The Maya of Guatemala have evolved strong and explicit strategies to preserve their languages and to determine their own language communities. This paper examines how these language ideologies have altered over time. It investigates the dynamic tensions between the national promotion of Mayan languages, via the Ministry of Education and the Academy of Mayan Languages of Guatemala, and the neoliberal regime’s focus on economic progression and social simplification. These national movements are compared with more local grassroots language trends, their ideologies, and language regimes.