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In this May 22, 2013 photo, a soldier registers a car at the entrance to a military base on the outskirts of Nebaj, northwestern Guatemala. Seventeen years after the end of a bloody civil war that saw hundreds of their villages razed and thousands of their loved ones killed, the Ixil people still live in mud and wood houses in the most rugged and isolated parts of northwestern Guatemala. Largely ignored by authorities for centuries, the Ixil have came under the spotlight after former dictator Efrain Rios Montt was tried for genocide for the scorched-earth policies used against the Ixil during his 17 months in power in the 1980s. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_15_]()
In this May 23, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayans make their way home after watching the exhumation of a clandestine grave near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Forensic experts continue to exhume bodies from clandestine graves. Lesser known are the mass graves that the Ixil people themselves dug to bury loved ones who died of starvation and hypothermia, while they hid in the mountains from the soldiers who razed their villages and killed thousands. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat]()
In this May 23, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayan women perform a traditional dance called "Sarabanda" in Nebaj, Guatemala. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. Bereft of basic services like education, health, access to clean water and sanitation, the Ixil people carry on as they have done for generations. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_5_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, the remains of an unidentified Ixil Mayan is unearthed from a mass grave by forensic anthropologists during an exhumation of villagers who died during the country's civil war, near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Forensic experts continue to exhume bodies from clandestine graves. Lesser known are the mass graves that the Ixil people themselves dug to bury loved ones who died of starvation and hypothermia, while they hid in the mountains from the soldiers who razed their villages and killed thousands. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_6_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, a forensic anthropologist exhumes the remains of 9-year-old Ixil Mayan Diego Juanito Chavez from a mass grave near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Forensic experts continue to exhume bodies from clandestine graves. Lesser known are the mass graves that the Ixil people themselves dug to bury loved ones who died of starvation and hypothermia, while they hid in the mountains from the soldiers who razed their villages and killed thousands. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_7_]()
In this May 23, 2013 photos, anthropologist Edgar Hernandez shows his left hand with the names of surrounding villages written by children, before the start of an exhumation of a clandestine grave near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Ixil Mayan farmers buried their loved ones who perished in the mountains while hiding from soldiers in clandestine graves during the country's bloody civil war. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_8_]()
In this May 23, 2013 photos, an Ixil Mayan child writes the name of a surrounding village on the hand of anthropologist Edgar Hernandez, before the start of an exhumation of a clandestine grave near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Ixil Mayan farmers buried their loved ones who perished in the mountains while hiding from soldiers in clandestine graves during the country's bloody civil war. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_9_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, Jacinta Cruz sheds a tear as her mother's remains are exhumed from a clandestine grave near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Cruz said her mother Vicenta died in the early 80s from starvation and hypothermia while hiding in the nearby mountains as soldiers razed their village, "There was no salt to eat, only a few roots and herbs," remembers Cruz. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_10_]()
In this May 23, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayan women gather around a mass grave where forensic anthropologists exhume the remains of their loved ones who died during the country's civil war, near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Forensic experts continue to exhume bodies from clandestine graves. Lesser known are the mass graves that the Ixil people themselves dug to bury loved ones who died of starvation and hypothermia, while they hid in the mountains from the soldiers who razed their villages and killed thousands. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_11_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, an Ixil Mayan woman carries a bowl full of corn kernels to ground for the making of corn tortillas in Ixtupil village, Guatemala. Seventeen years after the end of a bloody civil war that saw hundreds of their villages razed, thousands of their loved ones killed, the Ixil mostly live in mud and wood houses in the most rugged and isolated parts of northwestern Guatemala with no drinking water, paved roads or basic health and education services. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_1_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayan women gather around a mass grave as forensic anthropologists exhume the skeletons of their loved ones who died during the country's civil war, near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Forensic experts continue to exhume bodies from clandestine graves. Lesser known are the mass graves that the Ixil dug to bury loved ones who died of starvation and hypothermia, while they hid in the mountains from the soldiers who razed their villages and killed thousands in the 1980s. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_3_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, Andres Lopez Sanchez helps forensic anthropologists in the exhumation of a clandestine grave near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Lopez believes his brother Juan, who died in the 1980s during the country's bloody civil war, is buried in this grave. Forensic experts continue to exhume bodies from clandestine graves. Lesser known are the mass graves that the Ixil dug to bury loved ones who died of starvation and hypothermia, while they hid in the mountains from the soldiers who razed their villages and killed thousands. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_4_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayans help forensic anthropologists during the exhumation of a clandestine grave near Ixtupil, Guatemala. The Ixil buried their loved ones who perished in the mountains while hiding from soldiers in clandestine graves during the country's bloody civil war. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless scorched-earth policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_23_]()
