Abstract

DUARTE DUARTE, Ana Rosa. The autonomy of the mayan peoples of Yucatan and their silence in relation to assimilation policies and the legislation of their rights. Rev. pueblos front. digit. [online]. 2013, vol.8, n.16, pp.256-281. ISSN 1870-4115.  https://doi.org/10.22201/cimsur.18704115e.2013.16.79.

In this article the author explores how the Mayans from Yucatan use silence as one of their main strategies to resist assimilation, suggesting that this helps explain their indifference toward the recently approved legislation to protect their rights. Her analysis is based in part on conversations with young people and elders whose prophesies and everyday practices contribute to the ongoing strength of their culture in the face of current neo-colonial policies. The belief that «nothing happens in Yucatan» feeds the notion of the existence of apathy among the Mayans, and has its roots in the official and academic discourses that historically have discarded the Mayans as irrelevant to the public sphere. Lastly, it examines how in spite of the paternalistic policies aimed at assimilation, the Mayans have adapted their strategies in order to preserve their autonomy.

Keywords : autonomy; self-sufficiency; Mayan; social movements.