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39-653: Tzeltal may refer to: Tzeltal people , an ethnic group of Mexico Tzeltal language , the Mayan language they speak Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Tzeltal . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tzeltal&oldid=863523144 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

78-464: A wayhel . The ch'ulel is an inner, personal soul, located in the heart and blood, placed in the unborn embryo by the ancestral gods. It is composed of thirteen parts, and a person who loses one or more of these parts must have a curing ceremony performed by a shaman to recover them. " Soul loss " may be caused by fright of falling down or seeing a demon on a dark night; as a punishment by the ancestral gods for misbehavior; or by being sold into slavery to

117-547: A mound of earth located in the ceremonial center. The world rests on the shoulders of the Vashak , analogous to the Four-Corner Gods or Sky-Bearers of the ancient Maya. This cosmic model is reflected in the ceremonial circuits around houses and fields performed by priests, which proceed counterclockwise around the four corners and end in the center, where offerings are made to the gods. The Tzotzil Underworld inhabited by

156-457: A people with "an infinite number of gods; they worshiped the sun and offered sacrifices to it, and to the full rivers, to the springs, to the trees of heavy foliage, and to the high hills they gave incense and gifts .. . their ancestors discovered a stone bat and considered it God and worshiped it" (Ximenez 1929-1931, 360). The Tzotzil conceive the World as a square, at whose center is the "navel",

195-624: A race of dwarfs, created by the gods during their attempts to create mankind. The Sun is "Our Father Heat", and the Moon is "Our Holy Mother". The planet Venus is called "Sweeper of the Path" as it precedes the Sun in his path around the World. Local hills and mountains lare the homes of the ancestral couples, the Totilme'il or "Fathers-Mothers", the most important Tzotzil gods. The next most important deity

234-418: A regional market system. This system has links to the wider Mexican economic system. Handcrafts mostly consist of textiles woven on backstrap looms decorated with traditional Mayan designs. For women the most common item is huipils , shirts and tablecloths/napkins which are then used in the home or sold. The best textiles come from Tenejapa , Pantelhó , Larráinzar and Chenalhó . However, for many Tzeltal

273-417: A wool belt and an undyed cotton blouse embroidered with flowers. Their hair is tied with ribbons and covered with a cloth. Most men do not use traditional attire. A more important cultural distinction is the small community or village, each of which is a distinct social and cultural unit, with its own territory, dialect, clothing and more based on a kinship system. This intra-community loyalty supersedes that at

312-529: Is a blouse or long overdress ( huipil ), indigo dyed skirt ( enredo ), cotton sash, and shawl. Based on linguistic and archaeological data, scholars believe that the common ancestors of the contemporary Tzotzil and Tzeltal peoples entered Chiapas between 100 BCE and 300 CE. According to Spanish chronicles, just before the Spanish Conquest the Tzotzil exported quetzal feathers and amber to

351-509: Is concentrated in twenty of Chiapas' 111 municipalities, with two main dialects; highland (or Oxchuc) and lowland (or Bachajonteco). Most children are bilingual in the language and Spanish although many of their grandparents are monolingual Tzeltal speakers. The main Tzeltal region is divided into three zones: north, central and south, with some demographic and cultural differences among these zones. Women are distinguished by black skirt with

390-717: Is considered to be a case of the lack of harmony within the person or with the person and the world/supernatural, healing is focused on restoring this harmony. They traditionally regard barn owls "disease givers". Agriculture is the basic economic activity of the Tzeltal people. Traditional Mesoamerican crops such as maize, beans, squash, and chili peppers are the most important, but a variety of other crops, including wheat, manioc , sweet potatoes , cotton, chayote , some fruits, other vegetables, and coffee are also grown. Domestic animals include pigs, donkeys, cattle and domestic fowl. Those who live in larger villages tend to specialize in craft production, with surpluses traded through

429-461: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Tzeltal people The Tzeltal are one of the descendants of the Maya , which was one of the early and largest Mesoamerican cultures. This group left behind a large number of archeological sites such as Tikal and Palenque , and the Mayan linguistic group is one of the largest linguistic groups in

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468-479: Is important because it is often the first source of treatment for most Tzeltal and due to lack of modern medical facilities, is often the only source. This cosmology ascribes both religious and magical elements to the relationship of sickness and health. Illness can be ascribed to the breaking of societal rules as sanctions imposed by the saints or gods. It can also be ascribed to witchcraft done by someone seeking to do harm. To counter both, there are rituals. As sickness

507-471: Is the Earth Lord. In modern times, he is pictured as a large fat and rich Ladino living underground, who owns all land and its natural resources. A Tzotzil who uses any of those resources — water holes, trees, mud for his home, limestone for lime — is expected to compensate the Earth Lord with appropriate offerings in a ceremony. The Tzotzil believe that each human being has two souls, a ch'ulel and

