I thought this was really good, so I wanted to share. Some of the images were missing, so I did my best to substitute based on the description.
Since the ancient Maya have been added to the Key Stage 2 national curriculum for History (non-European Study), there’s been a ‘mushrooming’ of online resources covering the topic. Most of which are downright awful!
After the recent flawed news story about a teenager finding a Maya site, I thought it an apt moment to let both teachers who are teaching the Maya as well as the general public know what they need to be looking out for to confirm a resource’s unreliability
Beware!
Here are 10 tell-tale signs that expose unknowledgeable sources
1. The term ‘Mayan’ is used instead of ‘Maya’
The term ‘Mayan’ is ubiquitously used by ill-informed sources: ‘Mayan people’, ‘Mayan pyramids’, ‘Mayan civilisation’…
All Maya specialists -and, for that matter, all non-specialists who’ve read a book or two on the ancient Maya- know that the right word is Maya.
Their calendar is called the ‘Maya calendar’, their civilisation is called the ‘Maya civilisation’, their art is called ‘Maya art’…
The only time you should use the adjective ‘Mayan’ is when you are talking about their languages, the ‘Mayan languages’.
So, if you see ‘Mayan people’, ‘Mayan pyramids, ‘Mayan art’, ‘Mayan civilisation’, etc, on a publication (website or magazine), you can be sure the person who wrote the article doesn’t know a thing about the ancient Maya.
2. The image of the Aztec calendar stone is presented as the Maya calendar
Unscrupulous sources will use the ‘Sun Stone’ to illustrate texts about the Maya calendar.
Using the ‘Sun Stone’ to talk about Maya calendar system is like using photos of theElizabeth Tower at Westminster (AKA ‘Big Ben’), which was completed in 1859, to illustrate time keeping in ancient Rome!
And yes I have even seen this image adorning the front cover of books on the Maya! Beware! Which leads nicely onto point 3-
3. The Maya are identified as the Aztecs
This confusion is very common but the truth is the Aztecs were very different to the Maya. They spoke a different language and had a different writing system.
Also the Maya civilisation began at least 1500 before the Aztecs.
Stating the Maya were the same as the Aztecs, is basically saying that all Europeans are the same, having the same language, culture and beliefs…
Would you like to see an image of Stonehenge on the front cover of a book on the French? I think not!
Then we get the Egyptians….
4. Maya pyramids are said to be similar to Egyptian pyramids
I am afraid not!
Firstly, the ancient Maya and ancient Egyptians lived during different time periods. The time of pyramid building in Egypt was around 2000 years earlier than the earliest Maya pyramid.
Secondly, Egyptian pyramids have a different shape and use to those of the Maya.
Maya pyramids are not actually pyramidal! They have a polygonal base, but their four faces do not meet at a common point like Egyptian pyramids. Maya pyramids were flat and often had a small room built on top.
Pyramids in Egypt were used as tombs for the dead rulers, for the Maya, though the pyramids were mainly used for ceremonies carried out on top and watched from below.
5. It is claimed that the Maya mysteriously disappeared in the 10th century AD
Uninformed sources talk about the ‘mysterious’ disappearance of the ancient Maya around the 10th century AD., which mislead people to think that the Maya disappeared forever….
Firstly, the Maya did not disappear. Around 8 million Maya are still living today in various countries of Central America (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras); in fact half of the population of Guatemala is Maya.
Although they do not build pyramids like the ancient Maya did, modern Maya still wear similar dress, follow similar rituals and some use the ancient Maya calendar. I am sure they would all like to assure you that they have definitely not disappeared!
We know now that what is called ‘Classic Maya Collapse’ was actually a slow breakdown, followed by a reconstruction, of a number of political, economical and cultural structures in the Maya society.
Archaeologists see cities being abandoned over the course of the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, and people travelling north into the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) building new great cities such as Mayapan, which was occupied up until the 15th century.
Secondly, there was nothing mysterious about it! A number of associated factors were at play.
There was a severe drought in the rainforest area that lasted decades, so people moved north where water sources were more easily available. The competition between waring factions and cities for natural resources led to increased warfare. Which, in turn, led to the breakdown of trade networks.
