About seven million Maya live today, and 'Maya' was never their shared name
The ancient cities were abandoned, but the people were not. Some seven million Maya lived across Guatemala, southern Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador at the start of this century, many speaking Mayan languages daily. Yet 'Maya' is an outsiders' umbrella for groups that never shared a single identity or state.
Each community had its own traditions and history, and names still vary. In the Yucatan Peninsula people call themselves simply Maya and their language 'Maya', which linguists label Yucatec to separate it from dozens of relatives in the Mayan family. Anthropologist Juan Castillo Cocom describes 'ethnoexodus': people claim or drop Maya identity depending on the situation, often to escape discrimination. Women in traditional dress there may even call themselves mestiza.
The Spanish arrived by accident. Shipwreck survivors landed in Yucatan in 1511, and one sailor, Gonzalo Guerrero, married locally and became a war captain for the Maya state of Chetumal. Expeditions under Cordoba, Grijalva and Cortes followed in 1517 to 1519, and Francisco de Montejo's attempts at conquest from 1528 to 1540 failed. His son eventually prevailed with the help of epidemics, allied warriors and a feud between the Xiu and Cocom lords. In the 19th century the Caste War of Yucatan became one of Mexico's most successful Indigenous revolts, and for a time Britain treated the Maya state of Chan Santa Cruz as independent for trade with British Honduras.
Guatemala holds the largest share: Maya make up around 42% of its population and are the majority in western highland departments such as Quiche and Huehuetenango. The K'iche' are the biggest group, followed by the Q'eqchi', while the Itza of Peten speak a nearly extinct language whose forest-farming knowledge may reveal how the lowlands were managed before colonisation. Because Spanish rule kept Indigenous people legally separate into the 20th century, many customs, including distinctive local dress, survived.
Language is holding on in places. Mexico's statistics institute counted 1.2 million Mayan speakers in Yucatan State in 2009, just under 60% of residents, and the state began offering online classes. Emigrant clubs from Texas to California have taught Maya language and cooking since 2003, and Indiana University has offered courses since 2010. Francisco Luna-Kan, governor from 1976 to 1982, was the first modern Yucatan governor of full Maya ancestry.
Source: Maya peoples
