Reclaiming
the Dead
Photography by Rodrigo Abd, 2009
“Reclaiming the Dead” Lesson Plan
Resources for this lesson:
The five images selected from Rodrigo Abd’s visual essay express how individuals, communities, and the larger nation of Guatemala continue to confront the legacy and aftermath of genocide in their country. As you view these images, keep in mind that they collectively tell a larger story—and remind us that much of that story is left untold.
A forensic anthropologist works to exhume the body of a peasant killed by the Guatemalan Army in 1982 during the civil war, in Chucalibal, Quiche, 130 km west of Guatemala City. The exhumation was visited by family members of victims of violence from around the world, including relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks in the US. May 17, 2005.
A skeleton is seen next to Mayan traditional clothing in a mass grave where 12 persons were buried after they were massacred by the Guatemalan Army in 1982 in “El Adelanto” village. August 31, 2007.
Relatives of 179 villagers killed by the Guatemalan Army during the period of 1981-1984 pray during a mass in a former military base in Comalapa. November 2, 2004.
Lorenzo Cuxil and Felicita Oligaria look at a picture of a victim killed by the Guatemalan Army in a former military base in Comalapa, 80 km west of Guatemala City. Guatemalans honor their deceased loved ones on November 1 and 2. November 2, 2004.
A man carries the coffin of a villager killed during a massacre by the Guatemalan Army in 1981, in Cocop, Nebaj. After exhuming 76 villagers killed there, a team of forensic anthropologists studied the bones and clothes of the massacred villagers to identify their remains. After more than 2 years, the anthropologists gave the remains to their relatives for burial. June 10, 2008.
Related Resources
Massacres in the Jungle by Ricardo Falla
Bitter Fruit by Stephen Schlesinger & Steven Kinzer
Las Huellas de Guatemala by Gustavo Porras Castejón
The Long Night of White Chickens by Francisco Goldman
I, Rigoberta Menchú by Rigoberta Menchú & Elisabeth Burgos-Debray
The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? by Francisco Goldman