THE MAYA VERSUS MONSANTO

Two Mayan shamans travel far from their home to raise awareness of the plight of the People of the Corn

“We are the people of the corn,” Tata Cecilio teaches the crowd of women, men and children who have gathered to hear him speak at the community hall in Pt. Reyes, California. His elder, Tata Tomas, sits in a folding chair near the stage thoughtfully listening. Tata is the Maya word for Grandfather or Spiritual Guide, but these two men aren’t just respected elders; they’re both Daykeepers[1] of the Maya calendar, the ancient calendar of the Kaqchikel Maya[2] of Guatemala, and Ajq’ij[3]. They have come to speak about food security for the Maya nation through education about genetically modified food. Part of the education includes building seed banks throughout the land of the Maya that will store native heirloom seeds.

Both the Tatas stand around 5 feet in height, wearing a combination of Western clothing and traditional Maya textiles, emanating an energy like the Earth herself. Tata Cecilio is 40, yet is still honored as an elder at home. Tata Tomas, in his 60’s, holds the position of “Elder to the Elders” and is highly respected among his people. Their friend and ally Camila Martinez, director of the Maya Seed Ark Project, translates for Tata Cecilio, “The four elements of earth, air, fire and water come together and create life through seeds. The seeds grow into corn. We eat the corn and receive life. When the Maya grow and eat GMO seed, we introduce genetics that are foreign into our bodies. We change our own genetics. Then we can no longer be called Maya.” There is a hushed silence in the room as we non-Maya consider this fact. Those of us who can’t conceptualize how humans can also be corn, or taro, or buffalo and how the fate of one is interchangeable with the fate of the other will never truly comprehend the Maya, or any indigenous culture. When we can understand this truth, it’s not a far leap to then understand how genetically modified seeds are threatening the very fabric of existence for indigenous cultures. Though I am familiar with the devastation Monsanto has been causing to small farmers all around the world, I’m appalled to hear the details of what is happening down in the land of the Maya. The Maya are the people of the corn. This dire message is why Tata Cecilio and his elder have made the long journey north to the unknown land of California, from their remote communities in Guatemala.

I had my first meeting with the Tatas and Camila a few days prior, at a Sunrise Fire Ceremony in West Marin; a special gathering for donors and close friends. It was the first time two Kaqchikel Maya elders had ever held a traditional ceremony like this in our region of California. I was there as a donor, having heard about their visit from a friend. She knew I’d just returned from ten days in the Yucatan where I was communing with my ancestral roots, and she thought I’d like to meet two traditional Maya elders.

Most spiritual seekers today know the date of 2012 on the Maya Calendar from books, internet sites, or the feature film 2012 by Rolland Emmerich. Tata Tomas and Tata Cecilio have a different account of their own prophesy and calendar and feel discouraged by the continued exploitation of their spiritual heritage. They say their ancestors handed down a perfected method of living; this method is the observance of the Maya calendar. The very birth of the calendar and the people is recorded in their creation story, the Popol Vuh, which describes the decline of the classic Maya because of drought and climate change. Based on thousands and thousands of years of Mayan observations of the cosmos, Mayan Daykeepers have been able to foretell when the cycle of climate change will come around again. It is right now. That is why the elders are starting to share the prophesies to the greater world.

The calendar guides the Maya in all areas of their lives: family, education, work, ceremony, food, medicine and governance. With the encroachment of modern civilization, the Maya are struggling to hold onto their traditional ways, an all too familiar story among native communities. And now with Monsanto selling genetically modified hybrid corn to unknowing farmers, the Maya are losing hold of that which is most sacred and connected to their soul.

The calendar can guide not just the Maya, but everyone, in how to live a beautiful, harmonic and conscious existence. The Tatas teach that 2012 is bringing in a great shift in consciousness. As I sit next to Tata Tomas in the Point Reyes community hall, I know in my bones that this is what I’ve been waiting for: to hear the wisdom of the calendar shared from the voices and hearts of the Mayan people; a wisdom that is not separated from their daily lives. Tata Tomas stands now and shares, “Our calendar ends at your year 2012. At this time you are facing a choice: to listen to our Mother Earth, or destroy her. It is your choice.”

