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Guatemalan Diaspora Foodways

Diaspora

⚠ A DIASPORA WITH TWO DISTINCT LAYERS, AND MERGING THEM IS THE ERROR. The first is Spanish-speaking Ladino Guatemalan; the second is MAYA-LANGUAGE-SPEAKING — K’iche’, Mam, Q’anjob’al, Q’eqchi’, Akateko and Chuj communities whose members may speak little Spanish, and whose largest concentrations are documented in places quite unlike the Ladino ones: the Q’anjob’al and Akateko of LOS ANGELES; the Mam and Q’anjob’al of southern Florida’s Indiantown and Immokalee; the Mam of Oakland and of Lynn, Massachusetts; the K’iche’ of Providence. Much of this movement is traceable to the armed conflict of 1960-96 and specifically to the early-1980s violence in the Ixil and Huehuetenango highlands, plus later economic and climate displacement. Also Mexico — Chiapas, where Guatemalan refugees settled from 1981 — Belize, Canada and Spain. The foods that travelled: tamales and chuchitos, tortillas made with imported or local masa, pepián, jocón, atol, rellenitos, pan dulce and Guatemalan coffee. ⚠ DO NOT INFER LANGUAGE OR ETHNICITY FROM A RESTAURANT NAME; this system records community association only where documented.

Atlas — where and when

Communities and languages

  • Maya diaspora community documented
  • Guatemalans abroad community documented

Languages: Spanish, K'iche', Mam, Q'anjob'al, Q'eqchi', Akateko, Chuj

What is recorded

  • The Guatemalan diaspora is recorded in two distinct layers: Spanish-speaking Ladino, and Maya-language-speaking communities including K’iche’, Mam, Q’anjob’al, Q’eqchi’, Akateko and Chuj whose members may speak little Spanish. Documented concentrations include Q’anjob’al and Akateko in Los Angeles, Mam and Q’anjob’al in Indiantown and Immokalee, Mam in Oakland and Lynn, Massachusetts, and K’iche’ in Providence. Much of this movement is traceable to the armed conflict of 1960-96 and the early-1980s violence in the Ixil and Huehuetenango highlands. Guatemalan refugees settled in Chiapas from 1981. Language and ethnicity are not inferred from business names. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • migrated to American documented

    ⚠ TWO DISTINCT LAYERS. Q’anjob’al and Akateko in Los Angeles, Mam and Q’anjob’al in Indiantown and Immokalee, Mam in Oakland and Lynn, K’iche’ in Providence — traceable largely to the 1960-96 armed conflict and the early-1980s highland violence.

  • migrated to Mexican Cuisine documented

    Guatemalan refugees settled in Chiapas from 1981.

  • related to Maya Foodways of Guatemala documented

    ⚠ The Maya-language-speaking diaspora is recorded as its own layer and not merged with the Spanish-speaking Ladino one.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.