Malintzin's choices

by Camilla Townsend

"Malintzin's was the indigenous woman who translated for Hernando Cortes in his dealings with the Aztec emperor Moctezuma from 1519 to 1521. The Spanish called her dona Marina, and she has become known to posterity as La Malinche. As Malinche, she has long been regarded as a traitor to her people, a dangerously sexy, scheming woman who facilitated Cortes's conquest." "The life of the real woman, however, was much more complicated. She was sold into slavery as a child, and eventually given away to the Spanish as a concubine and cook. In this major reevaluation we gain new respect for her steely courage, as well as for the creativity, bravery, and resourcefulness of native peoples in the wake of conquest. Camilla Townsend rejects the myths that obscured this life. Drawing on Spanish and Aztec language sources, she breathes new life into an old tale, and offers insights into the major issues of conquest and colonization, including technology and violence, resistance and accommodation, gen