Indigenous Studies Commons^™

Introductory Note To Issue 3, 2020, James Loucky

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Maya America is honored to present this special issue in collaboration with Yax Te’ Books. Presenting a trilingual compilation of narratives from the town of Parramos and neighboring villages in the central highlands of Guatemala, the book in three languages underscores how challenges inherent in language maintenance also represent opportunities for affirming cultural values and practices.

Stories From A Town In Guatemala - Tzijonϊk Richin Jun Tinamϊtaj Chi Iximulew - Historias De Un Pueblo De Guatemala, Hana Muzika Kahn, Jonathan Holmquist

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

This book is written testimony of the memories, traditions and experiences narrated by the people of Parramos, Parrojas, Chirijuyu and Chitaburuy, in the Department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. All these narratives are part of a collaborative research project in which I participated with Dr. Jonathan Holmquist, with the support of Temple University. The stories have been written to share within the community and with readers from other parts of Guatemala and beyond. They are in Spanish and Kaqchikel, the languages spoken here, and are translated into English, in response to community wishes.

Introduction To Tzijonϊk Richin Jun Tinamϊtaj Chi Iximulew, Hana Muzika Kahn

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Maya America and Yax Te’ Books team up for this special edition of the journal in order to present a new trilingual book of stories, traditions and testimonies recorded in the department of Chimaltenango, Guatemala. The book, edited by Hana Muzika Kahn and Jonathan Holmquist, is in Kaqchikel, Spanish and English, presented in three columns on each page, so that the reader can read and compare the languages. It is presented in this edition of the Maya America Journal, and can also be downloaded at no cost from the Yax Te’ website: https://yaxtebooks.info/ A print version will be available shortly. …

Glosario

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Definitions of terms used in Los Mayas Migrantes: Un Viaje Sin Retorno.

Biografía

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Biography of the author, Gaspar Pedro González.

Introducción And Capítulos Del Uno Al Cinco, Gaspar Pedro González

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Gaspar Pedro González employs a narration style that maintains deep roots in the world of the Maya. In the words of the author “The novel employs techniques of a literature-based orality, through the ancestral discourse in which they intervene such as parallelism, puns, repetition, and complementarity. Typical for ancient Maya discourse, found in the cognitive anthropology of the semantic, symbolic and juxtalineal meanings of Maya literature, the novel thereby collects in its original space the experiences of the people and communities affected by migration.”

This Spanish version of the novel will be followed by a combined Spanish-English version accompanied by …

Table Of Contents

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

TOC with rights, editorial, and illustrator information.

Maya America V2, I2 - Los Mayas Migrantes - Libro Entero

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Full issue of Maya America, volume 2, issue 2.

Introductory Note To Issue 2, 2020, Juanatano Cano, Alan Lebaron

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Maya America is pleased to publish this new Spanish-language novel by Gaspar Pedro González. Accepting an original and timely work from a leading Guatemalan intellectual and novelist would be easy enough, and Gaspar’s new novel is at once insightful and provocative. Rather than presenting his characters as villains or victims, the author leaves much up to the imaginations and sentiments of the reader to interpret and make sense of the thoughts and decisions of the main characters. "The Migrant Maya", ultimately uncovers some of the consequences of leaving home that go beyond the risks of jail and deportation, such as …

Emigrar: Vale La Pena, Pablo Marcos Martin

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

In this short but comprehensive essay where prose bridges poetry, Pablo Marcos Martin summarizes the immigrant experience in six steps, and reveals the multiple characteristics and the multiple outcomes of the immigration experience. Originally published in 2006, this essay remains profoundly pertinent to the study of survival migration, including family separation, the journey to the border, consequences of choice and circumstance, and the possibilities for failure as well as for happiness.

Full Issue - Maya America V2, I1, Alan Lebaron

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Full issue of Maya America, volume 2, issue 1.

