Monica Brown: Hello, my name is Monica Brown and I am the author of Sharuko, El Arqueólogo Peruano, Peruvian Archaeologist, Julio C. Tello. Julio C. Tello is considered the founder of Peruvian archaeology. His nickname was Sharuko, which means brave in Quechua. Julio C. Tello grew up speaking Quechua and he is the first Indigenous archaeologist of the Americas. He made so many important discoveries of incredible sites in Peru. My mother grew up on Julio C. Tello Boulevard, in Lima, Peru, so his name loomed large in my imagination. There were so many wonderful surprises while I did my research. Julio C. Tello had support from all sorts of unlikely people in his journey to becoming the founder of Peruvian archaeology and the co-founder of the Institute of Indian Studies. His aunt happened to be a maid in the presidential palace and she used some of her earnings to bring Julio C. Tello to Lima to study. He traveled there on horseback. He had to work carrying luggage in the train station in order to support his studies.

What I love about Sharuko's work is that he was able to tell the story of the Indigenous people of Peru from an Indigenous perspective and he helped the world understand the brilliant Indigenous cultures. He really wanted Peruvians to feel pride in their heritage. Julio C. Tello also valued conservation and the protection of the Indigenous legacy and living history of Peru. The illustrator is also Peruvian-American so to have this coming out is really incredible. Very often it's outsiders telling Indigenous stories in history and in this case it's just the opposite. And now I'd like to read a few passages from the book Sharuko.

This is the story of Julio C. Tello, one of the most important archaeologists in all the Americas. He was born in Peru on April 11th, 1880, in the rugged highlands, just outside the capital city of Lima, in the shadow of the Andes mountains. Julio and his family were Indigenous. Their ancestors had lived in this region of Peru for generations. They spoke Quechua, the language of the great Inca empire, that is still spoken by many native people in Peru today. As a boy, Julio was brave and curious. This earned him the nickname Sharuko, which means brave in Quechua. Sharuko was always seeking, searching, and exploring the caves and burial grounds he found in the foothills of Paryaqaqa, a snow-covered peak in the Andes. He was fascinated by the bones and pottery and other mysteries hidden in the earth. Nothing scared Sharuko, not even the skulls he and his brothers uncovered in ancient tombs.