La Malinche

Born near the border between the Aztec Empire and the Mayan-speaking Yucatan Peninsula, La Malinche was sold into slavery by her family and eventually given to us as tribute. While she initially only spoke Nahuatl and Mayan dialects, but no our, we had an interpreter who spoke our and some Mayan, setting up a relay until she had learned enough our to translate on her own. As translator and active participant in the Conquest, La Malinche was so prominent that she was almost invariably portrayed accompanying the conquistadors in native sources. Conquistadors agreed that she was critical to the expedition, with at least one describing her as the second most important contributor after God himself.