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    Lovelland Lutz 1994

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    Conquest and Population: Maya Demography in Historical Perspective W. George Lovell; Christopher H. Lutz Latin American Research Review, Vol. 29, No. 2 (1994), 133-140. Stable URL: fttpfinksjstor.orgsicisici=0023-879 28199 4%2920%3 A2%3C133%3ACAPMDI%IE20.CO%SBL-D Latin American Research Review is currently published by The Latin American Studies Association, Your use of the ISTOR archive indicates your acceptance of ISTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at flip: feworwjtor org/aboutterms.htmal. ISTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in par, that unless you fave obtained pcior permission, you may not dowaload an cnt isus of @ journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content inthe ISTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial uss. Please contact the publisher cegarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at bhupsferwer.jstor.org/jowmals/lamertel. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transtnission. ISTOR is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of scholarly journals. For more information regarding ISTOR, please contact support @jstor.org- hup:thrww jstor orgy Sat Jul 9 19:12:31 2005 CONQUEST AND POPULATION Maya Demography in Historical Perspective” W. George Lovell, Queen's University, Canada Christopher H. Lutz, Plumsack Meseomerican Studies, Verment How many Mayas are there? That deceptively simple question has seldom met with an unqualified answer, especially in Guatemala, where both question and answer invariably trigger ideological positions that are not easily reconciled. The Columbus Quincentenary in 1992, the year a Maya woman, Rigoberta Menchi, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, offered a timely juncture for reflecting on the matter, In this research note, we chart from the eve of conquest to the present the collapse and eventual recovery of an Indian population that today numbers more than twice as many as it did at European contact, a trajectory of survival ‘experienced by few other Native American poptlations. The figures we examine are the best we could find, although none of them should be considered definitive. Moreover, they all indicate an Indian presence without ever being clear or consistent as to whom the definition applies. These figures are displayed in table 1. Any figure contemplated must also be appreciated in relation to the sources and methodology of its calcula- tion, Discussion of this iss, however, we have kept to a minimum. Our aim is to summarize the salient features of a complex demographic situa tion in the hope of shedding light on an enduring Maya presence, one that increasingly challenges traditional notions of what ¢ Guatemalan nation-state should be and on what terms Maya peoples contained within it should live (Cojti Cuxil 1991; Smith 1990, 1990) Demographic Trends, 1520-1770 At the time of the Spanish conquest, some {womillian Mayas inhabited the area of present-day Guatemala south of the Petén rain forest ofthis research note was presented atthe pene! entitled “S00 Years of n Resistance: A Dialogue betiveen Maya and Non-Maya Sckolars held atthe mectings ofthe Latin American Studies Assocation in Los Angeles, Calitarnis 25-26 Scpemise 192 We thank sesian otgenizers Enrique Sem Colap and Alan Le Bacon #3 wa salelow paniciparts for thew ivalvemont and interaction. David MaCreery provided

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