Introductory Note, Alan Lebaron, James Loucky

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Names can encourage dynamic discussion as well as designate purpose and potentialities. “Maya America” refers to the historic and the present-day geographic regions where people of Maya descent live, while “Maya America” also reflects a term of self-identification used by many in the new generations born or raised beyond traditional homelands. The journal features essays and commentary about contemporary and emerging experiences and challenges, rather than endeavoring to establish a new category of “studies” alongside American, Latino, Indigenous, or Central American studies.

Who Am I? A Reflection Of The In-Between, Maya Figueroa Ferreira

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Adopted before her memory, the personal experiences of the author serve to interrogate the mass exportation and importation of Maya babies. In recounting her search for meaning and reconciliation, she presents to Maya and Non-Maya valuable insights into an expanded meaning for “Maya America”.

Kojichk’Ulal – Kojiq’B’Ej – Kojinatil, Gaspar Tomas, Lorenza Tomas

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Brother and sister discuss Maya community organizations in South Carolina and describe how the Church and Maya heritage work together. Their own path to becoming aware of Maya heritage and their establishment of an active and productive Maya youth group give a powerful example of the possibilities for a better future. They hope to connect with and build relationships with other Maya youth groups in the United States.

Birth Across Borders: Migueleña Maternal Experience In Palm Beach County, Florida, Inbal Mazar

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Dangers for pregnant Maya women in San Miguel Acatán, a highland hamlet in Huehuetenango, Guatemala are exceptionally high. Those who migrate to Palm Beach County, Florida also face significant risks during pregnancy. However, conceptualizing migrants as vulnerable and non-agentive dismisses the opportunity to explore other dimensions of migrant women experiences. Interviews with Migueleña mothers and midwives and health professionals and advocates in both regions revealed resilience strategies Migueleña migrants create and employ as they navigate linguistically and culturally foreign medical systems. The support they provide each other results in more positive maternal experiences under arduous circumstances. Over time, Migueleñas are …

Immigration Policy – Reporting From The Field, Aileen Josephs Esq.

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Migration is central to human history, yet how we deal with the sojourners among us says much about the soul of a nation. Freedom of movement is an inherent basic human right, yet the protection of a nation’s borders and the decision of who and when and in what conditions people are admitted is also a right that belongs to nation states. It is in this tension that good immigration policy should be found, yet our Congress and many administrations have failed to enact such a policy for over two decades. Aileen Joseph writes with authority and insight based on …

Maya-Americanos En Casa: Los Efectos De La Migración De Guatemala A Los Eeuu En La Región Kaqchikel, Joyce Bennett, Ambrocia Cuma

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Este artículo se trata de que significa ser Maya durante y después de migración a los EEUU desde el área Kaqchikel de Guatemala. Utilizando entrevistas con emigrantes retornados, historias de vida, e otras evidencias etnográficas, señalamos como la vida americana se integra en comunidades Kaqchikeles mayas tras procesos transnacionales. Sugerimos que los resultados de una vida maya-américa se integran en las comunidades de origen en formas que no son tan obvias pero que sí tienen impacto en la vida maya en los pueblos de origen. Por ejemplo, consideramos las relaciones de género dentro de casas en cual alguien se ha …

The Work Of Expert Testimony: Central Americans, Human Rights Defenders, And Immigration Courts, Allan F. Burns

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Anthropologists have worked in legal arenas as experts on civil, criminal, and asylum cases throughout the history of the discipline. Today expert witnesses give opinions on the conditions of countries where immigrants flee, and that work includes ethnographic interviewing, research into the causes of political and social violence, and appearing in court through written affidavits and personal testimony. Expert testimony today includes helping in the defense of people fleeing intimate partner violence, persecution based on sexual orientation, threats and violence by gangs, and those whose political opinions put them at risk. Immigrants in the United States face institutional culture shock, …

Challenges For Maya Family Continuity In A Transbordered World, James Loucky, Katie Goger

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Migration between Central America and countries to the north has increased in scale as well as in contentiousness as a political challenge. Too often, those most involved are peripheral to public discourse and policies. Today sizeable numbers of families, including indigenous Maya families, are participants not only in movement but as through separations across national borders and time. Evolving strategies for maintaining or recreating social cohesion amid disruptions of migration and resettlement involve parents as well as children. Drawing on experiences of families from one highland Guatemalan community, and comparative research into adaptive strategies of immigrant families in the United …

On The Road To Discover My Mayan Voice, Dina Hernandez

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

A young Maya woman recounts her story about growing up “Latina Maya” in Morgantown, NC. As she shares her quest to “discover her Mayan voice”, she reveals insights into the strength of her family and community, and the enjoyment of living.

