Surprised by the Maya Garden story by Lopez, it made me realize that apart from Canada, Indigenous people from other regions of the world have the same problems with sovereignty as well. Not restricted to political rights and settler land occupation, their culture and traditions are endangered as well. The presenter, Mr. Lopez fled from Guatemala in the 1980s when the government imposed a genocide in the country. Later on, he continued his studies in Belgium and Canada. He mastered to speak 4 languages including Spanish, English, French and the local Maya language. He presented us with his story of immigration, traditional farming, and the significance of maize in Mayan culture.

From the article and his description. I got to know the underlying reason for multi-product agriculture where maize, squash and beans interdepend on each other. They protect and provide nutrients to each other both biologically and physically. Squash provides the cover, maize provides the pole for beans while beans release nitrogen as the fertilizer. This reminds me of how the Maya community works, people help their neighbours and other people just like the plants do. The traditional “3 sisters ” system now has medicinal plants that showed their intelligence of living, which diversified products on the given land.

Before planting and after planting, the Maya people had their own ways of praying and thanking God, in order to have good weather conditions for the coming year and the protection of God from the previous year. It made me think of the plot in Popol Vuh when God was trying to create humans, and the second attempt of wooden man failed due to the hollow heart, they could not recognize who created them. Maya people remember their ancestors all the time and the maize in the milpa, they never forgot the culture where they come from, generation by generation. That’s why Maya people still have a collaborative community culture nowadays.

I asked Mr. Lopez in class, how Maya descendants learn from their ancestors in Canada, as the Canadian educational system does not include Maya stories. He explained that the most direct way to tell children how Maya people work is from a farm, from the ground where maize grows up. Maize is the source of food, when children learn how to plant maize, they will never be starved in anywhere the world. However, Vancouver is not the best place for maize planting as the summer duration is short, and maize cannot get enough sunshine to grow as big enough as the maize in Central America. It also shows the importance of agriculture in the history of civilization I learnt from Geography class.

In my opinion, whatever the nationality you have, wherever you live. You should never forget your ethnicity, and your family traditions, as it indicates where you truly come from. As Mr. Lopez said, your stomach will “miss” the food which represents your identity.