In this May 22, 2013, picture, a woman prays in front of a Jesus of Nazareth guardian statue, dressed as a Ixil Mayan elder, inside a church in Cotzal, Guatemala. The Ixil people live mostly in the most rugged and isolated parts of northwestern Guatemala. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The conviction was annulled days later following a trial that did nothing to change the lives of the Ixil people. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_2_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, Ixil gather around a mass grave as forensic anthropologists exhume the skeletons of their loved ones who died during the country's civil war, near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Forensic experts continue to exhume bodies from clandestine graves. Lesser known are the mass graves that the Ixil people themselves dug to bury loved ones who died of starvation and hypothermia, while they hid in the mountains from the soldiers who razed their villages and killed thousands. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_16_]()
In this May 22, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayan Alfonso Gaspar Ijom takes a break from working his small plot of arable land in Chajul, Guatemala. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. Bereft of basic services like education, health, access to clean water and sanitation, the Ixil people carry on as they have done for generations. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_20_]()
In this May 23, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayan women take part in a procession honoring their patron saint, Virgin of the Immaculate Conception in Nebaj, Guatemala. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_14_]()
In this May 23, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayans gather at a mass grave where forensic anthropologists exhume the remains of their loved ones who died during the country's civil war, near Ixtupil, Guatemala. Forensic experts continue to exhume bodies from clandestine graves. Lesser known are the mass graves that the Ixil people themselves dug to bury loved ones who died of starvation and hypothermia, while they hid in the mountains from the soldiers who razed their villages and killed thousands. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_18_]()
In this May 22, 2013 photo, an Ixil Mayan boy carrying fire wood poses for a photo in Chajul, Guatemala. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless scorched-earth policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. Bereft of basic services like education, health, access to clean water and sanitation, the Ixil people carry on as they have done for generations, mainly focused on surviving in very adverse conditions. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_17_]()
In this May 22, 2013 photo, Miguel Acicona, 50, holds up his blue painted hat to protect his head from the rain after a working in his small plot of arable land on the outskirts of Chajul, Guatemala. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. Bereft of basic services like education, health, access to clean water and sanitation, the Ixil people carry on as they have done for generations. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_19_]()
In this May 22, 2013 photo, a guerrilla fighter uniform and rifle is tacked to a wall of the Ixil Museum in Chajul, Guatemala. Seventeen years after the end of a bloody civil war between the Guatemalan Army and the Guerrilla Army of the Poor that saw hundreds of Ixil Mayan villages razed, thousands of their loved ones killed, the Ixil mostly live in mud and wood houses in the most rugged and isolated parts of northwestern Guatemala with no drinking water, paved roads or basic health and education services. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_21_]()
In this May 24, 2013 photo, Ixil Mayan Margarita Sanchez prepares tortillas over a wood burning stove as her husband eats bolbosh, a traditional dish made with wisquil, or pear squash, in their mud house in Ixtupil, Guatemala. Forgotten by the state for centuries, the Ixil have recently come under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. Bereft of basic services like education, health, access to clean water and sanitation, the Ixil people carry on as they have done for generations. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_12_]()
In this May 23, 2013 photo, a makeshift school bell, once part of a bomb dropped by the Guatemalan army during the country's civil war, hangs near an Ixil Mayan rural school in Xeulcalvitz, Guatemala. Largely ignored by authorities for centuries, the Ixil came under the spotlight after a Guatemalan court found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide on May 10 for the policies used against the group during his 17 months in power in the 1980s. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)![Guatemala_Ixil_Mayans_Grat_13_]()
In this May 23, 2013 photo, crosses labeled with the names of Ixil civil war victims, their ages and the dates they were assassinated, disappeared, or kidnapped surround a crucifix inside a church in Cotzal, Guatemala. Ignored by authorities for centuries, the Ixil came under the spotlight after a court found former dictator Efrain Rios Montt guilty of genocide on May 10 for the ruthless policies used during his 17-month-long regime against the Ixil. The sentence was later overturned by a higher court. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)Guatemala's Ixil Mayans Suffer Years After Genocide
Largely ignored by authorities for centuries, the Ixil came under the spotlight after a Guatemalan court found former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt guilty of genocide on May 10 for the scorched-earth policies used against the Ixil during his 17 months in power in the 1980s.
Move Forward
- Guatemala's Ixil Mayans Suffer Years After Genocide
