A Land in the Clouds: San Cristobal de las Casas

On our road trip back from Portland, Oregon, USA to Merida, Yucatan, Mexico this past August, we decided to stop through San Cristobal de las Casas, one of our favorite places on earth.  Driving up in elevation through the mountains, we entered a huge cluster of clouds. We could barely see a few feet in front of us as we passed small homes with huge cornfields scaling up and towering above us.  One of the most preserved areas of all Mayan land, with its vibrant culture, passed down through generations and stretching back to Pre-Columbian days. It is clearly visible here. As you walk around the city and surrounding area you hear people speak the local Maya Language and boom! You’ve been transported to another world, another time and space. 

Learning the “Maya Language of the Heart” with Felix in Chamula, Chiapas

We booked our tour through Airbnb with Felix, to see the town of Chamula a few miles outside of San Cristobal. Passing by women in traditional dyed black sheep wool skirts and many fenced areas with grazing sheep (considered sacred to the Tzotzil Maya), we met Felix at the cemetery of Chamula. 

We learned about some of the traditions and beliefs around spirituality from Felix, including how Tzotzil Maya women had to collect their hair throughout their lives in order to take it with them into the afterlife. It felt fitting since we were strolling through the cemetery.  Felix told us this was one of the rare towns that actually fully preserves and lives in the Maya culture. In the Maya language, one connecting subject is speaking from the heart. With the heart leading how you act and what you do. Below are some of the phrases that we learned from Felix which are used in the Maya language to describe how they live, think and believe.

• Hun Co on Ton – means happiness and literally means, One Heart or My Heart is One, like your heart is whole and complete. It’s when you are focused on something and enjoying the present – maybe you are working or eating – but you only have one thought, one purpose. 
• Chim Co on – means My Heart is Two, and is a type of unhappiness, where you have two thoughts or sets of thinking. That is why when the children of the Tzotzil Maya don’t want to do something or they don’t want to go somewhere, instead of dragging them to do that thing – they will actually say no, it is better for you to stay here and not go because it is no good if you go with two hearts. Because people who go with two hearts might suffer an accident or have bad luck. And so parents tell their kids only to go if they go with one heart, Felix told us. 

The Language and Culture Link

It is easy to see with just this one example, how intrinsically linked language and culture are with one another. If you lose one, you risk losing the other, because they are so deeply connected and intertwined. That is why keeping the language alive through families using it in everyday conversation and life is so very important, and yet, there is no easy way to do this. If Spanish is the dominant language being taught at school and being used and reinforced in the dominant Maya workplace, it becomes a complex issue.

Maya Language – A Brief History that Stretches Far Back

To see translated words and phrases in Maya check out the conversation translator that was organized with the help of the intercultural Maya University of Quintana Roo here.

Example of Maya Numbers

A Dangerous Phenomenon

Look Out For Positive Updates

We will keep all of you posted as updates come along, but we have heard some optimistic discussion that there is the possibility of the Mexican government bringing back the teaching of Maya language in public schools up until the 6th grade here in Merida and the Yucatan.

If this happens, that would be a HUGE positive shift toward the longevity and sustainability of keeping the language alive for Maya people. Organizations that are helping the language continue are consistently becoming more available around the Yucatan with the goal of educating and keeping the language alive as we move into a modern age.  

Parallels to Indigenous People Across The Globe 

This problem and danger of losing the Maya language is not something that is unique to the region. It is something that has tragically been happening all across the world, for example in the United States and Canada with different Native American Tribes and First Nations people.  Opting out of learning their native languages, in order to assimilate into the dominant society and get a job, has been the stuff of tragedy for many bitter years, although it is slowly beginning to change.  

The Threat of the Death of a Language

What if the language is not passed on to the next generation? Well then it dies. After that happens, how can we ever fully remember and preserve the culture, and the traditions of our ancestors? This is a problem that our friend and guide, Felix is attempting to solve through the assistance of technology, and we couldn’t be more excited to learn more about this developing endeavor.

Using Technology to Keep the Language Alive – A Maya Language Learning App

To separate the language of a people and the culture of a people is impossible and why would you ever want to? The necessity of keeping the Maya language alive and well is enormously important, and urgent right now.

That is one reason we are embarking on making a documentary film entitled Faces of the Modern Maya. To explore this idea and press with urgency for the awareness that the Maya language is endangered. And yet there are so many people who are standing up to protect and preserve it, to keep it alive. We bow down to those individuals and seek to promote their endeavors through our film work. 

Be on the lookout for more content around the stories and actions of those who strive to keep the language and traditions alive for Maya people, and all indigenous people. We are excited to be a small part of exploring more these endeavors!

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