Full Issue - Maya America V1, I1

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Full issue of Maya America, the inaugural issue - volume 1, issue 1.

The Maya Classroom In Diaspora: Blending Community-Based Research And Advocacy In Champaign County, Illinois, Korinta Maldonado, Ryan Shosted

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Over the past ten years, professors and students from the University of Illinois have collaborated with the rapidly growing population of Maya residents in Champaign County, Illinois to develop opportunities to use, preserve, and pass on their linguistic and cultural skills

Ser Maya En El Tiempo Y Espacio Actual, Daniel Caño

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

This first essay witten by one of Guatemala's well known Maya poets expores what it means to be Maya today, across the contemporary diaspora. His title and topic "Ser Maya en el Tiempo y Espacio Actual" inspired our theme title: "To Be Maya Across Time and Space"

From There To Here: My Maya Journey And Life In America, Carmelina M. Cadena

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

In this personal commentary, Carmelina tell how she fled Guatemala when a small child, walking the journy with her mother.

La Vida En Los Estados Unidos Para Los Mayas Guatemaltecos, Henry Omar Vicente

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

El Maya intenta hablar el español para comunicarse con el latino, pero al hacerlo se da cuenta que es rechazado, es burlado.

Measuring Levels On Collectivism And Individualism With One Maya Volunteer, David J. Galban, Gilberto Simon

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Measuring levels of collectivism and individualism among Maya living in the United States will help us understand, among other variables, their struggles, and the consequences of migrating to the most individualist nation on earth.

The Rabbit And The Goat: A Trickster's Tale Of Transnational Migration Of Mayas To The United States Of America (El Norte), Victor D. Montejo

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Victor Montejo analyzes and interprets this Maya folktale as a way of explaining current transnational migration and dislocation in Maya communities. Through the story and the discussion, we see the many aspects of Maya migration, Guatemalan ethnic relations, and the power of modern global capitalism. Written from the standpoint of the year 2009, “The Rabbit and the Goat” establishes a strong marker in time and allows the reader deep insights into the present.

The Impact Of Community Partnerships On Maya Children's Identity, Joel B. Judd, Sheryl Ludwig

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

In Alamosa, Colorado, partnerships among university faculty, school teachers, a local non-profit, and Maya families established programs over several years thart enabled students to develop and assert their identity in school, while assisting parents in cultivating aspects of Maya identity at home and in the community.

Laja’B’Kanal Yet’ Ko’ Q’In, The Lasting Dances Of Our Fiestas: Music Embodiment As A Collective Memory Of The Maya Diaspora, Juan G. Francisco Cristobal

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

The purpose of this article is to shed light on the music embodiment and collective memory of the Maya Diaspora, focusing on the Maya Q’anjob’al communities in the United States

Maya America: Introduction To The Journal Of Essays, Commentary, And Analysis, James Loucky

Maya America: Journal of Essays, Commentary, and Analysis

Twenty years ago, the first account of the emerging transnational scope of the Maya, The Maya Diaspora: Guatemalan Roots, New American Lives (2000), focused on the roots and emerging realities of Maya migration. Much has changed in a short time. While lives and identities continue to involve intergenerational connections to the south, they are also increasingly ones that reflect an intersection of indigenous, intercultural, and transnational experiences. Ultimately, it is hoped that Maya America will serve to reveal how greatly interconnected are the Americas, through processes of social and cultural evolution, history, and demography, and through assertions of rights of …