VANCOUVER SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY GUARDIANS OF THE BLUE-GREEN PLATE, THE BLUE GREEN BOWL: WHAT THE WORLD CAN LEARN FROM THE MAYA-SIPAKAPENSE OF GUATEMALA A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF THEOLOGY by THE REVEREND EMILIE TERI SMITH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2009 The Reverend Dr. Martin Brokenleg The Reverend Dr. Paula Sampson Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-57327-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-57327-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, pr§ter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada Dedicated to the Women of Sipakapa and San Miguel Ixtahuacan, especially to Cleotilde Reina Ambrocio yAmbrocio, Gregoria Crifanta Perez Bamaca, Crifanta Fernandez Perez, Patrocinia Mateo Mejia, Catalina Perez Hernandez, Olga Bamaca Gonzales, Maria Diaz, Crifanta Yoc, Marta Perez 4? 11111 •fflOS WOMEN OF SIPAKAPA Photo: Roberto Marani 2. SIPAKAPA Pholo: Roberto Marani Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. AndAhab said to Naboth, 'Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money. 'But Naboth said to Ahab, 'The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.' 1 Kings, 21:1-3 Between his tears, Emitelio Bdmaca, 74 years old, remembers that in 2004 Montana Exploradora supporters offered him $4,000 quetzals per cuerda of land,' and a job and development for the communities. "They never told us it was gold they were going to dig out of there . and some of us were forced to sell our land, " he says sadly. Prensa Libre, March 15, 2009 George Lovell, "A Beauty That Hurts: Life and Death in Guatemala, (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000), 129, "A 'cuerda' is a variable unit of land, measuring either 0.11 acres or 0.27 acres". Alejandra Alvarez, "Ganancias millonarias por explotacion minera no Uegan a las comunidades", (Prensa Libre, March 15, 2009), http://www.prensalibre.com/pl/2009/marzo/15/296810.html. accessed March 16, 2009. CONTENTS DEDICATION iii EPIGRAPH iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v ILLUSTRATIONS viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix INTRODUCTION: LOCATING SIPAKAPA AND ME Martin 1 CHAPTER ONE: BEFORE THE COLLISION Rosenda 15 1.1 The Maya 1.2 The Spanish 1.3 Sipakapa CHAPTER TWO: COLLISION AND COLONIAL "NEW SPAIN": CONQUERING AND DIVIDING UP THE LAND Axel 24 2.1 Collision 2.2 Colony 2.3 Beyond, and Beneath Collision and Colony CHAPTER THREE: EARLY CAPITALISM: LAND AND ITS PEOPLE AS COMMODITY Leocadio 41 3.1 Collapse of the Colonial 3.2 Rise of the Capitalist State: 1871—1944 3.3 Maya Response 3.4 The Turning of the New Century 3.5 Sipakapa CHAPTER FOUR: SCORCHED EARTH, HOLY LAND Jesus 57 4.1 The Fall of Ubico - New Hope for Guatemala 4.2 The Agrarian Reform Law: Hope for Guatemalan Campesinos 4.3 The Destruction of a Dream 4.4 Old Horror Returns, With a New Vengeance: 1954-1966 4.5 The Guatemalan Genocide - Scorched Earth, Holy Land 4.6 Sipakapa CHAPTER FIVE: MINING IN MODERN DAY GUATEMALA Marta Gloria 80 5.1 Brief History of Mining in Guatemala: 1524 - 1954 5.2 Modern Mining in Guatemala: 1954 - 1996 5.3 EXMIBAL: The Grief Behind the First Canadian Mine 5.4 Ixtahuacan: A National Mining Crisis 5.5 The Chixoy Dam on Rio Negro, Black River CHAPTER SIX: GOLD!!!!!! John 95 6.1 A New Day for Investing in Guatemala 6.2 Behind Goldcorp in Guatemala: The Presidents 6.3 The Business - A Berger Family Tree 6.4 The Fox in Charge of the Hen House 6.5 Conflict in the Communities 6.6 The Church 6.7 Environmentalists 6.8 Indigenous Communities 6.9 What the Goldmine Is 6.10 Where the Marlin Mine Is 6.11 Resistance on Many Levels 6.12 The Environmental Reasons to say No to a Mine 6.13 Mining: A Sustainable Endeavour? 