María Jacinta Xón Riquiac

Xón Riquiac studied antropologie at the University of San Carlos of Guatemala and with the support of the Ford Foundation received a master's degree in the history of science from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo.{{Cite web|date=1 September 2018|title=La antropóloga guatemalteca María Jacinta Xón llega a la V Fiesta de las Culturas Indígenas|url=https://cultura.cdmx.gob.mx/comunicacion/nota/0868-18|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Secretaría de Cultura de la Ciudad de México|language=es}}

She has served as a representative of Guatemala's indigenous peoples at some international events. Xon Riquiac was featured as one of fifty Guatemalan women "writing history" profiled in the book Entre Chapinas (2020).{{Cite book|url=https://issuu.com/lookmag/docs/entre_chapinasprev|title=Entre Chapinas|publisher=Look|year=2020|edition=2|location=Guatemala}}

Described as a "Mayan feminist,"{{Cite journal|last=Bastos|first=Santiago|date=2004|title=Ser maya en el siglo XXI|url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/laoap/cif/cif000006.pdf|journal=9th European Mayan Conference|pages=8}} Xón Riquiac researches contemporary Guatemalan culture from an intersectional, anti-capitalist, feminist point of view.

Her 2004 thesis was titled "The Maya as a Political Identity in Indigenous Women," and this has remained a key research interest.{{Cite book|last=Xón Riquiac|first=María Jacinta|url=http://biblioteca.usac.edu.gt/tesis/14/14_0300.pdf|title=Lo Maya como Identidad Política en Mujeres Indígenas|publisher=Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala|year=2004}} Xón Riquiac has stressed the importance of clothing to Mayan communities, particularly how traditional designs are both preserved and modernized; she posits that these garments provide a stable sense of identity, especially for women. Xón Riquiac wears huipil and corte (a traditional skirt).{{Cite web|last=Xón Riquiac|first=María Jacinta|date=23 August 2012|title=Guatemala, entre otredades, diferencias y resistencias|url=https://www.plazapublica.com.gt/content/guatemala-entre-otredades-diferencias-y-resistencias|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Plaza Pública|language=es}} Her interest in contemporary textiles has also led her to become an art critic for contemporary art related to indigenous textiles and weaving, such as the work of Tz’utujil artist Antonio Pichillá.{{Cite web|last=Xón Riquiac|first=María Jacinta|date=2018-08-18|title=Antonio Pichillá: San B'eey (Camino Blanco)|url=https://artishockrevista.com/2018/08/18/antonio-pichilla-saq-beey-camino-blanco/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Artishock Revista|language=es}} She has also participated in art exhibitions.{{Cite web|date=2 September 2015|title=Exposición de arte revisa la historia del país|url=https://www.prensalibre.com/vida/escenario/guatemala-despues-revisa-la-historia-del-pais/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Prensa Libre|language=es-GT}}{{Cite web|date=September 2015|title=Exposición Guatemala Después|url=http://hipermedula.org/2015/09/exposicion-guatemala-despues/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Hipermedula|language=es}}

Xón Riquiac has written about the damage of "othering" and stereotyping in contemporary Guatemalan culture that persist despite the promises of respect for indigenous persons established in the Peace Accords of 1996; she argues that indigenous women suffer the most because they have limited educational and economic opportunities.

Another of her research interests is the complex relationship between the state, dominant cultural groups and norms, and indigenous culture and beliefs. Reporting on a 2014 conflict in which a Tz’utijil/K’iche’ community wanted to remove a Haredi Jewish community from San Juan la Laguna, Xón Riquiac argues that government actions and accusations of racism, antisemitism, and religious intolerance, failed to take into account the specific circumstances of this conflict, perpetuated racist, anti-indigenous stereotypes, and privileged the rights of the Haredi community over those of the indigenous community.{{Cite web|last=Bastos|first=Santiago|date=2017-05-14|title=El derecho del Pueblo de San Juan La Laguna a la libre determinación en su territorio|url=https://www.prensacomunitaria.org/el-derecho-del-pueblo-de-san-juan-la-laguna-a-la-libre-determinacion-en-su-territorio/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Prensa Comunitaria|language=es}}{{Cite journal|last=María Jacinta|first=Xón Riquiac|date=30 November 2016|title=Las perspectivas culturales y sociales específicas del Pueblo Tz'utujil y K'iche' de San Juan La Laguna para el ejercicio de la libre determinación en su territorio.|url=https://www.prensacomunitaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Peritaje-Cultural-San-Juan-La-Laguna-2017.pdf|journal=Antropóloga Social, No. De Colegiado: 10,251|volume=Peritaje Cultural Antropológico|pages=1–63}} Her historical report on the Lenca was submitted as evidence in the trial about the construction of the Agua Zarca dam, in which she also served as an expert witness.{{Cite web|last=COPINH|date=2018-04-13|title=Un retoño en la lucha por la justicia|url=https://copinh.org/2018/04/un-retono-en-la-lucha-por-la-justicia/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=COPINH|language=es-MX}}{{Cite book|last=Lakhani|first=Nina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8i6aDwAAQBAJ&q=Maria+Jacinta+Xon&pg=PA223|title=Who Killed Berta Caceres?: The Murder of an Indigenous Defender and the Race to Save the Planet|date=2020-06-02|publisher=Verso Books|isbn=978-1-78873-308-3|location=New York|pages=223|language=en}}

