Xinca

Xinca people or ethnic xinca is a nearly extinct Native American ethnicity, which
stood in Central America, in what is now Guatemala and El Salvador . They were
characterized by speaking the language xinca of unknown family and not related to
the Aztec .
Before the arrival of the Spanish colonizers , xinca dominion stretched from the
Pacific coast to the mountains of Jalapa. The xincas resisted Pedro de Alvarado
and his men as they passed through the area towards Cuscatlan. Finally, the
conqueror won and took as many of them slaves , forced to accompany him to the
conquest of what is now El Salvador . From that fact the name of the town , the
river and the bridge " Slaves " in the town of Cuilapa , Santa Rosa is derived.
After 1575 , the process of extinction of the population xinca accelerated mainly by
the transfer of population to other places and the gradual hispanizacin
population .
Today xinca , only indigenous language whose origin dates back to the ancient
Maya, is Disappearing , then just speak it between 100 and 250 people. According
to recent studies , it is spoken in seven municipalities and a village of Santa Rosa
and Jutiapa. In 1991 it was mentioned that he was only 25 speakers , but in 1997
were said to be 297. For the last year , it was mentioned that in Guazacapn ,
Santa Rosa, only 5 or 6 spoke grandparents , most over 80 years . One of the
oldest reference to this language was provided by Archbishop Pedro Cortes y
Larraz , during a pastoral visit to the diocese of Taxisco in 1769 . Experts say xinca
reconstruction can be viewed as possible by methods of historical linguistics and
linguistic archeology, which can be applied by teams of linguists dedicated to this
method.

Garifunas
The Garifuna are descended from African , Caribbean and originating from various
regions of Central America and the Caribbean Arawak Sambo ethnicity. They are
also known as Garinagu or Black Caribs . It is estimated that nearly 600,000
residents in Honduras , Belize, Guatemala , Nicaragua , and the United States.
Actually , the term " Garifuna " refers to the individual and their language, while
Garinagu is the term used for the community of pe ople.
The Garifuna , despite its name caribe (proto - Caribbean * gariphona ' men ' )
speak a language of the Arawak family, since in fact the Europeans arrived there
were many varieties of Caribbean communities spoke Carib and Arawak within the
same community .
Their language, igneri presents influences on English lexicon of French, and some
Spanish regions . The few isolated influences of African languages in igneri
correspond mainly to the Yoruba of South Nigeria. The religious and cultural
tradition in these villages has its origin in West Africa.
The Garifuna language , along with dance and music of this Central American
ethnicity, was proclaimed by UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in
2001 and registered in 2008 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage mankind.1 A Garifuna also they are known for their unique style of music,
called tip . Among the most important figures include professional Andy Palacio
and Aurelio Martinez in the field of music , Salvador Gonzalez Suazo and Wingston
letters and draft Umalali Garifuna women . It is known from reliable sources that
the highest concentration of Garifuna in Honduras , a country where we
commemorate the April 12, 1797 as the arrival of African descent to the Punta
Gorda , Roatan Island from San Vicente.

Maya
The Maya civilization inhabited a large part of the region known as Mesoamerica ,
in the current territories of Guatemala , Belize, Honduras , El Salvador and in the
range of five southeastern states of Mexico : Campeche , Chiapas , Quintana Roo ,
Tabasco and Yucatan , with a history of about 3000 years .
During this long time , in that territory hundreds of dialects generate about 44
different Mayan languages are spoken today . Speaking of the " ancient Maya " is
referring to the history of one of the most important pre-Columbian Mesoamerican
cultures , as its scientific and astronomical legacy is worldwide. Contrary to a
widespread belief, the Mayan civilization never " disappeared " . At least , not
entirely, as their descendants still live in the region and many of them speak any of
the languages of the Mayan family .
The Mayan literature illustrates the life of this culture. Works as the Rabinal Achi ,
the Popol Vuh , the various books of Chilam Balam , are proof of that . What it was
destroyed by the conquest is the model of civilization until the arrival of the first
Spaniards , had generated three millennia of history.
The Spanish conquest of the Maya was not consummated until 1697 , with taking
Tayasal , capital of the Itza Maya and Zacpetn , capital Ko'woj Maya in the Peten (
Guatemala current ) . The last Maya state disappeared when the Mexican
government of Porfirio Diaz in 1901 occupied its capital, Chan Santa Cruz, thus
ending the so-called Caste War.
The Maya did great and impressive buildings from the Middle Preclassic and cities
as Nakb , El Mirador , San Bartolo , Cival , located in the Mirador Basin , Northern
Petn , and during the Preclassic , known cities of Tikal, Quirigua ( both the first to
be declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979 and 1981 respectively) ,
Palenque , Copn, Ro Azul , Calakmul , Comalcalco (built of baked brick ) and
Ceibal , Cancun , Machaquil , Dos Pilas , Uaxactn , Altun Ha, Piedras Negras
and many other sites in the area. It can be classified as an empire , but it is
unknown if the time of colonization imposed their culture or it was a result of his
organization in independent city-states were the basis of agriculture and trade.

Mestizo
The term mestizo was applied by the Spanish Empire in the sixteenth century , to
refer to one of the " caste " or " cross " that formed the social stratification racist
imposed on its colonies in America : the child of a parent "white " race "and a"
parent of "race," " Amerindian " .
Although this is a term discussed today and commonly , the term mestizo is used
to describe people whose physical appearance is intermediate between two or
more ethnicities. While originally used to describe the descendants of white and
Indian parents , currently the term used for any ethnicity .
Spanish caste system derived from the medieval doctrine of the statutes of purity
of blood . Those classified as mestizo social status had declined, preventing them
or limiting their access to education and leadership positions , owned or prestigio.1
With Spanish American independence , the new states emerged in the nineteenth
century , abolished the " prerogatives of blood and birth " , establishing equality
before thelaw.
After independence , the term remained to describe people or cultures that
descended from Native Americans, African Americans and espaoles. In the latter
sense it is said that almost the entire population is Hispanic mestiza.
The term comes from Latin mixticius ( mixture or mixed) and has been involved in
the controversy of the human races , that part of current scientific refuse , or
intended to substitute for ethnicity . In a broader sense, the term mestizaje also
used to identify humans who have ancestors from different ethnicities and
cultures , giving rise to a new culture. In the latter sense , all human beings are
mestizos.