The Maya Today
The Maya today number about six million people, making them the largest single block of indigenous peoples
north of Peru. Some of the
largest Maya groups are found in Mexico, the most important of these being the Yucatecs (300,000), the Tzotzil (120,000) and the Tzeltal (80,000). 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. Among the most fragile of the Maya groups today is the Lacandon of the Chiapas rain forest.
The Maya face greater
challenges, however, than those presented by tourism. Maya regions have also been subjected to intense political upheaval in recent decades, with significant loss of life and economic devastation. While many Maya have been killed during civil wars, others from countries such as Guatemala have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in countries such as Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Human-rights groups are calling for an end to these injustices and governments are working to find lasting solutions to the problems of discrimination and cultural genocide.
The Maya also face problems of their own creation, particularly in areas like Guatemala's Peten region, which contains the largest expanse of forest left in Central America. As the forest disappears, so do its treasures. Wildlife vanishes, ancient Maya sites are exposed to looters, and whole chapters in human and natural history are erased or threatened. The Maya have faced formidable challenges, some of which continue today. The Maya have managed to maintain many of the old ways in agriculture and trade.
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.