Indigenous peoples around the world have long been fighting to keep their native tongue alive and, just like Māori here in Aotearoa, the Mayan people of Guatemala are still fighting for their rights as well as their many languages.
For the Mayan people, this is a different kind of war that has been lingering since the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-96).
Dr Emil Keme of the K'iche' Maya Nation says, "In the period of the civil war if you were speaking a Mayan language and soldiers were around you they justified that this person is transmitting communal secrets and then you could be incarcerated or even killed ... Guatemalans suppressed the use of Mayan languages for a lot of people, and a lot of parents- like my parents decided to send me to school to learn Spanish in order to save my life."
Despite the challenges of speaking their native tongue after the war, the Mayan people managed to keep their jewel alive.
"There are 31 Mayan languages that survived. In Guatemala alone, there are 22 Maya languages that have been officialised and there are some of them that are in danger of extinction," says Dr Keme.
In addition to the threat of Maya languages becoming extinct, Keme says their people continue to be marginalised.
"A minority of non-indigenous people have taken hold of the economy. They have embraced capitalism and they have created policies to favor their interests and marginalise us."
Indigenous people dominate Guatemala's demographics, however, they continue to face widespread injustice.
"In Guatemala now the entire population is 17 million, 70-75% of people are Mayan descendants."
Technology has had a major impact on keeping their languages alive, it is an initiative that has been championed by the next generation.
"Social media has been really useful in the sense that a lot of people are using that in order to affirm these languages to keep them alive and so a lot of people are using these sources because the state, unfortunately, hasn't supported enough to keep this language alive."
Mayan academics and filmmakers are in Aotearoa for the next few days and will be attending the indigenous conference in Hamilton.