The University of Arkansas Latin American and Latino Studies Program will host a special talk exploring the powerful voices of Indigenous Guaraní communities who resisted colonial displacement in the mid-18th century. The event, titled "This Land of Our True Flesh: Guaraní Voices Against Enlightenment-Era Tyranny in South America, 1750-1756," will take place from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, in the Cordia Harrington Center for Excellence, Room 0349.

The discussion will feature Leonardo Cerno, a linguist and researcher with Argentina's National Scientific and Technical Research Council, and Shawn Austin, associate professor of history, who specializes in Colonial Latin America, at the U of A. Together, the two scholars have collaborated to translate and study some of the most important Guaraní-language texts from the colonial era.

At the center of their work are nine remarkable letters written by Guaraní authors in protest of the 1750 Treaty of Madrid, which ordered the forced relocation of 30,000 Guaraní people from their ancestral towns to make way for Portuguese claims in the Río de la Plata region. These letters, blending European Jesuit thought with Guaraní notions of community and well-being, represent a rare and powerful Indigenous voice against a novel form of colonial authority.

Cerno and Austin's collaboration highlights the importance of these texts not only as historical documents but also as testaments to resilience, intellectual engagement, and the complexity of Indigenous responses to colonialism. Their forthcoming volume of translations with Dumbarton Oaks Press will make these voices accessible to a wider audience, ensuring that the Guaraní perspective is remembered and studied.

This event is free and open to the public. All students, faculty, and community members interested in Indigenous history, Latin American studies, linguistics, or colonial history are encouraged to attend.