Amatlanahuatili Tlahtoli Tlen Mexicameh Nechicolistli Sentlanahuatiloyan

The first draft of the Amatlanahuatili Tlahtoli Tlen Mexicameh Nechicolistli Sentlanahuatiloyan, the official Nahuatl version of the Mexican Constitution, was presented to the Senate of the Republic by the scholars and historians tasked with translating the basic Mexican legal document. Translator Natalio Hernández has spent two years on the project, facing, among other difficulties, that there are thirty different forms of Mexico’s most widely spoken minority language.

In 1917, the Constitution was published in Yucateca Mayan, but this is the first “official” translation of the document which, since 1996, has recognized the rights of  indigenous communities to use their own language.  The problem is that no one seems to be certain exactly how many indigenous communities, and how many languages fall under the constitutional mandate.

Historian Miguel León-Portilla, who is charged by the Senate with overseeing the translation project said he hopes to see translations in at least the other common languages:  Mixteca, Zapoteca, Otomí and  Purépecha.

Hidalgo, Puebla and Veracruz have translated their State Constitutions into Nahuatl, with the State of Mexico having official versions in Nahuatl, as well as Mazahua, Otomí and Matlatzinca.

(Mileno, via Corresponsales Indíginas)