Wīnak in Soonkahni: GuateMayans in the Salt Lake Valley

My story is one of being a part of many worlds, and my approach in this essay is based in a global Indigenous perspective. What this means to me is that I have my unique Indigenous experience and worldview that I will share in this essay, while I also seek to uphold respect for different and especially local Indigenous peoples. A global Indigenous perspective includes acknowledging the ways peoples have moved, such as through displacement or migration. This essay emerges out of the question of what it means to reimagine an Indigenous identity and culture after global movement. What happens when you are no longer in an ancestral homeland? There are important differences to keep in mind between the contexts of the “Global North” and the “Global South,” as well as distinctions between how identity is expressed based in ancestry versus living cultural practices. Many present-day Indigenous identities and experiences have also become entwined in modern and Christian religious practices. What does this all become and mean in the geographical-cultural context of Utah?In this article, I use the terms Wīnak and GuateMayan to refer to peoples from Guatemala, words that are more specific than regional identifiers like Latina/o/x. Wīnak (English spelling) or Winaq (Spanish spelling) is the word for “people/person” in many of the Mayan languages still spoken in Iximulew, the Indigenous Maya term for Guatemala.1 The term Wīnak highlights a unique identity marker for people who are usually overlooked and erased under the larger categories of Latina/o/x, Latin American, or Hispana/o/ic. Wīnak also transcends the identity Guatemalteca/o or the slang term Chapín, both of which refer to a general Guatemalan cultural identity. Of course, there are interconnected and intertwined identities and experiences with national, linguistic, and geo-regional categories of Guatemala, the Spanish language, and Latin America. Another term—GuateMaya—has been increasingly used by artists and intellectuals; it challenges a Guatemalan national identity that has historically used some elements of Mayan culture while at the same time marginalizing a Mayan majority population. GuateMaya as a term also speaks to both the Mayan presence in Guatemalan nationalism as well as the Guatemalan national entanglement with Mayan communities. Yet GuateMaya as a term can also be limiting in a Guatemalan context. Iximulew has an Indigenous majority population that comes predominantly from a diverse range of Mayan peoples and languages, but there are also Xinca, Garifuna, and others who are from this shared place. Throughout this essay I use Iximulew and Guatemala, as well as Wīnak/Winaq and GuateMayan, interchangeably. They are not identical equivalents of each other, but for the sake of convenience I use them in that way.There are many locally specific kinds of Winaq found across different ethnolinguistic groups throughout Iximulew, as well as provincial and global fusions found in urban centers. There are also a growing number of Wīnak experiences and peoples found throughout North America and in Soonkahni (Salt Lake Valley in the Shoshone and Goshute language of Newe Dai gwa/Newe Taikwa). Soonkahni is an Indigenous name for the region I grew up in and where I have lived most of my life.2 Soonkahni means “many houses” in Newe Taikwa. The Nuuch (Ute) elder Forrest Cuch refers to this region as one with a legacy of being a buffer zone between Indigenous peoples.3 Today, the state of Utah occupies the territory of eight sovereign Indigenous nations, whose ancestors shared and contested this place long before the contemporary context. Because many Indigenous peoples of this region trace ancestral ties to this land, and contemporarily peoples from around the world now also call this place home, the meaning of “many houses” for Soonkahni is a fitting description for what is currently also known as the Salt Lake Valley.4 This essay, “Wīnak in Soonkahni,” also expressed as “GuateMayans in the Salt Lake Valley,” is only an introduction to a complex group identity and experience that has many layers of relationships in, of, and to this place. This story is filtered through my perspective. My experiences share much in common with others, but they are also unique among the broader community and even in my own family.This article is based in autoethnographic research and storytelling or, as Indigenous studies frameworks assert, story work. Here I share only a bit of the Wīnak story, offering a selection of insights on the movement and distinctiveness of one family group among the global Indigenous peoples found in Soonkahni.My story has many beginnings, but I will begin with my parents. Rodolfo Hernández Tecún and Gladys Zamora Árcia come from both urban and rural experiences in Iximulew. They left Guatemala during a tumultuous moment in the midst of a civil war that lasted thirty-six years. One catalyst of the war was a coup d’état of Guatemala's democratically elected president in 1954, a coup that was sponsored by the United States Central Intelligence Agency.5 State violence throughout this time, including war crimes such as torture and genocide, escalated in the early 1980s, when much of my family left Guatemala and arrived in the United States. My