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In 1986, for the first time in decades, hundreds of Mayan Indians gathered in the Guatemalan mountains to celebrate the Mayan New Year. There has been a re-awakening to Mayan spiritual traditions because they see it as something that is theirs, that…

Floriberto Diaz Gomez of the Assembly of Mixe Authorities in Mexico describes the work of the SIL in his community. He explains that the initial work of the SIL was linguistic. However, as time went on, Diaz Gomez points out that the work of the SIL…

There are about 300 different religious sects in Ecuador. These sects provide education and control the the level of Indian community unity and organizing.

Most of this text is a statement from the Summer Institute of Linguistics that was then presented by the Union of Indian Nations to the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in Geneva, Switzerland.

An ambush between Ayoreo Indians in Paraguay left five dead and four injured. One group of Ayoreo, who were members of the New Tribes Faro Moro mission, saught out Totoviegosode, who were Ayoreo Indians that didn't abandon their traditions. A…

Christian missionaries have been attempting to convert Indians in different regions to their religion. One of the biggest proselytizing organizations involved is the Summer Institute of Linguistics, often referred to in this issue as the SIL.

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This issue of the SAIIC Newsletter covers a broad range of topics surrounding the main theme of evangelical proselytizing (conversion) in South and Central America, along with the effects on Indian communities.