Xón Riquiac challenges perceived notions of empiricism in anthropology, which traditionally situated outsiders as more knowledgeable and scientific observers than members of the culture under observation.{{Cite book|last=Xón Riquiac|first=María Jacinta|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1048461679|title=La lejanía de la frontera metodológica|work=Pensar Guatemala desde la resistencia : el neoliberalismo enfrentado|others=Claudia Dary et. al.|year=2018|isbn=978-9929-700-42-0|location=Guatemala, Guatemala|language=es|oclc=1048461679}}{{Cite book|last=López|first=Ligia (Licho)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLU4DwAAQBAJ&q=Maria+Jacinta+Xon&pg=PT165|title=The Making of Indigeneity, Curriculum History, and the Limits of Diversity|date=2017-10-06|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-315-39240-0|location=New York|pages=121|language=en}} She also studies the academic field of indigenous studies itself.{{Cite web|title=Projeto de Pesquisa 1 – Núcleo de Pesquisa História da Ciência e Ensino|url=https://www2.unifap.br/nuphce/projeto-de-pesquisa/projeto-de-pesquisa-1/|access-date=2020-08-07|language=pt-BR}}{{Cite journal|last=Xón Riquiac|first=María Jacinta|date=2011|title=La emancipación del objeto. La reivindicación de los sistemas de conocimientos de los pueblos indígenas por medio del diálogo de saberes.|url=http://cirma.org.gt/library/index.php?title=38062&lang=&query=@title=Special:GSMSearchPage@process=@autor=%20%20%20%20PROGRAMA%20INTERNACIONAL%20DE%20BECAS,%20FUNDACION%20FORD@mode=&recnum=1&mode=|journal=Miradas diversas: Aportes de becados Programa Internacional de Becas Fundación Ford/Cirma|language=es|isbn=978-9929-8083-2-4}}

Xón Riquiac has established "El Proyecto Tux Cocina Gourmet de Origen," an ethical tourism program, academic research project, and restaurant that promotes pre-Hispanic, pre-industrial Mayan food.{{Cite web|title=Descubriendo la comida ancestral|url=http://naoviatges.com/viajes/descubriendo-la-comida-ancestral/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=NAO Viatges|language=es-ES}}{{Cite web|title=Voyage au Guatemala: Tikal, Antigua, Atitlan, Livingstone|url=https://www.voyageursdumonde.ch/voyage-sur-mesure/voyage-guatemala-antigua-atitlan-livingston-flores/voyage-au-guatemala-tikal-antigua-atitlan-livingstone/pbi6048|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Voyageurs du Monde|language=fr}}{{Cite web|title=Abuelita de 105 años inspira nuevo proyecto que resalta la gastronomía local de Quiché|url=https://www.guatemala.com/comida/hecho-en-guatemala/el-proyecto-tux-cocina-gourmet-de-origen-que-busca-resaltar-la-gastronomia-local/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Guatemala.com|language=es-ES}}{{Cite web|title=Restaurante|url=https://cicc-solojnaoj.org/restaurante/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Centro de Investigación Científica y Cultural|language=es-ES}} In a 2020 interview, she said, "Our goal is to strengthen indigenous epistemology through [recognizing] the science of indigenous women [in food preparation] and both their oppression and resistance in domestic spaces."[http://teoretica.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/200513_BuchEdEs04_Conver_LVega_MJXonRiquiac_BCortez_HBynoe.pdf María Jacinta Xón Riquiac, interview with Miguel A. López.] San José/Chichicastenango, Guatemala. May 14, 2020. In Spanish. Teoretica.

• [http://www.codigoradio.cultura.df.gob.mx/index.php/podcast/especial-fiesta-culturas-indigenas-18/ Talk given at the 2018 Festival of Indigenous Cultures, Peoples, and Original Neighborhoods in Mexico City].

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Category:Guatemalan women activists

Category:21st-century indigenous women of the Americas

Category:Indigenous activists of North America

Category:Food activists

Category:Indigenous academics of the Americas

Category:Living people

Category:K'iche' people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)