Mayans and Christianity-A different Approach

Mayans, an Ancient Culture-and SpainAdaptation kept this culture alive and wellMany years ago, the Spanish Crown sent a delegation to the Americas, which landed in Central America, a land rich with ancient cultures aswell as earthly riches. The idea was to conquer new lands while spreading the catholic faith. After the seemingly destruction of the Mayan Empire along with the other existing indigenous cultures, it isa tribute to the deepness and steadfastness of Mayans, that today they can again show their astonishingly large number of their culture, evident in villages and cities in the people count, in festivals as participants in their special costumes, celebrating their sacred rituals right alongside the Catholics, which faith was adopted by many without losing their own unique traits. These happenings are a great sign and proof that it is possible to combine two or more cultures peacefully, as long as all sides are willing to compromise. What a better example can anyone find to follow in these days of political unrest, cultural intolerance and often-plain ignorance and not paying attention to others?

Professor Kathy Gambsky Capstone Project B. M. Roby

(Mayan Civilization and Culture)

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Cultural disasters, environmental misuse and unknown

diseases brought on by the Spanish invasion led to the demise of

the Mayan culture, who occupied a large part of Central America

as can be seen on the map. This has been the general opinion of

even well known scientists and anthropologists. Despite the

destruction of their physical world so many years ago, today

Mayan culture is widespread and very noticeable in the way people

live, celebrate and worship. Many tourists have found that while

visiting cities as well as villages in rural areas, that clothes

are still (Canadian Museum of Civilization)

woven the same way than always, the colors are

specific to areas and station in life

(Canadian Museum of Civilization)

Agriculture also has not changed much in the rural areas,

corn is still the main crop planted and harvested. One of the

most interesting leftover evidence of long ago times is the

festivals that are being held. Why is that surprising? These

festivals and rituals are held side by side with catholic holy 2 | P a g e

http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/maya/images/mayre20b.gif



days, rituals of coming of age and festivals of Patron Saints of

villages. The Mayan officials often insist on masses being held

to honor their occasions and are more than open to celebrate

catholic special days as well. This compromise is due to the

understanding attitude of the priests that followed the Spanish

Conquistadores. They realized it was easier to spread their faith

and beliefs, if they gave a little in return. As long as the

indigenous Mayans followed the basic principles of the catholic

faith and did not go against any basic dogmas of the catholic

faith, they allowed the ancient rituals to continue and found a

way to incorporate catholic holidays with the Mayan festivals and

sacred occasions. It is not an unusual picture to see native

dancers right after a catholic mass performing one of their

rituals that celebrates a similar occasion right outside a

catholic cathedral.

http://vimeo.com/33196696 (Link to a video with pictures

from a pilgrimage with catholic images as well as native dancers,

(Yirmeyah Beckles, 2011)

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http://vimeo.com/33196696


In many cases abandoned city halls and churches- empty due

to not enough priests around- are used for meetings which are

insisted on, on being opened or honored by a mass. (Another

example of the bonding between two cultures)

Getting back to the origins of Mayan culture: The extension

of their culture and what Spain built their new addition of the

Spanish empire together with today’s still widespread existence

leads many historians to the conclusion, that the Maya “ never

disappeared, neither at the time of the classic period decline

nor with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores and the

subsequent Spanish colonization of the Americas” (

http://ancientweb.org/explore/country/Mexico )

Research shows, that despite destruction of much of their

architecture in mainly urbanized areas Mayans and their

descendants are very noticeable. Due to mixing several

Mesoamerican tribes with the Mayans traditions of all have been

preserved. The largest part of this is contributed to Mayans

being mainly rural tribes, where Spanish and urban influences

were not felt that much. The general opinion of a few years ago

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http://ancientweb.org/explore/country/Mexico


was, that Mayans were almost nonexistent, but just like hundreds

of years ago, the Mayan influence can be felt for thousands of

miles from northern Honduras all the way into southern and

eastern areas of Mexico then just as now “Today Maya and their

descendants form sizable populations throughout the Maya area and

maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs that are

the result of the merger of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest

ideologies” (http://ancientweb.org/explore/country/Mexico )

