From Colorful to Black and White

The first impression received when arriving in a new place is the airport. Tuxtla Gutierrez, the capital of Chiapas, has a white, beautiful and modern airport. The second impression is the people. Talking and observing the Chipanecos you can find, right the way, the amazing culture they have, warm and cordial, make you feel in home. I took a cab to San Cristobal de las Casas, located one hour to the south of Tuxtla Gutierrez, and the view from the ride is gorgeous. Mountains, waterfalls and a beautiful valley with a blue river is the welcoming crew. San Cristobal de las Casas is a beautiful town with colonial architecture that is becoming more touristic in the past years. The natural resources, the diversity of the people, culture and food make this town an excellent vacation destination. However, this beautiful scene changed from colorful to black and white once I started looking through the eyes of the Chiapenecos.

Chiapas needs to be seen by its own reality of oppression that came from years of isolation and poverty. The southern most state in Mexico, about one quarter of its population are of Mayan descendant. Chiapas a poor state with rich natural resources, in other words a rich land with poor people. The population has grown enormously, from one million in 1940 to two million in 1980 to four million in 2005. Ironically it has one of the highest gross birthrates at 22%,but also takes the first place in child mortality at 25%. The economy is based in agriculture and minerals. They produce 13% of country's maize, 54% of its hydroelectric, power, 5% of the nation's timber, 4% of its beans, 13% of its gas, and 4% of its oil, Despite its richness of natural resources, Chiapas is an economically underdeveloped state. Highest rate of unemployment, below average literacy, and a high infant mortality rate. Only 11 percent of adults earn what the government calls moderate income of at least $3,450 per year (versus 24 percent nationally); less than 50 percent of households have running water (versus 67% nationally); and only 14 percent have (versus 45% nationally). It seems that Chiapas has become, over the years, the trash yard of Mexico. Amazingly, the region is making it’s own attempt at overcoming the corruption of the government and its own oppression. Starting, in 1994, the same year that NAFTA was signed, an uprising led by the Zapatista movement reminded the world that indigenous people are still struggling for their rights-even 500 years after the Spain conquest. Today, the struggle for indigenous autonomy and to create peaceful communities free from poverty and oppression continues.

The indigenous communities have create different sustainable projects, with the help of the international community, that is aiding in the development of economic, social and cultural autonomy. The international community is playing a huge role in training and maintaining these communities. There is still a lot to accomplish, for example in education, health issues, poverty, land rights.But the one most disturbing is the violence that this people are exposed to, just because they are human beings that want to fight for the right to live a descent life in the land that belongs to them. It was very shocking to see how many of them have been victims of violence and massacres.

Even worse, the paramilitary groups who supported by the government and who are the authors of these crimes, were recently released from jail and set free of charges. Although, the people from this small part of the world, keep struggling for their rights, the beauty of their transparent hearts brings a hope that one day “Father God and Mother God” will do justice in this land that once were forgotten but now is in the interests of many for the natural resources.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/chiapas/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiapas#Major_communities

http://www.blythe.org/nytransfer-subs/99ca/In_a_Mexican_War_Zone,_Indians_Fight_to_Harvest_Organic_Coffee_

On Syncreticism, Inculturation and Cultural Sustainability: A Reflection from a visit to Chiapas, Mexico

“How far does the Catholic Church in Chiapas allows inculturation of Mayan indigenous?” I asked this question to Fr. Pedro Arriaga, a Jesuit priest who spent years with Tzotzil Mayan indigenous communities. However, his answers did not suffice my critical mind and my curiosity. Thus, I write this reflection to dig deeper to the issue. This article deals on questions on syncreticism, inculturation and cultural sustainability and to try objectively in finding some answers (or more questions?) to these issues.

Observation: Seeing with eyes of an outsider
It is undeniable that every foreigner visiting certain indigenous communities brings his/her own cultural and personal background in his/her observations. I am not excuse to it. Although I lived and worked for a number of years with indigenous communities in Taiwan, trying to understand and help inculturate some of their indigenous culture to present Christian beliefs, I still look at myself as an outsider to a community I learned to embrace and understand. Doing inculturation is a complex process for it calls for a “creative and dynamic relationship between Christian message and indigenous culture”. Inculturation puts emphasis on creativity and dynamism of relationship. The question is: How far? The things I saw in the church of Chamula made me asked that question.

The Case of Chamula: Syncretism or Inculturation?
The church in Chamula is run and manage independently by the indigenous community. According to a story, on the height of liberation theology in Chiapas, the indigenous community of Chamula expelled the parish priest who wanted to implement some revolutionary changes in the parish. Since then, the Catholic Church was prohibited from doing sacramental services, which only recently have gained access to do a monthly Sacrament of the Eucharist inside the church.

Indigenous people who seek physical or spiritual healing for themselves or for others frequently visit the church. Mayan priests are there ready to do rituals using herbs, chickens, candles, wooden sticks, soft drinks (Coca-cola or Pepsi) and chants. Smoke from burning candles fill the church; while cacophonies from mayan priests’ prayers surround the church’s solemn atmosphere. Catholic symbols are everywhere – crosses, images of saints, rosary beads and the likes. The church building is an everyday witness of how indigenous beliefs are intertwined with the beliefs brought by Catholicism.

The rituals in the church of Chamula are the epitome of syncretic practices and beliefs of Mayans and Catholicism but not inculturated forms. It is just a case of indigenous people combining traditional practices and beliefs with Catholicism. Theirs has not yet reached the stage of cleansing beliefs and practices that are incompatible for both indigenous Mayans and Catholicism. When that stage occurs, then inculturation begins to happen.

