For the last ten years, the University of Warsaw has been establishing its presence on the world map of Mesoamerican studies with growing intensity. Our special field of expertise is the study of Nahuatl language and culture in a way that bridges disciplinary and chronological divides, as well as barriers between the academy and society. Thanks to support from the European Research Council, the Foundation for Polish Science and other funding agencies in Poland, we have been able to launch multidisciplinary team projects focusing on Nahuatl studies. Our research is particularly nourished by two traditions: the old school of European Nahuatl scholarship, going back to Eduard Seler and his numerous successors in Europe and beyond; and the New Philology established by James Lockhart, a teacher and mentor to numerous researchers in the US, Europe and Mexico. The Mexican nahuatlamatinih, Ángel María Garibay, Miguel León-Portilla, Alfredo López Austin and Luis Reyes García began the crucial work of calling attention to the need to recognize the rightful place of Nahuatl and of indigenous scholars in academia. And the Nahuatl literary tradition, which goes back to pre-Hispanic times, would not be alive today if it were not for modern Nahua writers. For the last several decades, they have been safeguarding and enriching a heritage which is both theirs and humanity’s, carrying it into the future.

The European Nahuatl Conference acknowledges the importance of these traditions. We propose to use them as a foundation, on the one hand, to promote collaboration among all scholars of Nahuatl, indigenous and non-indigenous, and on the other hand, to transcend barriers between the disciplines, between research topics, and between the past and the present. Bridging the latter disjunction in scholarship is especially important because the reinforcement of historical identity is crucial to the empowerment of indigenous people today. For this reason, and drawing from our own Polish historical experience of cultural suppression and (dis)continuity, as well as our struggle against the threat of cultural, linguistic and political erasure, we have given special focus in our teaching, research and revitalization activities to highlighting the fundamental continuity between the lives of indigenous people in the past and in the present. Warsaw has become a space for Nahuatl-speaking researchers to continue their studies and participate in workshops related to their cultural heritage. Part of this initiative is the monolingual editorial series, Totlahtol, aimed at promoting indigenous literacy. Together with our partners in Mexico, we have organized and conducted numerous capacity-building workshops and events for indigenous researchers, students, teachers and activists. The decolonization of ethnohistorical knowledge, the revitalization of Nahuatl language and culture and the empowerment of its people are aims that are integrated into all of our projects. We believe that Nahuatl meetings in Warsaw will become an important forum for working toward these goals, as well as rethinking the traditional methodologies of historical, anthropological and linguistic studies.

We hope that you will join us in Warsaw for two days of fruitful exchanges, inspiring discussions and camaraderie in the First European Nahuatl Conference.