Census from 1981

Location: The Highlands of Guatemala; also Mexico, Belize

Population: 3-5.6 million

% of population: 38%–70%

Religion: Indigenous beliefs, Catholic, Protestant Language: various

Indian languages including Quiche, Mam, Cakchiquel, Kekchi (Maya

of Guatemala, 1981)

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Due to all recent and earlier research, letters from Spanish

Conquistadores, eyewitness accounts of several eyewitnesses,

archeological finds and accounts from travelers, catholic

priests, Mayan Shamans( religious leaders) it seems to portray

that a culture seemingly forgotten and destroyed is very much

alive and flourishing even. These developments over hundreds of

years show how with willingness, determination , knowing how to

compromise, listen to the other side people with different

beliefs can combine their traditions and make a new mixed culture

with respect for one another’s rituals. That does not mean there

did not and will not in the future be uprisings, civil wars, even

cruelty against one another when one side tries to push more of

their ways on the other side. Nevertheless, when the basic

structure is solid, a common ground has been found a long time

ago and people work together, it is possible to blend two

cultures. This could and should be a great example for countries

all around the world.

Learning about the timeline and development of the

Maya-Spanish culture shows the combination of ethical values,

portrayed in arts and architecture, the way of life, the way 6 | P a g e


celebrations are held and the influence and impact on neighboring

countries as in this case the USA. These developments are also

of great educational value, in not only historical ways but also

political and economic ways. Mayans always –as mentioned earlier

were more rural tribes than urban, despite their great

advancement in architecture even with simple tools. However, even

hundreds of years ago, these rural tribes provided the sources

and resources for the urban areas and the travel and exchange of

goods contributed to the development of the urban areas.

(Corel, 2008)

As can be seen above the ancient architecture of urban

civilization provided the base for later buildings from the

Spanish conquerors. They seem to symbolize the superiority of

Spain over Mayan territory by building on top of their ruins.

Another way it could be looked upon is that to get a stronghold

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in these ancient cultures the old ways are needed. This is a

physical symbolism and a great way to be able to understand, how

the Maya and the Spanish managed to build a so-called hybrid

culture. Old and new in many ways are peacefully molded together.

This is due to the fact that” culture shock was cushioned by the

fact that for the majority of Indians the Spanish hierarchy took

the place of the Mayan lords and priests. The symbols of the

Catholic religion had parallels with Mayan beliefs and were

adopted by the Maya who used them to maintain an adapted but

still very Indian way of life”( Maya of Guatemala,2008).

In some ways ancient Maya culture provides the grounds for

great Spanish architecture that will house and support government

and churches, teaching ways to govern different ways of life all

in one. On the other side are the Spanish with their wish to

teach an ancient culture- the Maya- about their beliefs and

rituals, Catholicism.

According to different eyewitness accounts from both

sides, conquerors and conquered, letters written to the Spanish

King, and native accounts of their view of the events, it can be

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concluded that the Maya as well as the other indigenous tribes of

Central or Meso America were eager and open for new ways, just

like their counterparts in North America. The reasons in both

cases situations turned bad, was, that the original intent of

conquering new land and colonies , to open trade and to spread

the faith of Spain, Catholicism was overrun by greed and turned

into massacres in many instances. The latter can be found proven

by Cortez letters to the king, but he whitewashed his actions by

claiming the Maya and other tribes like the Aztecs were savages,

had barbarian customs etc. When reading some of the Aztec and

Mayan accounts from their view, they were happy and open to new

people, welcomed them warmly and gladly shared their riches.

After the initial shock of portrayal, the Maya several times

managed to push the Spanish soldiers back. This was possible,

because in order to reach the rural areas where more of their

people lived, the Spaniards had to go through the jungle, with

which they were not familiar.