I feel a warmth rising from my belly to my heart and I know I have to play a part in alerting people about what is really happening down in the land of the Maya. This cause is close to my heart. I’d made a pilgrimage to the Yucatan earlier in the year to connect with my Maya ancestors. At that point I only had an intuition that my lineage was connected to the Maya, but no facts. I was then surprised to learn from Camila Martinez at the Sunrise Ceremony that the Gutierrez’ came over from Spain with Cortez and landed in the Yucatan. When most of the other officers and soldiers left, the Gutierrez’ stayed and intermarried with the Maya, making Mexico their home.” Is this why I’d grown up calling my grandparents Tata and Nana? While in Mexico I hoped to encounter traditional Mayans, but I didn’t make one connection. The closest I got was almost attending a Tamazcal, a traditional Maya sweat lodge ceremony, at a yoga retreat center. Mostly I beared witness to a degraded Maya culture where the people struggled to eek out a living as maids, gardeners and maintenance staff at the gargantuan international resorts. Upon my return home I realized that the conquest of Mexico’s people that started in 1520 by the Spaniards, was still happening today, but now the weapon was capitalism and the conquistadors were the international corporations. When I heard two Maya elders were coming to the land of my birth and that’s where I would sit with them I knew there was some kind of spiritual intervention at play.

Others in the audience must be feeling a strong connection also, as suddenly many hands are raising into the air with questions. The Tatas answer every question attentively. The Point Reyes community is on fire with ideas! They’re already brainstorming how to help disseminate the DVD that Camila has made that teaches the Maya people how to build seed banks and conserve their native heirloom seed. One person asks how else can we help?

“First and foremost, stop eating genetically modified foods. Check your cupboards. Get rid of GMOs. For a list of companies that produce or distribute GMO foods, go to greenpeace.com, the Center for Food Safety, or the Organic Consumers Association,” Camila responds.

“Save your seeds. Grow your own food within your community”, Tata Cecilio adds.

After the event, I am filled with energy and looking forward to my private meeting with the Tatas and Camila the next day, when the Tatas will read my Maya astrology. Before heading back to Sonoma County, I ask Camila if I can write an article about the plight of the Maya that might help spread awareness of their cause. “Call me”, she smiles handing me her card. Her presence is formidable, like a mother cougar, and I feel grateful that the Maya have her as an spokesperson in the North. She has been a strong advocate for the Maya people in their struggles against the Monsanto Corporation. She began working with the Maya in 1996 as a bridge to information, advocacy and resources. Camila met Tata Cecilio, a former president of the Kaqchikel Linguistics Institute, in 2007, when they were both speaking on a panel at the 7th Encuentro de Pueblos Maya which took place in Belize. The Encuentros are annual gatherings of Maya people from all over the land of the Maya, which include southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. They both presented on seeds: Camila regarding Monsanto’s GMO seeds and Tata Cecilio regarding the Maya Calendar and Prophesy. Within two years of that meeting, Camila produced, directed and edited a one hour and 15 minute film entitled “Alarma! No to GMOs!”, in which Tata Cecilio appears. The film teaches in detail how to build a seed bank, what a GMO seed is, health risks and how to save traditional seeds. Because of her growing friendship with the Maya and loyalty in assisting them, Camila was invited to the last three Encuentros, to warn the people about Monsanto’s plundering. It was at the Ninth Encuentro of Maya nations, held last year in Zapatista territory in Chiapas, Mexico, that she premiered the film “ALARMA! NO A LOS TRANSGENICOS”. Today, the Spiritual Elders are collaborating with the Maya Seed Ark Project to get the word out to their communities.

