ABSTRACT
This chapter examines first of all the institutional bases of Maya power in Indiantown, which are the several agencies of the local Catholic church, Com Maya Incorporated, the three Protestant churches which had Maya membership, and several Maya organizations of surrounding south Florida. Holy Cross Catholic church in Indiantown, in addition to the spiritual and cultic role any organized church plays in a community, sponsors four other entities which have provided space for the development of a Maya power base. The Guatemalan Catholic church has some connection to the Indiantown community as well, in the form of visits to Florida of at least four priests and two bishops during the 1990s, all of whom encouraged the exiles to maintain their cultural traditions and their unity as Maya people, overcoming municipality and language divisions.
