From the pre-colonial Aztec calmecac to Wixarika community-based intercultural schools
Lea Kantonen, University of the Arts Helsinki
Abstract: In my presentation I introduce briefly how indigenous knowledge has been suppressed in the planning and development of Mexican schools through colonization, Mexican independency and revolution to contemporary public schools and public ”bilingual indigenous education”. Indigenous written language and many orally transmitted languages were forgotten, traditional knowledge and art was suppressed, yet indigenous philosophy and rituals partly survived, practiced by local political and religious authorities, especially in small communities retired from the state capitals. According to the elders of the Wixarika community Tsikwaita on the Western Sierra Madre mountains the public schools have colonized the minds of the children and they no longer follow the yeyiari, the path of their forefathers. The elders in Tsikwaita and in neighbouring Wixarika and Na´ayeri communities have therefore founded independent bilingual schools, chosen teachers for them and decided to build a community museum network supporting the cultural and spiritual education of the schools. I concentrate especially to art education and to the collaboration between schools and traditional religous and ritual authorities.
My position as a researcher
Education in the Aztec empire
Catholic schools in colonial México and Guatemala
After the conquest the task of education was given to the missionaries in order to erradicate the ”pagan” habits and beliefs and to estabilize the hegemony of the conqueror state
Schools in the 19th century
Revolution and indigenism
So we have seen how indigenous knowledge has been suppressed in the planning and development of Mexican schools throughout the history, throughout colonization, Mexican independency and revolution until the present day.
Indigenous written language and many orally transmitted languages were forgotten, traditional knowledge and art was suppressed, yet indigenous philosophy and rituals partly survived, practiced by local political and religious authorities, especially in small communities retired from the state capitals.
Concerning indigenous art education we see that different arts such as music, dance, drama and poetry have been interconnected, often practiced and learned in the context of religious and administrative rituals.
Decolonization
The Zapatista uprising that happened in the Maya area in the Mexican state of Chiapas in 1994 had a strong influence in the indigenous schools throughout the country. The zapatistas demanded the right of indigenous children and adults for equal education, not only in Spanish but in their own languages and based on their experiences, philosophies, and world views. The zapatistas have later founded self-governing communities, so called ”caracoles”, ”shells”. Their school system has been a model for many other independent community-based schools.
On the Western Sierra Madre mountains, in the Wixarika community Tsikwaita, the secondary school Tatuutsi Maxakwaxi School was founded in 1995, one year ater zapatista uprising. It was the first independent community-based school on the Western Sierra Madre Mountains. The elders had the experience that the public schools had colonized the minds of the children and they no longer followed the yeyiari, the path of their forefathers.
Following this example the elders in neighbouring Wixarika and Na´ayeri communities have founded independent bilingual schools, chosen teachers for them, and they have started building a community museum network supporting the cultural and spiritual education of the independent schools. Some of these schools have later been incorporated into the national school system as pilot projects. In Wixarika communities there also exists a non-formal school, ritual community called rukurikate, for men and women striving for initiation.
Manual skills and arts are taught every afternoon in workshops of woodwork, textile work, music and visual arts. The community elders are supervizing and advising the work of the teachers. They know personally every one of the students and they work as their non-formal counsellors. One of the teachers, maestro Agustin, is also a mara´akame, a cultural specialist educated in rukurikate ritual community. He teaches Wixarika culture as one of the theoretical subjects. The divine ancestors have given instructions for him in dreams and he has written a textbook according to those dreams.
The schools have produced the concept of ”young people” in the Wixarika communities. Only twenty years ago 12 years old girls and 15 year old boys were seen ready for marrying and having children. Now many young people continue their education further to high schools and universities. The negative side is that the children spend less time with their families and learn fewer traditional skills. The community museums are expected to teach traditional arts connected with rituals and healing. Different arts that have been separated from each other in colonization are again brought together.
Screening of the video
Agustín: Good morning. Please could all of you who come from Finland come closer. This is a sacred opening and a sacred, round disc. We shall now place here an offereng and modify it, so you can return well to your home with your families. According to our tradition this opening is a door to heaven. The day of our death we shall push it. We have an equal opening in our temple that we call tuki or calihuey.
Augustín: Buorre iđit! Sáhtibehtetgo dii buohkat boahtit lágabut, geat lehket guhkkin Suomas boahtán. Dát ráigi man guoras mii čuožžut lea bassi sihke dát pláhta balddas lea maid bassi. Mii bidjat dál dasa oaffára ja muddet dan nu, vai sáhtašeiddet máhcat dearvan ruoktot din bearrašiid lusa. Min tradišuvnna mielde dát lea almmi poarta. Mii hoigat dan rabas dan beaivve, goas mii buohkat jápmit. Mis lea seammalágan aukko min gili tempelis, man mii gohčodit namain tuki dahje calihuey.
