The Mayans Among Us: Migrant Women and Meatpacking on the Great Plains

by Ann L. Sittig, Martha Florinda González

The Mayans Among Us conveys the unique experiences of Central American indigenous immigrants to the Great Plains, many of whom are political refugees from repressive, war-torn countries. Ann L. Sittig, a Spanish instructor, and Martha Florinda González, a Mayan community leader living in Nebraska, have gathered the oral histories of contemporary Mayan women living in the state and working in meatpacking plants. Sittig and González initiated group dialogues with Mayan women about the psychological, sociological, and economic wounds left by war, poverty, immigration, and residence in a new country. Distinct from Latin America’s economic immigrants and often overlooked in media coverage of Latino and Latina migration to the plains, the Mayans share their concerns and hopes as they negotiate their new home, culture, language, and life in Nebraska. Longtime Nebraskans share their perspectives on the immigrants as well.

The Mayans Among Us poignantly explores how Mayan women in rural Nebraska meatpacking plants weave together their three distinct Mayan, Central American, and American.
 

Genres: Nonfiction

216 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2016

Reviews

[Kate Belt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was based on interviews with several Mayan women and one Laudino man. So, you don't like listening to options for other languages on the telephone & you think everyone who lives in the U.S. should learn English? Many of the immigrants coming from Latin America could not afford to even complete elementary school. If their first language was the indigenous language spoken in their homes, they're unlikely to even be fluent in Spanish. Upon arriving in the U.S., they are faced with figuring out a new culture & possibly 2 new languages, Spanish & English, in order to fit into their new communities. Those interviewed worked many hours a day, usually on their feet, processing dead animals for food. They're exhausted when they come home, and may have children to care for. They may not have a car to get to a learning center & would have to take the bus or walk. I loved the book and learning about their lives, the hopes, the dreams of these Mayan migrants from Guatemala. It includes a brief overview of the Guatemalan civil war & what their lives were like before coming to the U.S. It was hard to read about the beatings, rapes, murders of the dissapeareds that they suffered and witnessed. They describe their travels el Norte and how they relate to the communities in which they now live. It is a fascinating book, well written, and I appreciate how the information was organized.

[Trever · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book about the smaller minorities of the Great Plains, especially Nebraska. I currently teach high school in Schuyler and know of students in situations like these and difficult teaching these students knowing the backgrounds of students.

I believe all teachers should be required to read this book at Schuyler Central High School it sheds light on a minority that we don't reach out to and classify them as Spanish speaking right away.

Great book, valuable information.

[amyleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was thorough in parsing through the local specificities and larger networks that inform Mayan migrant women's experiences in the Nebraska meatpacking industry. Attuned to kinship and family structures, social demographics, racial tensions, colonial histories, language barriers, and economic disparity, Sittig and Gonzalez weave together the stories of their tellers with care.

[Stacie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting, well-written, and approachable book about Mayan-Nebraskan women (and men) who travel to the US and work, for a time anyway, in meatpacking.

[Janey Locander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful look at Mayan women's Integration into the United States working at a Nebraskan Meatpacking plant.