Mayan Spirituality and Lands in Guatemala
MAYAN SPIRITUALITY AND LANDS IN GUATEMALA Romeo Tiu López I. BACKGROUND In order to understand the issue of Mayan spirituality and land rights in Guatemala, it is important to know the contextual background of the people. Before the Spanish Conquest, the Mayas occupied an extensive territory, covering what is now known as Chiapas and Yucatan in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. According to archaeological investigations,1 the Mayan territory that occupies parts of these three countries includes a number of linguistic territories that are still used and one that has died out (Chikomuselteko). There are twenty-one territories settled in Guatemala today defined by language, and they are: Achi, Akateko, Awakateko, Chorti, Cluj, Itza, Ixil, Popti, Kanjob’al, Kaqchikel, K’iche’, Mam, Mopan, Poqomam, Pocomchi, Q’eqchi (which extends up to Belize), Sakapulteko, Sipakapense, Tektiteko, Tz’utuhil, Uspanteco. But in Chiapas and Yucatan there also exist Teko, Mocho’ Tjolab’al, Tzotzil, Tzleltal, Chol, Chontal, Maya, Lakantun, Wasteko.2 As well as language, there are other features that provide strong identity bonds, for instance, clothing, social organization, traditional authorities, spirituality, and other elements. Although there are Mayas living in three different nations, Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, their economic situation is similar. They suffer quite strong discrimination as a result of the loss or negation of their rights. In the case of Guatemala this situation can be easily seen in the vestiges of an internal armed conflict that lasted more than thirty years and whose victims were almost all Mayan – 83.33% according to the February 1999 report of the Commission for Historical Clarification of Human Rights Violations and Violent Acts which have Caused Suffering to the Guatemalan Population (CEH), “Guatemala, Memory of Silence” (Memorias del Silencio).3 In the conflict that began in Chiapas in 1994, and lasted for nine years, the largest number of victims were also Mayan.
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