to the arrival of the whites.) We also may consider.
that the "immediate family" in indigenous groups may.
not be as immediate as we westerners are accustomed.
to. .
This is my testimony. I didn't learn it from a book.
and I didn't learn it alone. My personal experience.
is the reality of a whole people." Born in the.
mountains of Guatemala into the Quiche, one of.
twenty-three mestizo groups, Rigoberta Menchu tells.
her story. The Quiche people's spirituality, much of.
which must not be told to outsiders, affirms community.
responsibility for village children and intensely.
personal relationships with the land and the natural.
world. The celebration of her ancient culture is all.
that strengthens in the face of a brutally repressed.
and poverty-stricken existence. Two of her brothers.
die as infants from malnutrition. When the Quiche.
begin their fight to keep the government and.
big-business people from stealing any more of their.
land, her family is forced to watch her youngest.
brother be tortured and burned alive; later her mother.
is tortured to death, and her father murdered.
Obligated by circumstance and unquestionable.
responsibility to her people, Rigoberta Menchu assumes.
the role of organizer/leader. These interviews -.
conducted in Spanish, a language she has spoken for.
only three years - center on her role as a Quiche.
woman. Her politics are deeply personal: "They've.
killed the people dearest to me. Therefore, my.
commitment to our struggle knows no boundaries nor.
limits." Despite the layered nature of her written.
story - from oral history to transcriber to translator.
- Rigoberta Menchu's unadorned and selfless words ring.
like a clear and beautiful bell sounding both wonder.
and warning. -- For great reviews of books for girls,.
check out .
am sure that anyone familiar with Rigoberta Menchu is.
also familiar with David Stoll and his book "I,.
Rigoberta Menchu and the Story of All Poor.
Guatemalans" The well-known facts of Menchu's.
exaggerations aside, the book is certainly no literary.
