The K'iche’ Maya Written Tradition and the Cultural Heritage of Totonicapán, Guatemala

Abstract

ABSTRACT An important part of the K'iche’ Maya cultural heritage of Totonicapán, Guatemala, consists of certain documents written in the middle of the sixteenth century. Most parts of the corpus in question are still preserved, in situ, in their communities of origin. This paper discusses the conservation, management, and interpretation of these documents, all practices that are tightly linked to communal traditions of social organisation and customary norms in the 48 communities or cantons (cantones) that make up the municipality of Totonicapán. It also aims to understand the impact of modernity on these management practices and how the adoption of rights-based approaches will change them. Paxtocá is one of the cantons in possession of such documents, and over the last decade an important part of community politics in Paxtocá has revolved around what to do with that heritage, which is simultaneously local, K'iche’, Pan-Mayan, and national Guatemalan. This historical and political complexity produces equally complex challenges for human-rights-based heritage politics.