IRJA: Bohccoid sáhttá gohcodit ivnniid, agi ja bohcco čorvviid mielde.
IRJA: In our language we have many words for a reindeer, depending on the colour, on the age of the reindeer, and the form of its horns.
In English:
I think that the reindeers are sacred, that they carry knowledge on their horns. Do you know why the deer has horns? I think that for us the indigenous peoples there is a special reason for the existence of all the animals, so they are all sacred. According to our culture if a deer has horns with only one point, it is it´s pen or it´s feather. The horns with many points are the feathers that the singers use (for knowledge and healing). I think that the knowledge of all indigenous peoples of the world has a lot in common.
Sámegillii:
Mun jáhkan, ahte bohccot leat basit ja dain lea diehtu mielde čorvviinnis. Midjiide wirarikoide ruiggut leat basit. Mánát, diehtibehtetgo manin gottiin leat čoarvvit? Mun jáhkan, ahte buot ealliid orrumiin dán máilmmis lea aibbas spesiala mearkkašupmi álgoalbmuide ja ahte dat buot leat basit. Juos ruiggus lea okta doalgi čoarvegiežis, dat lea ruiggu iežas dolgi min kultuvrra mielde. Jáhkan, ahte máilmmi eará álgoálbmogiid dieđuin lea mánga oktasaš ášši.
Maria Nieves: Take the clay into yor hands and mold it like a tortilla. Fill it with sand.
Sámegillii:
Apolonia:
Engl.
- Where are you going to sit and where shall I tie this thread?
- I shall sit here.
- Take care of the two sticks in the middle so the colours won´t get lost! Lean backward, so the yarns will stay well stretched. Go on working like that until you reach to the edge.
Saam.
- Gosa áiggot čohkkát ja gosa mun čanan dán bátti?
- Mun áiggon čohkkájit dása.
- Várut ahte dat soppit gaskut eaba bease lihkadit, ahte fal ivnnit eai jávke. Mieigga máŋosguvlui, ahte láiggit bissot čávgadin. De beare joatkkat, dassážii go joavddat rávdii.
Apolonia+alumna:
- How many orange threads should I have?
- You should have the colours you like to combine, orange and yellow. Each on its turn.
- I don´t see much difference between your colours.
-Galle oránšša láiggi bijan?
-Bija nu máŋga, go dárbbašat. Dus lea fiskada ja oránšša. Bija daid okta ain hávil.
Lea Kantonen, University of the Arts Helsinki
Abstract: In my presentation I introduce briefly how indigenous knowledge has been suppressed in the planning and development of Mexican schools through colonization, Mexican independency and revolution to contemporary public schools and public ”bilingual indigenous education”. Indigenous written language and many orally transmitted languages were forgotten, traditional knowledge and art was suppressed, yet indigenous philosophy and rituals partly survived, practiced by local political and religious authorities, especially in small communities retired from the state capitals. According to the elders of the Wixarika community Tsikwaita on the Western Sierra Madre mountains the public schools have colonized the minds of the children and they no longer follow the yeyiari, the path of their forefathers. The elders in Tsikwaita and in neighbouring Wixarika and Na´ayeri communities have therefore founded independent bilingual schools, chosen teachers for them and decided to build a community museum network supporting the cultural and spiritual education of the schools. I concentrate especially to art education and to the collaboration between schools and traditional religous and ritual authorities.
My position as a researcher
- Non-indigenous post-doctoral artist-researcher working with indigenous youth in schools in collaboration with NGO:s
- I have practiced long term collaboration with the Wixarika secondary school Tatuutsi Maxakwaxi, Great Granfather Deertail, and held many workshops in public schools
- Together with my husband Pekka and as members of NGO CRASH I have been invited by the Wixarika community of Tsikwaita to give art and video workshops and to participate in the planning of the community museum Tunuwame
- Studying Wixarika language and translating in meetings between the Wixarika and the Sámi
- Because of my artist education and background I am especially interested in the role of art in education
Education in the Aztec empire
- The Codex Mendoza, written 14 years after the conquest, describes the everyday life in the Aztec empire
- The quality of education depended on age, gender and the rank of nobility.
