A PRE-COLUMBIAN MOSAICOF LATIN AMERICA

Linguistic Diversity within theMaya Cultural Region

The more people know their own rights, andthe more they respect those of others, thebetter the change that they will live together inpeace. Only when people are educated abouthuman rights can we hope to prevent humanrights violations, and thus prevent conflict, aswell. Kofi Annan Human Rights Day 2000 Rigoberta Menchú Tum

Grade LevelGrades 7 -12

Curriculum AreaSocial Studies • World Cultures

OverviewThe word Maya often evokes images of pyramid temples, ruins, rainforest, and at timessacrifice. Even though most of the focus on education regarding the Maya is about thepast, many people forget that the Maya are still alive and well. They continue topreserve many of their cultural traditions. On my last visit to Quetzaltenango (Xela),Guatemala, I saw an indigenous man hauling a cart of goods on foot down the mainstreet while being followed by modern day cars and trucks. What is unique about theMaya is the diversity of ethnic groups. Visiting the different pueblos in the highlands ofGuatemala allows one to notice the distinctions among the various ethnic groups.Clothing identifies which town a particular ethnic group inhabits. The colors and patternswithin each specific pueblo are the same colors and patterns of dress that everyonewithin that ethnic group wears. It is an important form of cultural expression. In additionto the cultural expression of an ethnic group by their clothing, each Maya region has aspecific dialect. There are 3 million people who identify themselves as Maya andtogether, the ethnic groups speak over 28 different dialects. This linguistic diversityfurther isolates Maya groups, therefore allowing them to retain their culturalcharacteristics. This linguistic diversity is another important cultural characteristic that isoften overlooked when teachers discuss the Maya. Students assume that all of theMaya people speak one language. This lesson seeks to bring about an understandingof the linguistic and ethnic diversity within the Maya cultural region. How did thishappen? One only needs to visit the highlands of Guatemala to understand the rugged,isolated terrain of steep, volcanic peaks or rainforests which continue to isolate groupsof people, allowing for the use of Maya dialects to function as an important tool forcommunication and transmission of culture.

Objectives

To gain an understanding of the linguistic and ethnic diversity within the Maya culturalregion students will create a linguistic/ethnic map of an assigned Maya cultural region inwhich they will identify the diversity of languages as an important indicator of culturalexpression.

Students will notice that the Maya is an umbrella term for many different ethnic groupswhich retain their customs and culture from Pre-Columbian times due to geographicisolation.

Students will look at the effects of this diversity on communication among the differentMaya ethnic groups and the situations that have evolved due to modernization anddevelopment.

To understand that global issues and challenges are interrelated, complex, andchanging, and that most issues have a global dimension.

To develop informational literacy about global issues using the Internet for research byreading an excerpt from a biography.

Key Words

Maya Cultural RegionComposed of Southern Mexico (Yucatan & Chiapas), Guatemala, Belize,Honduras, and El Salvador.

IndigenousNative to a particular region. Describe the people of the Maya cultural regionwho retain their traditional, Pre-Columbian ethnic groups.

Linguistic diversityMany different languages that are spoken in one area.

Rigoberta Menchú TumA Quiche Maya Guatemalan woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 forher efforts to bring attention to issues of civil rights for the Maya ethnic groups.

Ethnic groupA group of people with the same cultural traits, language or customs.

Cultural characteristics or traitsCharacteristics that tell about an ethnic group such as history, food, clothing,rituals and ceremonies, language, art, and music.

Activities

ActivityReview briefly the geographic location and cultural characteristics of the Maya both pastand present. Ask students to review what they know about the Maya from other classesor experiences. After students reflect on their prior knowledge, tell the class that theMaya is a term that is used to define a diversity of ethnic groups. Each ethnic group hastheir own style of clothing, customs, history, and language that identifies them. Theteacher will then point out on a large map where the Maya cultural region is: Southern

Mexico (the Yucatan & Chiapas), Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador.

Activity - Role PlayingStudents will then be assigned to act out a frequent scenario that occurs in Guatemalaand is due to the diversity of languages/ethnic groups. The teacher will ask students toimagine that they are on a huge plantation in Guatemala picking coffee to earn somemoney so that they can spend the rest of their year in the highlands living off their landby farming. The teacher will go around the room with an envelope full of labels. (Seelabels below after Bibliography) Once each student has a label, all students will look atthem and try to find people of the same ethnic group as the name on the label. Thestudents must do this without speaking any English but use body language or chime outthe word written on their label. Once each group has found people of their same ethnicgroup they will sit down together and wait until all of the people have found their group.When each group has found their match the teacher will tell them that they will bespending the rest of the class working with their ethnic group.

