Children's songs translated into Maya Uspantek: Aury Us’ project in Guatemala
Illustration created by Marco Martínez and the Rising Voices team, used with his permission.
Meet the participants in the Catalyst Program for Digital Activism for Indigenous Languages of Guatemala! The program, coordinated by Rising Voices, brings together participants from various regions who have projects related to the use, strengthening, revitalization, and/or promotion of an Indigenous language through digital media and tools, and through processes that involve and benefit their communities.
Each participant receives a stipend, peer support, and opportunities for dialogue with people from other regions, languages, and worldviews, as well as with participants in the Mayan Languages program from Mexico and Colombia.
Rising Voices (RV): How do you like to introduce yourself?
Aury Us: Soy Aury Us y hablo maya uspanteko. Soy trabajadora social, y las oportunidades de formación que he tenido en diversos temas sociales me han motivado a involucrarme y a contribuir en diferentes espacios y procesos. Desde pequeña me ha gustado cantar y he tenido varias metas, ahora me he propuesto seguir formándome para alcanzarlas. Mi idioma maya uspanteko es un legado de mis abuelos maternos, el cual atesoro y valoro. Desde pequeña mi madre y mis abuelos me enseñaran hablarlo.
Aury Us: I'm Aury Us, and I speak Maya Uspanteko. I'm a social worker, and the training opportunities I've had with various social issues have motivated me to get involved and contribute to different spaces and processes. Since I was little, I've loved singing and have had several goals, which I've now set out to continue training in order to achieve. My Maya Uspanteko language is a legacy from my maternal grandparents, which I treasure and value. Since I was little, my mother and grandparents taught me to speak it.
RV: What would you like to share with the world about your language and territory?
Según algunas investigaciones, el idioma uspanteko tiene origen hace más de 500 años. Sin embargo, en la actualidad es considerado como uno de los idiomas mayas minoritarios en Guatemala con menos de 5 mil hablantes. Somos pocos hablantes ya que el español predomina ahora en el territorio y por esa razón ya no se promueve nuestra lengua con la niñez y juventud.
El municipio es reconocido como Uspantán, que proviene del término Uzpantlán del idioma náhuatl. Una parte de sus hablantes lo denominan como Tz’unun Kaab’ traducido en el propio idioma uspanteko que en español sería ‘Gorrión Dulce’.
Aury Us: According to some research, the Uspantek language dates back more than 500 years. However, it is currently considered one of the minority Mayan languages in Guatemala, with fewer than 5,000 speakers. There are few of us speakers left because Spanish now predominates in the territory, and for this reason, our language is no longer promoted among children and youth.
The municipality is known as Uspantán, which comes from the Nahuatl term Uzpantlán. Some of its speakers call it Tz'unun Kaab’ in the Uspantek language, which translates to ‘Sweet Sparrow’ in Spanish.
Portrait of Aury Us. Photo shared with her permission.
RV: What dreams do you have for your language in the digital and non-digital world?
Aury Us: No pierdo la esperanza que el idioma uspanteko crezca y sea valorado por los habitantes. Creo importante aprovechar los diferentes espacios para sensibilizar a la población para que lo valoren y mi sueño es que este proyecto contribuya a que otras personas se involucren en realizar diferentes acciones para la enseñanza y aprendizaje del idioma.
Aury Us: I haven't lost hope that the Uspanteko language will grow and be valued by the local people. I believe it's important to take advantage of various opportunities to raise awareness and encourage people to value it. My dream is that this project will help others get involved in various initiatives for teaching and learning the language.
RV: What is your project about in this Catalyst Program?
El proyecto K’aslemal Yolooj-Uspanteko en español se traduce ‘Vida al idioma-Uspanteko.’ Se trata de procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje del idioma maya, el cual se realizará con niños y niñas del área urbana y rural del municipio de Uspantán, conocido como Tz’unun Kaab’ en nuestra lengua.
La idea es generar espacios con infancias para grabar canciones infantiles populares que están originalmente en español y adaptarlas al formato de video con traducción al maya uspanteko, para que se puedan difundir por medio de redes sociales en cuentas de páginas locales, personales y emisoras de la localidad.
Aury Us: The K'aslemal Yolooj-Uspanteko project translates to ‘Life in the Uspantán Language’ in Spanish. It involves teaching and learning the Mayan language, which will be carried out with children from the urban and rural areas of the municipality of Uspantán, known as Tz'unun Kaab’ in our language.
The idea is to create spaces for children to record popular children's songs which are originally in Spanish, and adapt them into video format with translation into Maya Uspantán, so that they can be disseminated through social media on local websites, personal accounts, and local radio stations.
RV: Why is it important for you to create and navigate processes of using, strengthening, revitalizing, and/or promoting your language through digital media and tools?
Es importante sensibilizar a las personas sobre la importancia del idioma maya uspanteko pues a pesar de diferentes sucesos que lo han llevado a estar cerca de desaparecer, nuestro pueblo y nuestra lengua han permanecido más de 500 años gracias a que nuestros ancestros transmitieron el idioma de generación en generación.
Considero que realizar acciones de enseñanza y aprendizaje del idioma uspanteko contribuirá a sensibilizar a la población hablante y no hablante del idioma nativo. Tengo la esperanza que la niñez, la juventud y la demás población se sume para que el idioma no desaparezca, porque está en nuestras manos mantenerlo con vida.
Aury Us: It is important to raise awareness about the importance of the Maya Uspantek language because, despite various events that have brought it close to extinction, our people and our language have survived for more than 500 years thanks to our ancestors passing it down from generation to generation.
I believe that teaching and learning the Uspantek language will contribute to raising awareness among both native and non-native speakers. I hope that children, youth, and the rest of the population will join in so that the language does not disappear, because it is in our hands to keep it alive.
RV: What would you say excites you about sharing this process with other Indigenous language speakers in Colombia/Guatemala?
Es importante mantener la esperanza ante los diferentes obstáculos pues el universo nos ha elegido para ser una de las semillas para nuestros idiomas. A veces creemos que no tenemos la capacidad de dejar huella en este universo, pero si orgullosamente valoramos y atesoramos nuestras raíces y nuestros ancestros, eso nos permitirá encontrar a personas que nos ayudarán avanzar con nuestros propósitos, como el de enseñar nuestro idioma materno.
Aury Us: It's important to maintain hope in the face of various obstacles, because the universe has chosen us to be one of the seeds for our languages. Sometimes we think we don't have the capacity to leave a mark on this universe, but if we proudly value and treasure our roots and our ancestors, it will allow us to find people who will help us advance our goals, such as teaching our native language.
RV: What would you like to say to other Maya Uspanteko speakers about continuing to speak and strengthen their language?
Kita’ qasach qayoolj, qab’ite’ jwiich qayoolj, jinon li’ qaloq’aj qamaam-qatiit’ jb’ee, jk’utun xkan ye’ taq chiqe, Jinon qaloq’aj qak’aslemal.
No permitamos que nuestro idioma desaparezca, debemos fortalecer nuestro idioma. Sólo así le daremos valor a las huellas y enseñanzas que dejaron nuestros abuelos y abuelas, también demostraremos nuestro valor.
Aury Us: Let's not allow our language to disappear; we must strengthen it. Only then will we value the legacy and teachings left by our grandparents, and only then will we demonstrate our worth.
This post is from Rising Voices, a Global Voices project that helps spread citizen media to places that don't normally have access to it. All Posts