parents found refuge and opportunity through marriage in a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Tongva territory (Los Angeles, California), where I would later be born. Shortly after giving birth to me, their first child, they moved with their larger extended family clan to the Rose Park neighborhood in the Neme/Newe (Shoshone and Goshute) territories of Soonkahni.6 They came in search of a family-friendly place to raise their children. We were categorized as racialized migrants and often labelled as Mexicans, Latinos, or Hispanics. The complex ancestries and Indigenous roots we carried as Winaq were constantly erased in the social context of Utah. What then does it mean to be Wīnak—Mayan arrivals or descendants living in North America—yet categorized as Latina/o/x? I come from a long line of highland Maya peoples, including K'iche’, Tz'utujil, Mam, and Kaqchikel.7 However, growing up in the US context, where Indigeneity is legally premised on “blood quantum” and tribal enrollment, I learned that I was a different kind of Native. I was not seen as Black either, even though I have some African ancestry, and due to my darker skin, I was never assumed to be European, despite also having that ancestry.I did not really see myself as Hispanic or Latino, even though I was often captured within these categories. I struggled with those labels because they relate to countries that speak Spanish or Latinate languages, and we do not call Native Americans Anglo or Franco in the United States or Canada because they speak English or French as a result of colonization. In Guatemala, the term “ladino” has historically been used to refer to non-Indigenous inhabitants, distinguishing “Indians” from the modern nation's cultural citizenry. “Mestizo,” which generally refers to mixed-race people, is an equivalent term known in the United States. In fact, “ladino” was a word of conflict for me, because of its political meaning in Guatemala, yet I also have ladino identities that I inherit and am related to, which I suggest are also entangled with a Wīnak or GuateMayan identity.8 In the United States, local Indigenous identity is dominated by more of a legal affair of race that deals with a minority people, which does not necessarily require language or cultural knowledge.9 Ladino in the Guatemalan context, on the other hand, often is assumed to refer to mixed American Indian and European people who deny or ignore ethnic ties to an Indigenous ancestry and who have assimilated into a dominant Eurocentric culture. As a Mayan among the scattered diaspora populations across the United States, I was caught between people who were on one hand in this setting having to prove they had Indigenous ancestry legally and racially, and on the other hand, people from Guatemala who undeniably did, yet some of whom were trying to prove they were not Indigenous anymore. I have observed and experienced a wide range of Mayan and ladino identities and expressions in my large family and extended relations locally and internationally. I and much of my family have mixed ancestry—West and North African, Arab, Jewish, Iberian, and Northern European lineages—which to me adds to our Wīnak heritage. However, the primary cultural identity I work through in this essay is grounded in a Guatemalan-Mayan sense of being, due to its prominence in my life. GuateMayan-ness is related to but also distinct from other Mayan groups who are part of modern nations like Mexico, Belize, and Honduras.My parents’ story and that of their children and family clan is one that crosses the global and local crossroads of race, class, gender, religion, and Indigeneity from Iximulew to Turtle Island (North America).10 We have negotiated and reimagined these multiple identities in many contexts simultaneously since our arrival in Soonkahni. The following vignettes offer a glimpse into the experiences of a unique group of Wīnak/GuateMayans who live in Utah.In many highland Mayan communities of Iximulew there is a practice called cuchubal, which means to “collectively contribute” or “we all give.” My father explained to me that cuchubal is when everyone pitches in to a shared pot and each month those who contribute have a turn to take the large amount. This is like a social savings account where you simultaneously invest in the community of participants, often building on kinship groups, and you also have access to a larger amount of material resource once in the year. My father has shared stories with me of significant moments when cuchubal was used and received to benefit a family member. On one occasion, it was the turn of one of the matriarchs in the family to receive the large amount, yet she used it to help out another relative in need. While I learned about cuchubal from Winaq stories of Iximulew, I later realized that my family clan in Utah had adapted this practice to local customs.Christmas is a different affair in Guatemala than it is in Utah, and one of the cultural changes my parents’ generation faced was the commercial and consumer pressures associated with the holiday in Utah. The religious community we are part of also used this holiday as an annual moment where doing service to others included providing Christmas celebration materials (such as toys or food) so those without the means, or