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The Daykeeper
The Life and Discourse of an Ixil Diviner
Benjamin N. Colby and Lore M. Colby
Harvard University Press, 1981

The Daykeeper presents a unique view, of the life of a modern Mayan holy man--his religious beliefs and practices, his stories and folktales, his philosophy of living, his struggle for daily bread and peace of mind.

In the hands of Benjamin and Lore Colby; the daykeeper's testimony be comes an important vehicle for understanding a culture that is a direct descendant of the high Mayan civilization of the past.

The Colbys show that there are intelligible cultural principles that organize the daykeeper's methods of divination and guide his interpretation of dreams and his cures for the sick. There is also a clear cultural pattern underlying the stores he telIs and the morals that he draws from them. When these patterns are used to inform our perception of the daykeeper's experience of life, we gain a rich, understanding of the relation between culture and thought as well as a rare and privileged insight into the mind of a highly religious man.The Daykeeper is an unusual combination of compelling life history and sophisticated cultural analysis. This is a benchmark book in American anthropology that can be read with understanding and enjoyment by expert and layman alike.

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front cover of A Dictionary of Ch'orti' Mayan-Spanish-English
A Dictionary of Ch'orti' Mayan-Spanish-English
Kerry Hull
University of Utah Press, 2016
Of extant languages, Ch’orti’ Mayan is the closest to ancient the Maya hieroglyphic script, but it is a language that is decreasing in usage. In southern Guatemala where it is spoken, many children no longer learn it, as Spanish dominates most experiences. From linguistic and anthropological data gathered over many years, Kerry Hull has created the largest and most complete Ch’orti’ Mayan dictionary to date. With nearly 9,000 entries, this trilingual dictionary of Ch’orti’, Spanish, and English preserves ancient words and concepts that were vital to this culture in the past.

Each entry contains examples of Ch’orti’ sentences along with their translations. Each term is defined grammatically and linked to a grammatical index. Variations due to age and region are noted. Additionally, extensive cultural and linguistic annotations accompany many entries, providing detailed looks into Ch’orti’ daily life, mythology, flora and fauna, healing, ritual, and food. Hull worked closely with native speakers, including traditional ritual specialists, and presents that work here in a way that is easily accessible to scholars and laypersons alike. 
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