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The enduring Maya
The ancient Maya of central America built one of the greatest civilizations of the western hemisphere. When European adventurers reached the New World in the 16th century, their destruction of indigenous cultures like that of the Maya was one of the most catastrophic episodes in
human history.
Although the great days of the Maya civilization are gone, the Maya are not a vanished people. Millions still live in their old lands that include modern Guatemala and parts of Mexico. Many still adhere to ancient customs despite the repressive regimes imposed on them in the
centuries since the Spanish conquest. |
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Before the conquest, many Maya cities rose and fell during the years of their great civilization. Sites with mighty temples and palaces each declined in their own time to be replaced by other power centers. |
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Arrival of the Spanish
The Spanish conquest was a time of traumatic subjugation. Certainly the Maya and other peoples of the New World like the Aztecs and Inca were themselves capable of brutalities, but they could not withstand the genocidal warfare inflicted by the Europeans with their firearms and horses.
The destruction was worsened by the unintentional introduction of diseases such as smallpox, influenza and measles. Within a century, the indigenous population was reduced by 90 percent. |
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The resilient Maya culture
Despite the conquest and cultural repression, Guatemala and Mexico are still home to Maya who maintain many of their old customs and traditions, and continue to speak Mayan languages. Their struggle against encroaching European civilization has never really halted, although much of
their culture and spirit has gone underground.
The Maya have strived to preserve their traditional spirituality despite the arrival of Catholicism with its rituals, saints and priests. Today, many regions and villages have their own religious and folklore rituals that are fascinating hybrids of Christianity and old Maya beliefs. |
An incense burner is waved outside a Guatemala church. Many Maya have adopted aspects of Catholicism. |
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This cigar-smoking effigy of Maximon with his wood-mask face is a local deity revered in the village of Santiago Atitlan, on the shore of Lake Atitlan. He is probably derived from ancient Maya gods and Catholic saints. Each year, the effigy is a guest in a
different village home. |
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Sunset behind a Lake Atitlan
volcano |
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The highland Maya of Guatemala
Beautiful Lake Atitlan in the Guatemala highlands is backed by volcanoes and ringed with Maya villages. Traditional values are strong in highland areas like this where Mayan languages are still widely spoken. Many of the Maya women still wear traditional clothing with colorful
patterns that can vary widely between villages.
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The unfinished conquest
A peace accord signed in 1996 finally ended more than three decades of civil war that had seen the Maya in Guatemala caught in a conflict between the government and guerrillas. It is believed that around 150,000 Maya had been killed during the war - many by Guatemalan armed forces and
death squads. Meanwhile, Maya communities were displaced and moved into 'model villages'. Thankfully, there is now some cautious optimism for the future of the Maya in Guatemala. Although human rights issues remin, the peace accord has been followed by a renaissance in Maya pride and awareness.
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The Maya have also struggled to survive in the Mexican state of Chiapas that borders Guatemala. In 1994, Zapatista rebels in began an uprising in Chiapas to demand rights for the Maya and other indigenous peoples. However, reforms introduced by the Mexican government in 2001 were
rejected as inadequate by the Zapatistas...
"We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle, or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims of intolerance and racism."
Rigoberta Menchu, activist for indigenous Guatemalan people, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. |
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