When everything settled down and the catholic priests

followed the soldiers for religious instructions, they traveled

to the villages and taught their beliefs. 9 | P a g e


It is interesting to see how many Priests and friars were

sent from Spain to Mayan territory over a span of two-hundred-

and-seventy years from three different orders: Franciscans,

Dominicans and Merced Arians. It started slowly in 1530 climbed

to a high point in1590 to 1599 and stayed close to even for

ninety years until 1680 until 1689. Those two decades had the

highest number of friars 108 and 92. The Yucatan only had

friars from the Franciscan order and steadily over the years,

the friars for the Guatamala0Chiapas area started of strongly

but then became sporadic. This table also shows that the

Franciscan order was predominant in all areas, more steady

dispersion than the other two orders

Number of Friar-Priests Sent from Spain by the King, 1530-1800

Year Guatemala-Chiapas

OFM OP MR

Yucatan Friars

per year

Total

Friars

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OFM

1530-39 20 20 20

1540-49 12 12 32

1550-59 7 16 23 55

1560-69 1 70 16 87 142

1570-79 46 28 12 86 228

1580-89 64 24 88 316

1590-99 65 30 13 108 424

1600-09 40 20 13 73 497

1610-19 35 17 24 76 573

1620-29 12 12 585

1630-39 58 58 643

1640-49 20 20 663

1650-59 6 40 46 709

1660-69 6 19 25 734

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1670-79 10 16 12 38 772

1680-89 40 26 4 22 92 864

1690-99 30 30 894

1700-09 15 19 34 928

1710-19 6 12 18 946

1720-39 0 946

1740-49 11 19 30 976

1750-59 10 19 29 1005

1760-79 0 1005

1780-89 16 20 36 1041

1790-99 30 30 1071

Total 388 231 70 382 1071

Percenta

ge

36.2% 21.6% 6.5% 35.7% 100%

(Early, John D.2006, page 134)

The Maya were eager to learn and often with diplomacy, the

priests managed to combine their rituals. Mayans compared and

joined their festivals for special people with Catholic Saints.12 | P a g e


This was possible by Catholic priests and bishops being lenient

on the strictness of following rituals. As longs as the basic

requirements of the beliefs of the catholic faith were

followed, the indigenous rituals were allowed to be continued.

“As far as the Vatican was concerned, if the native population

acted Catholic and went through the motions of being Catholic,

they were Catholic.” … “The Mayans are still essentially a

pagan people under a thin veneer of Catholicism”. (Duncan

Aitkin, 2007)

Opposite to many other regions where Spain sent their

soldiers for conquest, the distrust that originally developed

between Conquerors and Mayans was slowly dispelled despite the

initial opposing, perspective of the Friars who arrived shortly

after the Spanish adventurers. They soon learned that it was

worth to show understanding and compassion, if they wanted to

succeed in teaching their faith.

This also led people then and now to realize, that there was

and is no absolute truth to either side. Too many cultural and

ethical factors are included, totally different views of the

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world, but a common basis was the similar structure of their

beliefs, the advancement of their architecture, which made it

easier to build new dwellings that included honoring traditions

of both sides. Each side might have moments of the rights to

claim absolute truth, but in the end, neither side possesses the

right to it forever. Both sides did wrong, even if Spain invaded

the Mayan regions and tried to force their ways on them under the

false pretense of coming in peace to spread their faith.

A picture can speak a thousand words like this one:

Indigenous dancers in front of a cathedral in Mexico City:

(Flickr.com) another link between

Maya and Catholic.

The hierarchy amongst the Mayan Shaman- religious leaders-

was similar to the catholic. One great difference was that the

highest religious leader in Mayan ways had to be married, which

was totally opposite to catholic doctrine.

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The latter proved to be an obstacle for a priest’s candidate

at the end of the twentieth century and judging by his

testimonial very possible for many other candidates before him.

A catholic Bishop had been an advocate of “priesthood of the

culture” This vision of his” Included the ultimate accommodation

of Mayan culture- a priesthood shared by a married couple, the

traditional civil and religious leaders in Mayan villages” ( Gary

MacBoin)

He proved that by finding a way to combine both the success

of keeping the catholic faith alive and even spreading would be

rising. He told a story a priests candidate revealed to him, how

he at first when entering the seminary had to totally forget

about this heritage, his beliefs and tradition in order to even

have the chance of attending the seminary, after he finished he

went back to his village, but no one would listen to him, because

he did not even know his village’s language anymore, he relearned

the language and the rituals again and the result was a parade

and the offer of the village presidents daughters hand in

marriage, They thought by relearning his native language and

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customs he would abide by them again and if he wanted to be their

spiritual leader he had to be married,, because it is a couple’s

job, it takes both man and wife to fulfill all the demands of

that job.

