kurly Tlapoyawa is an archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and filmmaker. His research covers Mesoamerica, the American Southwest...

In this episode, Tlakatekatl investigates the idea that the Nawatl language is somehow related to Turkish. listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text! Support the show Order "NEVER WILL IT BE LOST" and get $5 off! Support Lignum: A Cultural Haven in Mérida Your Hosts: Kurly Tlapoyawa is an archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and filmmaker. His research covers Mesoamerica, the American South...

Archaeological fieldwork can be a lonely undertaking. For this special dispatch, we join Kurly as he does fieldwork in Taos, NM. Let's' just say that things get...interesting. listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text! Support the show Order "NEVER WILL IT BE LOST" and get $5 off! Support Lignum: A Cultural Haven in Mérida Your Hosts: Kurly Tlapoyawa is an archaeologist, eth...

For our Season 5 finale, we reflect on some news items, discuss whether a Chicano can be a trump supporter, and reflect on some of our favorite moments from 2025! listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text! Lignum is a haven for culture, rest, and resistance. We believe in celebrating community and honoring the land that holds us. At our urban “milpa,” we practice indigenous science that respect...

The Last of The Aztecs! Online racial conspiracists often share historical photos of a man and woman dubbed "The Last of the Aztecs." But who are the individuals in the photo? What is their actual story? And what do they have to do with a showman and circus tycoon from Connecticut? Lets find out as we delve into the tragic story of...The Last of The Aztecs! listener comments? Feedback? S...

Today, we’re peeling back the layers of a name we use every single day, often without a second thought: America. But we aren’t just looking at a map; we’re looking at a philosophical crisis. It’s a crisis that really came to a head in 1958. That was the year Edmundo O’Gorman—one of Mexico’s most brilliant modern historians—published a book that sent shockwaves through the academic world. listener...

Well, dear listeners, it’s that time of year again: when the mainstream media and their corporate overlords conspire to wage war on the winter holiday meant to celebrate the birth of our savior and erase our annual traditions. We are referring of course, to the birth of Witzilopochtli as our sun reborn, and the associated feast of Panketzaliztli. But fear not, dear listeners, because here in Aztla...

The culture that thrived at Teotihuacan in the Classic period has a unique place in Mesoamerican history. Today, it is held as an emblem of the Mexican national past and is one of the most visited archaeological sites in the Americas. Nevertheless, curious visitors are told that the ethnic and linguistic affiliation of the Teotihuacanos remains unknown. Whereas the decipherment of other Mesoameric...

With the passing of the Spring Equinox, we once again bring another year to a close. “In Xiwitl itlamiliz” The year has ended. This means it is once again time for the annual online arguments over whose calendar system follows the correct correlation. We here at the Tales from Aztlantis world headquarters thought it would be helpful to lay out four things you should remember about the ancestral Me...

It was March 1968, and East Los Angeles was ready to explode. The city didn’t know it yet—hell, the country didn’t know it—but a brown revolution was about to burst forth out of its high schools. Over the course of a single week, up to 22,000 Chicano students —most of them teenagers, some still clutching textbooks and brown paper lunch bags—stood up, turned their backs on the chalkboards, and walk...

The Assassination of Kwawtemok! On February 28, of the year 1525, Kwawtemok – the last sovereign tlatoani (ruler or speaker) of the Mexikah nation and the Anawak Confederacy, was assassinated by Hernán Cortés.  But who was Kwawtemok, and why is he an important figure in the collective memory of Mexicans?  listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text! Support the show Order "NEVER WILL IT BE L...

We are joined By Dr. Magnus Pharao Hansen to discuss his new book "Nahuatl Nations: Language Revitalization and Semiotic Sovereignty in Indigenous Mexico." Nahuatl Nations is a linguistic ethnography that explores the political relations between those Indigenous communities of Mexico that speak the Nahuatl language and the Mexican Nation that claims it as an important national symbol. Au...

