iy as acacia catcapeea een eee ga ‘Set ponent iver pre tee cod pic See aes teen ett a SR ica eae, “in wom hee ogee sro esa “owes sin eS rg Tempter ma pray he “This fascinating and moving description of ‘he culture ofan entire peopl. he ner ten oaSERRE nea oe foie Teulie tas noe “Ct ar abs eS eto anes Paine A Te Pon i ee a CONTENTS “Translators note loeroduction| Chapter 1 “The Family Chapter Bit Ceremonie (Chapter “The Nabual Chapeer IV ie iio the ne fein the ic Chapter Fe visit Guatemala Gy (Chapter VI ‘Aieightyearold arcu worker Chapter Vt Dea of heli brother the fina icy of vemnicaing with edhe nian (Chapter VL {ie in the Allan, Rigor’ ten bihday Chapter X Cercmonic fr sowingsime and harvest Relationship wether Chapter “The narucal world Thecarih mother ofman (Chapter X1 Mariage ceremonies (Chapter XL fein the community a a 8 * 56 9INTRODUCTION This book tls the life story of Rigoberta Mancha Quiché Indian ‘woman anda member of one of he larga of the went cha groups in Guatemala, She was bor in the hamlet of Chil near Sn Miguel de Uspanein, which the apt of the northwestern province oF EI Quiche Rigoberta Mench is wenty-shece years ld. She lls he ston in Spanish, language which she hs spe foe only tc years. Her lle story i an account of contemporary history tao than of Guatemala isl eisintharsense hats exemplary. she spear allthe Indians ofthe American cine, What se elo et featonship with nature, ie death nd ber community has aca ‘been sid the Indians of Noh Amen, tone of Cetra Amer nd those of South America. "The cultural dcsimination she as Sulfa s someting that all the contincts tna have been tuifring ever since the Spanish conquest The wc of Ribera ‘Menchiallows he defeated to speak She sa priviged wines she has survived the genocide that esr es amy com and issubbornly determined toes theslence and confon the {Systematic extermination af ber people, She rehne to tw free ‘Words are her only weapons Tht is why she rele a lear Spanish and breakout ofthe King slaion ito whi theIain retreated in onder opresee thie. Rigoberta leaned the langage o! ber oppressors order to useit gaia then, Fr ber, sppropaing he Spanish Tanguage an ast ‘which cam change the our of tory Bose heres of 3 ‘evison: Spans was language which was forced upon her bat Is becore weapon in er srgge She decid speak nore {ol of the oppresion her people have been sflering for almost fivehundred years sothat thesis madeby he community and he amily wl noes ben made vain. ‘She wll mote ws forge and insists on showing ws what we have nays relia tse, We Lain Americans are ony #00 ready 1 ‘cnounce the unequal relations thar ext berweenoursehes 2 "Nort Americ, bo we tendo fore that we oo are oppressors an thar we oo are valved in clans thar can ony be esrb 35 oat, Without any ear of exaggeration, i coud be ai hs, ‘Specially in counties tha large Indian poplin, there i ah Internal olism which works othe detrment ofthe indigenous Population, The ese mith which Noth Americ dominates ale "Lain Ameria feo linge extent a res of the colin ‘Hod iby this intel colomalion. Solon a these tlations esi the count of atin Ameria wil nr be counties in any Fal sense ofthe wor an hey wil hercore rman vlna That & why we have to Ine Go Rigoberta Meno: appeal ad Hlow ourcves abe gid by voice when nner cadens ar 50 ‘regan with meaning tae we ataly sum to Berber peaking Sind can alost her er Breath, Her oie 0 bear redingy ‘aul Beene speaks tow of eer fet ofthe he ofa people {hd ther opp cure, But Ribera Mench's try dacs ot ‘Sons sley of heartening moments. Quietly, bur proudly she lends sinta brown cultural word sworn which hesaredand the profane constanly ingen whi worship and domestic ie [re one and the same, in which every genre hea pre-eesbinod Pirpose ann which everything has tearing. Within hace, {reything is deveined in advaner everthing that oc io he present can he explainedin terms of the pastand hao belize Soastobe mega into everyday lie, which self al. Awe inten tober voce, we have look deep ito ox own sous fort ‘Swaenaseteaons and elings which we, caught pas we