Internet sources of information:
http://maya.nmai.si.edu/the-maya/creation-story-maya
The type of information that can be found here is all about the Maya. It has the creation story, people, calendar, and their world!
http://tramatextiles.org/
This website is all about their textiles. They use the traditional style of weaving and actually have a school just for learning to weave.
http://maya.nmai.si.edu/the-maya/creation-story-maya
The type of information that can be found here is all about the Maya. It has the creation story, people, calendar, and their world!
http://tramatextiles.org/
This website is all about their textiles. They use the traditional style of weaving and actually have a school just for learning to weave.
This is a picture of the coffee plantations near Antigua, Guatemala. Coffee is one of Guatemala's biggest exports to other countries. They are famous for their coffees all around the world! The light brown areas on this map are the coffee plantations while the reds are the urban areas.
These screen shots of Gapminder's statistics of Guatemala show that this country is not winning the race for just about anything. Their life expectancy age is below average, their population is average, and their child mortality rates are average. Guatemala is known for having poor health and low life expediencies. If they do not get more help it can and most likely will get worse. While they are not loosing the race they are still far behind.
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The first religion in Guatemala was characterized by the worship of the nature gods and started in 250 AD during the rise of the Maya. The polytheistic religion contintued to grow and peaked at about 900 AD. There is no founder of the religion but it continued to flourish even through the Spanish conquest. The highest population of this religion during it's peak was about 2 million people. During the Spanish conquest many people converted to Roman Catholicism.
Religion plays a very large part in the culture of Guatemala. There are a lot of temples and different architecture types through out the cities. Everything depicts their religion including art, music ect. As the maya rose to power religion played a huge role because the development of formalized religion in the art, architecture and spacial development all tie into their religion.
There are numerous sacred sites in Guatemala. All of the cities in Guatemala were actually mapped out according to astrology and the gods. The caves, temples, and other geographical features were all used for rituals. Their religion is focused on the earth and nature. With this being said every sacred land mark that they have is based on Mother Earth.
In the ancient world religion had everything to do with the government. The rulers and leaders were actually worshiped and considered gods. They had rituals for the leaders that were considered gods. For example rulers used to pierce their penis and their tongues with a sting ray spine to prove how manly they were.
My own conclusion of religion with ancient maya is that they were very focused on it and valued it in every day life. They did so many things for worship and had so many different places to worship. They literally went day by day with their religion. Everyday is a worshiping day!
Religion plays a very large part in the culture of Guatemala. There are a lot of temples and different architecture types through out the cities. Everything depicts their religion including art, music ect. As the maya rose to power religion played a huge role because the development of formalized religion in the art, architecture and spacial development all tie into their religion.
There are numerous sacred sites in Guatemala. All of the cities in Guatemala were actually mapped out according to astrology and the gods. The caves, temples, and other geographical features were all used for rituals. Their religion is focused on the earth and nature. With this being said every sacred land mark that they have is based on Mother Earth.
In the ancient world religion had everything to do with the government. The rulers and leaders were actually worshiped and considered gods. They had rituals for the leaders that were considered gods. For example rulers used to pierce their penis and their tongues with a sting ray spine to prove how manly they were.
My own conclusion of religion with ancient maya is that they were very focused on it and valued it in every day life. They did so many things for worship and had so many different places to worship. They literally went day by day with their religion. Everyday is a worshiping day!
Guatemala
I would say that Guatemala is not losing as much cultural diversity as other countries, but I would say that they are experiencing changes in their cultural diversity. They have changed their way of living, rituals and everything for the past several hundred years, and it is still changing. “In Guatemala, there are strong links between ethnic diversity/racism and inequality, which can be traced back to the Spanish conquest in the 16th century” (Undp.org). Long ago they were characterized by being native to the land, indigenous, and self-sustainable in most ways. Today only some people are still considered indigenous and native to the land but most of Guatemala is not self-sustainable.
