By: Daniel Nardini
While there is still a conflict about whether English should be made an official language in the United States, in Guatemala there is a major fight to make Mayan the official language of that country. The official language of Guatemala is Spanish—which is ironic since most of the people are indigenous. They are either Mayan or another group of indigenous people who have no roots with the Spanish or the descendants of the Spanish. There are of course mestizos (those of mixed heritage), and they overwhelmingly speak Spanish. But in the countryside and in just about every village, the people speak Mayan. This should come as no shock since this area has been for thousands of years Mayan.
When Guatemala was created in 1821, it always had a majority Mayan population. However, the descendants of the Spanish always kept control of the country. During Guatemala’s brutal civil war (1960-1996), most of those killed by the Guatemalan military were Mayan. In so many ways the civil war was a war of genocide against the Mayan people. Since the war has been over for 15 years, the Mayan people are finally beginning to find their voice. However, all of the public elementary schools, high schools and universities are taught in Spanish only. All major TV stations as well as radio are in Spanish only. None of the Mayan languages are to be found.
There is at this time only one school in the country that teaches in Mayan only and has courses for many level of students who want to learn about Mayan culture, Mayan technology, Mayan mathematics, Mayan history, etc. It is called the Asociacion Ak Tenamit. The school exists through private donations and the efforts of those Mayans trying to make it work. The textbooks, printed in Mayan, are printed from a private publishing firm in Guatemala City. There is one small Mayan TV firm trying to break into the mainstream TV network. So far that has proven elusive, given the fact that the Spanish TV stations have a lot of money. The same is true for newspapers—there are only a handful of Mayan language ones.
Despite the uphill battle that the Mayan and other indigenous people must fight to get their languages recognized, there is hope that Mayan and other indigenous languages will receive recognition. At least the indigenous people have started the ball rolling to try and not only preserve their languages, their cultures and their rich heritage, but begin the battle of overturning the Spanish colonial heritage that has dominated Guatemala for so long.
Finding Their Language Roots
By: Daniel Nardini
When Guatemala was created in 1821, it always had a majority Mayan population. However, the descendants of the Spanish always kept control of the country. During Guatemala’s brutal civil war (1960-1996), most of those killed by the Guatemalan military were Mayan. In so many ways the civil war was a war of genocide against the Mayan people. Since the war has been over for 15 years, the Mayan people are finally beginning to find their voice. However, all of the public elementary schools, high schools and universities are taught in Spanish only. All major TV stations as well as radio are in Spanish only. None of the Mayan languages are to be found.
There is at this time only one school in the country that teaches in Mayan only and has courses for many level of students who want to learn about Mayan culture, Mayan technology, Mayan mathematics, Mayan history, etc. It is called the Asociacion Ak Tenamit. The school exists through private donations and the efforts of those Mayans trying to make it work. The textbooks, printed in Mayan, are printed from a private publishing firm in Guatemala City. There is one small Mayan TV firm trying to break into the mainstream TV network. So far that has proven elusive, given the fact that the Spanish TV stations have a lot of money. The same is true for newspapers—there are only a handful of Mayan language ones.
Despite the uphill battle that the Mayan and other indigenous people must fight to get their languages recognized, there is hope that Mayan and other indigenous languages will receive recognition. At least the indigenous people have started the ball rolling to try and not only preserve their languages, their cultures and their rich heritage, but begin the battle of overturning the Spanish colonial heritage that has dominated Guatemala for so long.