Indigenous Archives analyzes the modes through which young Guatemalan Mayas in Los Angeles and Guatemala make sense of and respond to transnational structures of settler colonialism. Drawing on in-depth analysis of cultural production and interviews with Guatemalan Maya youth and young adults, Floridalma Boj Lopez examines how Mayas in diaspora craft and circulate narratives about their experiences across borders. Citing a more active practice of “archives in formation,” Boj Lopez depicts Indigenous archives as a cross-generational, collective conversation rooted in memory, survival, and cultural expression where Indigenous cultural practices and artifacts move, adapt, and assert their presence in the contemporary. Indigenous Archives invites readers to consider Indigeneity as a process, lived experience, and historical perspective, rather than as a static identity, and shows how extending analysis across borders is critical to understanding Latinidad and Indigeneity.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK
A little bit about the process:
I come from a community that for centuries has had their writing destroyed and dismissed. I have been blessed to not only find my way back to my community, but to contribute in this small way to our continuation. I wrote this book for Maya youth and university students (and the people who work with them) to show you/us that when we work together we can do beautiful things. Our ancestors figured out how to survive centuries of genocide and now we are here to expand, preserve, and share our culture–it’s a responsibility and a gift to be here to do that together.
A special thank you to the artist Walter Paz Joj a contemporary Kaqchikel ajtz’ib’ (Kaqchikel Scribe) who used his tremendous artistic ability to create this glyph in honor of my book. You can find his work on Instagram and Facebook.
Floridalma Boj Lopez, PhD 