Guatemala has one of the oldest civilizations and cultures in the world. “The Mayan Culture developed between 3000 and 2000 BC. Pollen samples has shown the establishments of agriculture in Guatemala by 4000 BC, and around 2500 BC initiated the building of small cities with some permanent architecture all over the country (Pre-Classic).” (AuthenticMaya). With this being said, it should have the strongest traditions, ceremonies and ways of life. Guatemala is slowly being more and more industrialized causing them to leave their old ways of life and traditions. When they leave their cultural traditions behind, they are also changing their diversity. When the Europeans landed they brought Catholicism and other industrial goods and practices. This changed the diversity a long time ago and now with Guatemala splitting more and more it is changing more and more.
I believe that the cultural aspect of having a lot of children is a big factor in their poverty rates. In Guatemala it is normal to have up to ten children per family! “Poverty is significantly higher among the indigenous population. Over three-quarters of the indigenous population live in poverty. In addition, there is a “poverty belt” in the Northern and North-Western regions of the country which is populated primarily by indigenous groups.” (Avivara). The children population lies heavily with the indigenous people and so does the poverty. I think these lie hand in hand because if you are in poverty and have a lot of children and cannot feed them, it makes for more poverty, and worsened poverty.
The cultural diversity change is evident in the way that they do things and how separated the country is. The country is painfully separated by the indigenous people and the ‘city’ people. Their education, poverty level, religion and everyday life are all different between the two. “Guatemala is among the most unequal countries in the world in terms of wealth distribution. The population distribution in Guatemala is characterized by a large “low-income” majority and a very small “high-income” minority.” (Avivara). The indigenous people usually work on a farm or factory, city people work ‘regular’ jobs.
The most effort to preserve the culture is within the indigenous people. The city folk for the most part do not participate in the tribal ceremonies that they once used to, they do not wear the clothing and they do not celebrate or worship the gods like they did. They are more like the everyday American. They are predominately catholic, go to school and college, get business jobs and have a family. The indigenous people, however, still do all of these things. They have sweats, dances, ceremonies, art, stories, passing of legends and various other things to celebrate their culture. They also wear homemade skirts with beautiful embroidery and stitching. Most people can tell when something is made ethnically and when it is made in a factory with machines. When it is homemade it is original, one of a kind; it is also made from wool a lot of the time.
Citations
Human Development Reports. (n.d.). Ethnic and Cultural Diversity: Citizenship in a plural state. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/ethnic-and-cultural-diversity-citizenship-plural-state
Authentic maya. (2011, 04 02). Retrieved from http://www.authenticmaya.com/
Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Guatemala. (n.d.). Oh My Maya Charitable Organization Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Guatemala Comments. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://ohmymaya.org/guatemala/diversity
Avivara . (n.d.). Poverty in Guatemala-Avivara Report. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.avivara.org/aboutguatemala/povertyinguatemala.html
I would say that Guatemala is not losing as much cultural diversity as other countries, but I would say that they are experiencing changes in their cultural diversity. They have changed their way of living, rituals and everything for the past several hundred years, and it is still changing. “In Guatemala, there are strong links between ethnic diversity/racism and inequality, which can be traced back to the Spanish conquest in the 16th century” (Undp.org). Long ago they were characterized by being native to the land, indigenous, and self-sustainable in most ways. Today only some people are still considered indigenous and native to the land but most of Guatemala is not self-sustainable.
Guatemala has one of the oldest civilizations and cultures in the world. “The Mayan Culture developed between 3000 and 2000 BC. Pollen samples has shown the establishments of agriculture in Guatemala by 4000 BC, and around 2500 BC initiated the building of small cities with some permanent architecture all over the country (Pre-Classic).” (AuthenticMaya). With this being said, it should have the strongest traditions, ceremonies and ways of life. Guatemala is slowly being more and more industrialized causing them to leave their old ways of life and traditions. When they leave their cultural traditions behind, they are also changing their diversity. When the Europeans landed they brought Catholicism and other industrial goods and practices. This changed the diversity a long time ago and now with Guatemala splitting more and more it is changing more and more.
I believe that the cultural aspect of having a lot of children is a big factor in their poverty rates. In Guatemala it is normal to have up to ten children per family! “Poverty is significantly higher among the indigenous population. Over three-quarters of the indigenous population live in poverty. In addition, there is a “poverty belt” in the Northern and North-Western regions of the country which is populated primarily by indigenous groups.” (Avivara). The children population lies heavily with the indigenous people and so does the poverty. I think these lie hand in hand because if you are in poverty and have a lot of children and cannot feed them, it makes for more poverty, and worsened poverty.