Here is some important information that everyone needs to be aware of concerning Monsanto’s activity in the Mayan lands. Much of it is what the Tatas and Camila shared during their talks in Marin County and at the 2009 Bioneers Conference:

Inside the traditional lands of the Maya there is a large swath of rainforest called the Peten jungle. It is one of three places remaining in the world with such great density of biodiversity. There are three million Maya living in this area. Many still live in isolated areas, hours from central townships, maintaining farming practices handed down to them by their ancestors, but Monsanto has infiltrated even the most remote villages with GMO seeds. Sadly, there are some regions in Guatemala that have lost their traditional yellow corn seed, and solely plant GMO crops. That means that that region’s variety of heirloom yellow corn is gone forever, and the corn the rely on for food is GMO.

For the last two years Guatemala has been in severe drought and farming families have been hit hard. On top of that, the Guatemalan government has recently issued rate hikes on fertilizer, electricity and propane, squeezing the Maya even more. It is no wonder the Maya are so vulnerable to offers of seed from Monsanto. Often Maya farmers acquire genetically altered seeds at their local seed store, hooked by the promotional labeling: “The New Improved Seed”, or they are invited to attend a meeting where they are given a bag of free (GMO) seed. Religious groups and midwives, unknowingly enlisted in Monsanto’s army through sly propaganda such as, “join the modern times” or “biotech will feed the world,” are sometimes found helping Monsanto promote their genetically altered seeds to farmers. Not only do the Maya farmers not know they are planting GMO seed; they also don’t realize that they are planting seeds that can cross pollinate with their traditional seeds and contaminate them forever. Once farmers have switched over to GMO seed, they are dependent on Monsanto for their annual supply. Monsanto has just this spring raised their prices on seed by 30%, well aware that farmers have nowhere else to turn.

Monsanto’s agents are also giving away free seeds to get people to plant GMO without knowing it. For example, they host a community meeting called “Mothers of the Corn,” inviting Maya midwives to attend. When the women get there they are gifted a large bag of GMO corn seed. Tata Cecilio told the story of his mother’s experience going to a meeting like this and how happy she was when she returned home with free corn. She put some in a pot and cooked it up. She disliked the taste so much she threw away the whole bag. But not all Maya have the luxury to throw out free seed. Many are so poor and their families are so hungry they eat this corn and are grateful “to the savior.”

Monsanto is not just pushing their GMO seed; they’re also patenting indigenous heirloom seeds and the seeds of many varieties of wild medicinal plants. The genetically engineered seeds currently being disbursed in Central America include corn, tomatoes, chilies, papaya, cotton and tobacco. In order to protect native seeds, the mission of the Maya Seed Ark Project in collaboration with the Councils of Maya Spiritual Elders is to establish Maya Seed Arks in selected locations on the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala and Belize, where there is potential for long-term sustainability. The next step is to initiate Maya men and women as “Keepers of the Seeds” in every village, as a sacred charge for future generations. The Seek Arks will provide families with food and medicine security and will be a genetic treasure trove of heirloom seeds specific to each region.

By the time the Tatas’ journey came to a close, my heart was connected to the Maya irreversibly. I was deeply moved by the humility, authenticity and compassion the Tatas met everyone with, no matter who they were. If this was an example of the dignity of my ancestors, I had something to be proud of and something to strive for in myself.

I had two major realizations through my time with the Tatas and Camila. The first is that: for the Maya, their fight for food security is foretold by and guided by their ancient prophesies and their astrological calendar. Even my involvement can be read in their calendar, as my astrology reading with the Tatas showed. It is impossible for the daily life of the Maya to be separated from the living energies of their calendar. Therefore, they themselves are the living calendar. The two exist together as one. And second, a non-Maya who desires to learn more about the Maya calendar, needs devotion and study. And there is not just one calendar; there are many, each different but similar and all concluding with the same calendar end time. The teachings are multi-dimensional, very personal and very cosmic at the same time. Camila taught me, “The best way to know the calendar is to start to live by it and see how it affects your life. If you want to learn from a genuine Ajq’ij, Daykeeper, you have to do the preliminary work to be ready for that auspicious occasion.”

