Maya Cultural Resistance in Los Angeles

Maya Displacement, Migration, and Settlement in Los Angeles

Spanish colonization of the Americas led to the destruction of indigenous cultures and the imposition of colonial identities and institutions that favored Europeans and marginalized and oppressed indigenous peoples. As Aníbal Quijano (2008) points out, a new model of power was established through the control of labor and the creation of the idea of race. ² The idea of race imposed new identities such as indio, negro, and mestizo, and indios became associated with backwardness, laziness, and ignorance whereas Europeans and their descendants came to symbolize modernization, civilization, wealth, beauty, and intelligence. These identities were used to justify indigenous oppression and inferiority at the hands of Europeans and other non-Indians. In addition, being Spanish or European gained a racial connotation, with Europeans being perceived as “white” and the colonized as “colored.” These imposed identities were used to justify the relations of domination between the conquerors and conquered. Moreover, the colonizers had the power to name and were able to label territories and create centers of power from which they could control indigenous peoples. This was the basis for the emergence of the idea of the “Western Hemisphere,” the “Americas,” “Europe,” and the “Other.” Pre-Hispanic names for territories were replaced by European identities and names. The power to name allowed the dominant groups to erase the histories and identities of indigenous peoples. Dominated groups were forced into a social environment in which European culture and identity were idealized, thus contributing to internalized racism and self-hatred that persist to this day. Further, the racialization of people in relation to their geographical origins led state officials to consider all Latin Americans as Spanish-speakers with brown skins, erasing the histories of other subaltern groups such as members of the black/African diaspora. In the 1970s the U.S. government imposed a “Hispanic” label on all Latin Americans. This has been problematic and controversial, especially in that the term appeals to a European identity rather than an indigenous one. The term “Latino” soon emerged to contest it, but it had many of the same problems (Dávila, 2001).

Mayas in Guatemala and Los Angeles have challenged these imposed identities, but racism and migration to urban centers with a large Latino presence have caused some Maya to play down their culture and ethnic identity. These experiences are visible in Los Angeles, where Maya immigrants are forced to adapt to an anti-immigrant environment in which Latinos/Hispanics are the majority. James Loucky (2000) and Eric Popkin (2005) have identified three stages of Maya migration from Huehuetenango to Los Angeles since the 1970s: pioneer, war refugee, and youth-driven migration. The pioneers were the Maya who began arriving in the United States in the 1970s after learning about employment opportunities while visiting and working in Mexico or in Guatemala City (Chinchilla and Hamilton, 2001: 45; Popkin, 2005: 680). Many of them were Q’anjob’ales from the Department of Huehuetenango (Peñalosa, 1984: 206). ³ Wellmeier (1998: 103) suggests that the presence of at least “one or two forerunners” who could “provide temporary housing, a job lead, and advice about the necessary papers” was reason enough for Maya to travel to California or Florida.

With the intensification of the civil war in the 1980s, thousands of Maya were forced into exile, and many took refuge with their relatives and fellow community members in Los Angeles and other pioneers across North America. The civil war was responsible for the displacement of whole Maya communities, and many managed to migrate together to the same places. The Maya from San Cristóbal, Totonicapán, migrated to Houston (Hagan and Rodriguez, 2000), and Peñalosa (1986: 231) says that by 1980 there were some 600–800 Q’anjob’ales in Los Angeles. The war refugees were followed by impoverished Maya seeking alternatives to seasonal migration to the Pacific coast, where they picked coffee and cotton under harsh and abusive working conditions (Peñalosa, 1984: 206). From the late 1980s to the present, migration has been increasingly dominated by young single men seeking economic opportunities (Burns, 1993: 12). As a result of this shift, according to Wellmeier (1998: 102), in 1998 in Los Angeles, Maya men outnumbered women by approximately three to one.

Upon arrival in Los Angeles, Q’anjob’ales, K’iche’, Chujes, and Kachiqueles settled alongside other Central Americans in the districts of Pico-Union and Westlake. Other areas with concentrations of Maya include Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley, and South-Central Los Angeles. Since many Guatemalan immigrants to the United States are undocumented, it is difficult to determine how many of them there are. In 1970 there were 5,600 Guatemalans in the Los Angeles area, and by 1980 this number had increased to 38,000 (Chinchilla and Hamilton, 2001: 45). In 1984 the Guatemalan consulate reported that there were 50,000 documented and between 60,000 and 80,000 undocumented Guatemalans in Los Angeles, most of whom had arrived within the previous five years (Peñalosa, 1984). The 2000 census reports 480,665 Guatemalans in the United States, of whom 13,590 said that they were not Hispanic. ⁴ Popkin (2005: 694–695) estimates that there are 118,069 Guatemalans residing in Los Angeles, of whom 10,000 are Maya.

