The use of numbers in embroidery in tzeltal mayan communities

This paper shows how the names of numbers have been constructed and how through the use of numbers Mayan embroiderers express and keep alive a Mayan cosmovision. I argue that in this case the use of numbers is not adequately understood: it has been seen as simply a mathematical tool used for utilitarian calculation. Multiple dimensions come into play in the use of num bers, not only the cognitive and social dimensions, but also affective, emotional, corporal, symbolic and spiritu al dimensions. Consideration of all these dimensions, and not only the cognitive and social aspects, is impor tant in mathematical education. Further, a careful look at everyday math practices in different social and cultural settings can shed light on differences between cultures and civilizations that are often either invisible or misunderstood. Some crucial differences can be found in the epistemological and ontological domains. Each civilization has its own set of principles or criteria that people use to guide themselves and make sense of their daily lives. These principles refer to basic kinds of knowledge that support the common actions of daily life, knowledge that has been construct ed in different ways by different societies and that is reconstructed anew as part of the ongoing activities of everyday life. As will be seen, everyday math represents a particular kind of culturally grounded knowledge that includes a conception of human self. Therefore, when people need to know a different cul ture or civilization, their first instinct is to try to find the references in their own civilization in order to know the other civilization. This situation brings with it some kinds of comprehension problems. The recommendation is to recognize our differences and open the mind to know more clearly the new aspects of the civilization in ques tion. "It is necessary to start from the idea that under standing the world is much broader than just under standing the Western world. And that is the quid: there are other ways of seeing the world" (De Sousa, 2010). Similarly, one could also say that there are many ways of counting. Before beginning this study, I worked at the mountains of Chiapas, in the south of Mexico, at one of the schools of the Mayan Tseltal region. The sec ondary school's students worked in teams on algebraic problem solving in the mathematics course. They solved the problems in a very particular way. One problem had proportional propositions about two kinds of animals that belonged to children. The students represented the animals with two kinds of seeds. They organized the material in order to represent the proportional number of animals in reference to the body. All of the teams rep resented one pig with four seeds and one chicken with two seeds. It was very particular because they had two different kinds of seeds; they could have utilized a dif ferent seed for each kind of animal. I asked them why they used this organization of seeds to represent the ani mals. They said, "Because the pig has four legs and the chicken has two. " This answer allows us to recognize that the use of numbers has a connection with the body. As we shall see, the Mayan numerical system has been constructed with references to the body in a specific cosmovision and with a base of twenty. After this experience and other similar ones, I formu lated some research questions: What are the social prac tices in which the Mayan numeration is involved? What The use of numbers in embroidery in tzeltal mayan communities