Local Mayan Villages: Zinacantan and San Juan Chamula

So today the four of us spent the day visiting two pueblos outside San Cristobal de Las Casas: Zinacantan and San Juan Chamula. Both are villages populated almost entirely by Mayan people. They are about 20 minutes away. We went as part of a little tour. Our tour guide Alonso was great - articulate, informed, and ready to talk about various issues.

Zinacantan is located in a fertile valley, filled with small homes, agricultural fields, and greenhouses. Lots of greenhouses where they grow a huge variety of beautiful flowers - roses, carnations, asters, irises, and a bunch of tropical flowers that I cannot name.

This town is run by its indigenous inhabitants. The town has an entrance fee. It costs 15 pesos for each person to enter. Their first language is Tzotzel - an old Mayan language. Some also speak Spanish. The community is relatively isolated, and their economy seems to be largely based on traveling to San Cristobal to sell their amazing flowers and textiles.

There is a Catholic church in the center of town which serves as a hub of activities. This is where we went first - to the church, to the market nearby, and then to a women's cooperative that sells a variety of woven goods.

It is clear that the Catholicism practiced here has been heavily influenced by the Mayan people and their pre-european traditions. They have their own church hierarchies, and unique practices and roles for prayer. They have little chapels on the tops of nearby mountains, for example, where their religious authorities/leaders go to pray for the sick, for the community, for the harvest, etc. Sickness here is thought to have often been brought on by sins and bad behavior in the community.

It is quite fascinating to learn about and ponder, if only at the superficial level of a morning visit.

After Zinacantan, we went to Chamula and visited the church there. This was wild. What we saw on Sunday afternoon was an indescribable blend of catholic ritual and what must be based on original Mayan beliefs. (No cameras were allowed in the church, so I couldn't take any photos.)

We stepped inside the church. It seemed like chaos to us. There were several hundred people (all Mayans) involved in various independent family-based rituals, and a couple of handfuls of visitors from outside. No pews. The air was thick with the scent of incense - Copal, derived from tree sap and used as an incense in religious rituals since long before the Aztecs. The church was filled with smoke. Pine needles covered the floor - a symbol of Nature brought into the church. And candles. Thousands and thousands of candles. Young kids were running about - laughing and playing. Six workers were reassembling a wooden structure along a wall that reached all the way to the ceiling. They were using block and tackle to raise 8 foot painted wooden columns. Men were hanging from rope, spray-painting the structure to highlight details.

Meanwhile, amidst the ropes and paint and smoke and incense, families were coming and going - lighting candles, drinking posh - sugar cane liquor - along with Coca cola and other soft drinks. Most people were sitting on the floor, praying. Some had chickens that were used to take away disease and bad spirits from people, at which point the chickens were killed right there in the church.

All along the floor, at the base of the walls were a series of models or wooden statues of Christ, John the Baptist, and dozens of other Catholic saints. People come daily to the church to ask for help (restored health for loved ones, etc) and to offer thanks for help granted.

Women and girls were all dressed alike in heavy skirts and blue and purple embroidered shawls. the men wore black wool jackets that looked as though they were sheep skin. They had a simple cut, something like a one size fits all sort of poncho/pull-over.

It was a wild, confusing, chaotic, fascinating scene. I am not sure that the Pope would approve of what his flock was up to in this particular parish…

This is a typical scene in this area - fields of recently planted corn, maize.

This is the Catholic Church in Zinacantan. These people are awaiting the appearance of a bride and groom who had just been married.

Women in the community, in their traditional village clothing - purple shawls, thick black skirts. The shawls are beautiful, embroidered with flowers and birds...

More women outside the church.

Waiting for the bride and groom.

These were some local Mayan kids in Zinacantan.

A textile co-op that we visited, filled with locally-produced, hand-woven materials that this community is famous for.

Joseph in traditional marriage clothing.

Bride and Groom.

Amy and the kids in traditional clothes.

Familial bliss.

This is an altar at the textile co-op, set up by the elder man in the house, who used to be a religious leader in the community. The clay animals in front represent spirit animals, like guardian angels perhaps for Catholics, that accompany people throughout their lives. Another example of how the new world and old world religions have been combined.

This is the church in Chamula. Inside was this amazing scene of people, incense, construction candles, prayer, and so on.

Details on the church facade.