Yucatán: MACHI and Kaxil Kiuic

MACHI and its local collaborator Kaxil Kiuic, an NGO based in the Puuc Hills of the state of Yucatan (directed by Dr. Tomás Gallareta Negrón, Dr. George Bey, and Mr. James Callaghan) have sought to develop an educational program by pursuing our objectives through a form of local entertainment: puppets! The popularity of puppets in the Yucatan has been used to address issues such as the environment and domestic abuse and is an innovative medium to attempt to address issues of archaeological conservation.

Original ideas to create a traveling puppet show have slowly morphed into a more archival project idea. Plans are currently in the works to create a “Puppet-mentary” that would be filmed on location at archaeological sites. A series of episodes (recorded on DVD) would teach different lessons about the pre-Hispanic past accompanied by messages of archaeological conservation. Following its completion, the episodes would be distributed to primary and high schools (along with a teacher’s guide) as a tool for teaching about the past and archaeological conservation.

Quintana Roo: MACHI and Mayaón, A.C.

Mayón, A.C. is a pan-peninsular organization based in Chinchimilá, Yucatán (near Valladolid) with local committees in the states of Quintana Roo and Campeche. Mayaón, A.C. focuses on the promotion of Maya cultural language, cultural heritage, and environmental conservation. Recently, in Quintana Roo, Mayaón has been involved in recording local oral histories about the Sian Ka’an, an ecological reserve, to produce colorful bilingual children’s text books for distribution in and around Felipe Carillo Puerto, where the committee is based.

The collaboration between MACHI and Mayaón, A.C. will focus on the production of a Maya radio series. Taking cues from our partnership with Fundación ProPetén, the scripts and themes will be developed in Quintana Roo (rather than adapting those produced for Guatemala) by teacher Amedée Collí Collí.