- Children were first educated at home until the age of 12 for girls and 15 for boys, until they
- Telpochcalli, The house of young single men
- Calmecac, the house of young single noble men, schooling in military skills, rituals and arts. The education aimed at the initiation of the young men. Music, poetry and dances with elaborate dance steps were tought. The calmecac of the capital city, Tenotitchlan, was dedicated to the god Xochipilli
- There is less information on schools for girls and on education among the other ethnicities of pre-conquest Mexico
- Among the Tarasco many noble unmarried women were educated in guatapera schools
Catholic schools in colonial México and Guatemala
After the conquest the task of education was given to the missionaries in order to erradicate the ”pagan” habits and beliefs and to estabilize the hegemony of the conqueror state
- Clerical schools, universities, and vocational pegagogical institutions were founded
- The frasciscans experimented with different methods of evangelization, such as paintings, hieroglyphs, songs, dances, drama and liturgical rituals. They actively evaluated the results. Many examples of syncretist dance and drama, for example the drama of Three kings have survived until present and cherished as indigenous heritage.
- 1550 Spanish was declared as the only language of instruction; the use of indigenous languages was prohibited and sanctioned.
- Archbishop Lozana: ”To speak the same language in your own nation, the language of the sovereign and only monarch, creates a certain kind of love and inclination towards one another”.
- Indigenous philosophies and rituals were prohibited but much indigenous knowledge and aesthetics survived in the guise of catholic fiests and rituals. Indigenous ritual meanings are also transferred in the rituals of religious authorities, and catholic brotherhoods called cofradias, they can even be seen as non-formal schools of indigenous arts, rituals and thinking. Here we see a performance of the pre-conquest drama Rabinal Achi survived in Quiche language in the context of the cofradia os St Sebastian.
Schools in the 19th century
- México declared independency in 1810. The new constitution emphasized secular education as a tool to civilize its citizens. Elementary schools for children and normal schools for future teachers were gradually founded.
- Based on the positivist scientific methods of the French philosopher Augusto Comte
- The aim was to get rid of magical thinking and ”superstitions”
Revolution and indigenism
- Mexican revolution since 1910 emphasized public eduaction as a tool to create a hegemonic and revolutionary nation
- The revolutionary government wanted to raise the productivity of the rural labor. Indigenous peoples were seen as part of the rural population and as objects of civilization and modernization.
- Indigenism was the official revolutionary discourse concerning indigenous peoples, it promoted equal rights for every citizen and equal schooling for indigenous children – in Spanish
- Uniform national rituals such as flag rituals, parades and folkloric dances were developed
- In history books (used until the end of 20th century) the indigenous peoples were described in the past tense: there ”were” many indigenous peoples in Mexico and ”we all” are descendants of them. The indigenous children don´t identify with the historical indigenous peoples but they do not identify with the prevalent mestizo population either,
- Education was equal only in speeches. A separate system of ”indigenous education” was founded. Young indigenous students graduated from secondary school were recruited as teachers, sent to rural schools, often far away from their homes and, and further educated on short courses during holidays and weekends. This system is still in use and indigenous children get education of poorer quality. The teachers are often absent because they want to spend time with their families. As a consequence indigenous children are useually not eligible in high schools or universities and their careers are blocked.
- Usually indigenous languages are spoken only for the first two or three grades.
- Manual skills and arts are taught in some rural areas
- The children feel detached from their home environment, from the knowledge systems of their parents and from their own experiences.
- In the end on 20th century a few reforms took place: a system of ”bilingual schools” was founded and textbooks were written in indigenous languages. Howewer, only few teachers can use them because they are not taught to read and write in their own language. This year 2016 the separate system of indigenous education was abolished by law. However there is much opposition against the abolition especially in the state of Oaxaca.
So we have seen how indigenous knowledge has been suppressed in the planning and development of Mexican schools throughout the history, throughout colonization, Mexican independency and revolution until the present day.
Indigenous written language and many orally transmitted languages were forgotten, traditional knowledge and art was suppressed, yet indigenous philosophy and rituals partly survived, practiced by local political and religious authorities, especially in small communities retired from the state capitals.
Concerning indigenous art education we see that different arts such as music, dance, drama and poetry have been interconnected, often practiced and learned in the context of religious and administrative rituals.
Decolonization
The Zapatista uprising that happened in the Maya area in the Mexican state of Chiapas in 1994 had a strong influence in the indigenous schools throughout the country. The zapatistas demanded the right of indigenous children and adults for equal education, not only in Spanish but in their own languages and based on their experiences, philosophies, and world views. The zapatistas have later founded self-governing communities, so called ”caracoles”, ”shells”. Their school system has been a model for many other independent community-based schools.
On the Western Sierra Madre mountains, in the Wixarika community Tsikwaita, the secondary school Tatuutsi Maxakwaxi School was founded in 1995, one year ater zapatista uprising. It was the first independent community-based school on the Western Sierra Madre Mountains. The elders had the experience that the public schools had colonized the minds of the children and they no longer followed the yeyiari, the path of their forefathers.
