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

The movement of Latinos into the rural Midwest has received increased popular and scholarly attention as the number of Hispanics as a percent of the overall population has increased markedly over the past 20 years. A good deal of the popular attention has focused on the hyperbolic immigration debate, much of which has been debased by cultural bigots masquerading as champions of "American culture." Shasta College Spanish Professor Ann Sittig and her Mayan co-author and informant Martha González provide an insider's view often overlooked by, and perhaps even obfuscated from, the general immigration discussion. In plain language, The Mayans Among Us shares the intimate world of a half dozen mostly female Mayan immigrants from Guatemala who immigrated to rural Nebraska to work in the meatpacking industry.

Happenstance formed the genesis of this book. Professor Sittig has a long-standing scholarly interest in the Maya of Mesoamerica, and while teaching in Omaha, Nebraska she "discovered" the Maya around her. This accident of geographical proximity and the community goodwill and trust of the many Maya Professor Sittig encountered in rural Nebraska led her to explore the rationale for Maya immigration to Nebraska. Conversely, the Maya who confided in Professor Sittig were willing participants, noting, "we told her our immigration stories because we want to share our lives with the Americans, to help them understand why we are here and who we are" (xii). Ms. González, the co-author, acted as a bridge between Professor Sittig and the Maya community. Ms. González is also well-educated, having earned a college degree and receiving advanced graduate training in political science in Guatemala at Universidad Rafael Landívar; additionally, she served on several government and NGO commissions in Guatemala.

Through ethnography, the bulk of Professor Sittig's interviews were conducted in 2005 with six Mayan informants—five women (including Ms. González) and one man. All were born and raised in Guatemala and immigrated to Nebraska as adults. Most immigrated in their early 20s without proper entry or work documentation; the male came in his 30s after service in the Guatemalan military. The group averaged about four years of work experience in the meatpacking plants. Professor Sittig situates the immigration experience within the broader arch of recent Guatemalan history—civil war, peace, reconstruction—detailing life before leaving Guatemala, the journey north across two borders, and life in Nebraska. Those interviewed came to the US in search of a better life for themselves and their extended families, pushed by intolerable economic and safety circumstances and pulled by the prospect of tranquility and rewarding employment.

The obvious strength of this work is the stories told by Professor Sittig's informants. Long quoted passages, translated by Ms. González (from Maya to Spanish) and Professor Sittig (from Spanish to English), reveal life's ups and downs of the interviewed. These stories include life-long discrimination based upon traditional Mayan dress, language, poverty, and appearance (inside and outside of Guatemala); the struggles and dangers of crossing borders without proper documentation; the use of embedded social networks to connect with friends and family in Nebraska; the job search, work authorization, and work in the meatpacking plants; and the process of acculturation and family life in the US. Unique and interesting to this group of informants are the trilingual (Maya, Spanish, English) and tri-cultural experiences and challenges interwoven through the book.

While The Mayans Among Us: Migrant Women and Meatpacking on the Great Plains is rich in ethnographic detail, the source information chiefly comes from only six people—a sample too small for a definitive work on Maya immigrants in Nebraska. Further, one of six of the Maya informants is male and all work in Nebraska. Some attempt is made to contextualize the life experiences...