Their reception in the United States was characterized by very hostile anti-immigrant sentiment that presented difficulties for the practice of Maya culture in public spaces. Anti-immigrant animosity in California was evident with the passage of Proposition 187 in 1994, which sought to prevent undocumented immigrants from accessing many social services (Harman, 1995: 159). During the early 1980s the English Only campaign sought to make English the official language of the United States. The failed HR 4437 in 2006 would have strengthened enforcement of immigration laws and enhanced border security at the national level. Deportations of people from Mexico and Central America increased during the George W. Bush administration (2001–2009) through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program entitled Endgame, which aimed to deport “all removable aliens” between 2003 and 2012 (Cerda, 2005). Consequently, between 2005 and 2009, 108,154 Guatemalan immigrants, some of whom had arrived as minors or had U.S.-born children or spouses, were deported (Bonillo, 2009). ⁵ In highly publicized ICE raids in Postville, Iowa, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, the majority of those arrested and detained were Guatemalan and/or Maya.

Maya also confront Latin American immigrants with deeply embedded racist attitudes brought from their home countries. Derogatory expressions such as no seas indio (don’t be an Indian) or cara de indio (Indian-face) are still heard in Latino communities. Many of these prejudices are sustained by Spanish television networks that import programming from Latin America portraying indigenous people in a negative light (Dávila, 2001).

Thus the Maya in Los Angeles are forced to deal with marginalization on at least two fronts: anti-immigrant sentiments from U.S. society and interethnic discrimination from Guatemalan and Latino communities. This has led some Maya either to identify themselves as Latino or to develop strategies and programs for preserving their identity and culture in exile.

Maya Assimilation into the Latino Community

In the 1983 film El Norte, a Q’anjob’al brother and sister, Enrique and Rosa Xuncax, are forced to leave their community in the western highlands of Guatemala after the military has murdered their father and kidnapped their mother. In order to reach Los Angeles they are forced to go through Mexico and enter the United States illegally, and this requires them to abandon their traditional dress. Before leaving for Mexico, Enrique consults an elder who teaches him about Mexican culture so that he can avoid being detected by immigration officials. The lesson includes a brief introduction to Mexican curse words and the advice to identify himself as from Oaxaca (the state with the heaviest concentration of indigenous people in Mexico). When they are detained by the U.S. Border Patrol in their first attempt to cross the border, they use these tactics to persuade the authorities that they are Mexican, thus avoiding deportation to Guatemala, where they risk being killed by the military. On their arrival in Los Angeles, they are confronted with a predominantly Mexican environment in which indigenous identity is nonexistent, and they easily blend into the Mexican community. This is highlighted by Enrique, who continued to pass as Oaxacan with his coworkers. While this account is based on a film, many of the characters’ experiences capture some of the daily reality for many Maya migrants, mainly the threat of deportation and their incorporation into the Latino community in order to survive in Los Angeles.

As in the film, many Maya women are forced to wear Western clothing when they immigrate to the United States. For undocumented Maya, wearing traditional dress may represent an increased risk of being deported or being discriminated against while crossing Mexico and settling in the United States. My grandmother says that she was forced to give up her traditional dress in order to avoid deportation on her first trip to the United States. She says that this made her feel “naked,” since wearing it was a part of who she was. Elena, a legal U.S. resident, says that she no longer wears traditional dress because it is not something that one does in the United States. She adds that traditional dress is more expensive in both the United States and Guatemala than it used to be and harder to keep clean because it comes apart in the washing machine.

