Olivia: What if the history you know was only half the story, told by the victors? Whose voices are missing? Welcome to When It Happened, I'm Olivia. Olivia: Today, we're diving into Camilla Townsend's "Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs." This isn't just another account of conquest. Townsend brings us the Mexica – figures like the thoughtful Moctezuma, the defiant Cuauhtémoc – through their own words, using Nahuatl language texts written long after the Spanish arrived. It reveals their complex politics, vibrant culture, and enduring resilience. And the key to unlocking their perspective isn't a battlefield, but a quiet room decades later... Olivia: Picture Mexico City, around 1612. Sunlight streams into a room, illuminating dust motes. An indigenous historian, don Domingo Chimalpahin, leans over fragile papers. The only sound is the rhythmic scratch of his quill pen. He’s meticulously recording the annals, the histories, the memories of his ancestors in Nahuatl. Outside, the colonial city thrives, but inside this room, Chimalpahin wages a quiet, intense battle against cultural erasure, armed only with ink and memory passed down through generations. Olivia: This quiet act of writing is the heart of "Fifth Sun." It embodies Townsend’s central point: the Nahua people weren't just conquered subjects; they were active historians of their own experiences, even amidst catastrophe. Chimalpahin’s careful work symbolizes the survival and power of these indigenous texts. It shifts the focus from just the dramatic fall of Tenochtitlan to the continuity, adaptation, and profound resilience documented by indigenous intellectuals like him, showing us their world on their terms. Olivia: So, what can we take from don Domingo’s quiet diligence? First: Always ask whose story you're hearing, and actively seek out the voices that might be missing. Second: Remember that history unfolds not just in grand battles, but in the persistent, quiet acts of remembering and preserving truth. Olivia: That’s our time on "Fifth Sun." Join me next week on When It Happened. Keep listening, keep thinking.