Mayan Civilization

Writing Assignment 4

Mayans are a part of an extraordinary civilization, one in which the most diverse cultural manifestations took place, such as architecture, sculpture, painting, astronomy and mathematical knowledge. The Mayans unfolded in the tropical rain forests, rugged mountains and huge plains. It has survived to this day thanks to their temples, palaces, stelae, altars, cities, murals and codices, among other objects. The Maya even developed the most sophisticated sign communication system and are well known for their superiority in intelligence and highly advanced technologies. The civilization spread through southern Yucatan, Guatemala and part of Honduras. Recently the Maya have had their indigenous rights violated for a number of reasons, including land and discrimination.

Before the Spaniards arrived in 1524, Mayan cities of Central America were in ruins because inhabitants had abandoned them to go north. While the exact causes of immigration are unknown, some speculation revolves around the notion that they needed to find new lands and territories for agriculture. Therefore, even though the Maya was one of the most enduring  civilizations, it was in decline when the Spanish settlers arrived. The real act of colonialism, which according to Eller is understood as “the more or less organized system of occupation and exploitation of foreign territories and through settlement and conquest” (241), took place in 1697, more than a century later.

The Spanish conquest of the Maya was not consummated until 1697, with the taking of Tayasal, capital of the Itza Maya, and Zacpetén, capital of Ko'woj Maya in Peten (currently Guatemala) . The last Maya state disappeared when the Mexican government, during the presidency of Porfirio Díaz, occupied Chan Santa Cruz (its capital) in 1901, thus ending the so-called Caste War of Yucatán (“Introduccion”). The war consisted of native Mayans rebelling against white troops, determined to protect their land and stop the declining living conditions they were experiencing. According to Jesus Guzmán, a Méxican philosopher with a major in Mexican History, in 1847 the Yucatec Maya took up arms against the Mexican federal army, which ended up defeating them more than 50 years later with a total death of four million and huge rates of Mayan depopulation, which is understood as the extensive loss of life causing the population to drop drastically (Eller 257).

Recently the Maya have also been struggling with modern colonization and deprivation of their rights. On an article after a visit to Honduras, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Ms. Vicky Tauli Corpuz, addresses some major concern involving the violation of indigenous land rights, the constant violence and lack of justice towards them. In it, she states “ a fundamental problem faced by indigenous people is the lack of full recognition, protection and enjoyment of their rights to ancestral lands, territories and natural resources.” (Corpuz). Such is the recent case of a recent arrest of Maya “police” for arresting a man (Mr. Rupert Myles) for invading a sacred Maya site, after the federal government refused to assist them (Coc and Anaya). Though taking actions into their own hands backfired them, they were in all their right to protect their land.

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