Although Dr. Awe is considered the pre-eminent Maya-ologist in Belize, it seems the living ones aren’t big fans of him. In a press release received today from Christina Choc, program director of the Julian Cho Society and the Maya Leaders Alliance, she states that Awe presented an affidavit before the Supreme Court saying that the Maya of Toledo are mostly immigrants, and thus, are not entitled to their rights as Belizeans.
Coc says that not only is it offensive, but it’s wrong. The flaw she says is that Awe based his statement on outdated evidence, said Dr. Richard Wilk, a professor of anthropology who opposed Awe when he gave his testimony for the Supreme Court. Coc went on to implore the audience of the symposium to carefully compare evidence presented by Awe and that of Rick Wilk, Grant Jones, Richard Levanthal, and others, the “expert witnesses” as she calls them.