Activity - Making a MapAll students will be handed a linguistic map and asked to find where their ethnic groupresides. Once they have found it, they will pick a color and shade in their cultural regionon the map. Next a student will be asked to trace an overhead map of the Mayalinguistic/ethnic diversity for the entire class to use as a guide in understanding thediversity of the Maya. Teacher will tape a poster board to the chalkboard. Then projectan image of the overhead map of the Maya region onto the poster board via anoverhead projector. Next the student will trace the outline of the Maya region with apencil or marker. Once the large map is completed, each individual Maya ethnic groupwill go up to the map, paste their label onto the sheet in the region where their group islocated. The student groups will color code that region and make a key on the map toillustrate the diversity of linguistic and ethnic groups. During time when the large map isbeing drawn, the teacher can prompt the students to answer questions about the role-playing activity or about the linguistic/ethnic diversity worksheet. Some examples ofquestion are: What was difficult about finding your group and only being able tocommunicate via body language or one word? Which group is the largest ethnic group?Which is the smallest? Looking at the map, why do you think that there are so manydifferent ethnic groups? How does language tell us about a particular culture? Studentsshould complete the linguistics map by the end of the class period.

ActivityStudents should review their prior activity from the day before. Students should be ableto explain geographically where the Maya cultural region is located. Students shouldalso be able to recall what they learned from the previous lesson about linguisticdiversity as an identifier of the different Maya ethnic groups? Students should then beinstructed that the word, which identifies their ethnic group, is the same word for thelanguage that is spoken. For example, the Quiche Maya are those that live in theQuiche region and speak the Quiche language. Students should then look over thelinguistics map and realize that in each colored pocket a different Mayan language isspoken.

ActivityThe teacher should then introduce Rigoberta Menchú Tum as a Quiche Maya womanwho won the Nobel Peace Prize. Teacher will tell the students that they will complete aworksheet by responding to Rigoberta's first hand experiences dealing with the ethnicdiversity of the Maya. Students should then break up into their small ethnic groups fromthe previous day and answer the questions on the worksheet. Upon completion, thewhole class will share their findings and what they learned. Teacher should review theobjectives at the end with the class.

ActivityCreate a Global citizen, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, webpage with a photo gallery of worldconcerns and efforts by activists, architects for peace and citizens concerned forcreating truth through the power of social action. Read as background: Soldiers ofPeace-United Nations Peace-Keeping, Architects for Peace, Speak Truth to Power.(Listed in the Resources)

ActivityAnother activity that can be used to introduce students to the Maya Cultural Region isshowing the film, Ancient Civilizations for Children: The Ancient Maya. This filmintroduces students to the characteristics of cultural expression and weaves the pastwith the present to aid students in visualizing the Maya people and their history. The filmis co-narrated by middle school students and my students absolutely LOVED it. If youshow the film, have the students make a list on a piece of paper of the followingcharacteristics of cultural expression: food, clothing, language, rituals and ceremonies,artifacts, history, art, and entertainment. Have your students then write down anexample of each that they find in the film. Have your students share their findings withthe whole class after the film is over. Have them relate it to the fact that all of thesecharacteristics contribute to an individual person's or group's identity. Each Maya ethnicgroup has its own identity, which is defined by characteristics of cultural expression.You can use this activity as a source for analyzing the Maya cultural region or any othercultural region.

Resources

I Rigoberta Menchú. Elizabeth Burgos-Debray, ed. New York, New York:Verso. 1983.

The Maya Cultural Region: A Linguist Map. Thuan Nguyen. Burlington: Copyright byThuan Nguyen. 1999. (Reproduction only for educational use without profit.)

The Two Crosses, Todosantos. Hans Namuth. Los Todosantoseros. Photograph ofTodosantos.

Internet Links

Ancient Civilizations for Children Videohttp://www.libraryvideo.com

Ancient Mexicohttp://ancientmexico.com/

Lowland Maya Cultural Historyhttp://www.marc.ucsb.edu/elpilar/maps/trailguides/trails2.pdf

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Organization of American States –Guatemalan Maya-Quiche Population and Their Human Rights

http://www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Guatemala93eng/chapter.3.htmEl Maies: Los Mayas – The Maya

http://www.mesoweb.com/Weaving the Fabric of the Cosmos

http://www.mesoweb.com/features/fabric/fabric00.htmlMayan Family of Languages – Map

http://www.sil.org/mexico/maya/00i-maya.htmLanguages of Guatemala and Belize - Map

http://www.larutamayaonline.com/history/idiomas2.htmlMesoweb

http://www.mesoweb.com/Collapse: Why Do Civilizations Fall?