In the blistering heat of New Mexico’s sun-baked earth, under the protective gaze of Okuu Pin–the Turtle Mountain that majestically stands guard over Albuquerque–a strange and persistent legend has taken hold. It’s a story of hidden Jews, of ancient rites disguised as Catholic rituals, and of shadowy ancestors who supposedly hid their true faith during the Inquisition. This is the tale of New Mexi...

Day of the Dead is Subversive Spirituality! Long before the arrival of Europeans, some of the Indigenous Mesoamerican traditions of honoring the dead were celebrated with two specific feasts: Mikailwitl (feast of the dead), and Wey Mikailwitl (great feast of the dead). These feasts were celebrated in early August through mid-September. In fact, we are currently in the “month” of Mikailwitl right n...

It was October 9th, and the orange-tinted manchild sat hunched in the Oval Office, surrounded by his usual circus of bootlickers, propagandists, and professional ass-kissers. Cameras clicked, flags flapped, and the stench of urine, Axe body spray, and fascism filled the room. With a greasy Sharpie and a look of divine idiocy, he scrawled his signature across a proclamation declaring that every sec...

During a 1990 visit to Mexico, Pope John Paul II confirmed the long-standing liturgical cult in honor of Juan Diego, officially beatifying him. This act set in motion the process of canonizing Juan Diego as the first saint Indigenous to the Americas. The Juan Diego Faithful were, of course, elated at the prospect. They only had to deal with one tiny problem: Juan Diego never existed. In this episo...

On November 26, 1988, a person by the name of Ramón Tirado delivered the “Consigna del sexto sol: Segunda consigna de Anáhuac” –or the “Mandate of the Sixth Sun: Second Mandate of Anahuac”– at the Convención de Anáhuac – or the “Anahuac Convention” – which was held in Mexico City. In this Episode, we take a look at the speech, discuss it's message, and explore it's contemporary significa...

The Myth of New Mexican Spanish This week we are joined by the official New Mexico State historian Rob Martinez! Rob joins us as we dissect the many myths surrounding the way Spanish is spoken in New Mexico. In this episode, we ask the question: is New Mexican Spanish actually an archaic and “pure” form of ancient Spanish? Spoiler alert: Hell no, it isn’t!! Our guest: State Historian Rob Martinez...

Proponents of the nepohualtzintzin hail it as a marvel of ancient Mesoamerica. Elevated as a symbol of mathematical sophistication, the device has captured the imagination of scholars and enthusiasts since the 1970s. However, a close examination of the available evidence raises questions about the nature and origin of the nepohualtzintzin. In this episode we dive into the bizarre history of the al...

What happens when you invite Kurly Tlapoyawa to give the keynote address at a Latinx conference? Let's find out! listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text! Order "NEVER WILL IT BE LOST" and get $5 off! Support Lignum: A Cultural Haven in Mérida Your Hosts: Kurly Tlapoyawa is an archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and filmmaker. His research covers Mesoamerica, the American Southwest,...

Today marks the 55th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium March, a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the Vietnam War. Led by activists from local colleges and members of the Brown Berets, a group with roots in the high school student movement that staged walkouts in 1968, the coalition peaked with an Augu...

In this special extended throwback episode, we are joined by Chicano author Scott Russell Duncan to talk about his new book "Old California Strikes Back" and the state of Chicano publishing! "Old California Strikes Back is a modern Ramona Diary, the record tourists kept of the sites of Old California and the book Ramona and Hollywood movies that renamed and transformed them. A mix o...

Is wokeness destroying the discipline of archaeology? Is chattel slavery a bad thing? And just how much does "Big Archaeology" pay, anyway? We break it all down as we are joined by Dr. Ken Feder to discuss his new book "Native America: The Story of the First Peoples."  listener comments? Feedback? Shoot us a text! Lignum is a haven for culture, rest, and resistance. We believe...