Maya peoples

Belize

The Maya population in Belize is concentrated in the Corozal, Cayo, Toledo and Orange Walk districts, but they are scattered throughout the country. The Maya are thought to have been in Belize and the Yucatán region since the second millennium BC. Much of Belize's original Maya population died as a result of new infectious diseases and conflicts between tribes and with Europeans. They are divided into the Yucatec, Kekchi, and Mopan. These three Maya groups now inhabit the country.

The Yucatec Maya (many of whom came from Yucatán, Mexico to escape the Caste War of the 1840s) there have been evidence of several Yucatec Maya groups living by the Yalbac area of Belize and in the Orange Walk district near the present day Lamanai at the time the British reach. The Mopan (indigenous to Belize but were forced out by the British; they returned from Guatemala to evade slavery in the 19th century), and Kekchi (also fled from slavery in Guatemala in the 19th century). The later groups are chiefly found in the Toledo District.

Quotes

• "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 intolefrwdrance and racism." – Rigoberta Menchú, 1992.

Films and television

• Kings of the Sun (1963), the first major motion picture that depicted a part of Maya history, in this case the conquest of Chichen Itza by Hunac Ceel, a famous Maya general.
• El Norte (film) (1983), one of the first indie films ever produced, about two Maya siblings who immigrate illegally to the U.S. to escape the Maya genocide in Guatemala.
• Apocalypto (2006), an adventure film directed and produced by Mel Gibson, set around the time of European contact with all of the dialogue spoken in Yucatec.
• Breaking the Maya Code (2008), a documentary that outlines the work of linguists who deciphered the ancient Maya script.
• The Forgotten District (2008), a documentary on Maya ecotourism in southern Belize.
• Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth (2011), a documentary on the Maya of today and their fight to save their culture and environment.
• Mayan Renaissance (2012), starring Rigoberta Menchú.
• Ixcanul (2015), the first movie ever produced completely in Kaqchikel, a Maya language. It's an indie film that relates the life of a young woman in a traditional Maya village.
• La Llorona (2019), a horror film addressing the genocide of the Maya in Guatemala.
• Sons of Anarchy and its sequel spin-off series, Mayans M.C., both FX series, created by Kurt Sutter, feature a fictional Latino outlaw motorcycle club that adopts much of the culture of Mayan civilization, reflective in the club's name, the club's patch, and the terminology used by members.
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), adventure film sequel with elements of the story of a superhuman Mayan tribe with ancestors from the Mesoamerica jungle

See also

• Acala Chʼol
• Chinamita
• Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Kejache
• Lakandon Chʼol
• List of Mayan languages
• Manche Chʼol

Bibliography

• van Akkeren, Ruud (July 1999). "Sacrifice at the Maize Tree: Rabʼinal Achi in its historical and symbolic context". Ancient Mesoamerica. 10 (2): 281–295. doi:10.1017/s0956536199102104. S2CID 162123502.
• Chiappari, Christopher L. (March 2002). "Toward a Maya Theology of Liberation: The Reformulation of a 'Traditional' Religion in the Global Context". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 41 (1): 47–67. doi:10.1111/1468-5906.00099.
• Grube, Nikolai (2006). "Maya Today – From Indios Deprived of Rights to the Maya Movement". In Nikolai Grube; Eva Eggebrecht; Matthias Seidel (eds.). Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Cologne: Könemann Press. pp. 417–425. ISBN 3-8331-1957-8. OCLC 71165439.

Mooney, James, Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Maya Indians" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Restall, Matthew (1997). The Maya World. Yucatecan Culture and Society, 1550–1850. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3658-9.

• Riis-Hansen, Anders (1992). "Interview with Rigoberta Menchu Tum". Commission for the Defense of Human Rights in Central America (CODEHUCA). Retrieved 2006-07-03.
• Warren, Kay B. (1998). Indigenous Movements and Their Critics: Pan-Maya Activism in Guatemala. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-05882-5.

Further reading

• Voss, Alexander (2006). "Astronomy and Mathematics". In Nikolai Grube (ed.). Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant). Cologne: Könemann. pp. 130–143. ISBN 3-8331-1957-8. OCLC 71165439.
• Wagner, Elizabeth (2006). "Maya Creation Myths and Cosmography". In Nikolai Grube; Eva Eggebrecht; Matthias Seidel (eds.). Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Cologne: Könemann. pp. 280–293. ISBN 3-8331-1957-8. OCLC 71165439.
• Castañeda, Xóchitl; Manz, Beatriz; Davenport, Allison (30 June 2017). "Mexicanization: A Survival Strategy for Guatemalan Mayans in the San Francisco Bay Area". Migraciones Internacionales. 1 (3): 103–123. doi:10.17428/rmi.v1i3.1285 (inactive 31 December 2022).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2022 (link)
• Bazo Vienrich, Alessandra (13 December 2018). "Indigenous Immigrants from Latin America (IILA): Racial/Ethnic Identity in the U.S.". Sociology Compass: e12644. doi:10.1111/soc4.12644. S2CID 239539799.

External links

• Brown, William; Odem, Mary (16 February 2011). "Living Across Borders: Guatemala Maya Immigrants in the US South". Southern Spaces.