The Mayans Among Us: Migrant Women and Meatpacking on the Great Plains by Ann L. Sittig, Martha Florinda Gonzales (review)

Often the rhetoric surrounding immigrants focuses on negative images and centers around those of Mexican origin. Usually, the conversation assumes these “illegal Mexican immigrants” live in the Southwest. The Mayans Among Us gives us a rare look at a Latinx subculture that often goes unnoticed in the mainstream media—the Mayans of Central America—in a place that very few people talk about—the Midwest. The authors of this book are a Spanish instructor who formally taught at a community college in Omaha and a member of the Nebraska Mayan community who facilitated access to the subjects of the book.

Through oral histories or testimonios this book gives us a peek into the lives of Mayan immigrants in Nebraska focusing on the experience of the women in the community. The oral history methodology allows for a personal look into why these migrants left, what brought them to Nebraska, and the challenges they face in predominantly Anglo rural communities. It also shows respect for the oral tradition of Mayan culture. In all, the accounts of five Mayan women and one Ladino male appear in the book. The conversations with the authors took place in Spanish which for the case of everyone involved with the exception of the Ladino male subject was not their first language.

The fact that the Maya navigate three cultures after moving to Nebraska stands out the most. They are culturally and racially indigenous, assumed to be Spanish-speaking and mixed race, and expected to speak English and act American. As such, they learn to deftly shift identities.

The book begins with Mayan culture in Guatemala before and after the civil war. Particular attention is paid to clothing as a marker of indigeneity. As the subjects emphasize, Mayan dress represents a cultural symbol and centuries of history. Traditional Mayan clothing literally shows who one is and where one is from. In addition, “the traje displays economic stability and cultural prowess for Mayan women” in part due to the cost and the time commitment involved in making the ensembles (3). Those interviewed noted with sadness that they shed their traditional dress in order to cross the border lest they be marked as other. Blending in with other migrants proved to be their main goal while travelling to the United States. If migrants were caught entering the country without authorization, their lives would be at risk if sent back to Guatemala. Instead they feigned Mexican citizenship as a means of survival.

Once settled in Nebraska, they only wore Mayan clothing for special occasions. It proved impractical for the meat packing plants and too costly to replace. As the authors note, “donning American clothing is physically and emotionally estranging to the Mayan women” (4) and represents a loss of culture. Instead wearing traditional clothing only at certain times becomes a political act, especially in Nebraska. Donning traditional dress shows pride in cultural and economic stability. In effect wearing the traje becomes a statement, “I’m Mayan, I’m here, and I’ve made it.”

The authors devote a chapter on the civil war in Guatemala during which the military ruled from 1954 to 1996 and resulted in the deaths of over 200,000 people, a large number of them indigenous. While the material in this chapter is riveting, it relies almost exclusively on the testimonio of the Ladino male informant. This belies the title of the book—Mayan women—and serves as my biggest complaint in an otherwise solid volume.

Another unique aspect of this work is its focus on meatpacking. While other works have this industry at its heart, both fiction and nonfiction, (most famously Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle) few discuss women in the industry and rarely is a woman’s voice featured. In fact, I wish the book devoted more than one chapter to this subject (again especially as it...