Maya Resurgence in Guatemala

the pan-Maya movement
    -arose in the mid 1980s as the violence was simmering down
    -goal is to unify disparate Maya groups
    -language and culture rights (e.g., the unified alphabet for writing Mayan languages)
    -seeking political power and socio-economic equality through cultural revitalization
    -glorifying the Maya past with a vision of a more pluralistic future Guatemala
    -adept at using modern technology to revive traditional customs
    -leaders of the pan-Maya movement relatively young, relatively affluent, relatively well-educated
                while most live in in Guatemala City, a large number are from Tecpán

background:
-early activists in the 1940s and 1950s such as Adrian Inez Chavez
-the influence of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Catholic Action and others
-by the early 1970s, small cultural associations and groups such as the Proyecto Lingüístico Francisco Marroquín (PLFM); scholarships abroad for some Maya students
-movement goes underground during the violence of the late 1970s and early 1980s     
       

Disseminating the Pan-Maya message
Cassette tapes, radio broadcasts
maps, censuses

Reviving the Past
language
-21 Mayan languages spoken in Guatemala, 9 in Mexico
-most linguistic work in Mayan langauges has been done by and for foreigners
-different alphabets (orthographies) for the languages
-Maya linguists see a need for standardization of Maya languages, to make them more viable in the modern world
-orthographic standardization: distinguishing from Spanish-based alphabets, using International Phonetic Alphabet as a base: e.g., using "k" instead of "c" (IPA /k/) and "q" in place of "qu" (IPA /q/)

getting rid of Spanish borrowings -- neologisms in Kaqchikel:

kematz'ib'                              computer (lit. weaver-[of]-writing)

existing forms:
qamama' q'ij                          our grandfather, Sun
qati't ik'                                 our grandmother, Moon
qate' rach'ulew                      our mother, Earth

new forms:
ral ik', rume'al q'ij                 planets, daughters of the Moon, daughters of the Sun
ch'ipich'umil                         Pluto, lit. last born of the heavenly bodies



Maya Numeration

bar and dot numeration:

Maya calendars: used in ancient times and still used today
    tzolkin: 20 days and 13 numbers (260 days):



also the haab (not traditionally used today) 18 named months, 20 numbers + 5 unlucky days (365 days)



"Men of Corn to the Rescue of the Country"

hieroglyphs and long count:

The Classic Maya Long Count Calendar
Lintel 21 at Yaxchilan:




bar and dot numerals

9 Baktuns (9 x 144,000 days = 1,296,000 days)
0 Katuns (0 x 7200 days)
19 Tuns (19 x 360 days = 6840 days)
2 Uinals (2 x 20 days = 40 days)
4 Kins (4 days)

OR 1,302,884 days since 11 August 3114 BC
OR AD 454


also Calendar Round: 2 Kan, 2 Yax

  
a. changing the phonetic readings of glyphs
b. use of Long Count (12.18.18.7.2, 13 Iq' 10 Mol -- 7 Sept. 1991)
c. taking power glyph

Cholsamaj:

Maya Worldviews
covenant between humans and gods
the notion of balance, physical and metaphysical
"hot" and "cold" illnesses
tuj or sweatbath:


caves and rituals--Pulchich:


gods: multiple aspects, "Heart of Earth, Heart of Sky"
aj q'ij ("Day-keepers")

K'u'x: heart/soul
anima: will-to-live/soul
communitarian ethics (but not anti-capitalist)
consensus building
communal lands, work parties, kin networks
links to spiritual beliefs concerning balance. and the blurry boundaries between material and spiritual

Households
nuclear family + other relatives

daily rhythms
gathering around the hearth
weekly rhythms
market day (Thursday); sweatbaths on Wednesday and Saturday; tamales Saturday night
annual cycles
religious calendar, national holidays, planting and harvest

Catholicism: 60% Catholic
fiesta system and cofradias

35 % Protestant
5% Traditionalist religion
aj q'ij: benevolent 'day-keeper'; can help cure spiritual illness and divine futures
Milpa agriculture and symbolic correlates
corn as the source of life
notion of cyclic regeneration: life from death
midwives, bonesetters, etc., more medically oriented but with a spiritual component
aj itz': malevolent 'witches'; the monkey guy in Tecpán

Tecpán as a progressive town:
innovative traje styles
traje worn mostly by women: huipile (blouse) and corte (skirt)
new styles of Maya dress
phones, Internet cafe
shopping centers

Nontraditional agriculture:
broccoli, snow peas, blackberries, raspberries, etc. for export to the US
labor intensive, favors smallholders
read more about it in my article in The Globalist


Mayas and ladinos
discrimination
education