Tzotzil and Tzeltal of Pantelhó

ETHNONYMS: Catarineros, Santa Catarina Pantelhó, Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya

Orientation

Identification. The indigenous Tzotzil- and Tzeltal-speaking highland Maya Indians share the municipio of Pantelhó—which means "bridge over water" in Tzotzil— with an equal number of Tzeltal Maya and a small group of Ladinos; the latter two groups include both recent immigrants and long-term residents.

Migrations, shifting municipio boundaries, and political considerations make identity a matter of social construction rather than immutable fact. The Ladinos of Pantelhó define themselves in opposition to the indigenous population and identify with the larger Mexican culture. The indigenous population defines itself as "Catarinero" (from Santa Catarina Pantelhó) in opposition to other highland Indian groups, as Tzotzil or Tzeltal Indians in certain contexts both within and outside the municipio, and as indigenous people in opposition to local Ladinos and in larger pan-Indian contexts.

Location. The municipio of Pantelhó is located on the northern edge of the highlands, 48 kilometers north of San Cristóbal de las Casas, a commercial and administrative center. Surrounded by Indian municipios, Pantelhó circumscribes 137 square kilometers, extending from 17°00′ to 17°07′ N and 92°31′ to 92°25′ W.

Steep hillsides and deep valleys make up most of the land area of Pantelhó. Pantelhó's hillsides range up to 1,400 meters, into what the people of Pantelhó call tierra fria (cold country), where there are occasional frosts. The valley of the Rio Grande, at the other extreme, descends to 500 meters. This is tierra caliente (hot country). Much of the land area of Pantelhó falls into the category of tierra templada (temperate climate), at an elevation of around 1,000 meters. Annual temperatures range from 4° C to 32° C. The warmest months are April and May, the coldest December and January. The greater portion of the 150 centimeters of annual precipitation falls between May and December.

Demography. Historical documents indicate Pantelhó was abandoned between 1713 and 1796. In 1809 the parish priest reported a thriving community of 602 souls, but epidemics of measles and cholera ravaged Pantelhó throughout the eighteenth century. For example, between January and March of 1843, 186 people died of cholera. Nevertheless, the community's population continued to grow, reaching 721 in 1825; 871 in 1850; 2,860 in 1900; and 3,953 in 1950. In 1990, 13,949 people lived in Pantelhó.

Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya, in roughly equal numbers, constitute the majority of Pantelhó's population. In 1990 only 7 percent of the residents of Pantelhó were Ladinos, a decline from 14 percent in 1980. The Tzotzil are concentrated in the cabecera, or "headtown," and a few other hamlets on the south side of the river. The Tzeltal predominate in hamlets on the north side of the river and in some more recently established hamlets on the south side. Despite this general tendency, Tzotzil and Tzeltal live together in several communities.

Linguistic Affiliation. The indigenous populations of Pantelhó speak Tzotzil and Tzeltal, two closely related Mayan languages from the Maya-Quiché Family. Pantelhó's dialects of these two languages are, to some extent, mutually intelligible, and municipio business may be conducted in either. The indigenous languages are spoken at home and in bilingual classrooms. Whereas the older generations are often monolingual Tzotzil or Tzeltal speakers, the younger generation is becoming more competent in Spanish.

History and Cultural Relations

The highlands of Chiapas were conquered in 1524 by the Spaniard Luis Marín. The administrators of Spanish-imposed institutions, such as encomienda and repartimiento, forced the indigenous populations to provide labor and tribute. In 1712 Indians in the Chiapan highlands revolted, marking the beginning of Indian militancy in Pantelhó. The uprising was quickly suppressed, but, because of their participation, the Indians of Pantelhó were exiled for eighty-four years. Chiapas became part of Mexico in 1824, and, as Mexico liberalized agrarian legislation over the course of the nineteenth century, the indigenous population became landless agricultural workers (peons) on newly established Ladino ranches (haciendas). In their terms, they had become the "slaves" of the Ladinos.

The Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) ushered in a new era. The constitution of 1917 established the possibility of obtaining land (ejidos; see "Land Tenure") expropriated from large Ladino ranches; however, the Indians' struggle for land was long and bitter. Ladino ranchers resisted expropriation through legal actions and by force of arms. Deaths occurred on both sides, and ethnic antagonisms were reinforced. The first ejidos were not granted until the 1940s, and Ladinos managed to maintain control of the majority of the land until the 1980s. Throughout most of the twentieth century, the Indians remained poor and landless, but in the 1980s a combination of political and economic factors changed landholding patterns. The first Indian mayor was elected in 1982. Indians gained control of the land through land reform and through sales made by Ladinos under the threat of increasing Indian militancy. By 1990, Indians controlled 90 percent of the land.

Many other changes occurred in the 1980s as well: Indians from nearby municipios immigrated in large numbers, new communities were created on former Ladino ranches, and Protestant groups entered the area and gained converts.

Settlements

About one-third of the population (4,700 individuals) is concentrated in the headtown, also named Pantelhó. The headtown is divided into five sections: a Ladino-dominated center and four largely Indian barrios. The remaining two-thirds live in many small homesteads and in thirty-seven recognized hamlets (agencias ) ranging in size from 50 to 1,000 inhabitants. Generally, households in the ejido communities tend to be densely concentrated, whereas the small property owners are more likely to live dispersed on individual parcels, although late-twentieth-century improvements in public services (e.g., water, schools) have increased residential concentration.

A typical household complex consists of from one to three small buildings: a cooking/eating building, a sleeping building, and a storage building. Cooking is done over a wood fire on the floor, and beds consist of either a raised wooden platform or a straw mat (petate ) on the floor. If there are fewer than three buildings (which is often the case), the structures tend to serve multiple functions. Buildings are framed with poles, and the walls are made of either vertical wooden planks tied in place or mud plastered into a cornstalk lattice. Roofs are of either thatch or lamina (corrugated metal sheeting). A few Indians have constructed houses of concrete block.

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Agriculture is the basis of the economy. The Indians of Pantelhó use a slash-and-burn technique: fields (milpas) ranging from 0.5 to 3 hectares are cleared with machetes and axes in March and April and burned in early May, in anticipation of the coming rains. Maize (in several varieties) is planted with a digging stick (abonte' ) later that month. Milpas are weeded twice, and, when mature, the maize plant is doubled over and left to dry. Then, in September, beans (principally black beans) are sown among the corn plants. In hot country, a second crop of maize is planted in January. Depending on the climatic zone, bananas, chilies, pineapples, squashes, and tomatoes are cultivated. Citrus trees are also common.

In the nineteenth century Ladinos introduced coffee, along with cattle, tobacco, and sugarcane to the area. After obtaining land, Indians continued the cultivation of coffee, and it has become the dominant cash crop: in 1990 Pantelhó produced more than 450 metric tons. The production and marketing of coffee represent an important source of revenue and a continuing source of conflict between largely Indian producers and Ladino traders.

Throughout most of the last two centuries, Indians labored on Ladino ranches in Pantelhó or migrated to work on the coffee plantations of the southern coastal highlands (Soconusco). Once they obtained land of their own, however, they ceased to work for wages. Wage labor is now a pursuit of young men and those who remain landless.

Industrial Arts. The people of Pantelhó rely heavily on imported goods, given that indigenous crafts are limited. A few Tzeltal women continue to make clay cooking pots and comals (large griddles on which tortillas are cooked). The Tzotzil women of the headtown maintain an age-old tradition of textile manufacture. Blouses for women and shirts for men are woven of imported cotton on backstrap looms and brocaded in the unique style of Pantelhó. Women have begun to manufacture napkins and tablecloths for the tourist market in San Cristóbal.

Trade. Commercial activity centers on agricultural products (primarily coffee), the revenue from the sale of which is used to purchase manufactured goods, food, medicine, and transportation. The headtown, where a weekly regional market is held on Friday and Saturday, is a major commercial center. In addition, Ladinos operate several stores that sell a variety of items ranging from machetes to cheap rum (pox ), and they also supply smaller stores in Indian hamlets. The headtown is a transportation hub connecting Pantelhó to San Cristóbal by bus and truck.

