San Juan Chamula, Chiapas

Today we took a guided tour to a native puebla called Chamula, comprised of Tzotzil people. Our guide, Alberto, was very knowledgable about their religous practices, cultures, and traditional way of life. They practice a hybrid of catholicism mixed with ancient Mayan religious beliefs and practices.

Some of their homes are made in the pre-hispanic style using adobe mud and some are made with mud brick in a post-hispanic style. Some of the wealthier residents or those who get materials from government grants have homes constructed of concrete and more common building materials. The indigenous people generally don't like to get their photograph taken because they think their souls will be taken. They still speak their native languages and kids go to school (sometimes) to learn both spanish and tzotzil languages. Agriculture is most important in their economy, however, many women also do crafts like weaving and needle-work creating beautiful textiles.

Sheep are the most important animals for them due to the wool they provide. The women wear sheep fur skirts and men wear sheep fur ponchos. Also, each village has a different style of traditional hand-woven or embroidered designs on their clothing. Very beautiful!

We went to their ceremonial center, the church, which was pretty unique. From the outside it looked like a regular Mexican church. But inside was quite a different story than we were used to. Inside hundreds of candles were lit and the floor was covered with pine needles (still green so they must change them regularly). Many people, seated in small family groups on the floor (the church had no pews, or alter for that matter), were there for spiritual and physical healing. They were praying to mayan gods in addition to jesus and other saints. Part of the ceremony includes the sacrificing of a chicken, which we happened to see! In the old days they would sacrifice other animals. We also stopped at a second nearby church and the cemetery. The church was burned down about 100 years ago because they didn't want a second competing church, they wanted the only church in Chamula to be the one in the town center. The cemetery (still in use) is located in from of the old church structure.

It was somewhat strange visiting because at times we felt bad for invading their town and entering their church while they were doing religious ceremonies. I am sure they are used to it, but we thought it would be strange to have people parading down our street and taking pictures and watching what we do on a daily basis!

Lastly, we stopped in a puebla named Zinacantàn where we visited a home of weavers. The women and daughters were weaving and we saw their traditional mud-brick kitchen building where they made quesadillas for us. We also learned that an important part of their economy is flower growing, where the flowers are exported to parts of Mexico and the United States.