women th e wo r ld m u st hear
Participants of the Indigenous Women for Defense of their Human Rights Training. Top L–R: Silvia Jacinto, Rosemary Dionicio, Maricela Tucubal, María de los Angeles, Brenda Xitumulup. Bottom L–R: Catarina Ajtzalam, Damiana Tzaj, Candelaria Xí, Angie Milady Lopez.
Young Women and Decolonization
Changing History through Struggle and Resistance Diana Pastor (Maya K’iche’, CS Staff) and Adriana Hernández (Maya K’iche’, CS Staff)
D
ecolonization is frequently defined and discussed as the process by which subjugated territories put an end to their colony status. However, this limited definition falls short of expressing the full connotations of the concept. For Indigenous Peoples, decolonization includes the restoration of ancestral practices, the promotion and use of native languages, Indigenous sovereignty, the growing of food, reclamation of clothing, and recovery of practices and ways of seeing and understanding the world, among many others. Indigenous decolonization struggles and triumphs are happening in an effort to undo practices and ideologies imposed from the “encounter between two worlds” that resulted in the establishment of an unequal system for Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala (Latin America). This system of inequality disproportionately affects Indigenous women, who face severe racism, machismo, violence, and other effects of patriarchal culture. But, many women have initiated processes to counteract the colonization that
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relentlessly continues to affect them today. To shed light on these struggles, we spoke with several Indigenous youth from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, who participated in a 15-session human rights training program supported by Cultural Survival in early 2021. The Indigenous Women for the Defense of their Human Rights Training sought to build the capacity of 24 Indigenous human rights defenders from Guatemala, Mexico, and Honduras, who are continuing to make changes in their communities by sharing their rights knowledge with other women. Their shared and unique experiences enabled us to understand that decolonization is not a homogeneous or linear process, but diverse and personal. One of the starting points for decolonization is developing an awareness of being, analyzing the meaning of existence and life practices. Therefore, decolonization often begins from cultural practices and identity. Gilda Maricela (Maya Kaqchikel), originally from San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala, explains that her decolonization process has prompted her to use her mother tongue, Kaqchikel, and wear her Mayan clothing, but also to incorporate and apply ancestral knowledge in her professional career as a psychologist.
