Tales From Aztlantis

Subscriber-only episode

My name is Kurly Tlapoyawa, and I LOVE movies. I spent a good chunk of my childhood being snuck into the drive-in by my parents, where I took in double and triple features of cinematic greatness. And when movies became available on home video in the 1980s, all bets were off. It’s no exaggeration to say that my life was shaped by movies. In 2004 I opened Burning Paradise Video, where I offered a carefully curated selection of independent, foreign, underground, and cult films to the public. Welcome to Burning Paradise, my love letter to a bygone era.

Your host:
Kurly Tlapoyawa is a professional archaeologist, podcaster, author, filmmaker, and former stuntman. His IMDB can be viewed here.

Purchase the Stink of Flesh on Blue Ray
Purchase the book "Direct Your Own Damn Movie"
Watch "Guardians of The Purple Kingdom"

Find us: https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromAztlantis

Merch: https://chimalli.storenvy.com/

Book: The Four Disagreements: Letting Go of Magical Thinking (Amazon)

The peopling of the Americas is a touchy subject among many Indigenous people. In this episode of Throwback Thursday, we revisit our discussion with Dr. Jennifer Raff, author of the fantastic book "“Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas" from episode 25.

Peopling the Americas with Dr. Jennifer Raff!

Today we are joined by geneticist Dr. Jennifer Raff to talk about genetic research, what it can tell us about the peopling of the Americas, and how it can be misused by pseudohistorians and psudoarchaeologists to promote dangerous misinterpretations of the past!

About our guest:

Jennifer Raff is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Affiliate Faculty member of the Indigenous Studies Program at the University of Kansas. She has a PhD in Anthropology and Biology (double major) from Indiana University, and has been studying the genomes of ancient and contemporary Indigenous peoples from North America since 2001. Her book “Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas” is a New York Times Best seller.

You can order her book here: Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas

Your Hosts:

Kurly Tlapoyawa is an archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and filmmaker. His research covers Mesoamerica, the American Southwest, and the historical connections between the two regions. He is the author of numerous books and has presented lectures at the University of New Mexico, Yale University, San Diego State University, and numerous others. 
@kurlytlapoyawa

Ruben Arellano Tlakatekatl is a scholar, activist, and professor of history. His research explores Chicana/Chicano indigeneity, Mexican indigenist nationalism, and Coahuiltecan identity resurgence. Other areas of research include Aztlan (US Southwest), Anawak (Mesoamerica), and Native North America. He has presented and published widely on these topics and has taught courses at various institutions. He currently teaches history at Dallas College – Mountain View Campus. 

I Hate Talking
A podcast about talking, etymology, frustrating topics, current events, and more.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the Show.

Find us: https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromAztlantis

Merch: https://chimalli.storenvy.com/

Book: The Four Disagreements: Letting Go of Magical Thinking (Amazon)

Dr. Herrán Ávila is a historian of the Cold War in Latin America, with an emphasis on conservative, anticommunist, and extreme right movements. After researching the comparative history of anticommunism in Mexico, Argentina, and Colombia, his current book project seeks to unveil the national and Latin American dimensions of right wing activism in Cold War Mexico. The book project examines the history and Cold War transformations of right wing dissidence to the Mexican postrevolutionary state, and situates Mexico as a crucial hub for transnational anticommunist activism, shedding light on the various ways in which Mexican anticommunists forged links with Latin American, European, and East Asian fellow travelers. Dr. Herrán Ávila’s publications in both English and Spanish reflect a range of related research interests, such as right wing youth; neofascism in Latin America; the history of political crime in the Americas; and the intersections between banditry and insurgency. He has also been a recipient of various scholarships and grants from Fulbright, Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology, the New School for Social Research, and the Hoover Institution, and a contributor to the Mexican dailies Reforma and El Norte.

Your hosts:

Kurly Tlapoyawa is an archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and filmmaker. His research covers Mesoamerica, the American Southwest, and the historical connections between the two regions. He is the author of numerous books and has presented lectures at the University of New Mexico, Yale University, San Diego State University, and numerous others. 
@kurlytlapoyawa

Ruben Arellano Tlakatekatl is a scholar, activist, and professor of history. His research explores Chicana/Chicano indigeneity, Mexican indigenist nationalism, and Coahuiltecan identity resurgence. Other areas of research include Aztlan (US Southwest), Anawak (Mesoamerica), and Native North America. He has presented and published widely on these topics and has taught courses at various institutions. He currently teaches history at Dallas College – Mountain View Campus. 

I Hate Talking
A podcast about talking, etymology, frustrating topics, current events, and more.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the Show.

