Pam Kaj, Upam Ulew

The incommensurability of translations in English, Spanish, and K'iche' signals the importance of this concept in K'iche' sacred traditions; it is, in many ways, untranslatable. The original K'iche' text declares "vpam cah vpam vleu," which would literally be "stomach/womb/interior of the sky, stomach/womb/interior of the land." In his Spanish translation, Dominican friar Francisco de Ximénez (1666-1729) equates Pam Kaj, Upam Ulew with the creator deities who appear alongside the concept in the text, U'k'ux Kaj, U'k'ux Ulew. He therefore writes, "víentre de el cielo, víentre de la tíerra" (womb of the sky, womb of the earth)," and adds, afterward "y quatro esquínas" (and four corners), referring to the four-part structure of the universe in K'iche' philosophy. Guatemalan scholar Adrián Recinos (1953) interprets the expression in complementary terms of four, a critical commonplace in K'iche' philosophy. He therefore writes of "los cuatro rincones, los cuatro puntos cardinales" (the four corners, the four cardinal points). Mayanist anthropologist Allen J. Christenson (2007) takes a similar approach when he translates the concept as "the Four Sides and the Four Corners." Interestingly, K'iche' linguist Sam Colop includes the passage in his literal K'iche' poetic edition (1999) but not in his prose translation into Spanish (2008).

Translators easily handle the names of prominent political lineages, place names, and even deities -- all of which are complex aspects of the K'iche' world. Their varying readings of Pam Kaj, Upam Ulew tell us that this is a concept that resists translation. It goes to the very heart of K'iche' tradition and is either unfamiliar to them or not something that can be conveyed accurately in non-Indigenous target languages. By looking for moments when translators disagree on a term, as is the case here, we can identify the most important elements of K'iche' sacred thought and practice.