Living nearby, in large numbers, but typically in small villages, are the modern Mayan people. For those who would like to see how they live, as reported by an ethnologist, you can have a look at three videos: here is the website for the first of them- Yucatec Maya part 1 of 3 - YouTube And, if you're curious about programs designed to boost the economic welfare of these people, while taking into account their unique culture, here's another- [ame=&feature=related]Diseños Maya de Yucatán - YouTube
They are also living in Cancun in very large numbers. Plenty of households where Yucatec Maya is spoken on a daily basis in Cancun.
See the Yucatan Here's another look at modern, Mayan life and the attractions of the Yucatan Penisula for those with an interest in history and culture. U7fqvhjLUyY[/media]&feature=player_embedded#]See the Yucatan, find Maya culture, forget the apocalypse - YouTube!
My daughter is just finishing her masters degree in visual anthropology . She has just spent the summer here filming a Mayan family in the Yucatan and how their beliefs surrounding aluxes effect their lives .Once she has edited it I will post it. The things she has learnt are fascinating. Her thesis for her degree in anthropology was a study of why the suicide rate is so high within the Mayan culture - sad but true .
We bought all of our plants and still have palapa repair done by a Mayan family at KM 80. He speaks some spanish but, mostly Mayan. If you go just past KM 80 and hang a left to San Francisco the transformation is amazing as nearly only Mayan is spoken and even with my in-laws communication was challenging. But, like many said you can see the Mayans in large numbers in Cancun. The change of life leaving the city out to km 80 and beyond always fascinated me.
A couple of months ago, my husband was explaining to me (while drinking a beer at some bar in Rhode Island) how his father had neglected their aluxes at the milpa. They died, planting couldn't be done, everyboy screwed. Well, not really since the farming was really only a tertiary money-maker. But he did explain that we would have to do some major atonement if we ever wanted to use that land again. First couple of nights I ever spent in Cancun were with a family in SM 103 (back when that was the edge of Cancun) who would only switch to speaking Spanish for my benefit. Tracey, I'd posit that the high suicide rate is related to the high incidence of alcoholism in Mayan villages....that was also something I wondered about in my undergrad thesis: was binge drinking always a part of Mayan culture or did it pick up more with the migration to Cancun? A few anthropologists do tie it to the higher rates of migration.
