Discover the Hidden World of Quintana Roo’s 200K Indigenous Language Speakers

In Quintana Roo, over 200,000 individuals communicate in their indigenous languages, including Maya.

The Maya-speaking population is the largest indigenous group in Quintana Roo, with 194,333 individuals proficient in various dialects of the Maya language. However, the state is also home to 30,719 people who speak languages or dialects from other Mexican states. Data from the Mexico platform reveals that 12.3 percent of Quintana Roo's population above the age of three speaks at least one indigenous language. This equates to 228,532 of the 1,857,985 residents recorded in the 2020 census communicating in their native tongue. Besides Maya, other languages spoken in the state include Tseltal, Ch'ol, Tsotsil, Náhuatl, Q’anjob’al, Zoque, Mam, Zapotec, and Chontal.

Pablo Martínez Flores, director of the state's Support Center for Migrant Indigenous People, attributes the variety of indigenous languages in Quintana Roo to the region's rich cultural and ethnic diversity. The migration of groups like the Ch'oles, Tzeltales, and Tzotziles from Chiapas and other nearby states has helped preserve their languages and traditions, thereby culturally enriching the region.

Flores emphasizes the importance of recognizing the national migrant indigenous population. As such, requests have been made to institutions to address education, culture, art, health, and rights-related issues, with a focus on translation and dissemination through the National Institute of Indigenous Languages. Flores stresses the importance of understanding the distinctions between language, dialect, and linguistics, topics often debated among linguists.

One migrant indigenous resident of the state is Miguel Ángel Gómez, a native of Chiapas. Gómez, who grew up speaking Tsotsil and learning his people's traditions, migrated to Cancun due to poverty and lack of opportunities. Despite leaving his home, he found employment as a pan beat maker, earning the respect of his customers.

While Gómez often feels homesick, he takes solace in his work and the community that has welcomed him, sharing stories and traditions with friends and family. Similarly, Ángel Balam, originally from Holcá, Yucatán, experienced a significant change when his family moved to Cancun during his childhood. Despite growing up among non-Maya speakers and Spanish becoming his primary language, Balam always communicated with his grandfather in Maya. Now a doorman at the Cancun taxi drivers union, Balam takes pride in his heritage and hopes future generations will continue to speak the language that connects them to their roots.