Mopan



ETHNONYMS: Mopane, Mopanero, MopƔn Maya


The 10,000 Mopan Indians live in approximately equal numbers in Guatemala and Belize. This Yucatec Maya people lived in Mexico at the time of contact. During the large-scale political unrest and violence of the late 1840s and early 1850s, the Mopan left Mexico to live in west-central Guatemala and the Cayo District of Belize. The political repression in Guatemala since the mid-twentieth century has caused many to leave Guatemala and move to Belize. The Mopan live close to the Q'eqchi' Indians, and many now speak Q'eqchi' as well as Mopan.


Bibliography

Gregory, James R. (1984). The Mopan: Culture and Ethnicity in a Changing Belizean Community. Columbia: University of Missouriā€”Columbia, Museum of Anthropology.


Howard, Michael C. (1975). Ethnicity in Southern Belize: The Kekchi and the Mopan. Columbia: University of Missouriā€”Columbia, Museum of Anthropology.


Wilk, Richard R. (1990). Ethnic Minorities in Belize: Mopan, Kekchi, and Garifuna. Belize City: SPEAR.

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