546-723: The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán . They also produced salt from wells near Ixtapa and traded it throughout the Chiapas highlands, and continued to do so after the Conquest. The Spanish conquerors met comparatively little resistance in Chiapas. In 1522, the Zinacantán lord Cuzcácuatl sought the Spaniards with an offer of allegiance, and his subjects afterwards helped Spanish commander Luis Marín to subdue neighboring tribes. On

585-697: The Mexican state of Chiapas . The Tzotzil language , like Tzeltal and Ch'ol , is descended from the proto-Ch'ol spoken in the late classic period at sites such as Palenque and Yaxchilan . The word tzotzil originally meant " bat people" or "people of the bat" in the Tzotzil language (from sotz' "bat"). Today the Tzotzil refer to their language as Bats'i k'op , which means "true language". Houses were traditionally built of wattle and daub or lumber , usually with thatched roofs. Traditional men's clothing consists of shirt, short pants, neckerchief, hat, and wool poncho . Traditional women's clothing

624-683: The Americas, subdivided into Huastec , Yucatec , eastern Maya and Western Maya. Mayan civilization reached its height in the Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology , but from 900 to 1200 CE went through a period of decline into smaller, rival city-states with almost all cities completely abandoned by the 15th century. It is not known to Western scholarship why Mayan civilization collapsed. From this point on, various Mayan-dialect speaking peoples formed related but distinct cultures with various related languages. The Spanish conquered Mayan territory in

663-567: The Earth Lord, through evil witchcraft. At death, the inner soul leaves the body and goes to the Katibak , the world of the dead in the center of the Earth. There it will remain for the same length of time it had been in the human world, reliving his life in reverse, younger and younger, until it is assigned by the ancestral gods to another newborn of the opposite sex. Baptized infants and women who die in childbirth go directly to Winajel, located in

702-483: The Ladinos. The sense of national pride has become stronger among the Tzotzil since 1940, as natives have increasingly began to occupy local administrative posts and used their cultural identity for political purposes. While sizable Tzotzil communities have appeared in some towns, other Tzotzil towns have been undergoing "reindianization" as the formerly dominating Ladino minorities have migrated to larger cities. With

741-571: The Los Altos region near San Cristóbal. The traditional territory of the Tzeltal is to the northeast and southeast of San Cristóbal in the municipalities of San Juan Cancuc , Chanal , Oxchuc , Tenejapa , Altamirano , Sitalá , Socoltenango , Yajalón , Chilón , Ocosingo , Amatenango del Valle and Aguacatenango . Tzeltal territory is bordered by that of the Tzotzils to the west, the Ch'ols to

780-546: The Sun. People who have drowned, have been murdered, or were struck by lightning do not go to Katibak. Animals and trees too have ch'ulel soul, which goes through the same cycle. The other soul, the wayjel , is an animal-spirit companion, shared with a chanul , a wild animal. Throughout each person's life, whatever happens to the animal spirit also happens to the person and vice versa. These animal-spirit companions, consisting of jaguars , ocelots , coyotes , and smaller animals such as squirrels and opossums , are kept by

819-562: The Tzeltal people participated along with other indigenous groups. In the mid 20th century, the population of the state and the highlands experience population growth which outstripped local resources. Since the 1930s, many Tzeltals, along with other indigenous and mestizos have migrated from the highland areas into the Lacandon Jungle . These migrants came to the jungle area to clear the forest and grow crops and raise livestock, especially cattle. Now there are groups of Tzetzals in

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858-561: The Tzotzil, but their numbers were greatly diminished by diseases and hunger. Many villages were forcibly relocated, and the natives were assigned as vassals to the encomiendas (land grants) given by the Spanish crown to the conquerors. After the Spanish conquest, the Tzotzil were for centuries exploited as laborers, first by the Spaniards and then by the Ladinos (urban Spanish-speaking people of Spanish and native descent) who own most of

897-443: The ancestral gods in four corrals inside the "Senior Large Mountain" in the east side of the world. If the animal spirit is let out of its corral by the ancestral gods, the person is in mortal danger and must undergo a lengthy ceremony to round up the chanul and return it to its corral. Only human beings have a wayhel soul. Each town is associated to a sacred mountain. The god Manojel-Tojel created humans by leading them out of

936-412: The caves of the original hills. According to myth, each one of the patron-gods "installed himself in a hill, by order of the gods of the four corners of the earth". Yahwal Balamil is a god who lives inside the earth. He rides a deer with serpent bridles , and frees the water-filled clouds from inside the Earth through caves. He announces himself with the croaking of frogs". In the centuries since

975-400: The ceremonies are often leaders in more secular village affairs. These rituals follow an annual cycle. Shamanism and magical practices still remain. The cosmology of the Tzeltal is based on the concept of the interaction among the body, mind and spirit of a person and how these interact with the community, the world and the supernatural. This has a large bearing on traditional medicine, which

1014-401: The collapse of coffee prices in the 1980s, sustainable employment has been hard for many people in the highlands to find. As both population and foreign tourism have risen, the sale of artisan goods has replaced other economic activities. Tzotzils usually sell their products in the nearby cities of San Cristóbal de las Casas , Comitán , and Simojovel . Recently, and increasingly, many Maya from