Signs of language shift and loss are present among the Maya in the United States and used to avoid discrimination and deportation. In some instances children of Maya may not even speak Spanish. Peñalosa (1986) warned of the growing Hispanicization of Maya immigrants as a result of their shift to the use of Spanish and English. He interviewed 134 Maya immigrants from various parts of Huehuetenango living in Los Angeles. Their median age was 24.4 years; 68.1 percent were married, and 64.8 percent had children. More men (77.3 percent) than women (33.8 percent) spoke Spanish, and Peñalosa suggested that this might be because men had had greater access to state institutions in Guatemala. More women than men spoke a Maya language. Interviewees reported speaking more Spanish in Los Angeles than in Guatemala. Peñalosa argued that Spanish among the Maya was considered a prestige language and was spoken more among young people. Respondents thought that it was more important for them to learn Spanish (96.2 percent) and English (96.2 percent) than a Maya language (74 percent). All the men said that it was necessary for their children to learn Spanish as compared with 82.3 percent of the women (Peñalosa, 1986: 240–244). Peñalosa considered the tendency to use more Spanish in Los Angeles due to the strong influence of the majority Latino population in the city.

Maya interaction with Latinos occurs in both public and private spaces. Alex, a K’iche’ from the Department of El Quiché, works in a garment factory in downtown Los Angeles. ⁶ He complains that many Maya in his workplace are discriminated against by their Latino coworkers for speaking an indigenous language. Maya of other linguistic communities have offered similar accounts. These conditions have created a hostile environment that forces Maya to experience a certain degree of embarrassment about their indigenous roots. For example, Roberto, another K’iche’ immigrant, says that many indigenous people are chastised for mispronouncing Spanish words and are often called indios or inditos. He reports that as a result two of his younger immigrant brothers no longer identify themselves as Maya.

On a practical level, some Maya may be incapable of speaking their language because of the absence of others from their linguistic communities in their lives. Carlos, a Q’anjob’al, reports that while there are other Maya in his church, they come from other linguistic groups and communicate in Spanish. It was not until he met his wife, also a Q’anjob’al, that he was able to speak Q’anjob’al in Los Angeles.

Maya Strategies and Programs for Preserving Their Identity and Culture

These conditions of racism and exile have forced the Maya to develop strategies for preserving their identity and culture. The limited opportunities to practice Maya identity in public spaces have made it urgent to maintain links with Guatemala and Maya culture. These barriers are more serious for the undocumented and the lower-class, who may not have the legal status or the capital to go back to Guatemala or to finance cultural revitalization programs. Despite these circumstances, Maya immigrants in Los Angeles have been able to reconstruct their identity and culture through channels such as religion, music, and language.

The promotion of Maya identity is evident in religious institutions. The Catholic Church has made little effort to recognize Maya culture and instead has categorized Maya as Hispanic to avoid conflict (Wellmeier, 1998: 107). Peñalosa (1984: 220) reported that young Q’anjob’ales in Los Angeles were “attending Spanish-language churches, wanting to identify with the Latino community.” For him, this was a process similar to what occurred in Guatemala “as Indians become Latinos through the assimilation process, except that here it is an assimilation to the local Latino culture of Los Angeles.” Subsequently, the Maya in Los Angeles began establishing their own religious-cultural organizations. For instance, the Q’anjob’ales from Santa Eulalia created the Fraternidad Ewulense Maya Q’anjob’al (Santa Eulalia Q’anjob’al Association—FEMAQ’) in the late 1980s in an effort to incorporate Maya spirituality or costumbre into Catholicism and preserve their ethnic identity (Wellmeier, 1998: 100). Organizing around the Catholic Church has also given rise to a national Maya organization, Pastoral Maya, which gained official recognition from the Office of Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in the late 1990s, and it has held meetings at the national level to discuss “important aspects of Maya culture and spirituality [and] the needs of the communities” (LeBaron, 2005: 125). As of 2005, approximately 40 Maya communities from Arizona, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, Alabama, Colorado, Oregon, South Carolina, Florida, and California were associated with it. During workshops at the third national conference in 2004, participants identified threats to Maya communities across the United States including discrimination, racism, deportation, insults, and loss of culture and discussed ways to resolve these issues.