Find us: https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromAztlantis

Merch: https://chimalli.storenvy.com/

Book: The Four Disagreements: Letting Go of Magical Thinking (Amazon)

In this Dispatch, Tlakatekatl reads and discusses a recent Washington Post article on the troubled legacy of the Texas Rangers along the border communities of South Texas. The article explores the story of ethnic Mexican men on their way down to a to wedding on the Mexican side of the river. State agents allege that they were smugglers who shot at them first, but their families have always maintained that they were targeted for being ethnic Mexicans. In the aftermath, 3 of the traveling men died, including the groom who was the one to be married. 

Tlakatekatl then reads the introductory essay for the main panel of the “Life and Death on the Border” exhibit that he helped bring to North Texas through The Mexican American Museum of Texas, a non-profit organization dedicated to highlighting the long and unique history of that community in the state. The exhibit highlights the troubling history of the early 1900s during the decade of 1910-1920, particularly several horrific atrocities committed against ethnic Mexicans by state agents, including the Texas Rangers. Tlakatekatl is a founding member of the museum.

Links and Sources:
After a borderland shootout, a 100-year-old battle for the truth
The Mexican American Museum of Texas

Your host:
Ruben Arellano Tlakatekatl is a scholar, activist, and professor of history. His research explores Chicana/Chicano indigeneity, Mexican indigenist nationalism, and Coahuiltecan identity resurgence. Other areas of research include Aztlan (US Southwest), Anawak (Mesoamerica), and Native North America. He has presented and published widely on these topics and has taught courses at various institutions. He currently teaches history at Dallas College – Mountain View Campus.  

Support the Show.

Find us: https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromAztlantis

Merch: https://chimalli.storenvy.com/

Book: The Four Disagreements: Letting Go of Magical Thinking (Amazon)

Subscriber-only episode

My name is Kurly Tlapoyawa, and I LOVE movies. I spent a good chunk of my childhood being snuck into the drive-in by my parents, where I took in double and triple features of cinematic greatness. And when movies became available on home video in the 1980s, all bets were off. It’s no exaggeration to say that my life was shaped by movies. In 2004 I opened Burning Paradise Video, where I offered a carefully curated selection of independent, foreign, underground, and cult films to the public. Welcome to Burning Paradise, my love letter to a bygone era.

Your host:
Kurly Tlapoyawa is a professional archaeologist, podcaster, author, filmmaker, and former stuntman. His IMDB can be viewed here.

Purchase the Stink of Flesh on Blue Ray
Purchase the book "Direct Your Own Damn Movie"
Watch "Guardians of The Purple Kingdom"

Find us: https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromAztlantis

Merch: https://chimalli.storenvy.com/

Book: The Four Disagreements: Letting Go of Magical Thinking (Amazon)

Ever hear about the Mexican reporter who smuggled a codex back into Mexico? In this edition of Throwback Thursday, we revisit this story from way back in Episode 14!

Rescuing the Tonalamatl Aubin

A couple of years back, I visited the British National Museum in London, England, with my wife. As we stood in front of the many Mesoamerican artifacts on display, objects that the hands of our ancestors had meticulously crafted, I was reminded of a scene from the Marvel film "Black Panther." If you have seen the movie, I'm sure you remember which scene I am referring to. In it, the character Erik "Killmonger" Stevens, played by Michael B Jordan, stands in front of African artifacts at the fictional "Museum of Great Britain."

This scene caused an interesting discussion in the archaeological community and among museum professionals when the movie first came out. In an essay titled "Why museum professionals need to talk about Black Panther" Casey Haughin of John Hopkins wrote that Black Panther "presented the museum as an illegal mechanism of colonialism, and along with that, a space which does not even welcome those whose culture it displays."

Now, I'm not gonna lie, part of me wished that I had my own team of highly skilled Nawa operatives with me at the museum in London. And that we were there to pull off a carefully orchestrated heist, liberating the objects of our Mesoamerican cultural inheritance and returning them to the land of their birth. Unfortunately, such acts of daring cultural restitution are the stuff of pure fantasy. More at home in the Marvel Cinematic Universe than in the real world. Or are they?

Your Hosts:

Kurly Tlapoyawa is an archaeologist, ethnohistorian, and filmmaker. His research covers Mesoamerica, the American Southwest, and the historical connections between the two regions. He is the author of numerous books and has presented lectures at the University of New Mexico, Yale University, San Diego State University, and numerous others. 
@kurlytlapoyawa

Ruben Arellano Tlakatekatl is a scholar, activist, and professor of history. His research explores Chicana/Chicano indigeneity, Mexican indigenist nationalism, and Coahuiltecan identity resurgence. Other areas of research include Aztlan (US Southwest), Anawak (Mesoamerica), and Native North America. He has presented and published widely on these topics and has taught courses at various institutions. He currently teaches history at Dallas College – Mountain View Campus.

I Hate Talking
A podcast about talking, etymology, frustrating topics, current events, and more.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Support the Show.

Find us: https://www.facebook.com/TalesFromAztlantis

Merch: https://chimalli.storenvy.com/

Book: The Four Disagreements: Letting Go of Magical Thinking (Amazon)