There are hundreds of alphabetic texts in Zapotec languages dating back to the 16th century. Today, however, Zapotec speakers are generally unable to read these texts, due to lack of access to the texts and an unfamiliarity with the orthographic practices. Moreover, significant changes have taken place in the grammar in the intervening centuries. This results in a situation where Zapotec people may not have access to history in their own language. Ticha is an online digital text explorer that provides access to images, transcriptions, analysis, and translations of the Colonial Zapotec texts. The Ticha project includes in-person workshops with Zapotec community members as part of an iterative development process. Feedback from these interactions inform design decisions for the project. Here we reflect on transnational collaboration with stakeholders in building a digital scholarship project that seeks to use the power of digital humanities to democratize access to materials and resources which were previously the exclusive domain of a few experts. When community members have access to important documents from their own history, archiving, scholarship, and community engagement can be brought together in a powerful synthesis.