newcomers, could participate in the local version of this holiday. I try to imagine the pressure my parents’ generation may have felt from raising children in this context, with its combination of the cultural forces of assimilation and the heavy value US society places on mass consumption. I imagine these factors and more all contributed to their efforts to emulate the stereotypical “white Christmas.” Yet, while I do remember having a US-influenced Christmas at times during my childhood in Utah, it was not until I was a young adult that I learned of the collaboration in our family clan to provide that. The kinship group I refer to includes a unilineal connection of both my matrilineal and patrilineal family, who many times, instead of giving gifts directly to each other's children, would give resources or gifts to the children's parents. The immediate parent or parents were then able to make their own versions of Christmas in their increasingly nuclear family–focused homes. This act supported parents saving face in Utah and among their religious congregations and neighbors.My parents’ generation could also adopt the Santa mythology if they desired, which allowed them to briefly perform US middle-class cultural experiences. I interpret this collective of among my parents’ generation as an adapted of My most Christmas came when one of the children the about We had to people in one with up in Christmas one of the was so they were found but not by We had Utah, which is to the place where Santa because another I experienced growing up with stories from global family was that Santa did not to like The Utah the from Iximulew, and the collective of cuchubal a Christmas for all of the children at our on that collective to each other's has time, with a and nuclear family in my Yet I have with to the large family we were which included each other as well as time as a large family While many of still my my children, and I have efforts to a Wīnak and Mayan cultural in holiday There is from the kind of family collaboration by my parents’ yet there are also in the among those in my This is during the is the The context of our clan includes and and the of assimilation by the dominant and on time that make Christmas a contested across and our which but not at the same time as has been an to Utah a to shared time with a growing family, and a of ancestral and The celebration of to we were even as we reimagine them and their contexts and One is the presence of which is the for in both Spanish and There is a long legacy and practice of in and on is also in our story and with the highland Maya and The become through and through of the of the The generation in my family is that the found all the world and in Utah has a and that with our people, which we remember during the We also make with and other and of we have a of other global that are now part of our and I was growing my primary and often annual clan in Rose Park included living across in a to within of each My and of and my father and all lived in the same presence would the and within a or from we can one family My in my in a GuateMayan sense of all We to the same in the same on of had family with each other during and The was based on the of kinship and from my parents’ such as the cuchubal shared This extended to as Wīnak at at the local we My relative was the first to during the at Rose Park remember the my family me during my at Rose Park We had and that the including a that had been and across as well as of ancestral came for my on I ancestral like and with the help of my my and my This a on that were growing in during the with many such as and also in Utah. is a and ancestral for many and Indigenous peoples across the The highland Maya in the version of includes important for who different of to our includes as relative and and we are the people from this having been out of the by I also grew up with of the or the Maya also known as the and other diverse Maya that my parents grew up This through me and of my who learned one of our with me to perform in of the for the We shared some of our as Wīnak during my primary experiences in an early my family our ancestors and ancestral with and that have specific in an Iximulew and GuateMayan context. ancestors have been since the of our people, by our ancestral the Mayan and are that are also living practices. My is that there was a of but when the Spanish they a more distinct of like in to groups from each Today, the local materials of but and are now also used more and and were in the specific expressions that often a local community connection and identity for if you how to the and you can which region is from and they are or The changes and their cultural have increasingly and to and the which is to the Mayan and of Iximulew into My our ancestral and throughout life. Yet the changes and that have in my family have to no one in currently having this many others we now have to Mayan and However, we have on and shared and across and which a range of we have kinship ties or following of our family in and is called by which means because of at a long in is a highland Maya word for an ancestral by which is also known by the term also a as it is known in or in which is a or that is into the of and are general highland Mayan that are specific but also associated