Inculturation: Syncretism of goodness and beauty of both cultures
Inculturation must pass certain criteria to be authentic. There are a number of schemas use in evaluating the authenticity of inculturation, but most of them consist of basic elements namely, the Christian message, the cultural situations, and the pastoral agents.

Is the element being inculturated faithful to the Christian message? Does it shows universal goodness? Are the people themselves with the help of church leaders and scholars doing the process of inculturation? If these three elements are present, then authentic inculturation may happen. This process of authenticating inculturation may sound easy in this article, but it is a complicated matter that needs thorough understanding.

For us who are not so familiar with inculturation, let us just simply say that inculturation is done collaboratively by the indigenous community and church leaders in syncretizing the goodness and beauty of both indigenous culture and Catholicism.

Inculturation: A way for cultural sustainability
In the light of sustainable development, does inculturation helps in cultural sustainability? Inculturation is not changing of culture over another; it is rather preserving and developing the good elements of culture and adds Christian meaning to them. Some elements of both indigenous and Catholicism may lose in the process, but these elements may not be essential to both parties. An authentic inculturated element of indigenous culture shows values and goodness of its culture with deeper and relevant meaning because of integration of Christian meaning.

Inculturation is not an imposition of Christian practices and beliefs to certain culture, rather giving Christian message to already established values. The people themselves with the help of church leaders will discern which elements are to be inculturated. This kind of process is in consonance with the process on cultural sustainability that calls for decision from below.

For more readings on Inculturation and Syncretism kindly click:
www.loyolajesuit.org/peter_schineller/resources/SYNCRET1.doc
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14383c.htm
http://www.caribbeantheology.net/Inculturation.htm

Reference:
Schineller, Peter, S.J. Inculturation and the Issue of Syncretism: What is the Real Issue? www.loyolajesuit.org/peter_schineller/resources/SYNCRET1.doc [accessed April 1, 2010]
Shorter, Aylward. Inculturation of African Traditional Religious Values in Christianity – How Far? http://www.afrikaworld.net/afrel/shorter.htm [accessed March 31, 2010]

A Question of Identity

I came to Chiapas with a certain set of expectations, thinking that my experience would be similar to prior study abroad trips to Central America. I expected visits to fair trade coffee operations and meetings with local nonprofits, and consider them to be an important piece of the sustainable development puzzle. However, I was quickly surprised by the influence of the local Mayan culture in conversations surrounding development. I found its presence in the Catholic Church to be remarkable, unique, and indeed rare.

I will admit that my perception of the Roman Catholic Church is skewed. It has always struck me as a religion out of touch with the world in which it operates. In Central America, for example, the progressive views of the poor and liberation theology were wholly unsupported and ignored by prior and current popes. I believe this to be a reflection of the Church’s inflexibility, an institution focused on exporting its religion and enforcing its culture.

However, this narrative is not reflective of Chiapas, a place that has experienced a renaissance in identity. The influence of Bishop Ruiz in this region ushered in dramatic changes. Healing churches such as those in San Juan Chamula, the prolific Mayan cross, and increased community participation are clear divergences from traditional Roman Catholic practices. Most noticeable are the physical changes inside the churches, such as floors lined in pine needles, the presence of multi-colored candles, and benches pushed to the sides of sanctuaries. These are all signs of the blending of Mayan and Catholic beliefs and practices. According to Tavanti’s book, Las Abejas, this is the unique combination of inculturation and liberation theology, or indigenous theology. It is the recognition of the importance of identity and the tremendous role it plays in the health of its people.

Being witness to the indigenous cultures in Chiapas led me to reflect on my own father’s difficult and degrading experience with religion. Growing up on Turtle Mountain reservation he, like so many other native children of his generation, was forced to go to an Indian boarding school. Specifically, he attended St. Michael’s Indian Mission in North Dakota, a Catholic institution. At that time, it was a place intolerant of indigenous cultures, designed to fracture native communities.

Up until the era of self-determination in the 1970s, The Bureau of Indian Affairs focused on assimilating all North American tribes. Boarding schools were efficient/effective tools in this process of separating children from their families and communities, requiring uniforms, and forbidding indigenous practices including native languages. My dad described this time in his life as one of the worst, a humiliating experience.

What kind of impact would St. Michael’s have today, and in my dad’s life, if it had chosen a different path? Would I better understand my own culture and people if the school had embraced diversity instead of attempting to abolish an entire culture? Would area reservations be thriving, more prosperous and healthy?
A common theme throughout the meetings and discussions in Chiapas was the role of indigenous cultures. So often, culture is framed as a hindrance or an obstacle to development. The assumption being that indigenous cultures have little to contribute to the field. Governments and organizations alike feel the pressure to adopt imported projects that have little relevance to those it seeks to help, such as the World Bank or IMF. If true sustainable development is to be achieved, value must be seen in all cultures. Thus, successful projects are those that are framed in terms of sustainable indigenous culture instead of economic growth or environmental progress.

The health of any people is their identity. It gives them direction, community, and a life’s mission. If development projects do not first recognize this is as a basic human right, there is very little chance of sustainability. This is the type of leadership Bishop Ruiz provided in his community and church, an idea that can extend beyond Chiapas. It is both a lesson and philosophy that I hope to embody in my own life and work.

Kim Christensen's Blog

Cited Works:

Tavanti, Marco. Las Abejas: Pacifist Resistance and Syncretic Identities in a Globalizing Chiapas. New York: Rutledge, 2003.

Additional References:
Berryman, Phillip. Stubborn Hope: Religion, Politics, and Revolution in Central America. New York: The New Press, 1994.

Bodley, John H. Victims of Progress. 5th ed. Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2008.

Gedicks, Al. The New Resource Wars: Native and Environmental Struggles Against Multinational Corporations. Boston: South End Press, 1993.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5pJf2rlE8w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE3tFgQwYEI