There are priests who totally forget about their roots, they

do not have much success in their home villages, these are called

Mestizo priests. The ones who remember their roots and honor

their customs the same then the newly acquired ones are the

priests that work and combine both, those are the ones who win

more and more over to the new faith, the Catholic faith, those

are the real indigenous priests with the understanding of both

cultures.

These proceedings over the forty years of this Bishops life

have had a great effect on the thinking and understanding of the

way to introduce the catholic faith in a different, more

effective way: with the mutual understanding and respect for

each other’s ways and efforts to combine both without losing

either ones main characteristics.

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On a side note: The above is an example of efforts in

Central America and the Maya. A similar story had taken place in

North America with an Oglala Dakota Indian who converted to

Catholicism, went back to the old ways and then worked his whole

life on finding ways to save both, his name was Black Elk

(December 1863 – August 19, 1950)

The way Maya and catholic became a so-called hybrid

religion/culture and produced festivals and celebrations like the

above picture shows started many years ago when the

Conquistadores first came to Central America. In the book, Maya

and Catholicism by John D. early eyewitness accounts from both sides

are documented. The views and statements expressed are both

heavily referring to divine help on both sides. On the Spanish

side, the basic belief was that God would not let the Spanish and

their faith be overpowered by the indigenous infidels of the

Maya. The Maya had a similar approach and though process. They

believed that if they are right, then their gods’ would support

and help them. In their culture, winning or losing was equal to

their king having lost the connection with their gods, which is

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similar to the Conquerors beliefs, that if they lost, God was not

on their side.

Many more times over the centuries, these beliefs

resurfaced, whenever the Spanish government tried to interfere in

the Maya way of life beyond what they were willing to concede.

Several times Maya managed to defeat the Spanish soldiers, that

was the reason why they insisted to keep their rituals and

beliefs, but when they were defeated, their mentality was,: We

were defeated, that means their religion and its regulations have

to have some good.”

“Having seen the superior power of the Spanish God in revealed

in battle, the Maya wanted to incorporate them into their own

covenant, so these gods would be their protectors as well”( John

D. Early, 2006). That mentality and their beliefs provided the

corner stone for the beginning of the attempt to compromise,

learn, adapt and incorporate without losing either side’s

individuality and characteristics.

As mentioned once above, the warfare back and forth

destroyed many century old buildings, part of the Maya heritage

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of Architecture, but not only that, in the beginning the Spanish

priests that followed for religious instructions also destroyed

manifest which they believed were from the devil. This stopped

largely, when priests from one side and rulers, spiritual

leaders, Shamans from the Mayan side actually read the

manuscripts and discovered how many similarities could be found,

on which they could base a mutually acceptable mixed religion and

culture.

This was mainly due to the Mayan’s attitude already hinted

at above towards the new religion, first taught by the Franciscan

Friars later on by regular clergy. “The initial reaction was not

a question of ready conversion or spiritual resistance, but a

question of the degree to which the potency of the new religion

could be appropriated for Maya purposes. “ (John D. Early, 2006)

These religious aspects carried over into political ones,

just as if it was rare that catholic priests traveled to hold

mass in outlying areas, the Spanish ruler also did not put much

pressure on changes in Mayan culture. This helped in a great way

in preserving the age-old ways of life with not many changes in

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the rural areas of Mayan population. This should serve as a

great example of knowing when to enforce and when to step back

for the good of all. This cut down on revolts and uprisings,

which still occurred but seldom in any major way like it happened

in all the Indian wars in Northern America. Slaughter and torture

occurred but is mainly concentrated on the early years of the

Conquistadores.

These relatively peaceful developments were very

constructive towards teaching and spreading the catholic faith

into Mayan culture. The early architecture that was so

astonishingly advanced at first was not used; churches and

worship buildings were simple, not as elaborate as in the

counterparts in Europe. The massive and elaborate cathedrals

were not built until later and most of the times on top of the

Mayan ruins. What could be a better foundation and show of unity

-to a certain extent- than the Mayan and Spanish worshipping

together in buildings erected on ancient ruins with using the

already existing bricks as part of the buildings? Not only was

unity and willingness on both sides to come to an agreement on

many levels of life in Central America based on architectural 20 | P a g e


contributions and sharing, religious, moral and ethical values,

but the way of life, dress code, festivals were building bridges.

