Sign Language, Culture & Community in a Traditional Yucatec Maya Village

A traditional Mayan village in the state of Yucatan has an unusually high number of deaf inhabitants (13 of about 400). The deaf people have a rich sign language, which is not the same sign language as that of the deaf inhabitants of the towns and cities of Mexico. The deaf villagers are almost fully integrated into the ordinary patterns of life, and appear to have access to the economic benefits of the society; deafness is relatively depoliticized. This pattern is explained by the fact that all hearing villagers are able to communicate well in sign language.