I, Rigoberta Menchu
Page 32
ladino
Today, any Guatemalan–whatever his economic position–who rejects, either individually or through his cultural heritage, Indian values of Mayan origin. It also implies mixed blood.
manzana
Agrarian measure equal to 0.7 hectares: (1 hectare = 2.471 acres).
marimba
Percussion instrument generally composed of thirty slats of wood, and sound boxes of gourds or wood. These are then hit with sticks with rubber balls at the end (similar principle to a xylophone).
mazorca
Maize cob.
mecapàl
Wide belt or band of natural leather used to carry heavy loads on the shoulders by taking the weight round the head.
milpa
Field of maize.
mimbre
Type of willow, used for making cane baskets, furniture, etc.
morral
Little bag of woven wool.
nahual
The word given to the double, the alter-ego, be it an animal or any other living thing, which, according to Indian belief, all human beings possess. There is a relationship between the nahual and a person’s personality. The designation of the nahual means the newborn child is recognized as a member of the community.
Nebaj
Municipality and administrative centre of the province of El Quiché. Centre of the Ixil people.
nixtamal
Cauldron where the maize is cooked. The name also applies to maize cooked with lime, which is the dough used to make tortillas.
ocote
Very resinous red pine. It also refers to a branch of the tree which is used as a torch because it flames.
Oriente
The eastern part of Guatemala which includes the provinces of Zacapa, Chiqimula, Jalapa, Jutiapa and Santa Rosa. It is mainly populated by ladinos.
pamac
Sort of palm used for roofs.
panela
Unrefined sugar. Brown sugar.
perraje
A coloured cotton cloak.
pinol
Grilled maize flour mixed with water, sugar and cocoa to make a refreshing drink.
pita
Fibre from the agave plant for making ropes.
pom
Incense.
quetzal
Guatemalan money. Quetzal = 100 centavos.
Sacapúlas
Municipality and administrative centre of the province of El Quiché. Means ‘shredded fodder’ in Nahuatl.
Santa Rosa Chucuyub
Hybrid Hispano-Quiché word meaning ‘Santa Rosa before the Hill’.
sijolaj
Musical instrument, a whistle made of clay.
taltuza
Rodent, a kind of racoon.
tamal (pl.-es)
Maize paste wrapped in maize or banana leaves, and cooked. Can also be filled with meat or vegetables.
tapanco
Loft for storing crops.
tapizca
Harvest, especially of maize, cotton and beans.
Tecún Umán
Means ‘grandson of the king’ in Quiché. He was one of the four Lords of the Royal House of Cawek, and became commander of the Quiché forces. He died in February 1524 while fighting the troops of Pedro de Alvarado on the plains of Quetzaltenango. His nahual was the quetzal (bird) and, according to legend, it flew away the moment he died in combat.
temascal
Steam bath made of hot stones.
tortilla
Maize pancake which is the main food of the Central American peoples.
tún
Drum made from a hollow tree trunk.
Uspantán
Municipality and administrative centre of the province of El Quiché.
vara
Measurement. Approximately 83.5 centimetres.
yuca
Manioc.
zopilote
Buzzard.
Bibliography
Miguel Angel Asturias, Men of Maize, trs. Gerry Martin, London: Verso, 1988.
El libro de los libros de Chilam Balam, published by the Fondo de Cultura Economica, Mexico 1979. Excerpts translated here by Ann Wright.
Popol Vuh: Antiguas leyendas del Quiché, Version y Prologo de Ermilo Abreu Gomez, Mexico 1977. Excerpts translated by Ann Wright.
Further Reading
Arias, Arturo, ed., The Rigoberta Menchú Controversy, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2001.
Ball, Patrick, and Paul Kobrak, and Herbert Spirer, State Violence in Guatemala, 1960–1996: A Quantitative Reflection, Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1999.
Burgos-Debray, Elisabeth, ‘The Story of a Testimonio’, Latin American Perspectives, 26 (6), 1999, pp. 53–63; and ‘Las verdades de Rigoberta Menchú’, Lateral Año VI, No. 52, Barcelona, April 1999.
Canby, Peter, ‘The Truth about Rigoberta Menchú’, New York Review of Books, 46, No. 6, 8 April 1999, pp. 28–33.
Centro Internacional para Investigaciones en Derechos Humanos, Draining the Sea: An Analysis of Terror in Three Rural Communities, 1980–1984.
Cohen, Hal, ‘The Unmaking of Rigoberta Menchú’, Lingua Franca, July–August 1999.
González, Matilde, Se cambió el tiempo; Vol. 1: Conflicto y poder en territorio K’iche’ Vol. 2: Historias de vida y tradición oral de San Bartolomé Jocotenango, Quiché, Guatemala City: Asociación para el Avance de las Ciencias Sociales en Guatemala, 2002.
Grandin, Greg, The Last Colonial Massacre: Latin America in the Cold War, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004; and, with Francisco Goldman, ‘Bitter Fruit for Rigoberta’, The Nation, January 21, 1999.
Konefal, Betsy, For Every Indio Who Falls: A History of Maya Activism in Guatemala, 1960–1990, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, forthcoming 2010.
Levenson-Estrada, Deborah, Trade Unionists against Terror, Guatemala City, 1954–1984, Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1994.
McAllister, Carlota, The Good Road: Conscience and Consciousness in a Postrevolutionary Mayan Village, Durham: Duke University Press, forthcoming.
Schirmer, Jennifer, The Guatemalan Military Project: A Violence Called Democracy, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.
Stoll, David, Rigoberta Menchú and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.
* A kind of bread made from maize in Venezuela, normally eaten hot.
* George Devereux, Essais d’ethropsychanalyse complémentariste, Paris 1972.
* Municipality and administrative centre of the province of El Quiché.
† Municipality and administrative centre of the province of El Quiché.
‡ Centre of the Ixil people. The word also means ‘ocote’, in the Quiché language.
* Hybrid Hispano-Quiché word meaning ‘Santa Rosa before the Hill’.
* Name given to the western slope of the Sierra Madre going down to the Pacific Ocean.
* Association created in 1945 by Monsignor Rafael Gonzalez, to try and control the Indian fraternities of the Altiplano.
* The eastern part of Guatemala which includes the provinces of Zacapa, Chiquimula, Jalapa, Jutiapa and Santa Rosa. It is mainly populated by ladinos.
* Capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala under Spanish rule (1542–1773), now capital of the province of Sacatépequez.
* Instituto Nacional de Transformación Agraria de Guatemala (Guatemalan National Institute for Agriarian Transformation).
* It often happened that we had no maize and my brothers and sisters and I, even when we were ill, had to eat the dogs’ food.
* Novenas: a devotion to a particular saint or patron consisting of special prayers on nine successive days.
* Comité de Unidad Campesina–United Peasant Committee.
* Guerrilla Army of the Poor (GAP).
† Organization of the People in Arms (OPA).
‡ Rebel Armed Forces (RAF).
§ Guatemalan Workers Party.
* The Report of the Guatemalan Committee on Human Rights calls these ‘The Revolutionary Workers’ Nuclei’ and the ‘Committee of Slumdwellers’.