The Story of the Mam

A short history of the Mam peoples

The Mam people are one subgroup of the Mayan Nation, occupying the western (Sierra Madre) mountain regions in southwestern Chiapas and northwestern Guatemala. The Mayan Nation had highly developed science, agriculture and art when it was at its “peak” more than 1200 years ago.

The Mam are unique among the Mayan groups due to of their history of slavery and oppression. Long before the Spanish invaded Mexico, the Mam were agricultural vassals of the Aztecs and even the pre-Aztecs. From about 1200 A.D. the Mam were a major source of cacao (chocolate) for the Highlanders of Central Mexico. Cacao beans were so valuable that the Aztecs used them as currency. When the Spanish arrived and eventually conquered Mexico, they replaced the Aztecs as slave masters and the Mam continued as slaves. The Mam farmers along with the Tlascalans were considered (by the Spanish) the best farmers in all of Mexico. Many of these exceptional farmers were taken to Florida and the Philippines to develop agriculture across the Spanish empire.

After the Mexicans won independence from Spain in 1862, wealthy Mexicans and Europeans replaced the Spanish, who used the Mam as workers, entrapped in a corrupt system of debt peonage. Debt peonage is created when workers and their families are obligated by debts from previous generations of corrupt officials and never escape the debt due to low pay, high interest and other fines.

In 1895, the Mexican / Guatemala boarder was established and the Mam people were divided by this new boundary. At this time, Mexico decided it would not recognize the Mam, making it illegal to practice traditional Mam ceremonies, wear traditional Mam clothing or speak the Mam language. This continued after the Mexican revolution (1910 - 1919) against the rich oligarchs. The revolutionary slogan of “Tierra y Libertad” (Land and Liberty) did not include the Mam. It was not until 1939, under President Lazero Cardenas (Mexico’s only indigenous president) that the Mam were granted the same rights as other Mexicans. Still, the Mexican government did not establish any real program of assistance.

Finally, in the 1980s, visitors from the U.S.A. and Europe traveled the region teaching methods of organic agriculture and formation of co-operatives. ISMAM (Indigenas de la Sierra Madre de Motozintla) was one of two co-ops in Chiapas in 1987. Today there are approximately 38 indigenous organic agricultural co-ops in Chiapas. In the Mam region they have evolved a new cultural ethic based on love of the land and organic farming. The Mam region of Chiapas has become a center of organic coffee production and the Mam farmers have gained worldwide recognition as the leading experts and developers of in-field techniques.

Café Mam has been an influential force behind this success. Our customers deserve a lot of the credit for this cultural revolution and our thanks go out to you. A fuller description of the Mam story can be found in the journal American Anthropologist (vol. 100).