Abelardo de la Cruz

Abelardo de la Cruz is an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Nahua scholar from Chicontepec, Veracruz. As a macehualli (Nahuatl speaker) and ixtlamatquetl (knowledge keeper), his work bridges indigenous epistemology and academic research. He previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Utah's Center for Latin American Studies (2022).

Education:

• Ph.D. University at Albany, SUNY (2022)
• M.A. Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (2016)
• B.A. Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas (2012)

Research Focus: His ethnographic work examines Nahua religious practices through linguistic anthropology, specializing in ritual discourse analysis, sacred landscapes, and the translation of Christian prayers into Nahuatl. His research documents how motiochihuanih (prayer specialists) negotiate between Catholicism and indigenous costumbre traditions in Veracruz.

Publications: His scholarship analyzes colonial religious syncretism through Nahuatl texts and contemporary practices. Recent works explore ritual language preservation, indigenous agency in religious hybridity, and decolonial interpretations of Christian-Nahua interactions across historical periods.

Awards: No awards mentioned in source material.

Academic Service: No current information on student advising, grants, or laboratory affiliations.