The Ajq'ijab' of Quetzaltenango

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The Ajq'ijab' of Quetzaltenango SURVIVAL, CHANGE, AND CONTINUITY OF MAYA SPIRITUALITY: THE AJQ’IJAB’ OF QUETZALTENANGO, GUATEMALA A dissertation submitted to the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of Indigenous Studies University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By LEONZO BARRENO ©Copyright Leonzo Augusto Barreno, December 2019. All rights reserved PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the libraries of this university may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my dissertation work or, in her absence, by the Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies or the Dean of Arts in which my dissertation was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. DISCLAIMER Reference in this dissertation to any commercial products, process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or other otherwise, do not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring by the University of Saskatchewan. The views and opinions of the author expressed herein do not state or reflect those of the University of Saskatchewan and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Request for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this dissertation in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Indigenous Studies 142 Kirk Hall, 117 Science Place University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5C8 Canada OR Dean College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies University of Saskatchewan 116 Thorvaldson Building, 110 Science Place Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5C9 Canada i Abstract The 1990s were a decade of cultural and political change in Guatemala. Negotiations led to a Peace Agreement between guerrilla forces and the Guatemalan government after a 36-year Civil War. Mayan ceremonies, based in cosmology, mystical beings, the Popol Wuh book, the 260-day calendar and the burning of natural materials, emerged in public spaces for the first time in hundreds of years. Up to the 1980s these ceremonies were still labelled “brujería” (witchcraft), were attended by few people, were held in rural places and not socially accepted. This dissertation is a study of the changes that occurred between these two decades and after. The main goal is to determine the conditions that motivated the spiritual leaders (Ajq’ijab’) to leave secrecy in the 1990s. The objectives are to describe the origins of Maya religion in the classic and post-classic periods; colonialism and the arrival in Guatemala of Catholicism and Protestantism and their hegemonic projects; how Mayan spiritual leaders, as organic intellectuals, negotiated and contested dominant ideologies, Christian religions, institutional racism and violence; and when they moved their place of prayer to rural locations. This study also shows the colonial and contemporary influences experienced by the Ajq’ijab’ in their struggle to preserve their belief system. This dissertation corroborates existing studies that demonstrate that the public resurgence of Maya identity overlaps the talks leading to the 1996 Peace Agreement; that the religious sphere in the country now includes Maya spirituality; and, while Guatemala remained under the domination of a small Creole oligarchy, Indigenous peoples were never passive actors. Whereas there is scholarly agreement about when the rituals began to be publicly celebrated, the conditions and determinants from the practitioners’ viewpoint have not been seriously studied. Therefore, the focus of this thesis is on the efforts of the Quetzaltenango Ajq’ijab’ and scholars to tell this story from their own experiences. In a series of 13 semi- structured interviews, they shared their understandings about Maya spirituality; how most of them became Ajq’ijab’ during Guatemala’s armed conflict and how they experienced such conflict; how advancing Maya people’s rights in the 1990s did not involve them. This thesis argues that Maya spirituality is currently in a transitional, changing, even contradictory, phase. On the one hand, no longer fearful of the state, with opportunities to grow organically, especially among youth and educational institutions. On the other hand, facing threats of disunity and deception through the commodification of their rituals to mere public tokenism. Keywords Maya religion/spirituality, spiritual guides, colonialism, hegemony, resistance, change ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project began in the 1980s in my native city of Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. I am fortunate in having parents, Papá Augusto and my late Mamá Fidelia, who did not oppose my political activism or my curiosity and interest in Maya spirituality. In my journey, I met several spiritual guides in Quetzaltenango and Elders in Treaty 4 in Saskatchewan, Canada. Some of them took me under their guidance to learn more about their ceremonies. At the University of Saskatchewan, I met and learned from Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars who guided me in both the Western academic method and the Indigenous way. I hope this work does justice to my academic mentors Dr. Winona Wheeler, supervisor, Dr. Jim Handy, Dr. Carl Beal and Dr. Adam Gaudry. Special thanks to the late First Nations scholar Dr. Oliver Brass and my friend Rolando Ramirez. To my colleagues at the School of Journalism, University of Regina, for their continuous support and for providing me a home to do my research and complete this dissertation. Special thanks to Dr. Jill Spelliscy, Pat Bell, Dr. Gennady Chernov, Dr. Mitch Diamantopoulos and Mrs. Shelley Kessel. In Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, I am part of an extensive family. I am grateful to all my siblings, especially my brothers Estuardo and Cristian and sister Judith for taking on the responsibilities to help my parents during difficult times. Special thanks to Thelma, Ana, Juan Edwin and Helen. I am very grateful to the Colectivo Vida Digna (Living with Dignity Collective) for accepting to be the local community contact and easing my transition back to the local costumbre. This study was possible thanks to the financial contributions of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Department of Indigenous Studies, University of Saskatchewan. Finally, my thanks go to my children, Luna and Tijash, and wife Tara, who were my sunlight in the darkest of times. Thank you to my stepchildren Nicholas and Noella for their encouragement. iii DEDICATION To mamá Lela (the late Fidelia Ixcot de Barreno) and papá Augusto Barreno Coyoy To my Maya and Ladino compañer@s To the victims and survivors of the Guatemalan genocide To the Ajq’ijab’ To those, who out of love for humanity, struggle for a just world iv Table of contents PERMISSION TO USE………………………………………………………………… i ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………… iii DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………………. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………. v LIST OF MAPS, TABLES AND FIGURES……………………………………..….. ix LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………………….. ix LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS…………………………………………………………… ix PROLOGUE: SELF-POSITIONALITY……………………………………………… x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….....1 1.2. Organization of the work……………………………………………………..4 CHAPTER 2: CONTEXT AND EXISITING LITERATURE….……………………8 2.1. Origins, structures and functions of Maya religion……………………..……9 2.2. The Spiritual Guides (Ajq’ijab’)………………………………………….....26 2.3. The 260-day calendar (Chol Q’ij in K’iche Maya)……………………….....30 2.4. The Popol Wuh……………………………………………………………...34 2.5. Fire as the spiritual medium…………………………………………………38 2.6. Religion or spirituality: Modern interpretations…………………………….40 2.7. The 1990s public appearance of Mayan ceremonies, changes, and mimicry ………………………………………………………………………………48 2.8. The Quetzaltenango Ajq’ijab’s in the literature as my research question…..54 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, METHODOLOGY AND METHODS 3.1. Hegemony…………………………………………………………………...60 3.1.1. Historical hegemonic analysis……………….….………………………...62 3.1.2. Hegemony: Critics and other alternatives………………………………....65 3.1.3. Hegemony: A bridge between phenomenology and political economy......70 3.1.4. Grounded theory and la costumbre: An inter-disciplinary methodological approach………………………………………………….72 3.1.4.1. Grounded Theory……………………………………………………72 3.1.4.2. La Costumbre as an Indigenous research protocol in action..………74 3.1.5. The Maya ceremony to ask permission…………………………………...79 3.1.6. The participants…………………………………………………………...82 3.1.7. Method: Semi-structured interviews of the Ajq’ijab’….………………….85 CHAPTER 4: THE MAYA, THE K’ICHE MAYA, CONQUEST AND RESISTANCE…………………………………………………………………………..90 4.1. The Maya……………………………………………………………………90 4.2. The K’iche Maya: Conquerors are conquered………………………………97 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..102 v CHAPTER 5: CLASS, RACE AND RELIGION IN GUATEMALA……………..105 5.1. Colonialism, social classes, ideologies, and Indigenous resistance………..106 5.2. Race, otherness, and racism……………………………………………......116
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