Colonialism, Rights-Based Thinking, and the Evolution of Yucatec Maya Relationships with Their Homeland Since European Contact

In this chapter, I start with a brief discussion on the historical trajectory of the Western concept of rights (and its shift in interpretations and meanings from tyrannical to democratic societies) and explain how our current understanding of Indigenous rights stems from colonial histories and legacies. Then, I provide a geographical and climatic profile of the Yucatan, as well as a brief history of the Yucatec Maya from their first encounters with the Spanish to colonial times, and post-independence Mexico until today, which gives the reader an insight into the evolution of relationships between the Maya and settler governments on traditional Maya territories. This background information is necessary to contextualize my research project on the Maya environmental ethos currently lived and practised in Xuilub.