National Languages and Language Ideologies

        Although it is true that numerous Indigenous peoples perished during the conquest and colonial rule due to wars and epidemics, their suffering has continued until today in the form of racism and discrimination in the form of language ideologies that limit the rights of Indigenous communities to language and culture.  In Mexico, as in many other countries, Indigenous peoples have been socially disadvantaged and forced into silent zones. They have lived in these zones for centuries and have grown so accustomed to them that stepping outside of them results in discomfort because it makes evident the vulnerable place Indigenous speakers occupy in relation to Mexico’s Spanish speaking population (Morales-Good 2020). Since colonization, Indigenous peoples have resisted different ways of assimilation into a Western form of society that was imposed on them and that moves them away from their traditional knowledge and languages –wrongly classifying them as underdeveloped (Lopez-Hernandez 47-74).
Opposing the State’s anti-Indigenous racism, anthropologists Rodolfo Stavenhagen and Guillermo Bonfil, avid defenders of Indigeneity, argued that the underdevelopment of the Indigenous communities (measured by Western perspectives) comes indirectly, or directly, from the mestizos’ economic subordination and because of the State’s greediness and racism, which is used to justify the extraction of natural resources and any wealth that’s left within Indigenous territories (Mattiace 65). This is especially visible at this time when Mayan communities continue to fight against the implementation of the Mayan Train. The Mexican government defends this project by saying that it will bring economic resources to Indigenous communities in the peninsula, but Mayan communities argue that the result will be the opposite. According to Poet Pedro Uc Be, the Train will bring with it the death of animal species, the contamination of natural resources, and the clear cutting of vegetation (Gomez 2022).
In Mexico, the rights to language, autonomy, and culture are protected by the national constitution, which states, “All persons shall enjoy the human rights recognized in this constitution and in the international treaties to which the Mexican State is a party, as well as the guarantees for their protection…” (Mexican Constitution, Article 1). Article 2 of the Constitution talks about the multicultural composition of the nation, articulating, “Originally based on Indigenous peoples, which are descendants of populations that lived in the current territory of the country at the beginning of colonization, and that preserve their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions, or part of them” (my emphasis). Section B of Article 2 recognizes the State’s responsibility to establish the necessary policies to guarantee Indigenous rights. It states that in order to promote equal opportunities for Indigenous people and decrease discriminatory practices, the State will “determine the necessary policies to guarantee the validity of the rights of Indigenous people and the integral development of their peoples and communities, which should be designed and operated jointly with them” (Article 2, my emphasis). It is worth mentioning that the cultural component of Article 2 of the Constitution was just added in 2001 after a constitutional reformation was passed. As a result, it is safe to say that Mexico has recognized its multicultural composition and the presence of Indigenous communities in the national scenario, at least on paper.
This reform, however, has not deterred discrimination in the social scenario. In Mexico, there is a noticeable friction between what are considered Mexican and Indigenous communities. This situation negatively affects the Indigenous’ daily lives, including their interactions in markets, doctor visits, educational institutions, and, of course, public spaces. The very notion that there are many identifiable factors that distinguish one community from another (skin color and the wearing of traditional clothing, for example) immediately ties the usage of an Indigenous language to those less privileged, but equally deserving, communities. Sadly, to avoid negative treatment, Indigenous language speakers end up admitting proficiency in Spanish, even if said proficiency produces linguistic distress, and harms their situation in social cases (Morales Good 2020). Therefore, perspectives and ideologies about language affect social life in many different aspects because they influence perceptions of people, groups, events, and activities (Haviland 764). Such perceptions falsely categorize all Indigenous peoples and set them in a place of disadvantage in comparison to the Spanish-speaking community.
Scholars have explained the relationship between language ideologies and their use within culture and society (Silverstein 1979, Irvine 255). For example, Paul V. Kroskrity (2004) refers to language ideologies as a set of beliefs used by all types of speakers as a model to create language evaluations and engage in communicative activity. For Kroskrity, language ideologies are “beliefs about the superiority/inferiority of specific languages” (Kroskrity 497). Therefore, language ideologies are beliefs, feelings, or perceptions about languages as used in a social context. Kroskrity refers to them as plural because they include ideas about gender, class, ethnicity, and race, among others (Kroskrity 503).
Much of the disdain suffered by the Mayans comes from the Yucatecan-Mexicans. They devalue the Mayan culture and language, and encourage the use of Spanish as the official language in social scenarios. Indeed, language ideologies also play an important role in matters of inequality, discrimination (Lippi-Green 2012), the imputation of nationality (Irvine and Gal 2000), and group identity (Collins 1992). Therefore, language ideologies play an important role in the decline of Indigenous language speakers as they present Spanish as the de facto language in a multicultural society. The strongest obstacle to Indigenous people accepting their identities is a society that privileges foreign worldviews and belittles native ways of knowing (Figueroa 122-43). It causes Indigenous people to develop a sense of exclusion and consciousness of racism that reinforces the false notion of their inferiority. It is nothing more than racism that denies people their language and cultural integrity while validating language ideologies that support national or “superior” languages (Bender 333; Kearney 226-243; Naranjo 1-24).
If we somehow manage to defeat negative language ideologies that continue to persuade people to believe that speaking an Indigenous language denotes social inferiority, Indigenous people will be a step closer to decolonization and self-determination. This feat is not impossible, but it requires political will, and it should be a collective effort between the State and Indigenous communities. It can no longer be one-directional; Indigenous people must control their knowledge and the way it is presented and disseminated. They should also have control over research done in their communities to oversee and safeguard their customs, rules, and ancestral practices, and it should be they who dictate the way that knowledge is shared and disseminated for the benefit of the communities (Battiste 499-503).
According to Dr. Fidencio Briceño Chel, who refers specifically to the decrease of the Mayan population in the Peninsula, in 1990 38.5% of the Mexican population spoke the Yucatec variant of the Mayan language or Maayat’aan, while by 2015 the percentage had reduced to 35.2% (Chel 136). This decline, sadly, supports the principle that if the language stops being transmitted, due to the longstanding side effects of colonization along with language ideologies, the percentage of Indigenous language speakers will inevitably decrease. To improve the situation Briceño Chel, along with other Mayan speakers, linguists, and activists, has been working to refunctionalize the language. He proposes working with small children to strengthen their cultural values as well as the love and admiration for their languages and their territories (Briceño Chel 2021).