6.14 Consulta 6.15 Land Title 6.16 Sipakapa: Land Title Documents 6.17 How did Goldcorp Get the Land? 6.18 Sipakapa Still Says No! 6.19 And San Miguel Ixtahuacan Too CHAPTER SEVEN: CANADIAN CONTENT Goyo 141 7.1 Diplomats 7.2 Remember the Golden Rule: He who has the Gold, makes the Rules 7.3 Round and Round the Mulberry Bush? 7.4 Pension Funds CHAPTER EIGHT: CORN Reina 152 8.1 The First Days of Recovery 8.2 The Accords and their Aftermath 8.3 Land 8.4 Maya Spiritual Resistance as Renaissance 8.5 Mayan and Christian 8.6 Maya Cosmovision 8.7 Sipakapa: Not for Sale CHAPTER NINE: AN ECOLOGY OF KNOWING, AND LOVING Emilie 167 9.1 The Mine, Once More 9.2 The Mine, Guatemala and I 9.3 Sipakapa and I 9.4 How to Frame this Story 9.5 Abyssal and Post-Abyssal Thinking 9.6 Goldcorp, the Sipakapense, and Post Abyssal-Thinking 9.7 Post-Abyssal Christianity? 9.8 A Judeo-Christian Path Away from the Abyss APPENDIXES: 184 Appendix One: Story behind the opening stories Appendix Two: Timeline Appendix Three: Five Points from Decree 900, the 1952 Agrarian Reform Law Appendix Four: The Holy Innocents of Rio Negro, Baja Verapaz March 12, 1982 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 191 ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURE PAGE 1. WOMEN OF SIPAKAPA iii 2. SIPAKAPA iv 3. BEFORE: MOUNTAINS OF SAN MARCOS 109 4. AFTER: THE MARLIN MINE ., 110 5. CONSULTA 128 6. IXIM--SACRED CORN 182 7. EMILIE AND FRIEND 183 vm ACKNOWLEDGMENTS What one discovers, after many years, months, weeks, days, hours of working like mad on an idea, is that one is never alone. I am surrounded by such a cloud of friends and supporters that I cannot possibly mention them all. You know who you are, and thank you. I need however to especially thank my beloved friend, the Reverend Clarence Li - quite simply, without you I would still be in the abyss. And to the people of Ixim-ulew- Guatemala- the communities of San Marcos, San Miguel Ixtahuacan and Sipakapa, I thank you for your patience with me, and for your example of resistance against formidable and complex odds. To you, again, I beg forgiveness, for the destruction being done to your lands, in the name of greed, whose source is my city, my country, my people. I am sorry. Finally, for their forbearance and persistent love for me, I thank my sons, young men, who have always been touched by Guatemala, by its horror, and its wonder. Boys: Abel, Abraham, Axel, I can never express to you how much you mean to me. You are my treasure. One last note, to my little black cat, Zydeco, thanks for all the zen moments of peace and the furry cuddles. Your contribution to this thesis, "askdjw0tcc877", unfortunately had to be eliminated, but your support and encouragement has meant the world to me. This work is a community project, but its errors and shortcomings I claim solely as my own. To Ajau, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, all that is seen and unseen, Maker of the Blue- Green Plate, Maker of the Blue-Green Bowl, to all the Grandmothers and Grandfathers, in humble reverence I express my gratitude for all the gifts I have been given. Mindios Chjonte Maltiox Gracias Thank you. ix INTRODUCTION LOCATING SIPAKAPA AND ME This is the beginning of the Ancient Word. .. And here we shall take up the demonstration, revelation and account of how things were put in shadow and brought to light by the Maker, Modeler, named Bearer, Begetter.. Maker of the Blue-Green Plate, Maker of the Blue-Green Bowl.. Now it still ripples, now it still murmurs, ripples, it still sighs, still hums, and it is empty under the sky. Here follow the first words, the first eloquence. There is not yet one person, one animal, bird, fish, crab, tree, rock, hollow, canyon, meadow, forest.