Meet the Women Poets Preserving Indigenous Languages in Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

BY
Bérengère Sim OpenDemocracy
PUBLISHED
August 26, 2018

Mexico’s culture ministry recognises 68 indigenous languages – although some experts say there are more than 100 spoken in the North American country.

Today, dozens of these languages are at risk of extinction – with battles to stop this being waged on multiple fronts. One of these is literary – with indigenous women among those preserving their languages through poetry and storytelling.

Celerina Patricia Sánchez Santiago is part of the Alliance for Indigenous Women in Central America and Mexico (ALIANZA) network strengthening the voices of indigenous women and their participation in feminist movements.

Preserving indigenous languages is “important to understanding who you are, to then understand the world, and to be a part of it,” says Sánchez, a linguist and indigenous rights activist from San Juan Mixtepec, in Oaxaca.

More:
https://truthout.org/articles/meet-the-women-poets-preserving-indigenous-languages-in-mexico/

[Igel]

1. Georganne Weller probably did more to preserve the various forms of Mixtec. n/t