arc inan inhuman daria worl hough merlot forever Hetty 6 ‘overbeling becamse what she has fost ismpleand tue, Ashe Speaks, we emer a stingy dire world which poetic 20d often cag, a world which as forged dhe ought fa great poplar leader. In elling the story of he if, Rigoberta Mencha i bo ‘Sing a mane om behalf of an ethnic gro. She provaims her allegiance to that group, but she alo nce her determination 0 Subordinate her life wo one thing As 2 popular leader, her one Smiition sto devore hereto overthrowing the ean of don ‘ation and excision which charsterze inal clonal, She Sd her people are taken to acount oly when their abo power ‘Seeded; wut, they ae dscrinte apaine ad rece Rigoberea Menchi’ strug sa scale o ody apd bre the bond that inher andherpeopleto the Ladin and chine bly implies changing the wold. She no seme advocating ac firuggle, much les ecfning to acc the levee fc of the sence ofthe Laos. he i iting for the recogition of be ular fr akepeance ofthe face that es diferent ad for ee people's righifl share of powes Ts Guatemala and crim other counties of Latin Ames, the Indians ae in the majority. The staation theres, noua nots, comparable to that South Ala, whee 3 white monty hat hsolate power over the Black majority In cher Latin American ‘Countries wher the Indians reine miners they donot even have the most elemeneary ight which creryhurtan bing haul ny Indod, the so-called fore Indians sre hing systematically exer 1miated in he name of progres. But uli the Indian rebel he past who wanted to go back w precolumbian times, Rigoberta Menchis ot hing he nae fan dale oe myhialpst. ‘Ondhecontary, she obviously wants playanaciveparsin hiory nd i is that which makes her thought so modern. She and her Comrades have given their hora ambitone am organs expe Sion in the shape ofthe Peazane Unity Commie (ci) snd thir lvein and children ae often not ok after vey well Mothers are ‘very ed aa jus cane do te This where you seth san of ‘women in Guatemala very clealy. Mos ofthe women who work Picking cotton and cote, or sometimes cane, have nie orf ‘hilden with them. OF the, thre oe four wil he more or les ” Ina, and an survive, but mos ofthem haebelic swollen fom ‘alnutition nd the mother Knows that furor fv of her chien, Could di. This a esblestuacon and males the men want to febel,buc hey just and forge because there no ober way out Sorts the mother who has oe wth he chidren dung hie fal ‘moment Sllering is everywhere. Women show 2 great del of ‘Courage Faced wit his whole station, Another thing that happens isthat men who've been inthe ary forexample often abuse Young tick, Many girls have no families td arm only hei they gen the oes 20 you start geting prostitution, This someting which Aocan' exist among lain Because of ou clare ad the ea tions we preserve and respect. nthe eyes of our comma he that anyone should even change the way they dress shows lack of ‘gn. Anyone who docr't dre as our prandather, or ancestor, due, he oad tavir DEATH OF HER LITTLE BROTHER IN THE FINCA. DIFFICULTY OF COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER INDIANS. the ath sa mae rf ee He en of ent ea of ep tu thn a dent bos ef (hs en ap tl a ard oer ‘We'd been ia he fina ifecn days he on of my brothers did from malnutcon. My mother hao mis ome day work tobary him, Two of my bothers didn the fines The fs e was the dest, wasealed Felipe never ew im, Hedhed whe ny mothe Started working. They'd sprayed the ace with ote by plane while we were working, they aul di andy brother culdat Stand the frnes abd did of ixscaton The seid on, di ace ee His name was Nicol. He del when Tash He wis he ‘youngest of ll ofus, the one my mothers cary about. He st fo then. When my line brother sted crying eying eign) ‘other did't know what to do with hi bse is Bly as ‘wollen by malnutriion oo. Hisbellwasenonmoss sty moter ‘ida know hae vo do aout ie The me came when my mother ould’ spend any more ine wit im or ehey Weak ero aay from her. My brother had eon il fom the day we avd nthe inca, very ill My other kept on working and so did we. He sed Fifteen