Elías (On epistemicide)

At an administrative level, the State undermines the community authorities, devaluing their role or replacing them with the so-called Community Development Councils, two entirely different concepts. The first is in charge of the administration of justice and community coexistence, and the latter is tasked with the management of public works and community services. Uniting both local institutions into one, constitutes an epistemic inequality that degrades the value and credibility of ancestral knowledge and authority.
The devaluation of the ancestral community authorities’ role in recognising and dealing with a case of grievance (such as the accusation against Domingo Choc), explains why this case has not been resolved by local authorities and why the perpetrators have disregarded the calls for reason made by other members of the community.

The assassination of Domingo Choc should not be seen as an isolated act, but as part of the epistemic violence against the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples. There is an effort to destroy knowledge and beliefs that differ from those of the epistemic Western dictatorship. Partly because of their lack of understanding, but mainly because they pose a threat to the strategies of control and plundering of the territories.

Several analysts have asked themselves how much ancient wisdom was lost with the passing of the healer and spiritual leader Dominic Choc. We may never know. But the question we must ask ourselves is: What commitments should be made by the government, in order to bring an end to the epistemicide against the Indigenous Peoples?

Silvel Elías

Elías is a Maya K'iché Indigenous, originally from Totonicapán (Guatemala). Professor at the School of Agronomy of the University of San Carlos in Guatemala, where he directs the Program of Rural and Territorial Studies (PERT-FAUSAC). Since 2005 he collaborates on the drafting of the chapter about Guatemala for the annual El Mundo Indígena, published by IWGIA. His subjects of interest are collective rights and the governance of communal lands and Indigenous territories.