I am going to dedicate myself some days to tell you a bit about the beautiful people I have met during the time I have spent living in the Mayan capital of Mexico.
This is Don Goyo. He is a modern Maya Cruzoob from the Yucatan Peninsula. Anthropologist, activist, writer, poet, radio host, researcher, ancient Mayan music performer, culture promoter, teacher, guide, ancient and modern sustainable farmer, beekeeper, father, grandfather, and a beautiful man!
I met him one year ago when I had just been for a few weeks in Felipe Carrillo Puerto, where I live now, and when I was just starting this project.
When we met, as almost every really cool Mayan person does, he didn’t hold anything back! He shared! He shared it all with me! He told me stories, he explained what he did and why it was important, he showed me his books and he didn’t doubt in opening up to help me to start my project.
To know all he has done and learned and given to his people has made him one of the people I admire the most.
He told me the story of when they marched in México city for Indigenous rights, or when he went to Mexico City to demand for a Mayan radio station and fought for it for 10 years until he got it. He has told me about “La Milpa” (ancient farming system in the indigenous cultures), but he has also told me about the modern and sustainable farming that he knows about today and how it can help to recover our soil and improve our production.
He invited me to be a guest in his radio show, let me read some of his writing and to listen the music that he likes.
He shared with me the history of “La Guerra de Castas” (Caste war) and how it shaped the modern Maya people’s life. (a link about it below)
He also shared with me the fact that, in the Mayan people worldview, the history has always been written by those that won, and so, lots of the books and articles might not be telling the truth but only part of it. He explained how really, the REAL Mayan people´s history is mostly passed on from one generation to the other, through oral heritage.
He let me in his house. He was a guide to one of my passengers. He showed us his plantations, his bees, gave us to try a corn drink from a fresh harvest.
I met his wife, his daughter, his son. I feel that I am part of his family today.
He gave me insight on the Mayan language and on the Mayan religion.
He shared anecdotes on his research with the Mayan Nohoch (elderly, grandparents, teachers) and how he has helped through their conversations, to preserve and promote the culture, the language, the traditions, the secrets.
He took me for a ride, to see another community, to meet another man full of history and knowledge.
Thanks to Don Goyo I was able to understand so much more about the past of the Mayan people, about their present and about what it should be and become.
The Mayan people are grateful, always grateful. They are very giving, even if there is little, he told me, they will always offer a chair and a fresh drink. The Mayan people live a simple life. Early mornings, caring for their land, drinking “pozol” (Corn drink), eating with their family, working the land again, and then rest. Peace and quiet are their everyday life.
People like Don Goyo are very important for all that they do, for all that they can share, for all that they know and for how much they love and stand for their culture.
I am really grateful to know this man and I really look forward to listening more of his stories and being able to share them with you.
His full name is Gregorio Manuel. I won’t share the last names, but, he is Nohoch Gregorio Manuel and he is my friend.