The Maya in Los Angeles have developed revitalization projects similar to those in Guatemala to encourage indigenous language and traditions among the youth (see Brown and Fischer, 1996; Montejo, 2005). Members of the Maya community sponsored a Q’anjob’al language course in 2008 in which 25 Maya students participated. This was followed by another course in K’iche’, Q’anjob’al, and Maya spirituality in the summer of 2009. In the summer of 2010, this program was expanded to include sections on K’iche’, Q’anjob’al, Chuj, Maya spirituality, and glyphs. Sonia, a 16-year-old K’iche’ who immigrated to the United States at the age of 9 to be reunited with her parents, was a participant in the 2009 summer course. She viewed language as a source of Maya identity. She was often accompanied by her 10-year-old cousin, who was also interested in learning K’iche’. Another girl was proud to say that she spoke Q’anjob’al to her grandmother in Guatemala over the phone. Angela, a K’iche’ mother, accompanied her 12-year-old daughter to a couple of classes. She said that she had not taught her daughter Maya culture and language but was pleased that she wanted to learn K’iche’ and attend these classes. Language courses have provided children of Maya the opportunity to recover and express their identity.

Annual celebrations of patron saints of various Maya communities have been held in Los Angeles since the early 1980s. One of the earliest Maya communities to celebrate fiestas in Los Angeles was that of the Q’anjob’ales from San Miguel Acatán. Peñalosa (1984: 211), who attended this fiesta on September 29, 1984, observed that approximately 200–300 attended the event, which was characterized by voting for a “queen,” followed by her coronation, dancing, marimba music, and traditional Guatemalan food. The fiesta was held in Spanish, with a few words spoken in Q’anjob’al by “an Anglo priest” and a song. Religious celebrations create a space where women can wear traditional dress and traditional Maya and Guatemalan food, such as tamales and atole, is served.

These celebrations have, however, changed in a few respects. For example, the fiesta for the patron saint of Santa Eulalia is held in February, and in 2009 it included speeches by “princesses” representing the various Maya diasporic communities in Los Angeles and a “Maya princess” (a K’iche’). ⁷ All of them were second-generation women who spoke in a Maya language and in Spanish to encourage the young people in attendance to be proud of their indigenous roots. Another activity at the fiesta was the reenactment of a scene in the marketplace in the western highlands of Guatemala in which children and adults sold and bought products such as pottery and traditional clothing. Since the 1980s fiestas have increasingly incorporated Mayas born and/or raised in the United States, some of whom may never have visited or do not remember Guatemala. Fiestas allow children to get a sense of life in Guatemala and promote Maya identity and spirituality.

Among the most important cultural tools of the Maya in Guatemala and Los Angeles is the marimba, which provides a channel for children to express their identity and culture through music. The marimba usually requires seven musicians and thus reflects the cooperative character of Maya communities. During the civil war in the 1980s, some Q’anjob’ales carried their marimbas in their flight to the Mexican refugee camps, where they used them as a means to preserve their culture and confront the anguish of exile (Montejo, 1999: 113, 160). The Q’anjob’ales in Indiantown, Florida, and Los Angeles have also used the marimba as a means to express their Mayan identity (Burns, 1993: 144; Wellmeier, 1998: 110). A marimba band organized by Q’anjob’ales in the early 2000s consisted of U.S.-born Maya interested in promoting their culture. Víctor, a Q’anjob’al from Santa Eulalia and a marimba player, with the support of FEMAQ’, started the band in 1999, and by 2009 it had approximately 15 players ranging in age from 7 to 18. The group has performed throughout California and in Nebraska and Arizona. Maria, a 16-year old, and her 13-year-old sister, Nancy, have been playing the marimba since 2001 and feel joy in expressing their Maya heritage through music. They are the only girls participating in this traditionally male activity, and they said that their male cousins made fun of them for it. ⁸ One of Nancy’s cousins told her that her tamales would never come out right because she played the marimba, but she said that playing it gave her a good feeling because it was the instrument that her elders had played before her.

Maya cultural resistance in Los Angeles has been achieved through revitalization programs, celebrations, ceremonies, and language. Maintaining or recovering a strong indigenous identity is made difficult by institutional forces that impose a Latino/Hispanic identity on all Latin Americans.

The Self-Identification of Children of Maya

Children of immigrants of all backgrounds face difficulties in preserving their parental language, culture, identity, and ties to the home country. The children of Maya are marginalized within an already marginalized community, the more so if they are undocumented and/or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender). Peñalosa (1986: 234) observes that Maya children are treated as Hispanics by school personnel. Moreover, intergenerational conflict is exacerbated by language differences as children learn to speak English at school and Spanish on the streets (Menjívar, 2002: 544; Portes and Rumbaut, 2001: 113–146). In addition, Maya elders and grandparents, a crucial element in the transmission of culture to the young, are absent or have minimal responsibility in children’s education in Los Angeles (Harman, 1995: 162).