All this was likely exacerbated by political and economical changes in Central Mexico.
So, very much like the French did not disappear after the French Revolution -although they stopped building castles and some big political, economical and cultural changes occurred in the French society- the Maya did not mysteriously disappear around the 10th century.
6. The Maya are portrayed as blood-thirsty sacrifice-loving psychos
The Maya are often portrayed in the media and popular culture as blood-thirsty (see for example Mel Gibson’s 2006 Apocalypto), so the commonly accepted -and oft-repeated- idea is that the Maya carried out lots of sacrifices.
Actually, there is barely any trace of sacrifice in the archaeological record of the Maya area. The rare evidence comes from pictorial representations on ceramics and sculpture.
Warfare amongst the Maya was actually much less bloody than ours and no, they did not use a real skull as a ball in their ballgame! And no the loser was not put to death!
In warfare, they did capture and kill opponents, but it was on a small-scale. Rulers boasted of being “He of five captives” or “He of the three captives”.
The heart sacrifices that were recorded by the Spanish chroniclers were those of the Aztecs.
It is also important to keep in mind that the Spanish Conquistadors had lots of incentives to describe the indigenous people of the Americas as blood-thirsty savages.
It made conquest and enslavement easier to justify (see the Valladolid Debate) so lots of stories were exaggerated.
And who are we to judge when we used to have public spectacles of people being hanged or having their heads chopped off and placed on spikes on London Bridge!
7. The ancient Maya predicted that the world would end on 21 December 2012
The 2012 phenomenon was a range of beliefs that cataclysmic events would trigger then end of our world on December 21st.
This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Maya Long Count calendar and it was said that the ancient Maya had prophesied the event.
This is not true and all Maya people today and Maya specialists know this!
Very much like a century and a millennium ended in the Christian calendar on December 31st 1999, a great cycle of the Maya Long Count -the 13th b’ak’tun– was to end on 21 December 2012.
In Maya time-keeping, a b’ak’tun is a period of roughly 5,125 years.
Only two Maya monuments –Tortuguero Monument 6 and La Corona Hieroglyphic Stairway 12– mention the end of the 13th b’ak’tun. None of them contains any speculation or prophecy as to what would happen at that time.
While the end of the 13th b’ak’tun would perhaps be a cause for celebration, the next day the Maya believed that a new cycle -the 14th b’ak’tun- would begin; much like our New Year’s Eve.
In fact, in the temple of Inscriptions at Palenque, where we find the tomb of King Pakal, it was written that in AD 4772 the people would be celebrating the anniversary of the coronation of their new King Pakal!
8. The Maya are described as primitive people
The Maya created an incredible civilization in the rainforest where it is extremely humid, with lots of bugs and dangerous animals and little water.
There they built spectacular temples, pyramids and palaces without the use of metal tools, the wheel, or any pack animals, such as the donkey, ox or elephant.
The Maya were the only civilization in the whole of the Americas to develop a complete writing system like ours.
They were only one of two cultures in the world to develop the zero in their number system and so were able to make advanced calculations and became great astronomers.
The Maya were extremely advanced in painting and making sculptures, they played the earliest team sport in the world and most importantly, for me anyway, is that we have the ancient Maya to thank for chocolate!
So no, they were definitely not primitive!
The problem with this view of the ancient Maya is that their achievements are then explained by the help of Extra-terrestrial beings or other civilisations.
9. The great achievements of the Maya are in thanks to the Olmecs
This myth of the Olmecs being a ‘mother culture’ to the Maya and other cultures in Mesoamerica had been questioned over 20 years ago and has been long put to rest.
Excavations have shown that they were many other cultures, other than the Olmec living in Mesoamerica before the Maya and that rather than a ‘mother culture’ we should be looking at ‘sister cultures’ all influencing each other.
Furthermore, Maya achievements in hieroglyphic writing and calendrics which no other culture in Mesoamerica had seen or used, indicate that they were much more innovators than adopters.
So, if the resource mentions the above, then it is obvious that they are not specialists and are using redundant information written over 20 years ago.
