Challenges of an indigenous university in a westernized education system

By Nancy Sabas

¨Are you the same ones that came to kill my people?¨ asked hesitantly an Ixil community Elder to a group of 10 curious students soon-to-become teachers from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.

For many people, having 24 Caucasian people travel to the highlands of Guatemala to learn about Mayan knowledge in order to integrate it in their teaching practices in a western educational world is by no means a far fetched scenario.  This was not the case for participants in the International learning tour to Guatemala who had the opportunity to discover the beauty and wisdom within Mayan societies.

Ixil University

In the town of Nebaj, a remote area in the northern Highlands of Guatemala, Benito María, Vitalino Similoch and Pablo Ceto, founded in 2011 the Ixil University through MCC´s partner organization FUNDAMAYA in collaboration with local Mayan authorities. This is an educational institution with a strong emphasis on community development, human rights and territorial defense from a mayan Ixil perspective. Their methods - often considered unorthodox by the official education system – include a strong and intentional focus on research based on the oral tradition of the Ixil people, field work and hands on learning as well as constant consultation and communication with community elders.

 These methods are prioritized over traditional, westernized academic norms. Field work in the communities predominates over the classroom and the Mayan Ixil language take precedence over spanish. A progressive and parallel alternative has been opened for mayan students who have been overlooked and discriminated against by universities officially recognized by the state.  Mayan Ixil students, many of whom are peasants, are now able to receive education for a very small fee during the last three years. Now FUNDAMAYA has some financial challenges to face in order to keep this educational alternative alive. 

¨So often the students from our community that can afford to move to the city and enroll in an officially recognized University, find themselves almost forced to migrate and find opportunities outside of our community. Our university on the other hand, trains people to respond specifically to the Mayan Ixil context and retains students and young people so that they can develop their own community, “ explained Pablo Ceto to the learning tour participants from the University of Sasktachewan.

Under the eyes of two parallel education systems

The small community of Tzalbal, Nebaj, hosted the first debate held between students from the Ixil university and the University of Saskatchewan.  The debate also included the participation of community elders, members of the Ixil Youth network ¨Chemol Txumb'al¨ and graduates from the ixil University in the associates degree in community development focused on natural assets. 

The students from the Ixil University explained that the invasion by mining and hydroelectric companies in their lands represents the third prominent attack against the mayan Ixil population.  The colonization by Spaniards in the 16th century was the first foreign invasion of their territory and the militarization and genocide during the civil war of the 1980´s  was the second. The Ixil University places a lot of attention in educating their students in terms of advocacy and territory defense. The students explained the severity and risks generated by the multinational corporations  operating in the Ixil territory mentioning how direct violations against democracy and human rights have been committed in order to grant extraction licenses to these companies.  These licences not only cause irreversible environmental damages thus desecrating the most sacred element in the mayan spirituality—Mother Earth—but also produce poverty by displacing people from their lands  and diminishing opportunities for agriculture, fishing and clean water.

The Saskatchewan students expressed also their frustrations towards discrimination against their aboriginal Canadian communities and found some similarities between the struggles of the Ixil people and those of Canadian First Nations. 

When identifying the major differences among the two universities , both groups came to these conclusions:

*Prestige- The University of Saskatchewan is ranked among the top ten of Canada´s best universities while the Ixil University faces stigmas from conservative groups picturing their students as rebels or potential ¨guerrilleros¨-- a reputation that stems from their efforts in advocating against and resisting multinational companies.

*Definitions of Success- The majority of the U of S students expressed that students in North America study in order to ¨have success in the globalized world¨ referring to financial profits and personal recognition. The Ixil University students said that they study ¨to improve their community in becoming self sufficient and to create the ¨Buen vivir¨. (¨El Buen vivir¨ or ¨The Good Life¨ -is an indigenous philosophical principle that encloses the pursuit of harmony and sustainable conditions to live among people and nature in peace.)  Success in the mayan culture is defined by this principle that encourages people to live with just enough to provide the necessities of life and thus discourages against consumer accumulation or other non sustainable practices.

*  Job availabilities after graduation: U of S students expressed how their possibilities of finding a job once graduating will depend strictly on their qualifications and skills.  Ixil university students expressed their disappointment with the certain aspects of their local culture as many jobs are given out as political favors to those who participate with certain political parties.

*University fees: The university of Saskatchewan, and universities in general in Canada, require a significant financial investment. The Ixil University attempts to keep the tuition as low as possible  so that peasants can attend too.

The students from the University of Saskatchewan asked the Ixil University what contributions based on the wealth of ancient Mayan knowledge and wisdom they would like to offer to the global society.  Students from the ixil University replied that they “would like to share with the world our system of justice, which does not allow transgressors to be locked in a jail doing nothing as the conventional systems does. Instead, we give them tasks that enable them to right their wrongs and to face the consequences of their actions, until they are sorry and forgiven by the community¨. They also added that ¨we would also like the world to learn and live under the principles of el Buen Vivir (The Good Life).”

U of S students working on the land alongside Ixil community members