Milton, who migrated to Los Angeles at the age of 7, is an example of the way some Maya children feel upon arrival in Los Angeles:

I was treated as a Latino [from] the moment I [set foot] in Los Angeles. When I was in elementary school my complete ethnic identity was nonexistent. . . I knew my family and I were from Guatemala, but somehow crossing two borders and the fear of being caught by la migra made me automatically want to blend in with the Latino, Mexicano identity. It was easier. . . . People found it easy just to assume [that I was Latino].

Although many factors contribute to the ethnic identity formation of the children of Maya, at times it is from our grandparents that we recover our Maya roots. Milton explained that his awareness of a Maya past was made possible through his grandmother: “[When I was 14], my grandmother was approved for a U.S. visa, and she was able to come. During her stay I asked her if we were Latino. “Ladino?!” she responded. “No way. We’re Indians. Ladinos are people who reject their Indian past.” ⁹ Discussion with his grandmother of the differences between Latinos in the United States and Ladinos in Guatemala led him to conclude that “either [identity] can erase our indigenous identity.”

With regard to their identity, children of Maya fall into four general categories. They may (1) be unaware of or apathetic toward an indigenous past and identify themselves as Latino/Hispanic; (2) recognize an indigenous past but identify themselves as Latino/Hispanic; (3) identify themselves as Maya; or (4) identify themselves as both Maya and Latino/Hispanic. The first group consists of children whose parents may themselves feel ashamed of being Maya and see no value in teaching their children an indigenous culture. Discrimination within the Guatemalan community contributes to this attitude, and so does daily life in Los Angeles neighborhoods at times characterized by drugs, gangs, and poverty (Harman, 1995: 158; Loucky, 2000: 221). Moreover, “American” values of individualism have undermined a sense of community and threatened family unity (Loucky, 2000: 221). As a result, many youth are unaware of or apathetic toward their indigenous past. This does not, of course, mean that they are incapable of identifying themselves as Maya in the future.

Some children of Maya, though they recognize an indigenous past, do not identify themselves as Maya because they are unfamiliar with the culture, do not feel entitled to do so, or are ashamed of it. Alejandro, a 20-year-old son of Q’anjob’ales from San Pedro Soloma, Huehuetenango, for example, speaks “broken Spanish” with his parents and English with his siblings. Most of his friends are of Mexican descent, and he knows little about Maya culture because his parents have rarely exposed him to their traditions or discussed life in Guatemala. Though Alejandro recognizes his parents’ indigenous background, he identifies himself as Latino.

Children who identify themselves as Maya tend to be the children of active community members. Other youth who consider themselves as both Maya and Latino also tend to be from such backgrounds and often participate in Maya programs and celebrations. Sometimes other factors may influence their identity, such as having been born in Guatemala, and many have some memory of Maya culture or have elders involved in the process of recovering their identities. Although many recognize their indigenous background, they also believe that they are a part of the Latino/Hispanic community because of the many personal and cultural similarities and relate to it on political and social issues such as immigration, discrimination, marginalization, and survival in rough neighborhoods. Sonia, mentioned earlier, identifies herself as both K’iche’ and Latina. Left in Xela to be raised by her grandmother, who spoke to her in K’iche’ until she immigrated to the United States in 2004, she has never worn traditional dress in Los Angeles. When asked, “What does being Maya/K’iche’ mean to you?” she responded that it meant “language, that you’re from your country [Guatemala].” This response may be based on the fact that her grandmother spoke to her in K’iche’ in Guatemala whereas her parents speak to her only in Spanish in Los Angeles. As a result, when she learned about the Maya language program mentioned above, she decided to attend. Her case demonstrates both the difficulties immigrant children have in maintaining Maya culture in Los Angeles and the way in which young Maya immigrants use language to express their identity. It also highlights the importance of elders in transmitting culture to the younger generation.

