Family and Kinship Patterns, Culture, and Religion

Many Guatemalan immigrants have faced a drastic alteration of their family structure in Canada. According to available data, most came from extended families in Guatemala, but in Canada the majority live in nuclear families. The loss of the extended family has affected typical patterns of socialization and recreation. It has also increased the domestic burden on women, and, as a result, limited their participation in public activities.

Probably the most widely preserved element of Guatemalan culture in Canada is the Spanish language, which continues to be spoken at home and in gatherings with other Hispanics. Another custom that almost all Guatemalans have retained is the consumption of corn as a staple, usually in the form of a flat, round patty called the tortilla. Although corn is sacred for the Maya, it is also eaten regularly in Canada by Guatemalan ladinos, and all Guatemalans are loath to replace the tortilla with bread. The special corn flour with which tortillas are made can be purchased in stores catering especially to Central Americans, for example, in Toronto’s Kensington market.

Guatemalan music, particularly the music of the marimba, a wooden percussion instrument similar to a xylophone but played by a group of six or seven musicians, is performed for both Guatemalan and Canadian audiences by Guatemalan folk groups in Canada. The marimba is admired by all Guatemalans, but it is especially important to the Maya peoples, for whom it is a ubiquitous feature of ceremonial and community life in Guatemala. An all-children’s ensemble, Voces del Maíz (Voices of the Corn), has been called “the strongest cultural representative of Guatemala in Toronto.” Voces del Maíz was founded by a group of parents in 1990, in an effort to keep the traditional Guatemalan, and particularly Maya, culture alive for their children, and to foster its recognition in the wider Canadian society. The group has dedicated money raised through its performances and sales of its cassettes to development projects to benefit peasant children in Guatemala. Another Guatemalan musical group is Kinlalat, based in Vancouver. The Kinlalat musicians also play the marimba and other traditional instruments, and their lyrics deal with Guatemalan political and social issues. During the 1980s the group toured both nationally and abroad, and also recorded several cassettes.

Catholicism is the religion claimed, though not always practised, by most Guatemalans in Canada, both indigenous and ladino. Guatemalan Catholics often attend Mass in parishes with large Hispanic populations. Diligent campaigns by Protestant fundamentalist sects, as well as by the Mormons, to recruit new members among recent immigrants have had some success, although their activities are often regarded as a nuisance by many Guatemalans in Canada. Some Guatemalan Maya in Canada occasionally practise their indigenous ceremonies.