Ethnicity in question in the northeast of Guatemala
Based on several months of ethnographic fieldwork in the northeast of Guatemala, the author demonstrates that despite their relevance in the national context, the ethnic questions are far from crucial in the day to day life of the region’s inhabitants. Most importantly, when they do take place – generally at the initiative of the anthropologist or some national/international institution these questions are presented in very different ways from those by the State. Refusing to be inserted into dominant categories in which they do not recognize themselves, the Quirigua region’s inhabitants choose to go around. The ruse mainly consists of avoiding the bipolar notion of Guatemalan society, largely dominant at the State level as well as by the Mayan movement and present in many scientific texts. This article aims to describe and understand the positions held by the Quirigua region’s inhabitants regarding the hegemonic discourse of the ethnic questions in Guatemala according to their gender, generation and personal journey.