I, Rigoberta Menchú
An Indian woman in Guatemala
Edited and Introduced by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray
Translated by Ann Wright
Translation © Verso 1984
First published as Me Llamo Rigoberta Menchú Y Asi Me Nació La Concienca
© Editions Gallimard and Elisabeth Burgos 1983
All rights reserved
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
Verso
UK: 6 Meard Street, London W1F 0EG
US: 20 Jay Street, Suite 1010, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Verso is the imprint of New Left Books
ISBN: 978-1-84467-471-8
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
CONTENTS
Translator’s note
Introduction
I The family
II Birth ceremonies
III The nahual
IV First visit to the finca. Life in the finca
V First visit to Guatemala City
VI An eight-year-old agricultural worker
VII Death of her little brother in the finca. Difficulty of communicating with other Indians
VIII Life in the Altiplano. Rigoberta’s tenth birthday
IX Ceremonies for sowing time and harvest. Relationships with the earth
X The natural world. The earth, mother of man
XI Marriage ceremonies
XII Life in the community
XIII Death of her friend by poisoning
XIV A maid in the capital
XV Conflict with the landowners and the creation of the CUC
XVI Period of reflection on the road to follow
XVII Self-defence in the village
XVIII The Bible and self-defence: the examples of Judith, Moses and David
XIX Attack on the village by the army
XX The death of Doña Petrona Chona
XXI Farewell to the community: Rigoberta decides to learn Spanish
XXII The CUC comes out into the open
XXIII Political activity in other communities. Contacts with ladinos
XXIV The torture and death of her little brother, burnt alive in front of members of his family and the community
XXV Rigoberta’s father dies in the occupation of the Spanish embassy. Peasants march to the capital
XXVI Rigoberta talks about her father
XXVII Kidnapping and death of Rigoberta’s mother
XXVIII Death
XXIX Fiestas and Indian queens
XXX Lessons taught her by her mother: Indian women and ladino women
XXXI Women and political commitment. Rigoberta renounces marriage and motherhood
XXXII Strike of agricultural workers and the First of May in the capital
XXXIII In hiding in the capital. Hunted by the army
XXXIV Exile
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Bibliography
Further Reading
TRANSLATOR’S NOTE
Rigoberta’s narration reflects the different influences on her life. It is a mixture of Spanish learned from nuns and full of biblical associations; of Spanish learned in the political struggle replete with revolutionary terms; and, most of all, Spanish which is heavily coloured by the linguistic constructions of her native Quiché and full of the imagery of nature and community traditions.
She has learned the language of the culture which oppresses her in order to fight it–to fight for her people–and to help us understand her own world. In doing so, she has created a form of expression which is full of passion, poetry and wisdom. Sometimes, however, the wealth of memories and associations which come tumbling out in this spontaneous narrative leave the reader a little confused as to chronology and details of events.
The problem of translation was how to retain the vitality, and often beautiful simplicity, of Rigoberta’s words, but aim for clarity at the same time. I have tried, as far as possible, to stay with Rigoberta’s original phrasing; changing and reordering only where I thought the meaning could not be readily understood. Hence, I’ve left the repetitions, tense irregularities, and sometimes convoluted sentences which come from Rigoberta’s search to find the right expression in Spanish. Words have been left in Spanish or Quiché, where they are objects or concepts for which we have no precise equivalent. The two most obvious words in this category are ladino and compañero. Although ladino ostensibly means a person of mixed race or a Spanish-speaking Indian, in this context it also implies someone who represents a system which oppresses the Indian–first under Spanish rule and then under the succession of brutal governments of the landed oligarchy. So a word like ‘half-caste’ would be inadequate. Hence Rigoberta’s father’s invention ‘ladinizar’ (to ladinize, or become like a ladino) which is a mixture of ladino and latinizar (to latinize), and has both racial and religious connotations. I think it is clear that the word compañero, which literally means companion, changes its meaning during the book. Rigoberta initially uses it for her friends, and her neighbours in the community. But as the political commitment of both Rigoberta and her village grows, it becomes ‘comrade’, a fellow fighter in the struggle. She uses it for the militants in the trade unions, the CUC and the political organisations. The compañeros de la montana are the guerrillas. From these two words comes the rather unwieldy compañero ladino.
Rigoberta has a mission. Her words want us to understand and react. I only hope that I have been able to do justice to the power of their message. I will have done that if I can convey the impact they had on me when first I read them.
Ann Wright
INTRODUCTION
This book tells the life story of Rigoberta Menchú, a Quiché Indian woman and a member of one of the largest of the twenty-two ethnic groups in Guatemala. She was born in the hamlet of Chimel, near San Miguel de Uspantán, which is the capital of the north-western province of El Quiché.
Rigoberta Menchú is twenty-three years old. She tells her story in Spanish, a language which she has spoken for only three years. Her life story is an account of contemporary history rather than of Guatemala itself. It is in that sense that it is exemplary: she speaks for all the Indians of the American continent. What she tells us of her relationship with nature, life, death and her community has already been said by the Indians of North America, those of Central America and those