[Aztlan] Indigenous Women of the Americas site

[Dodds Pennock, Dr C.E.]

Dear colleagues,

Whilst it is good to see this subject getting more attention, a quick look at this site prompts me to urge caution in the use of the content, which is clearly underpinned by a desire to reveal "the frequent abuses they suffered in Pre-Columbian Cultures". Take, for example, the claim that "The worst of the voluntary offerings of women for sacrifice was the ritual of Xipe Totec - where a young girl or woman would be offered by her family to the Aztec priests - raped by the Aztec priests, then skinned alive - after which the priest would wear the woman's skin in a ritual of transformation." Leaving aside the highly subjective question of whether this is the 'worst' sacrifice, and having studied this ritual, I would be very interested to know where the author of the site found evidence for the claim that the woman was 'raped by the Aztec priests'. 

I realise this is a resource intended for broad usage, and I am all for encouraging public engagement with this history, but I do think that assertions such as this should make us hesitate before recommending this resource to students or colleagues.

Sincerely,
Caroline
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Dr Caroline Dodds Pennock
Lecturer in Early Modern History
School of Historical Studies
University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester
LE1 7RH

email: ced22 at le.ac.uk
http://www.le.ac.uk/history/people/ced22.html