Anna Ortiz

"Land Defense, Memory, and Indigenous Environmental Resilience among the Maya Ch'orti' of Copán, Honduras"

Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, Director & Research Social Scientist, The Southwest Center Professor, English and Southwest Studies Affiliate Faculty, Latin American Studies

This project examines how Maya Ch'orti' land defense movements in Copán, Honduras sustain Indigenous environmental resilience across generations through a focused three-week fieldwork period from June 7 to June 28, 2027. Centering the life and legacy of Candido Amador Recinos, a leader in the Maya Ch'orti' movement and founder of CONICHH, the research investigates how struggles for communal territory shape environmental stewardship, food sovereignty, and access to essential resources. Candido’s assassination in the 1990s galvanized a sustained movement for territorial recognition and land return that continues to influence community organizing today. 

Through community-based oral histories, testimonio-style interviews, and ethnographic engagement with Maya Ch'orti' collaborators and members of organizations such as CONICHH and CODAMINCH, this project documents how land defense movements inform contemporary environmental resilience and collective survival. The research is grounded in principles of respectful consultation, reciprocal knowledge sharing, and responsible, community-engaged practice.