http://www.learner.org/exhibits/collapse/index.htmlTextile Art of Chiapas Maya

http://www.sci.mus.mn.us/sln/ma/chiapas.htmlRigoberta Menchu Tum Live Broadcast

http://www.worldtrek.org/odyssey/latinamerica/rigoberta/transcripteng.htmlRigoberta Menchú Tum

http://nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1992/tum-bio.htmlRigoberta Menchu Tum Home Page

http://www.indians.org/welker/menchu.htmKaqchikel Mayan at the University of Kansas

http://www.ku.edu/~mayan/links.html

Mayan Community of Todos Santoshttp://www.stetson.edu/~rsitler/TodosSantos/

Globalearnhttp://www.globalearn.com

Human Rights Education Resource Centerhttp://erc.hrea.org/

United Nationshttp://www.un.org/

Maya Language Labels

Maya Language LabelsPrint these out and depending on how large your class is, look at the worksheetcontaining the map of the Maya Linguistic/Ethnic Groups. Determine the number oflabels that you want to print up for the different Maya ethnic groups based on ratios. Forexample, the smallest group such as the Motozintlec might only have one person withthat label in the class for example. While the Quiche might have two or three labelsprinted up. All labels that are printed up are then placed in an envelope where studentspick one for the Role-Playing Activity as listed above in the Day 1 procedures.

Chontal Chol Tzeltal TzotzilMotozintlec Mam Tojolabal Chuj

Kanjobal Ixil Itza LancandonYucatecan Mopan Kekchi Pokomchi

Quiche Cakchiquel Tzutujil PokomamChorti Zoque Pipil XincaLenca Jicaque

Worksheets

The Difficulties of Linguistic Diversity: How Do People Communicate?

Name:

Directions:Think about what you know about the cultural region of the Maya and answer thefollowing questions individually. Then compare your answers with a small group andshare your thoughts with the whole class.

1. Describe the geography of Guatemala and Mexico. What physical features hascontributed to the large number of different Mayan languages?

2. Read the following passages or quotes by Rigoberta Menchu Tum a QuicheMaya woman. Respond to them and describe the problems that are caused bythe diversity of indigenous languages in Guatemala.

"All of the workers on the coastal estates, in coffee or other things, are Indians whoeither live there at the fincas or emigrate there to work. They're all Indians but fromdifferent ethnic groups who speak different languages. This makes it very difficult forus because the linguistic barriers prevent any dialogue between us Indian, betweenourselves. We can only understand the people from our own ethnic group, becausewe can't speak Spanish and we can't speak the other languages. So although wewant to get close to the other groups, we can't." (Page 40. Burgos-Debray,Elizabeth, ed. I, Rigoberta Menchu. New York: Verso, 1983.)

What types of problems do you think this creates when people are housed together andthey cannot communicate?

Describe two or three ways in which people try to communicate?

Imagine that you are walking in Rigoberta's shoes for a day. You are working on thefinca picking coffee. Describe the feelings that you might have trying to communicatewith others.

"The landowner was speaking (Spanish), and the overseer started translatingwhat he was saying. They told us he said we all had to go and make a mark on apiece of paper. That would be a vote; I imagine that it was a vote. We all went tomake our mark on the paper. They gave my father one and my mother showedthem the place to put their mark. I remember that the paper has some squareswith three or four drawings on it. So my parents and my older brothers andsisters marked the paper in the place the owner told them. He warned us thatanyone who didn't mark the paper would be thrown out of work at the end of themonth. Anyone who was thrown out would not be paid. The workers were forcedto mark the paper." (P. 26 Burgos-Debray, Elizabeth, ed. I, Rigoberta Menchu.New York: Verso, 1983.)

In what ways does the diversity of languages and the loss of communication allow theindigenous people on the fincas to be taken advantage of or exploited by others?

What language is the language of power in Guatemala?

Since Spanish is the language that has been used by schools to communicate, whatimpact do you think that will have on the indigenous people and their diversity oflanguages?

With roads, widespread travel and trade, satellite TV, and increased contact betweenthe indigenous groups, do you think that will cause the loss of their native tongue?

Find the smallest sections of spoken language on the linguistics map. What do youpredict will happen to them in 50-100 years? What will happen with the extinction ofnative languages? How will it change the separate indigenous cultures?

The Maya Cultural Region: A Linguistics Map

Guatemalan Children Wearing the Clothing Unique to the Town of Todosantos

Youth Soccer Game in Todosantos, Guatemala. The Boys Behind the Goal are Wearingthe Red and White Striped Pants Unique to the Town

The Guatemalan Military Made Signs Easily Seen From the Air in Order to Land inParticular Villages, Often to Massacre the Inhabitants

Lesson Plan Written by Christina Ann Dick Milton Junior, Senior High SchoolPrinted from RETANET, A Pre-Columbian Mosaic of Latin America: Linguistic Diversity withinthe Maya Cultural Region. 2005-01-08 23:47:29. RETANET Resource for Teaching About theAmericas http://retanet.unm.edu/