Maria identifies herself as Maya and rejects a Latino/Hispanic label. To her, being Maya means speaking the language, wearing traditional dress, and knowing your background and history. She said that she gets upset at the fact that some children are embarrassed about their Maya culture and believes that they should be proud. She speaks Q’anjob’al fairly fluently and participated in the Maya language program in 2008. Nancy says that she is Hispanic, the identity she claims on school forms. At the same time, she is aware of her Maya identity, which she says is “something really special.” When I asked her what made her feel more in touch with Maya culture she said marimba music, ceremonies, and accompanying her father in talking to elders. She understands Q’anjob’al but cannot speak it and wants to learn it. Nancy suggests that Maria had an advantage in learning Q’anjob’al because their grandmother took care of her and spoke Q’anjob’al to her. In comparison, Nancy was taken care of by her aunt, who also took care of other children most of whom were of Mexican descent and mainly spoke Spanish. She took part in the language courses offered in the summer of 2008 and 2009 and learned to speak a few words in Q’anjob’al. She has read the Popol Wuj and says that she “felt like part of [the book],” since it goes back in history. While Maria identifies only as Maya, Nancy at the moment holds a dual identity. While they identify themselves differently, the sisters are tapping into their language, playing the marimba, and reading their history through the Popol Wuj, among other activities, to preserve their identities. Both Maria and Nancy are highly active in the Maya community in Los Angeles.

Milton identifies himself as Maya and Guatemalteco. When I asked him, “What does being Maya mean to you?” he said, “Being Maya means I am remembering my great-grandparents, my nan’ [grandmother], my mom. I am honoring my past and my present. I am defining the future of my family’s identity. Maya equals struggle, pride, dignity, indigenous.” Most of his knowledge about his Guatemalan and Maya culture comes from his grandmother and mother. Through them, he was able to recover his family history: that his family left Xela in the 1940s, that his great-grandfather was a “Maya priest,” and that ceremonies were conducted in private. While he does not speak a Maya language, his grandmother has taught him a few words. He is motivated to learn his ancestral language and “pass it down to [his] family, especially to the younger generations of [his] family here in the United States and in Guatemala.”

Conclusion

Since Spanish colonization, the Maya have developed strategies of resistance to European culture and the assimilationist efforts of the nation-state. While formal colonialism ended in Guatemala, the imposed identity indio placed a heterogeneous people in a single category that justified its domination, oppression, and destruction. In the 36-year-long civil war, thousands of Maya were massacred, raped, disappeared, and displaced, and many of those who remained were subject to an unjust and unequal power system that continues to favors Europeans and Ladinos and keeps Maya marginalized within the political system and state institutions. Of those who were forced to flee from the war and from harsh inequality and poverty, thousands found refuge in Los Angeles, where they confronted another set of power relations that discriminated against them and their indigenous identity and culture. Anti-immigrant sentiment kept many in the shadows, and this meant assimilation into the Latino community, which could also mean marginalization. To be sure, not all Latinos discriminate against the Maya, especially considering that some children of Maya identify themselves as Latino.

The children of Maya in Los Angeles are recovering, reconstructing, and developing their identity and culture away from their ancestral territories. They are resisting imposed identities (indio, Latino, Hispanic) by reaffirming their Maya roots and history through marimba playing, Maya-language use, talking with grandparents, literature, and religious celebrations. They have found ways to keep the memory of their ancestors, their history, and their culture alive. While some children of Maya are maintaining an identity that they have always recognized, some of us are in the process of reclaiming and recovering a Maya identity that is suppressed in Los Angeles.

Many of us will never settle in Guatemala permanently. As a result, we are now left with the responsibility to keep our identity and culture alive against the institutional forces that marginalize and silence indigenous voices. This includes asking and exploring what it means to be Maya in an urban environment in the United States. In addition, we need to challenge what it means to be Latino/Hispanic and Guatemalan—identities that are still being negotiated in Los Angeles. The need for educational programs and spaces to practice and discuss Maya culture and identity as well as the marginalization within both Maya and Latino communities are essential. Such spaces already exist, such as the Maya language course and fiestas in which Maya children can practice their culture with their family, friends, and others.

In this work I have demonstrated that some Maya youth are aware, recovering and reconstructing their Maya culture and identity in Los Angeles, while many others are apathetic and/or unaware of an indigenous past and memory. For 500 years, Maya culture has been continuously transforming across time and space, and this process is evident in its survival and reconstruction among the children of Maya in Los Angeles.