Maya cultural heritage discussion includes book
On Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. in the Tuscarawas County YMCA, Dr. María Luz García, professor of anthropology at Eastern Michigan University, and members of Comunidad Sol, an organization led by Guatemalan Maya people based in Tuscarawas County, will lead a discussion on Maya cultural heritage.
The discussion is organized in celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day and in coordination with the Fiesta Latina. They also will announce the release of five trilingual books in the Ixil Mayan language, Spanish and English, which will be donated to libraries, schools and organizations in Northeast Ohio.
Ixil (pronounced EE-SHEEL) is the native language of many who come from Guatemala to live in Tuscarawas County. Others in the county speak K’iche’ or Awakateko, two other Mayan languages that are spoken by a total of over 1 million people in Guatemala.
Although these languages have fully developed writing systems and long histories of literature, there are few printed books available in Tuscarawas County to speakers of those languages or those who want to learn more about these languages and cultures.
The books include a mythical story from the region, a presentation of boxbol, a favorite food in the Ixil area, a book of riddles, a book about children’s soccer games and an alphabet book.
They were developed with teams of Ixil people and with Sherrel Rieger, a retired Dover High School Spanish teacher and current adult program specialist at Dover Public Library.
Printing was funded with a grant from the Sociological Initiatives Foundation.
“The arrival of books in Ixil, Spanish and English is a historic milestone in Northeast Ohio, the new home of many Maya peoples, where we fight for the visibility of our identities, our rights to linguistic justice and a dignified resettlement,” said Gerónimo Ramírez, coordinator of Comunidad Sol. “The preservation of our culture is rooted in our stories. For many years we have been seen as Hispanics or Latinos, violating our rights as displaced Indigenous peoples and undermining our rights to linguistic justice, dignified access to health, education and development.
“We remember the stories of our grandparents, who recount how, during the invasion, all our books were burned in a fire that lasted two weeks, consuming our history. However, the arrival of these new books brings unity, healing and hope to our communities.”
Luz García has worked with Ixil communities in Guatemala for over 20 years and in Tuscarawas County since 2016. She has written academically about Maya strategies for maintaining a sense of community in the aftermath of genocide in Guatemala in the 1980s and in the context of immigration to the United States.
Comunidad Sol is a community-based organization led by local Maya community members living in Northeast Ohio that advocates for the cultural, political and linguistic rights of the Maya immigrant community in Ohio. They have organized a community meeting with the Dover Police and workshops on Maya experiences of war, and they participate in regular meetings with other groups of displaced Indigenous populations.
The book release and celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day will be held in conjunction with the Fiesta Latina on Saturday, Oct. 12 from noon to 3 p.m. at the Tuscarawas County YMCA, 600 Monroe St., Dover. No registration is necessary.
