Marvin J. Vann, Class of 1940, Collection Plight of the Lacandon

Most of what is known of ancient Mayan cultures has come from the study and interpretation of glyphs, architectural forms, pottery, stone carvings and murals. Never discovered by the Spaniards or the Catholic missionaries, the daily life of the Lacandon remains much as it was for their ancestors: growing corn, beans and chiles, and worshipping the ancient Mayan deities of nature. The Lacandon Maya are the present-day representatives of the ancient Maya in custom, religion and language; until recently, they had very little direct contact with the Western world, remaining conservative in their retention of indigenous ways of life. As early as 1878, however, commercial lumbering operations entered the Lacandon forest, but they had few direct contacts with its indigenous inhabitants.

The Lacandon pursued their own lives, free from outside interferences until 1965 when missionaries from the Wycliffe Bible Translators settled among them. Since then, contacts between the Lacandon and the outside world have been expanding rapidly. The movement of farmers into the area from neighboring regions, renewed logging, increased tourism and hydroelectric dam projects have all brought changes to the Lacandon way of life: new clothes, new religions, new technologies, and increased access to Western consumerism and materialism. The continuing depletion of natural resources is inevitable in the face of unremitting encroachment of surrounding Spanish-speaking communities as well as other Mayan neighbors. Even the medical and material aid received from the outside world will undoubtedly have a negative effect on the Lacandon way of life if their population continues to increase at its current rate.

Forest vs. Cleared Pasture

A more recent outside influence is the new highway that passes within 10 km of the community. The highway and construction underway to open the nearby ruins of Bonampak as a major tourism center will certainly have a great impact upon the community.