13 Ajaw 13 Kumk’u: Drawing by Jorge Pérez de Lara
13 Ajaw 13 Kumk’u (March 19, 2023)
Announcing the Fifth International Congreso on Maya Writing! July 10-15, 2023 in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
We are very excited to report that we have just received official confirmation from the Congreso Team that the Fifth International Congreso on Maya Writing will be held from July 10-15 this summer at the Universidad Intercultural de Chiapas, in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico!
Our apologies for being a couple of weeks late on publishing this blog, as we wanted to wait until we had official confirmation of the location and dates for the next Congreso. Fortuitously, it just so happens that today as I write this, it is the Maya New Year of 13 Eb’ and the Seating of Pop if we use the 584283 JDN correlation. What better day to announce the theme of the upcoming 5th Congreso as “Los Calendarios Mayas”! This theme acknowledges that there are multiple different calendrical cycles observed by both the Ancient and Living Maya, some of which differed from one another. This is especially the case for the yearly Haab’ calendars that were often unique to different Maya language groups and cultures, thereby leading to different dates for the commemoration of the New Year. In some cases, various reconstructions of past calendars have come up with different correlations with Western calendars, and these issues are of interest to contemporary Maya people as they acknowledge their living traditions, while also taking an interest in the ways in which calendars were once used in the past, such as the Long Count.
The Congreso team is esspecially interested in exploring the different calendar systems used by Maya people in the past and present, and the Congreso will allow for Maya scholars and speakers of many different Mayan languages to come together and learn from one another.
This will be the first Congreso to be held in five years, since 2018, due to the pandemic, and it promises to be an incredible and historic event! In preparation for this Congreso, we at MAM will soon begin our fundraising, and, as always, we appreciate all of your support!
In addition, this month we hear back from Mario Caal Jucub, who facilitated and taught two workshops for a total of 85 Q’eqchi’ students from Cahabón, Alta Verapáz, Guatemala in August and September of last year. We are thrilled to be able to support this ongoing work. Enjoy the wonderful photos, and stay tuned as we will be providing further information about the upcoming Congreso!
B’antiox aawe,
Michael J. Grofe, President
MAM
WORKSHOP REPORT ON
“MAYA HISTORY, CALENDAR SYSTEM, AND WRITING”.
I. General Data
Name of the event: “Workshop on Maya History, Calendar System, and Writing.”
Place: Facilities of the “Rax k’iche'” Institute, Cahabón Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.
Date: it was held in 2 days, August 20-21 and September 17-18, 2022
Participants: 57 expert students (9 women and 48 men) and 28 basic cycle students, all men, a total of 85 beneficiaries.
Schedule: in two days (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)
Responsible: Mario Sebastián Caal Jucub
II. Introduction
There was a delay in carrying out the event, due to the fact that the adequate times for its execution were sought with the identified recipients. The academic actions of the students were taken into account (they study with an alternating methodology) and the training plans that have been established for the students and the technical and administrative team. The support of Father Cristóbal Gremp, who is the administrator of the educational establishment, and his leadership and conviction has made it possible to strengthen aspects of the culture and language of the Q’eqchi’ people from the establishment that he directs, is appreciated in every way. The planning was done and a schedule was elaborated that allowed the development of the workshop on Maya writing. The workshop could be carried out in two phases, because there were two profiles of recipients (expert and basic students). In addition, there was support with spare parts, materials, resources (gunboat, laptop and copies), lodging and food.
III. Methodology
The workshop was developed using a methodology in which slides prepared for each topic were used, individual and group exercises were done, materials were printed to facilitate the development and exercise. In the development of the workshop there was an in-depth day of analysis and exercise of the nawal “pohol Chahimal” of the person, so that the knowledge of Mayan writing became motivating and very rich. Prior to each day of the workshop, an invocation was always made, which allowed the strengthening of Mayan spirituality.
IV. Photos of the event held
A. First group, expert students:
B. Photos of the event carried out, second group:
Prepared teaching material, construction of words by students of the basic cycle and facilitators.
Mario Sebastián Caal Jucub
Marina Rosales López
Facilitators
