The Deer Dance Comes Home
For decades, the Mayas have displayed their traditional dances, telling stories with a few instruments and practiced steps. The Deer Dance is only one such tradition, but it tells the story of the Mayas' need to live off the land, whether for food, shelter, or medicine.
However, over the years, fewer and fewer Mayas have learned the dance, and the elders are worried their culture will eventually be erased. But the Santa Cruz Villagers have recently been able to acquire their own costumes and musicians, after years of borrowing from neighboring Guatemala. And today, they put on a special presentation.
Courtney Menzies traveled to Toledo and has this story.
These intricate masks, colorful costumes, and precise choreography are all a part of the Deer Dance - a staple of the Maya culture. And performing it here, at the Lubaantun Archaeological Site is one way that the Mayas of the south are keeping their traditions alive.
According to one village elder, though the dance is done during a period of celebration, it's not just for entertaining purposes. It's a form of expression, connecting them with their own spirituality.
Ernesto Saqui, Village Elder, Maya Center
"They do it because 1, they also wanted to continue to promote culture as this brings a sense of spirituality, a sense of unity, a sense of community so that each and everyone in the community would come together and express their spiritual existence. There's an inner feeling where they come, they do this performance, but in addition to this, you ask for your own spiritual inheritance and enhancement so that you can actually become more spiritual."
"Food, dances, different kinds of activities in the celebration, and actually the burning of the incense which guides that whole process. Now this is very important, no matter what you do, Maya people have always connected with the sacred incense, the sacred incense is the way to open, it's the a way of reaching out, it's a way of transforming from one to the next. In this case, when we burn the incense, the copal, is goes up, we believe when it goes up, it comes back as positive blessings, as a renewal in spiritual enhancement. So in doing that we believe elders receive a wisdom, a wisdom of guidance, wisdom to chart the way, not only for yourself but for the family or the community."
And this dance tells a story, though the meaning has several different interpretations. At its core, it depicts the relationship between the Mayas and the land. But according to Saqui, it also portrays a significant part of their history:
Ernesto Saqui, Village Elder, Maya Center
"If you look at what is happening, the composition, if you look at the different people or the dancers, you have ones that look like the Europeans, look like pirates, and once you look at the other set, it's mostly animals. So what we observe here is that there are these people that came many years ago to the new world and look at all of this beauty. In my opinion and some other people's opinion, it's an invasion that has taken over. So this is going to be a new homeland for them, so when they came here they found us, the conquer us, and now we have to assimilate and inherit some of the values they bring, so the dance is performed, it's like a reenactment to remember this was how the thing started."
But preserving this part of the culture hasn't been easy, and even now it's at risk of fading with future generations. That's why the organizer of today's event says they're trying to fan the flames to keep it alive.
Basilio Teul, Organizer/Deer Dancer
"It is not only for us as the Maya people but for every ethnic group that we have in this country because we have a lot of culture, we have the Garifuna culture, we have the Maya culture, we have every culture in our country so it is very important to keep it alive. So I'm very proud to share this for the nation to know that we are one body, one flesh and one blood within our country."
"I am very proud to share that we have them now because when we started this Deer Dance, we started to borrow the costume from Guatemala in the year 2000. 2001, 2002, 2003, we all continued to do that. But now, it's 23 years we started this culture within our community so that is why I am very proud to share that it's not only Santa Cruz community but everybody, but we need unity. we need to come together so from there then we can move forward with this culture."
Ernesto Saqui, Village Elder, Maya Center
"I must say knowing myself in the young days, I saw more culture, more activities, more dances like this including the deer dance, the moro dance, the Cortez dance, the monkey dance, the hog head dance, all these dances were very active but because there's no emphasis on continuing it and the leaders, the elders that are passing out are not passing over to the younger people then we take it for granted that someone else will do it, but who will do it?"
The Mayas, along with NICH, are working to produce a video which will explain the meaning and significance of the Deer Dance. It is expected to be launched sometime in the next month.
Channel 7
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