days and then went tos death throes, and we did ow what do, Our neighbours fom our village had pone to diferent fincas, there were only two with vs. We were al ogee, We ‘id know what to do Breas nour prop we were with people from othercommunites who spoke dierent languages, We ould’. tao them. We could’ speak Spanish iter. We cul under Stand each oer and we need dp. Who was there tam 1? “There was no-one we could cout on east of alte overt, be Imig even throw w out ofthe fn We cook coun on the ‘unc we dhteves tw who be was since heey di every ‘hing through nce the veneer the orci agers fre So thas hove was, When ny mother eel lp Bary my Fores ye coda to anyone me could tcommunite, and Sheina dsl test l ny bbe dy remeber ny tein ale wo communicate with th others throngh gn Mow of thon have had th sme experi; every ay they Ye stack Situsion in which hey co call on ep om outside and ave Trlpench other Bur was ery df emembe abo wanangio ake fe wi th che who vl m our ed With We free hres hundred four hundred people working in the foc Bite ouldar gettin each ner “ater na house age scl here al the workers ie Ws calle agers can hon pi enor banana asia footie sesseopeniehanno wal Alte wovkersine tere together, wit thei dog ad eats eveyhing they bing with hom from the Alpano, Tere ae no dss; they put us any old how, and with anybody. Thar what lieslikeon theo. ast one house to hold fur, ve handed people Tews fc to gt to know ead cher anyway, br our work made it eve ote if became we hd ge pa three in he ‘Moming and stare work sraighe sway I's worst when werpcking, oto cn tthe weight that cous, the quan. the ily morning ce and coal ut by may ike Beng in 20 Seni ery very hot Thatswhy they makeusstartworksoeaey We stop work at midday to eat bat gon working straightaway alterward ul nigh me. So, we dd have mach ine gett Innow any ofthe others n opto oral beg one people That what i really diresing for gs fdians, becuse when Together, well we're tommy, weal om the sate place but thn nthe fica we're topther nth ther Indians we dont know. [Alltheworkerson the coastal estts, coffer rin other things ate Indians who ce lve thete at he lar or emigrate thee 1 Work They're all Indians but fom diferente ethnic groups who speak ores languages. This makes very fiat for us Because he” linguistic arses prevent ay dilogue erween us Indians beresen ‘ourselves We ean only understand the people from oar own ic (group, Beaune went speak Spa and wean speak theater Tanguages. So although we want to gt closer wo ther goups, we can't, Andsovwhat weed doi theca wastooneelebating ‘ur castors ap veything. but witha nersanding ech other Ityrasasi we'd bon talking foreigner. “The lite boy di eal in che morning We did’ now what © 4d, Our two ntghbours were anxious to lp my mother but they {ide know whae to do citer not bow so bry hur o anything “Then the eaporal nl my mother she cou bry my brother in he cabot she ha 0 pay 2 ato keep him bred there. My mothe ‘Sd: 'Thave no money eal’ Hetold her "Yes andyou already owe ‘lor of money for mode and other things 0 tke his by ah leave: Wedkan'skonw whartodolewasimposnbletotakehsbody Back the Alla, was alteady starting ose base of the humid, the eat on the coast None ofthe peopl ving ot {alera wanted my brothers body t stay here of eourse bec Seas upeecing, So my mother decide that, even if she ha 0 work for 2 month without caring, she woul pay the a wth an ‘owner, o the oversee, obury my broke in he fon. Out ofr Kindnes and adesireobelp one of he men brought litle bos, at Hikeasucane Weput ey brother ie and tok him tober We lost practically a whole day's wotk over mouroing my ber. We ‘yea ey td fr him, That ight the overscer od we: Leave Tere tomorton:” Why? aked my mother. "Beaune you mil a dys work, You're to leave stone and you won't any pay So tomorrow doa want so see you round ere Tewas eee OF tnuthershe dda know what tod, Shed’ ko bos finden Tether Because he wae working somewhere ese, When they thro ‘oople out ofthe ft they dn’ ake than back home as they ‘hull do, Usually when the ine cones ogo ck tthe