Sitting cross-legged on the ground with Tata Cecilio, while picking at our plates of food at the goodbye party for the Tatas, I speak in very broken Spanish to him about his home in Guatemala. Tata Cecilio is a teacher by profession and his time in California is time away from work and family obligations. He shares that he is looking forward to getting back home to his newborn daughter, who arrived just one month ago. The stark reality that his family’s every day experiences are so different from my own, is inescapable. I suddenly feel a wave of concern rush through my heart for the safety of the Tatas and all the Maya who have been courageously speaking out against Monsanto. Stories of Monsanto’s ruthlessness toward any who oppose them flood back to my mind, such as Percy Schmeiser, a Canola farmer in Bruno, Canada. But these fears are wasted energy in helping the Maya; rather, I want to offer them my own courage to act on their behalf, my faith in their spirit, and my depthless love.

For one last time, the group of donors and friends is called to gather around the central altar. Joyfully, yet with a wordless longing in our eyes, we join the Tatas kneeling to the four-directions, touching our foreheads to the Earth and offering our dance up to the ancestors. Hugging the Tatas goodbye and looking into their serene eyes, I feel my own ancestors looking back at me: the grandfatherly open-heart of Tata Tomas and the sharp, clear heart of Tata Cecilio, both holding a beautiful wisdom so rare and precious, both taking tremendous risks for their people and for us.

If you want to know the truth, go to the source. Only the source, the Maya Daykeepers, can teach you the wisdom of their calendar. They ARE the living prophecy, the living Maya calendar. No book can ever substitute for the continuance of this ancient culture on Earth. Please support their efforts to preserve their culture.

HOW YOU CAN BECOME AN ALLY TO THE MAYA
The action plan at present:

1. Copy and distribute the film ALARMA! NO A LOS TRANSGENICOS in the lands of the Maya
2. Educate people via films, flyers, community radio and indigenous TV
3. Build seed banks of traditional seed in sustainable regions
4. Gather original seeds from all regions -foods, medicinals and trees
5. Generate seed exchanges between farmers
6. Create demonstration sites of organic native seeds
7. Test for GMO contamination

What the Maya Seed Ark Project needs immediately:

• It takes $100,000 to set up one seed bank. The goal is to begin with three seed banks, one in Belize, one in Guatemala, and one in the Yucatan region.
• It takes only $7 to make a copy of the 1hr. 15 min. film Camila made. The more copies the better!
• $10,000 is needed immediately to distribute the film to more Maya communities.
• $4000 is needed to dub the film in English so that people and donors in the North can hear what is happening to the Maya.
• $4000 is needed for reproduction and distribution of dubbed film in English.
• Volunteer help is needed at the Maya Seed Ark Project in computer technical assistance.
• Long-term investors who are committed to the Maya and the survival of their culture are needed so that the ongoing implementation of seed security plans and education can be done.

DONATING
Please mail your much needed donations to the following addresses:

Kindly make out your check to:

Camila Martinez
P.O. Box 751
Bolinas, CA 94924

If you’d like to make a tax-deductible donation write check to:
Wakan
Mail to address above to the name Wakan c/o Camila Martinez.
(Please write in Memo of check: Maya Seed Ark Project)

CONTACTS:
They Maya Seed Ark Project
www.themayaseedarkproject.com
Founder, Director Camila Martinez
Camila is available to speak at conferences and events, and is available for Maya astrology readings.

This article was written by: Maria Owl Gutierrez

Maria is a local Marin/Sonoma County resident. She is a writer, healer, spiritual counselor and a guide of wilderness rites of passage. To learn more about her work go to: http://www.mariaowl.com

© All rights reserved by author to distribute this important article as she sees beneficial to the Maya people.