The Amazonas of Yaxunah
One seed at a time
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A DISTINCTIVELY RURAL SOFTBALL TEAM CAPABLE OF FILLING KUKULCÁN STADIUM
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he Amazonas of Yaxunah start off every softball game with Mayan battle cry, ending with a roaring mujeres fuertes! Though the team started off in 2018 as an outlet to simply have some fun, the Amazonas and their unique style soon captured the attention of everyone in town and far beyond. They are most famous for the fact that they play barefoot and wearing the traditional Mestizo huipil. But make no mistake, though these women play mostly for fun, they are real athletes with a deep passion for the game. “People often ask us why we wear no shoes and play in our huipiles, but the truth is that this is what we wear in our day to day, it’s what is most comfortable for us,” says shortstop Nayeli Uicab. “Besides, there is nothing quite like the feeling of the field and earth directly beneath your feet.” Over the past couple of years, the Amazonas have begun to really garner attention, which has made them celebrities in Yucatán. They now travel almost every weekend across southeastern Mexico to play in exhibition matches. Not Fun fact: bad for a team from a town with a population of just In Yucatán, around 600 people. baseball and Last year, the Amazonas made history when they softball have filled Mérida’s 15,000-seat Kukulcán Alamo stadium an enormous in a match against another all-women’s team, La following. Natividad de Sucilá. In Mérida “There was so much fanfare, fireworks and the alone, the chanting of the jam-packed stadium was simply elec- municipal trifying. It was such a big moment for us and one we women’s will always remember,” says outfielder Rosy Cuxin. softball “It’s quite exciting!” says squad pitcher and capleague tain Sitlali Poot. “It’s quite a big deal.” boasts over Despite all living in Yaxunah, the members of the 60 teams. Amazonas originally came from rural communities across the state and range in age from teenagers to women in their late 50s. “When I was a little girl I loved going out and playing with the boys because a girls’ softball team was unthinkable to most in the community,” says Celia Lorenza Chan Canul, who plays first base. “When we got the team together in 2018, at first my husband did not really approve. But when he saw how happy it made me, he eventually came around and became one of our greatest champions. Now that he has passed away, this game is my way of honoring his memory and the life we built.”
n the tiny town of Yaxunah (home of the Amazonas, left) nine women are working to ensure that traditional varieties of corn, beans, chilies, lentils and many others are not wiped out by genetically modified variants created by multinational corporations. They do this through their own community seed bank and exchange called K’an-Lol, which translates as “the flower of good corn” in the Yucatec-Maya language. “These seeds are part of our heritage, and if they disappear, they will be gone for good,” says Martina Ek of Yaxunah’s seed bank. The system loans out seeds to locals at no cost, who then return new seeds to the bank after the harvest. The solution is low-tech but works because its seeds are always in circulation and creating new ones for the following season. Most people who come to the seed bank are subsistence farmers who cultivate their milpa to help feed their families — with occasional small surpluses making their way to local markets. Though more vulnerable to drought, traditional varieties of maize, such as the nuuk nal, which has a reddish color, tend to be larger and more nutritious than their genetically modified counterparts. “Corn was first domesticated by our ancestors and it’s our gift to the world, but also our responsibility. So much these days is so uniform and flavorless … we just knew we had to do something about it,” says Enedina Poot Canul. Just as was the case thousands of years ago, people today in Yucatán rely heavily on corn for their everyday diet and use a process called nixtamalization, through which maize is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution made up of lime water. It is then washed, hulled, and transformed into tortillas and other staples. The women of the K’an-Lol seed bank are now also offering up their homegrown produce for sale with the support of Fundación Haciendas del Mundo Maya. To order a guacal of fresh produce, send a message at instagram.com/traspatio.maya
Facebook: @AmazonasDeYaxunah
TEXT YESICA BENITEZ
YUCATÁN MAGAZINE | ISSUE 8
PHOTOS CARLOS ROSADO van der GRACHT
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