All along through their history Mayans had been mainly rural

tribes, .These tribes as mentioned briefly earlier were farmers

and miners, travelers between tribes and urban areas, they made

their own clothes, dyed them with colors specific to caste and

tribe. These customs are still carried on today. Just like

shortly after the conquests life only changed in the urban, well

developed areas, rural areas remain mainly unchanged but the

colonial rules were applied for centuries later. The people still

lived by their own rules,” ruled and judged by their own elders,

speak their own languages, work their own fields….”They engaged

the colonial legal system in defense of community interests

skillfully and often successfully”( Early, 2006)

Adapting as well as holding on to their culture, their

rituals and their heritage makes the Maya the largest indigenous

Indian population North of Peru at last count about six million

people.

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“In spite of modernization and intermarriage between the

indigenous population and Spanish immigrants, many Maya

communities have succeeded in preserving their identity and their

ways. This is partly because, throughout their history, the Maya

have been confined to a single unbroken area including parts of

southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and the Western edges of

Honduras and El Salvador” (early,2006)

(Canadian Museum of Civilization)

Their culture might not be in danger, but their environment

has deteriorated due to felling too much of the Rainforest in

order to produce room for cornfields. It has been documented by

NASA and the National Geographic Society that in a matter of only

four years –between 1988 and 1992- over 1130 acres of forest had

been felled. As a result, Guatemala set aside forty percent of

the Petén- a part of the Mayan area- as the Maya Biosphere

Reserve. (Canadian Museum of Civilization, updated 2010)This not

only destroys the forest but also the wildlife is diminishing.

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This will have wide reaching effect not only in Central America

itself but also on countries like Northern America, who are

trying to further export and import between the countries.

One aspect that has been observed wherever farming

communities are prevalent in a country is that inevitably in

order to survive in the modern world many have to leave their

villages in order to work in other areas. In the case of the

Mayan population, the work is in cotton and coffee. However, just

like in the old times arts and crafts, textiles and clothing are

still a large part of market stalls.

Statues next to catholic items

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Blankets, arts and crafts at weekly markets

(Bazaar Del Sabado)

All these events have a close relevance to today’s issues of

ignorance, as well as prejudice and profiling of other cultures,

which can make it very difficult for a country to stay ethically

healthy, economically prosperous and worldwide competitive. For

example, America has many reasons of having friendly relations

with Mexico and all of Central America. Mayan culture is

interesting and many tourists enjoy traveling to Mexico and walk

in the ancient culture’s footsteps, see how advanced they were

even centuries ago. Furthering relations with Mexico and Central

America will open tourist business, scientific bridges through

Anthropology and Archeology. Economically growing corn and coffee

is a great chance for export opportunities for Mexico, Friendly

relations also could help with immigrations and the apparent drug

cartel problem. Understanding the Mayans and their ways, how they

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adjusted in many ways would be helpful when dealing with the

regular population. Respect for them might help relation,

educating representatives, sending them for informational

purposes to Central American regions would be a great way of

improving American- Mexican relations. There has to be a reason

that despite natural and man-made disruptions a culture that

seemed to be extinct is alive and well, this is proven by

statistics of how many Mayans of several tribes are actually

present in Mexico and Central America.

I have learned a long time ago through my own experience,

that learning about other cultures is very enriching and

enlightening. I think it is fascinating how so many older and

newer civilizations can exist and keep prospering. Would that not

be a sign that they have to be doing something right? There is

the law of the fittest surviving. I suppose if a culture can be

nearly destroyed but still exists six hundred years later with

all their rituals still being practiced, their way of life still

existing in most rural areas they have a strong backbone

implanted in their belief and customs.

