“Iwiijispa”the first collection of books in indigenous languagesis already complete and will be the Veracruz Institute of Adult Education who distributes it in study circles where reading and writing are taught in mother tongues other than Spanish.
Zoila Cruz del Valle, director of the Editora de Gobierno, responsible for the production, edition and publication of 30 thousand 500 copies, claims that with these books Veracruz marks a part in the promotion of reading in indigenous language. “One of the demands of those who have already become literate is that they don’t have anything to read,” he explains, detailing later that the collection includes 10 books, including poems, stories and narratives.
Also, catalog of flowers and plants, recipes, cookware and dictionaries in Southern Nahuatl, Huasteca and Zongolica, as well as Totonaco and Mixe popoluca. The collection has together 20 thousand 800 games of posters and 4 thousand lotteries in Nahuatl from the south and from the Huasteca. As part of the activities on the occasion of the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, which is commemorated on August 9, “Iwiijispa” had a presentation in the municipality of Playa Vicente. Rafael Nava Vite, on behalf of the authors, emphasized that colonization displaced the original languages by Spanish, which during the post-revolution period became the hegemonic language.
Given the subsequent demand of the peoples to respect their languages, he indicates that the work to revitalize, strengthen and spread them cannot be postponed. Zoila Cruz del Valle points out that the books will not be for salewill be taken to all the municipalities where the IVEA has a presence with its community squares.
There is a specific purpose: to reach all the people who have already learned to read so that they can strengthen their language
Héctor Amezcua Cardiel, General Director of IVEA, details that the “collection is made up of different important themes for the Veracruz identity because they represent the worldview, traditions, literature, knowledge and knowledge of the original peoples that have passed from generation to generation. ”.
What are the volumes of Iwiijispa?
The titles are as follows: “What Martín ate in the years 1950-1960”, “Brief Thematic Dictionary and Glossary”, “Flower Gardens”, “Kitchen Utensils Recipe Book” and “Narrations”.
In addition, “Purple sugar”, Xoxiamoxtli flower catalog, “The earth is no longer wet” and “La Huasteca”.
“Iwiijispa,” which means in zoque-popoluca to think well, is an initiative of the Veracruzano Institute of Adult Education, in collaboration with the Government Publishing House, the Veracruzano Institute of Indigenous Affairs and the Veracruzana Academy of Indigenous Languages.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, the total population in indigenous households in Mexico, in the last census -2020-, was 11 million 800 thousand 247 people, which is equivalent to 9.4 percent of the total population from the country. Currently 68 indigenous languages are spoken in Mexico. The most frequent are Nahuatl (22.4 percent), Mayan (10.5 percent), and Tseltal (8.0 percent).
In order to strengthen international cooperation to raise awareness about the characteristics of this population, as well as the challenges they face in aspects such as human rights, the environment, development, education and health, this population is commemorated every August 9.
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