10. Chichen Itza is used as the quintessential Maya site
Chichen Itza was inhabited quite late during the Maya time period, about 1400 years after the first Maya city and is not purely Maya.
The city was quite cosmopolitan and was greatly influenced by Central Mexico, particularly the Toltecs, who may have lived there.
Therefore, its architecture and art -such as the ‘chacmools‘ or the ‘tzompantli‘ (AKA ‘skull-racks’) actually are Central Mexican, and not Maya, features.
A much better example of a typical Maya city would be Tikal, which was occupied for more than 1500 years.
So, if all you see on a website is about Chichen Itza, chances are this is not a reliable source of information about the ancient Maya and your ‘charlatan alarm-bells’ should go off!
So far from what I’ve heard Jair Bolsonaro, the nationalist president elect of Brazil has threatened to take away territory belonging to 900k indigenous people. He’s also threatened to shut down the country’s indigenous affairs department and has been quoted saying “It’s a shame that the Brazilian cavalry wasn’t as efficient as the Americans, who exterminated their Indians.” as well as “If I become president, there will not be one centimeter more of indigenous land.” If this doesn’t sound genocidal…
here, here, and here are some articles explaining more.
It’s pretty evident people don’t seem care about South America and especially its indigenous tribes. Please please please keep an open mind and spread some word around. I don’t have a big active following but a little bit can go along way if people bring awareness to it.
Write to elected officials, someone up there will care. As far as helping with donations you can donate here to Survival International. Their mission is to prevent the annihilation of indigenous tribes. if you guys know of other organizations, maybe local, that can help please add them.
Brazil’s indigenous people shouldn’t be threatened with violence and persecution while the rest of the word just sits back and watches. Not in this day and age. Please get the word out there.
The federal government and the provinces must examine “monstrous” allegations of modern-day forced sterilizations of Indigenous women, NDP reconciliation critic Romeo Saganash said Monday before he pressed for answers in the House of Commons.
Coerced sterilization clearly breaches human-rights standards that Canada must fight to uphold, Saganash in an interview Monday, and said that authorities should very carefully read Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the UN in 1948.
That international agreement says that “genocide” includes any acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, such as by “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group.”
Canadians should not tolerate allegations of forced sterilization in their country, Saganash said, and Ottawa must address the issue as victims share their stories.
RALLY: Community Not Cops! Divest from Police, Invest in People Saturday, November 24, 2018 at 2:00 pm Surrey City Hall, 13450 104 Ave
This event is taking place in Surrey on the unceded territories of the Kwantlen, Qayqayt, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Semiahmoo, Tsleil-Waututh, Tsawwassen, and Musqueam Nations.
We’re told the police exist to keep our communities safe, but this story falls apart when we consider the day-to-day activities of police officers. They surveil and harass homeless people, arresting them for survival activities like panhandling. They enforce the catastrophic war on drugs, responsible for countless deaths. And they terrorize racialized and Indigenous communities, profiling and brutalizing young people of colour with impunity.
Crime rates are falling in Surrey and across the country, but police budgets continue to expand. The police and their supporters play on Surrey residents’ fears of gang violence to justify funding increases. But the City of Surrey is already home to the largest RCMP detachment in the country, and the proposed municipal police force will be even bigger. This overwhelming police presence does nothing to address the systemic roots of gang involvement: poverty, racism, and drug prohibition. Instead, the cops profile and criminalize youth of colour, making the situation worse.
Massive funding for police comes at the expense of social programs and resources, like community centres and youth programs, which could actually address some of the root causes of violence in our communities. By divesting from the police, we can invest in real community solutions. It is up to us to decide what form those solutions take.
ANTI-POLICE POWER SURREY is new organization that formed to push back against the relentless expansion of police power and call for the City of Surrey to divest from the police and invest in the people. Anti-Police Power Surrey is supported by Alliance Against Displacement.
When she was 17 years old, Liz was
coerced by a Children’s Aid worker into having an abortion and being
sterilized at a northwestern Ontario hospital, she says — an experience
she’s carried for 40 years.
