Identity-Based Revitalization in the Maya Communities of Guatemala: A Focus on Dress and Language

The Maya people have lived in Central America since as early as 250 A.D. and speak 22 officially recognized languages, inhabiting what is now present-day Guatemala. These communities have for centuries been the target of subversive socioeconomic and political policies imposed by Spanish colonizers, then later the national government, and most recently were the victims of a State-led genocide in the early 1980s. However, these communities have continued to fight for the recognition of their rights and the freedom to peacefully express their culture through traditional practices of dress, language, religion, and other customs that vary geographically and between distinct ethnic groups.

This work focuses primarily on revitalization efforts in dress and language since the mid-twentieth century that have sought to reverse cultural repression tactics implemented by the State and overturn social prejudices. The research is based on information from historical studies, primary sources, and a cultural anthropological study done with Maya people in Guatemala. Detailed in this work is the essence of the Maya cultural identity, the history of its suppression, and the three fronts on which the revitalization movement has been based: political mobilization, works of the Pan-Maya Movement and Maya scholars, and community-based efforts centered around education.