VOA标准英语2009-Maya Descendants at Risk of Disappearing

The Lacandon are direct descendants of the Maya peoples who live in the jungles of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Until the mid-20th century, they had little contact with the outside world. As a result, the indigenous¹ group was almost extinct. Today their population is growing rapidly, but at a price: Their cultural purity and way of life is being eroded² through Westernization and intermarriage. Many people predict the Lacandon will disappear as a unique class of Mayan descendants within the next 50 years.
　
Lacandon priest kneels over a crystal skull⁴ at the Mayan ruins of Palenque, Mexico, 10 Mar³ 2008 M

Our helicopter lands in a clearing in the Lacandon jungle. We are amazed at the sight of three men, who seem to have emerged from another era. They view the visitors with curiosity. They have long black, tangled⁵ hair. They wear knee-length white tunics⁶. They are barefoot.

Government officials, local authorities and traditional leaders arrive to show us the way of life of the Na Ha people, one of three remaining Lacandon tribes.

MAN: "Senor Don Antonio Martinez. He is one of the oldest people in the community. He makes all the rituals. He heals people and all the magic things."

The Na Ha spiritual leader, Senor Don Antonio Martinez is 83 years old. Director of Natural Reserves and Wildlife in Chiapas, Maria Theresa Vasquez describes the ceremony Don Antonio is performing in the temple.

"Healing," said Maria Theresa Vasquez. "To wish that people is ill gets better soon. Only two people here in Na Ha and on the other side is Lacanja can practice…He is the last old man in this area that can do it. The tradition is getting a little bit lost because of the new culture."

The Lacandon are one of the most isolated⁷ and culturally conservative of Mexico's native peoples.

"The Lacandonians were the only Indians in Mexico who were never conquered because the place where they were living-it was very, very big and they were the only tribes that remained from the Indians, from the pre-classic, from the Mayans living in that area," said Vasquez.

Maria Luisa is president of the Board of Na Bolom, a scientific and cultural institute set up 60 years ago to protect the culture, traditions and environment of the Lacandon.
In the 1970's, she tells VOA, the Mexican government began paying the Lacandon for rights to log timber in their forests.

She says the government built roads, which helped expand farming and logging, but led to severe deforestation. She says Indians from other communities were brought into the Lacandonian jungle and they introduced cows and agriculture, which added to the problems.

"So, what we are trying is to teach them different ways of living in that area without affecting the jungle, which is at this moment very difficult because there are not many ways to do it," she said. "As a matter of fact, one of the projects we developed is the eco-tourism for people to come and to see this wonderful sight where the Quetzal still lived and everything."

The Quetzal is the royal bird of the Maya. Relatively⁸ few tourists go to the Lacandon jungle because it is so remote and difficult to reach. This is a problem because the indigenous people derive⁹ much of their income from selling handicrafts to tourists. Luisa worries about their future.

"At this moment, they are at big risk of disappearing because many of them are moving to another community, which will offer at this moment better opportunities of living," said Maria Luisa. "We cannot save the jungle if we do not save the people. So, we have to save the people first and teach them and work with them for them to learn how to protect the jungle."

The Lacandonians as an ethnic¹⁰ group is diminishing. There are only 1,100 people in the three communities. They are losing their customs. Many of the men are shedding their white tunics, cutting their hair and speaking Spanish instead of Mayan.

Their society is one in which men have all the rights and women practically none. Some girls get married as young as nine. They have between two and five children. The community has problems of domestic abuse, alcohol and drugs.

Jenner Rodas Trejo is chief of the Department of Wildlife and the Environment. He says there are genetic¹¹ problems as well because of too much inbreeding, which causes mental retardation¹² among other ills.

Trejo says the Lacandon are aware of this and, increasingly, the men are marrying women from other ethnic groups. He says that will ensure their survival as a people, but not as a culture.

1 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

2 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

3 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

4 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

5 tangled   

adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Your hair's so tangled that I can't comb it. 你的头发太乱了，我梳不动。
• A movement caught his eye in the tangled undergrowth. 乱灌木丛里的晃动引起了他的注意。

6 tunics   

n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍

参考例句：

• After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后，蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
• The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

10 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

11 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

12 retardation   

n.智力迟钝，精神发育迟缓

参考例句：

• Asbestos reinforcement confers excellent flame retardation properties on a composite. 石棉增强材料使复合材料具有优异的防火性能。
• The theory confirms the increase in the retardation effect with decrease in particle size. 理论证实，随着颗粒尺寸的减小，这一减速效应将增大。