“It was a
matter of me almost (being) cornered, if you will, by my worker at the
time saying, ‘You better have an abortion because if you don’t, either
way, we are going to take that child from you’,” Liz says.
New
research shows the forced sterilization of Indigenous women is not just
a shameful part of Canadian history. Reports from Alberta,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and the territories suggest it is still
happening.
Tubal
ligations carried out on unwilling Indigenous women is one of the “most
heinous” practices in health care happening across Canada, says Yvonne
Boyer, a Metis lawyer and former nurse who is now a senator for Ontario.
In the bloodshed and chaos that is the battlefields of the First World War, hundreds of thousands of young Canadian men sign up to fight for their country overseas — but there’s one who sticks out from the crowd. His bravery and fearlessness are legendary. His fellow soldiers call him Peggy.
In collaboration with the Quileute Tribe, this site seeks to inform Twilight fans, parents, teachers, and others about the real Quileute culture, which indeed has a wolf origin story, a historic relationship with the wolf as demonstrated in songs, stories, and various art forms, as well as a modern, multi-dimensional community with a sophisticated governance system. We also hope to offer a counter narrative to The Twilight Saga’s stereotypical representations of race, class, and gender, and offer resources for a more meaningful understanding of Native American life and cultures.
BOOSTING!
This is the most beautiful thing I’ve laid eyes on today
Canada has 3 viable political parties who regularly elects dozens of elected representatives. Your case would only make sense if the NDP was some fringe party like in the USA with less than 5% support who never elects anyone.
The reality is different. The reality is that in recent years the NDP has elected between 44 and 103 seats.
The reality is that the NDP is currently in power in two provinces, representing millions of people.
As I have said over and over again, the NDP merely needs about 10% support to form government. This would require only 1 in 3 Liberals voting for the NDP.
Is that really where you’re going to draw a line in the sand:
Vote for things to never ever improve? Are you seriously ok with that?
With Indigenous rights being routinely violated because at least its not the Conservatives. Of the Liberals blatantly lying and giving up most of their major promises because hey at least its not the Conservatives. The Liberals making a mockery of environmental policies, because hey Andrew Scheer would totally be worse!
If you keep voting Liberal you will never get pharmacare. You will never get tuition prices cut. You will never get interest on student loans eliminated. You never get dental coverage. You will never get electoral reform. You will never get the gay blood ban removed. You will never get real action taken on poverty. You will never get real action taken on climate change. You will never get a chance for Canada to get out of building oil pipelines. You will never get the rich to pay their fair share. You will never get corporations to pay their fair share.
I refuse to be scared of the Conservatives. I will not put my values up for sale just to appease someone who is worse.
I’m tired of strategic voting. I’m tired of voting for someone who while not as bad as the Conservatives will still carry over many of the same policies of the Conservatives, including austerity and privatization.
And guess what? These neoliberal policies hurt the most marginalized in our society the most; the poor, LGBTQ people, people of colour, disabled people.
And these policies are going to come regardless of whether we vote Liberal or Conservative. All you’re voting for is the speed in which your rights are violated and the speed of which social programs are cut to reward big businesses.
Don’t believe me? Read this article on how the Ontario Liberals plunged Ontario into 15 years of painful austerity hurting millions of people:
as an Indigenous woman, anon can go soak their head. Liberal Indigenous policy is actively harmful, and if they support it, they’re not protecting the vulnerable. they’re complicit.
Wtf is this ask even…Liberals can and are equally as harmful for many severely oppressed minorities as Tories are. Some of their policies are the EXACT same and there are many social policies they are willing to throw away to not upset Tories. What reality does this person live in? Christ almighty.
the erasure of all non-white people with this line of thinking is fucking ridiculous lmao like yes you got us, white dudes are just progressive purists who would rather everyone else suffer so long as we get to vote our conscience!!! there’s definitely no POC that want more leftist policies implemented federally or provincially!! fuck out of here
Veterans Ask Native Elders For Forgiveness At Standing Rock.
I never thought I would see this day when a white man apologizes for the tyranny and oppression of Native American population. This is so powerful. This is the nation that I want – responsible, compassionate and that learns from its mistakes.
Queer Fiction Writer 