Following this example the elders in neighbouring Wixarika and Na´ayeri communities have founded independent bilingual schools, chosen teachers for them, and they have started building a community museum network supporting the cultural and spiritual education of the independent schools. Some of these schools have later been incorporated into the national school system as pilot projects. In Wixarika communities there also exists a non-formal school, ritual community called rukurikate, for men and women striving for initiation.
Manual skills and arts are taught every afternoon in workshops of woodwork, textile work, music and visual arts. The community elders are supervizing and advising the work of the teachers. They know personally every one of the students and they work as their non-formal counsellors. One of the teachers, maestro Agustin, is also a mara´akame, a cultural specialist educated in rukurikate ritual community. He teaches Wixarika culture as one of the theoretical subjects. The divine ancestors have given instructions for him in dreams and he has written a textbook according to those dreams.
The schools have produced the concept of ”young people” in the Wixarika communities. Only twenty years ago 12 years old girls and 15 year old boys were seen ready for marrying and having children. Now many young people continue their education further to high schools and universities. The negative side is that the children spend less time with their families and learn fewer traditional skills. The community museums are expected to teach traditional arts connected with rituals and healing. Different arts that have been separated from each other in colonization are again brought together.
Screening of the video
Agustín: Good morning. Please could all of you who come from Finland come closer. This is a sacred opening and a sacred, round disc. We shall now place here an offereng and modify it, so you can return well to your home with your families. According to our tradition this opening is a door to heaven. The day of our death we shall push it. We have an equal opening in our temple that we call tuki or calihuey.
Augustín: Buorre iđit! Sáhtibehtetgo dii buohkat boahtit lágabut, geat lehket guhkkin Suomas boahtán. Dát ráigi man guoras mii čuožžut lea bassi sihke dát pláhta balddas lea maid bassi. Mii bidjat dál dasa oaffára ja muddet dan nu, vai sáhtašeiddet máhcat dearvan ruoktot din bearrašiid lusa. Min tradišuvnna mielde dát lea almmi poarta. Mii hoigat dan rabas dan beaivve, goas mii buohkat jápmit. Mis lea seammalágan aukko min gili tempelis, man mii gohčodit namain tuki dahje calihuey.
IRJA: Bohccoid sáhttá gohcodit ivnniid, agi ja bohcco čorvviid mielde.
IRJA: In our language we have many words for a reindeer, depending on the colour, on the age of the reindeer, and the form of its horns.
In English:
I think that the reindeers are sacred, that they carry knowledge on their horns. Do you know why the deer has horns? I think that for us the indigenous peoples there is a special reason for the existence of all the animals, so they are all sacred. According to our culture if a deer has horns with only one point, it is it´s pen or it´s feather. The horns with many points are the feathers that the singers use (for knowledge and healing). I think that the knowledge of all indigenous peoples of the world has a lot in common.
Sámegillii:
Mun jáhkan, ahte bohccot leat basit ja dain lea diehtu mielde čorvviinnis. Midjiide wirarikoide ruiggut leat basit. Mánát, diehtibehtetgo manin gottiin leat čoarvvit? Mun jáhkan, ahte buot ealliid orrumiin dán máilmmis lea aibbas spesiala mearkkašupmi álgoalbmuide ja ahte dat buot leat basit. Juos ruiggus lea okta doalgi čoarvegiežis, dat lea ruiggu iežas dolgi min kultuvrra mielde. Jáhkan, ahte máilmmi eará álgoálbmogiid dieđuin lea mánga oktasaš ášši.
Maria Nieves: Take the clay into yor hands and mold it like a tortilla. Fill it with sand.
Sámegillii:
Apolonia:
Engl.
- Where are you going to sit and where shall I tie this thread?
- I shall sit here.
- Take care of the two sticks in the middle so the colours won´t get lost! Lean backward, so the yarns will stay well stretched. Go on working like that until you reach to the edge.
Saam.
- Gosa áiggot čohkkát ja gosa mun čanan dán bátti?
- Mun áiggon čohkkájit dása.
- Várut ahte dat soppit gaskut eaba bease lihkadit, ahte fal ivnnit eai jávke. Mieigga máŋosguvlui, ahte láiggit bissot čávgadin. De beare joatkkat, dassážii go joavddat rávdii.
Apolonia+alumna:
- How many orange threads should I have?
- You should have the colours you like to combine, orange and yellow. Each on its turn.
- I don´t see much difference between your colours.
-Galle oránšša láiggi bijan?
-Bija nu máŋga, go dárbbašat. Dus lea fiskada ja oránšša. Bija daid okta ain hávil.