1053-538: The early to mid 16th century including what is now the state of Chiapas. Over most of the colonial period until the Mexican Revolution , this and other indigenous groups were forced to labor in the mines, mills and haciendas of the state for little to no wages. Even during the 20th century economic and political marginalization remained severe, culminating in the Zapatista uprising in 1994, in which many of

1092-495: The ethnic level. These communities are based on a main village or town, on which there are a number of smaller dependent communities. These are often mirrored in the official municipality system of the state. The seat is the political, religious and commercial center of the entire community. This seat is divided into two or more neighborhoods called barrios or calpuls, with their own local authorities and sometimes with their own patron saint. The more conservative communities maintain

1131-514: The highlands of Chiapas have found migration to other parts of Mexico and Illegal immigration to the United States a way to break away from subsistence farming and abysmal wages. Issues surrounding social integration persist, especially with the Ladinos. Support for the Zapatista movement, as well as for other non-violent opposition groups such as Las Abejas , is strong among the Tzotzil. A Spanish chronicler described Zinacantán as

1170-437: The income from these agriculture and crafts is not enough to support their families, and many work for wages as well. Tzotzil people The Tzotzil are an Indigenous Maya people of the central highlands of Chiapas , Mexico. As of 2000, they numbered about 298,000. The municipalities with the largest Tzotzil population are Chamula (48,500), San Cristóbal de las Casas (30,700), and Zinacantán (24,300), in

1209-488: The inheritance of land through patriarchal lineages and a complicated set of kinship terminology. Less traditional systems tend to be more aligned with Ladino practices. Although there are some extended families, the nuclear family is more the norm. Tzeltal religion is a syncretism of Catholic and indigenous elements. Most ceremonies and festivals are associated with saints’ day, organized by sponsors called “mayordomos” with assistants called “alfereces.” Mayordomos in charge of

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1248-570: The land and dominate commerce. During most of this period, a rigid caste system sharply divided the natives from the Ladinos, with very different rights and obligations. The oppression led them to revolt in 1528, 1712, and 1868. The situation of the Tzoltzil worsened considerably in 1863, when laws enacted by Benito Juárez stripped the Indian towns of their corporate lands, forcing many Zinacantecos to become debt-indentured laborers on farms owned by

1287-563: The lowlands living with members of other indigenous groups. This process of taking over “empty jungle” to create settlements for highland Chiapas indigenous groups continued with the support of the Zapatistas, which whom the Tzetals were generally supportive of putting them in conflict with the area’s native Lacandon people and environmental groups. The Tzeltal call themselves Winik atel, which means "Working Men" in their language, or as

1326-475: The north and north east and the Tojolabal to the southeast. The Tzetals in the main concentration distinguish themselves more against “Ladinos” (Spanish speakers, usually of mixed race) and from those indigenous in the more rural areas. This is mostly due to a history of socioeconomic oppression and conflict with colonial, then later state and federal authorities. However, many Tzeltal practices have survived to

1365-450: The other hand, the natives from Chamula fought hard against the Spaniards. They and the natives of Huixtlán eventually fled leaving nothing that the invaders could make use of. Unable to obtain service or tribute from those people, the Spaniards returned to the Gulf coast, and the Tzotzil returned to their lands and lifestlyle. Other Spanish incursions in the following decade generally spared

1404-418: The present day because of this group’s large number vis-à-vis the Spanish and Ladinos, giving it a certain amount of power to resist acculturation to European culture. Many Tzeltal communities are governed under a concept of “ usos y costumbres ” (usage and customs) which attempts to allow for the maintenance of traditional indigenous societal structures. This is theoretically respected unless it conflicts with

1443-485: The rights given under Mexico’s Constitution . However, there has been controversy among Tzeltal and other indigenous group as to the "empowerment" of women, with many women suffering greater poverty, lower levels of education and a much more limited access to positions of power than men. One recent case involves a Tzeltal named Cecilia Lopez from Oxchuc who registered as a pre candidate for the PAN party in 2009, but whose name

1482-429: The “batzil’op” or “those of the original word” referring to the Mayan oral tradition. They are largest indigenous ethnicity with 278,577 people aged five years of age or more in the state of Chiapas who speak the language according to the 2000 census and an estimated 500,000 total, representing 34.41% of the total indigenous population of Chiapas. They are followed by the closely related Tzotzil Maya who also live in

1521-547: Was then removed from the rolls. The Western Maya language group is dominant in Chiapas with the most common variety being Tzeltal , along with Tzotzil . The two languages are part of the Tzeltalan subdivision and are closely related, estimated to have started separating around 1200 CE. The two are related to other Western Maya languages in the state such as Chontal , Ch'ol , Tojolabal , Chuj , Q'anjob'al , Acatec , Jakaltek , and Motozintlec . The Tzeltal language

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