18 The culture of the indigenous people of Guatemala was different at the time of the initial contact and has remained different from the culture that came from abroad and which now predominates in the country. The possessors of that culture have made great efforts to keep it distinct, reproducing it and transmitting it to others, particularly their descendants. The Maya have had to resist several centuries of diverse types of pressure to abandon their different and differentiated culture and to adopt the other one, which is said to be preferable. The many important differences between the Mayan culture and the predominant culture in Guatemala include, in particular, the special, intense spiritual relationship with the land; the access, ownership, management and administration of resources; the proclivity towards a rich biodiversity and ecology; the profound respect for nature; the forms of community social organization; the spirituality; the local knowledge and characteristic education; the membership in other linguistic families; the legal system that is updated every generation on millenary principles and customs, and the special ways of exercising self-determination and autonomy. The impunity of the grave violations of their human rights may be explained by racism and discrimination, as indicated in the Peace Agreements that attempted to end the conflict. These agreements also embodied the rights of indigenous women, in the understanding that they suffered from triple discrimination, because they were women, indigenous and poor. Access to the State’s justice system is very difficult for indigenous peoples, given the geographical distances and linguistic particularities. The courts usually hear them in Spanish and, even though there are interpretation services, insufficient importance is given to the task of the interpreters; also, the difference in cosmovisions makes this interpretation very difficult. From 1979 to 1983 the Maya were oppressed, persecuted, harassed, attacked and put to death violently; this is reflected in the 200,000 deaths and 626 massacres that can be attributed to the State’s security forces. The indigenous peoples, and the collective conscience and cultural identity of the survivors and their next of kin, were drastically affected; they were forced to flee their lands, abandon their traditional community structure based on the nuclear and extended family, and live in fear under military control. When someone dies, rites are very important for the Mayan culture in general and the Maya-Achí culture, in particular. When a death occurs, the whole community accompanies the next of kin with different manifestations of solidarity. The next of kin, friends, neighbors and acquaintances come to the house of the person who has died with an offering: such as, sugar, corn or wood. The deceased is placed in a central part of the house, generally next to the family altar, with his head towards the west. He is cleaned and given his last bath. A vigil is kept over him for nine days with candles, flowers and incense. Prior to the Spanish influence, the vigil lasted seven days. The Maya believe that the spirits of their grandparents are present in the house; consequently, offerings are made to the body, and the spirits of the ancestors are offered flowers, incense, candles and wreaths, which are made at the time. Some of the most valued belongings of the deceased are placed in the coffin and the “novenario” [nine days of prayer and mourning] is observed in his house. Subsequently, on the ninth day, breakfast is prepared, and music is played all day. Then the “tiniente” arrives; this is a community elder who has been chosen as the intermediary between the living and the dead, and he leads the prayers to the deceased and calls on the spirits of those who have died before. The “tiniente” has