El laberinto de la indigenidad: Cómo se determina quién es indígena maya ch’orti’ en Guatemala, Honduras y El Salvador

Abstract

Determining who is indigenous does not seem a problem, but when one goes to the Ch’orti’ Maya region of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, one soon realizes that nothing can be taken for granted. If one begins with universal criteria, such as experiencing colonialism, the maintenance of a separate identity since the colonial invasion, distinctive traditions, and a different phenotype, one soon enters a labyrinth of social and historical details that are unique to a nation, region, town, and even home. If one considers that culture always changes, especially under colonialism, one will realize that the most important criterion is that the indigenous Maya ch’orti’ identify themselves and are identified (by others) as a distinct people, and the traditions and phenotypes are, among other characteristics, tools that accentuate that identification.