The Guatemala Tour Diaries: Tikal

I was fortunate enough to grow up in the traditional homeland of my people. The Anishinaabe are one of the biggest and most significant Indigenous groups in North America. They covered a lot of traditional ground – wrapping around the Great Lakes, and expanding as far west as what is now Manitoba. My ancestors were displaced and rendered immobile by the reservation systems in both Canada and the U.S.A. These reserves were often unarable plots of land that later paved the way for substandard housing and levels of poverty and despair not seen anywhere else on the continent. Despite these downfalls we still live roughly where we’ve been for thousands of years and hence maintain a close connection to our culture.

But my people generally lived a sophisticated nomadic life. They followed the food according to season. Therefore, they never really established much for communal strongholds, because they were always on the move. There are hallowed spiritual grounds that people still flock to – like the petroglyphs near Peterborough, Ontario and the Midewiwin ceremonies site near Bad River, Wisconsin. I grew up going to these places and was both extremely proud and humbled by their spiritual power. But that was nothing like what I experienced in Tikal.

Tikal is a city state of the former Maya empire. It was a political, economic, cultural cornerstone of the people, and flourished from as far back as the fourth century B.C. right up until the arrival of the Spanish 500 years ago. As many as 200,000 people lived here, around the holy temples that house former Maya leaders with names like Ah Cacao and Dark Sun. Sacrificial altars form lines in front of the steep steps that lead up the massive pyramid-like structures.

Our tour guide was Caesar, a Maya dude who escaped to the States at the height of the Guatemalan civil war in the late 1980s. He knew a lot about the history of the site and his own culture so it was a real pleasure learning about the place from him. He explained Maya astrology (how their calendar works and how they were able to predict natural cycles by reading the stars), politics (how leaders were chosen, their lineage, and how trade worked between other Maya city states), religion (why leaders were entombed, and why human sacrifice was so prevalent to satiate the needs of the sun god), among other mind-blowing aspects of pre-Columbian life.

Although massive, the site was tucked away for hundreds of years in the middle of the rainforest, adding to the overall mysticism of the place.

Spider Monkeys

The Quetzal – national bird of Guatemala

Like my traditional homeland, I felt extremely fortunate and humbled to be here. It was a glimpse of more of the rich indigenous culture and history this huge land mass we call Turtle Island has to offer, and it made me really proud. My imagination ran wild, wondering what exactly went on in this huge plaza, at the base of these stunning temples, and in the outlying markets and villages. This was a powerful empire that was doomed largely by a visiting people, but also by its own excesses. Still, it was the most advanced civilization on the planet at its peak.

Its people met a similar fate as my own – they were conquered. Today, they are mostly poor and unhealthy in a country that aimed to keep them second-class. But they have maintained, and people from all over the world flock to their ancestral holy lands to hear about how the Maya lived, and how they and their traditions and languages carry on today. Today, we Anishinaabe are the strongest we’ve been post-contact. Like the Maya, we weren’t supposed to last. But today, we’re alive and proud. Our language is making a comeback. We’re getting stronger politically. Our powwows fill arenas. People aren’t ashamed of their culture anymore. And even though we don’t have massive temples and structures that have held strong over thousands of years, our spirit has never crumbled.