as is a or in a This is also known as a in which is into highland Maya languages as is a with the of Iximulew and a long called an in or in Guatemalan Spanish A called a in or in is around The and that the and also what are known as in in K'iche’, and in and with a in Iximulew after the Mayan group the is the English or is the Spanish for the same is Mayan and that are not specific to a group or and are more regional or generally of also a that is which is common for and in highland Maya groups and has as the for the a in Mayan also a or which is a highland Maya word for a that can be the or around the for The can also be on of the for or like a on the for in my GuateMayan and the national of My a Guatemalan in of and a in to other a in of that is of highland Maya The and in my the and and that we to which is a of Mayan This the presence of Wīnak in is Mayan and to relations and ancestry in is the of also known as and from a region we have kinship ties to through They both the on their a from which the and also through their This was on the of a where we were our family and my in my GuateMayan sense of family, my and my and can both be to as in and other highland Maya languages in English meaning In my these were only as and in English and were in the GuateMayan languages and culture. My all grew up being carried in and later carried their children and in them My that each of as were carried in this after the of the and with the of the world and we live I remember stories of being carried in a and I have used them with my children. While this is usually as a because my is of a different ancestry and cultural than my I have on many of the Wīnak and GuateMayan with my children. I have also to as among and The as a is common throughout highland Maya of or my of and who are in the of the use of among We are carried in the by our and as and we are in them once more when we are to for many because of their and their and their movement as gifts between and across use in such as a a for like our once more as they on to the of the has in Utah and the United States, from and practices. The Guatemalan context, which is to the is a result of with The Maya worldview and version of the on the of and meaning in on the of the place in more when based on the In the of the as and in urban of Guatemala from the on in the and it on a different of the each year. This is a national cultural practice in Iximulew with a of in that context that Mayan and with European and moment captured in and a generation of Wīnak who have ancestry from the and and as well as Wīnak who have ancestry through the of and the They have their own cultural fusions but they learned and expressed a GuateMayan of respect for the The we on this included to the ancestors of our elder of Utah, the Indigenous peoples and then our who are and become part of the The or is from a in Iximulew that I keep of for such the were locally The or was in Iximulew out of local material but after a The have been into Maya since the arrival of The offering in this was of from where my in the United States The the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Salt Lake the many cultural layers that this Wīnak and GuateMayan experience in Soonkahni. multiple much of our global Indigenous expressions that we and while living in was in Utah, but my story of movement has into My and our children lived in where we are also for eight a marker of time based on the or or eight years. My is a and a of the and of who also Jewish, and children were all in but our was in a in While our children were peoples of and and other diverse for and supported our children, them to to their ancestral and Indigenous culture. In we are all Mayan my ancestral ties to the of Iximulew. I yet another by a with a and a my with a or I to Soonkahni at the of with my and our children. Here we have with our family clan and to a Wīnak locally global story is one of an Indigenous group of people from who layers of from their place of into their Utah everyone in my family would interpret this experience or our shared in this and these and stories are filtered through my of We are captured in the categories of and and many of my would also use these terms to in this context based on our experiences I grew up a Guatemalan version that I would later in included many Mayan words and There is a global Indigenous that in the of the stories I have which our Wīnak or GuateMayan We are diverse even within our family but grounded in ancestral roots that across time and my and throughout my we have and with more and more peoples from Iximulew, including other K'iche’, Tz'utujil, and ladino peoples, all of whom I share through my diverse While I an Indigenous in the of the my parents me growing I do so in respect to the elder peoples of these I see Newe and as and as cultural to with ancestral across Utah. We are and and related peoples, yet with a that I learned to remember through their stories and by local ancestral We now layers to the this that of Wīnak in the who live in the Salt Lake My family in Utah is growing and My parents’ generation is part of a diaspora from our Iximulew who on to each other, to place and I learned from their practice and for each other and my I my generation and the to come will to and this in a out of our and a by our