Los ch’oles y la tierra: redefinición intergeneracional en tiempos de crisis y migración campesina

Abstract

In this article we seek to describe and analyze the relationship between Ch’ol families and land, focusing on two distinct generational groups, parents and children. Our research method is qualitative, centered on the narratives of our participant subjects and literature review. The results obtained reveal that within a context of crisis and migration from the countryside, intra-familial changes are occurring and resignifying the relationship between Ch'ol people and land. For parents who remain in their home communities the land continues to be vital to their survival, while for young adult children who have integrated into urban contexts or are temporary agricultural migrants for the international market, the land becomes associated with evocation, memory, rest or leisure. Undoubtedly, this suggests a break in the working relationship with the land for each of these generations. This paper will contribute to discuss intersecting issues such as indigenous peoples, land tenure and migration.