The cultural diversity change is evident in the way that they do things and how separated the country is. The country is painfully separated by the indigenous people and the ‘city’ people. Their education, poverty level, religion and everyday life are all different between the two. “Guatemala is among the most unequal countries in the world in terms of wealth distribution. The population distribution in Guatemala is characterized by a large “low-income” majority and a very small “high-income” minority.” (Avivara). The indigenous people usually work on a farm or factory, city people work ‘regular’ jobs.
The most effort to preserve the culture is within the indigenous people. The city folk for the most part do not participate in the tribal ceremonies that they once used to, they do not wear the clothing and they do not celebrate or worship the gods like they did. They are more like the everyday American. They are predominately catholic, go to school and college, get business jobs and have a family. The indigenous people, however, still do all of these things. They have sweats, dances, ceremonies, art, stories, passing of legends and various other things to celebrate their culture. They also wear homemade skirts with beautiful embroidery and stitching. Most people can tell when something is made ethnically and when it is made in a factory with machines. When it is homemade it is original, one of a kind; it is also made from wool a lot of the time.
Citations
Human Development Reports. (n.d.). Ethnic and Cultural Diversity: Citizenship in a plural state. Retrieved April 14, 2014, from http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/ethnic-and-cultural-diversity-citizenship-plural-state
Authentic maya. (2011, 04 02). Retrieved from http://www.authenticmaya.com/
Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Guatemala. (n.d.). Oh My Maya Charitable Organization Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Guatemala Comments. Retrieved April 16, 2014, from http://ohmymaya.org/guatemala/diversity
Avivara . (n.d.). Poverty in Guatemala-Avivara Report. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.avivara.org/aboutguatemala/povertyinguatemala.html
Arroz Guatemalteco (Guatemalan-Style Rice)
Ingredients
Procedure
Read more: http://www.foodbycountry.com/Germany-to-Japan/Guatemala.html#ixzz30RhQvDEy
This dish is a little bit different than the traditional Mexican rice you get in a restaurant. This rice has a good serving of vegetables in it and long grain rice, which makes it a bit healthier than other types of rice.
Religion plays a big role on Guatemalan's food. A lot of the time on holidays or celebrations they have a feast and have more delicacies than on a typical day. November 1 is All Saints Day and Day of the Dead and people will celebrate their loved ones lives and have a picnic at their grave site. For children's parties there will be a pinata and for other holidays they will have more of a variety of food.
There is definitely an influence by diffusion in Guatemala. They drink a lot of sodas, eat a lot of sweets and other things that their ancestors did not eat. Most of the food is locally grown in the country. I do think it is interesting that most people in the country do not actually drink strong coffee, that coffee is exported and in the tourist areas. Guatemala is known to have some of the best coffee in the world and they don't even drink it!
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain rice
- 2 Tablespoons oil
- 1 cup mixed vegetables (carrots, celery, sweet red peppers, green peas), finely chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 cups chicken stock
Procedure
- Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan and add rice.
- Sauté lightly until the rice has absorbed the oil, being careful not to let it change color.
- Add the mixed vegetables, salt, pepper, and chicken stock.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low.
- Cool for about 20 minutes until rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed.
Read more: http://www.foodbycountry.com/Germany-to-Japan/Guatemala.html#ixzz30RhQvDEy
This dish is a little bit different than the traditional Mexican rice you get in a restaurant. This rice has a good serving of vegetables in it and long grain rice, which makes it a bit healthier than other types of rice.
Religion plays a big role on Guatemalan's food. A lot of the time on holidays or celebrations they have a feast and have more delicacies than on a typical day. November 1 is All Saints Day and Day of the Dead and people will celebrate their loved ones lives and have a picnic at their grave site. For children's parties there will be a pinata and for other holidays they will have more of a variety of food.
There is definitely an influence by diffusion in Guatemala. They drink a lot of sodas, eat a lot of sweets and other things that their ancestors did not eat. Most of the food is locally grown in the country. I do think it is interesting that most people in the country do not actually drink strong coffee, that coffee is exported and in the tourist areas. Guatemala is known to have some of the best coffee in the world and they don't even drink it!