In the Indigenous Maya Mam language, the term awal translates to “the sower.” Marimba Maya AWAL, founded by Julia Sanchez and Luisa Lopez in the Washington, D.C., area in 2005, aims to sow the knowledge of their Maya ancestors from the mountainous west of Guatemala for future generations.

At the 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, the group performed “Sal Negra,” a marimba piece traditional to Guatemala. Its title references the black salt found in rivers that Indigenous communities use in traditional foods. The melodic percussion instrument was brought from Africa during the transatlantic slave trade and made its way into Maya ceremonies. Successive governments attempted to suppress the music along with other Indigenous cultural practices.

With Guatemala’s independence in 1821, the instrument’s fortunes rose. Finally, in 1978, the government recognized the marimba as a vital part of Guatemalan identity and, in 1999, proclaimed February 20 as National Marimba Day.

Ned Driscoll is a video intern at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He recently graduated with degrees in cinema and political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and hopes to make a career in filmmaking.