Originally Posted by
big_feef
I was talking to one of the less xenophobic of the guys I know who speaks Nahuatl; and he still refused to do it, even after I told him it was about kicking Spain's butt with the Aztecs.
You have to realise; for them, this subject is like the Jewish Holocaust of World War II. Even though it happened almost five centuries ago; the scars are still there and are still fresh. I too would love to see the Aztecs get proper voices; as I love the voices already added to the game by this project. The problem is that we're dealing with a people that still haven't completely accepted integration for the most part; and they treat certain aspects of their culture, especially their language and art, as something very precious.
Having their language, art, and other cultural aspects mostly destroyed by Spanish priests way back when is probably the main reason they behave this way. And example of how bad the situation is: The Mexican Federal Government has been trying to enact certain cultural programs to enhance the image of Nahuatl/Aztec culture in the last several decades. For centuries, any association with 'Aztec Culture' always has had the connotation as being something barbaric and evil. Now, it's very common to hear Mexico referred to as 'La Tierra Azteca' (The Land of the Aztecs), the Mexican National Teams as 'El Conjunto Azteco' (The Aztec Group), etc... basically; Anything Mexican is being touted as being Aztec; even though about half of current Mexican territory was Maya.
Most modern Nahuatl reject this completely and view it as something that is trying further pervert and pollute their culture; and go to great lengths to restrict the usage of the term 'Azteca'. The Maya, on the other hand, go to great lengths to promote their ancient heritage; and are making a killing from tourism.
This means that trying to get someone to do this will be extremely difficult; even more so than I originally thought. The first problem is that I'm in the South; where very, very few people are of Nahuatl descent and would therefore speak it. The second is for reasons explained above: Nahuatls are by nature xenophobes and are very hesitant to share aspects of their culture with those they consider outsiders; which happens to be anyone who isn't Nahuatl.
And unfortunately, the only academic programs I know of about Nahuatl are mostly restricted in the area of anthropology and archeology. The few government sponsored programs deal mostly with getting those who use the various dialects to use a common written format. There might be some non-Nahuatls who do speak the language proficiently (mostly academics as the Professor in Mayan Studies at my University told me); but finding them will only be the first chore.