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Mayan Woman of Santiago Atitlan (Flores, Jose Carlos, 2000)

Mayan Man of Huehuetenango (Flores, Jose Carlos,

2000)

Maya and Catholicism have influenced our world today, but

more in ways of ethics, understanding, more in spiritual then in

material ways. The influence of both cultures forced people of

all walks of life and beliefs to think, to ask themselves about

why more cultures cannot be as accepting and form hybrid cultures

like they can. Spain is an old country in Europe with a colorful

history of Moroccan occupation, Roman, even from Egypt in the

furthest south. Napoleon invaded Spain in his thirst for power

and land. He failed miserably due to Great Britain coming to

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Spain's aid. Mayans can be traced back into the second century. A

culture that ancient has survived so many hurdles and obstacles,

should we not realize how strong their historical backbone has to

be in order to survive for nearly 200 years? Is it not surprising

that the Mayan culture is almost as old as Christianity?

On this note I would like to state that the curiosity about

other cultures caused me to go back to school to get this

particular degree, because I love to read and learn about anyone

around me, I want to teach others to open their eyes, to respect

and appreciate what the people around us can teach us. That does

not mean I am not cautious and, many times agree to disagree, but

how would anyone know, why people talk, think and act the way

they do, unless you become knowledgeable about their heritage?

People have minds of their own and usually there is a reason for

a behavior, a custom, a ritual. Each culture has their own set of

morals and ethics and what I might think is right and acceptable

might be very wrong in their eyes, this is where respect comes

in. If I do not like it or do not agree, I do not have to stay

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there or follow their custom, but respect demands to be

considerate and explain why and not to do anything to offend the

other.

(James Rodriguez, 2007)

Day of the Dead: Catholic All Saints day -Mayan day of inviting

the ancestors back into the home to talk to and seek advice, a

beautiful example of combining Mayan ritual with a Catholic Holy

Day. Another celebration that is celebrated in more than one way

is the coming of age at fifteen for a Mayan girl, which is

similar to the La Quinceanera in Spanish custom or sweet sixteen

in America

To close this research paper a quote from the Website of the

Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation which emphasizes my

thesis , that Maya and their culture is –despite many obstacles,

hurdles and disasters of nature and human kind -alive and

prospering and that educating, listening and tolerance,

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http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Mayan-catholic+festivals&qs=ds&form=QBIR#view=detail&id=55C5979B422757D647F94861F3B28AE8CCE4F1E3&selectedIndex=7


willingness to compromise can help an ancient civilization and

culture survive trying times and that many countries could learn

from this struggle of a great culture which was extremely

advanced when it came to many sciences many years before other

regions of the world even heard of the basics of sciences.

“Maya intellectuals have also begun to realize that diverse

Maya language groups must band together if their culture and

languages are to survive. Most heartening of all to some

observers, Maya populations are actually increasing rather than

dwindling in numbers, and some believe that the Maya's heightened

awareness of their strength as one people with a glorious past

and an ability to adapt may help them survive for centuries to

come. “(Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2006)

This paper can only barely scratch the surface about the

relations between Maya and Spanish/ Christian culture. Almost

2000 years of history, traditions and beliefs developing into a

so-called hybrid, new culture takes more than ten weeks to

research, understand and develop a paper about. Every year more

and more relics are found, added to the knowledge of a long ago

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society that survived and is still as alive and in practice as

ever. There are facts that can and did lead to

opposing opinions, documents are found, eyewitness-accounts that

support theories of good and bad deeds on both sides as well as

many efforts to mend and make new relations, to blend both

cultures. The physical evidence alone that keeps being

discovered makes a project like following and explaining,

understanding a blending of two opposite but in many ways also

similar a many years long adventure. How can anyone explain and

understand in even a few years two cultures coming together and

forming a new one that are both almost two thousand years old?

Nowhere in history has there been an example like this before,

Usually one of the cultures disappears, assimilates so much that

there is almost no trace left of one of them. Most religions like

Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam cannot and will not budge on their

beliefs, but build their own communities wherever they settle.

Only one other, I believe Shinto, managed something similar, by

combining bits and pieces of Buddhism and Hindu and other Eastern

religions. This one is a more peaceful movement but not as strong

and greatly developed as the Maya/Christian relations in Central

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America. There is so much to learn from these countries, these

cultures with their centuries' old histories and beliefs, that it

would take a lifetime to do it justice.

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Most of these resources were for research and gaining deeper

understanding and more knowledge about the topic, not many have

been used for direct quotes.

39 | P a g e

http://historians.org/Tl/LessonPlans/ca/Fitch/corel.html

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Mayans and Christianity-A different Approach

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