Aepln, the same contacting gente ae us ack to lags 0 we dont hhavera worry abouthow we'eeting Dac, oe about any raneprt freven where we are, We didn't know our whereabouts we di Kenow where we were or aything My moh dd even know he ‘name of the tw we wer in But we knew we had fo leave 0 ‘mother began geting our things fogeter. So our neighbours sa: ‘Mv go with you even though means losing enerthing We ‘worked forton." One ofthe lent my masher some money pay for the burilsince he'd been tenor aus four months nad Saved ise money. The item days we ad worked we wetent paid, Noconly my mother and; bt my brother ad worked fieen ‘his and wasnt pid ether, The overcer said: Nos becuse you ‘owe lot the pharmacy. So goon out of here. Tot wants soe You aroun se again’ Bey mother knew ha she hada es Ubie'to buy medicine fr er som and that's why e' ded, The {aoubl thet we coulda speak Spansh and the otter spoke out language bess he came fom uF tepon. Hethrew veut and sand bed wants sceus rund there gan. The bos orders 0 we Radtolesve ‘We suived back 8 our hous in the Aipano. My mother was ‘ery sao wasn brother wit was was My father did ow Fisson had ded, nor dd ny other brothers and ters bese th) twese working on other far. Fifteen day ate, they al acvd Ihome to be greet by the news thatthe oy had die and that tec owed lor of money, My father and my brothers and seers had ben caring nthe te nas and ha enough money to ee wp ‘wih our nghbour, The neighbour alo gave what he te shold To the dead child. That's how they ped as ~ tbe community, ‘Sreryone once we'd ot home ‘rom that moments was tah angry wit fe and aa of i, because old ysl This he ie wl ead oo, ving ay shilren, and having them dls ot easy fora mothe 0 watch her chil ds, and have nocing co cre him with o ep hin Ui. “Those fifteen days working i the incr was ane of ty eats Experiences and emenber with enormous ated. Tha aed Faestayed with me unt way. "We went down othe fc gain. Chistass the ast momth we spend in the Frc. In January we sar working out land i the leplano January and Febery atthe months we sow out cops. In March we go back dwn othe coast cara money to spe on the mare Feld, and when dhe fst work onthe male ove, we return tothe fn to cary on earning for fod. ‘When Iwas te they eed my pay Bocune y thes as picking forty pounds of cle. For picking coon Tsai got very lie ecautitwaeloein quant botsotn weigh. Thetesan office in ‘very fic wheres he work you deliver taken, 1's weiped andnoted down for ther accounts, Towards the nd my roe tenor sap) managed wo fire out he ways which they fide ‘he amounts weigh. They have ck o make weigh eo, when the fel amount is mach more. Tat hypens everywhere i's 2 Special tick ofthe men en charge of weighing the woke ows, thas when they steal many pounds of colle. They put Lee !mounrsononesideso that hey can delver more an get pad mo °5 par ofa long proces which stars the moment the gens ‘ontact the workers ia thei illage and lad them a he os like animals fs one long process of robbing the of tt pay, “They techared for absolutely everything, ven forthe loading oer. Then, i the aes, the overacers salam the worker om ‘he very fst da. The contin tas rom thet to, econtnues tl ‘elas day. Isso badtharwehavehadhe bad experi of geting home again withoua conto. Calle smeared by the worn set bur coon i messed by a ilferent metho. you pack Pounds of eouon pr day, yout pid aconding to the weight But ‘th eff, you have pick quit pr days you dis addon and the nextday you have to finish tha uta bone Saring another one. my cin, when stared wor had do 2 third of whatan duly tsk would he, That mar 35 pound Bat ‘someday eould only do 28 pounds othe nextday Ia tocay on ‘wth dhe same ne. This way you al faher andre behind You haverto spend two days jst making up the amount ye Imssng. With coon, the situation ifn buts ery cle too. The worst works whan second hand’, Fist han she the lowers are nicely proupad together, bar econd hn shen yo have topic berween the branche he coston which haste felt ‘chin the fist time, Thats mach harder wor but the pay the