Division of Labor. A pronounced division of labor by gender characterizes Pantelhó, as does segregation in other aspects of life. Men's work revolves around agriculture, wage labor, construction (e.g., house building), and community work projects. Men and boys clear fields and—with occasional help from women and girls—burn the fields, plant, weed, and harvest. Men also raise cattle and horses. Women maintain the household: their work includes cooking (the processing of maize into tortillas alone is a time-consuming task), cleaning, child care, textile production, and, to varying degrees, helping in the fields. They also raise chickens, turkeys, ducks, and pigs but rarely engage in wage labor.

The gender division of labor is more pronounced among the Tzotzil than among the Tzeltal. Tzotzil women are less likely to work in the fields and more likely to spend time on textile manufacture; they also collect firewood, whereas Tzeltal men and women share this task.

Land Tenure. The pattern of land tenure in Pantelhó has fluctuated repeatedly over the centuries between communal and private. As recently as 1993, there were still two forms—ejido and private. According to the Mexican constitution, qualified rural landless agriculturists could petition the government for grants of land, ejidos. The eight ejidos in Pantelhó offered their members the right to inherit (but not to own) land. In the early 1990s there were two local variations of private property: ranches and copropiedades. Ranches were owned by individual families, usually Ladino. Copropiedades consisted of former ranches purchased by collective groups of Indians who assigned individual ownership but often maintained an association with some control over the use and distribution of the land. Ejidos make up about 60 percent of landholdings. Most landholdings in Pantelhó, with the exception of individually owned ranches, range between 2 and 10 hectares.

In 1992, led by President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Mexico changed its constitution, allowing for the privatization of the ejido, in effect ending the ejido system. The ramifications are unclear, but a comparison of ejido and non-ejido members in Pantelhó suggests that increased inequalities and greater poverty are likely outcomes.

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent. The nuclear family is the fundamental kin group in Pantelhó. Frequently, the nuclear family becomes an extended family, when it is expanded to include the spouses of married children and their children. They may live in the same household area and work land cooperatively. This group, however, has no permanence; it will likely dissolve as soon as financial independence is achieved, although the youngest son will often remain to care for the aging parents and inherit the house and remaining property. Relations may continue, but it is a matter of individual choice. Dyadic relations (i.e., compadrazgo ) often replace kin ties. Descent is patrilineal, and the Spanish double surname (father's last name followed by mother's father's last name) is used throughout Pantelhó.

Kinship Terminology. Traditional kinship is bilateral, distinguishing lineal from collateral relatives. Relative age is also distinguished, marking younger and older siblings. Terms for older siblings are often extended to nonkin as respectful modes of address.

Marriage and Family

Marriage. Marriage practices are changing. Traditional marriages were arranged by the parents, and the groom was required to provide maize, beans, pigs, and alcohol to the bride's father. This bride-wealth payment was substantial—the equivalent of 400 to 600 days' wage labor—but it could be spread out over a period of two years or so. Today young people often meet at public events. Some couples decide to elope; then, after they are married, they will ask to be pardoned, and the groom will provide some small gifts (amounting to about 10 days' wage labor) to the bride's father. Men are often married by the age of 18, women by 16.

Postmarital residence is variable, being determined largely by access to land. Because fathers usually pass on land to their sons, there is a tendency for couples to live in the hamlet of the groom's family. If a couple lacks access to land, however, they may decide to live with the bride's family or to migrate and establish a new household.

Domestic Unit. A married man usually heads the household. Female-headed households are rare. A typical household consists of a husband, a wife, and their several children (on average, more than four), but other family members—such as an aged single parent, children's spouses, and grandchildren—may join these households. Each household works collectively in the fields, cooks and eats together, and provides money and labor for community projects.

Inheritance. Inheritance is bilateral, as prescribed by Mexican law; however, there is a marked tendency for sons to inherit productive resources such as land, coffee trees, and large domestic animals. Resources are divided equitably among the sons. Daughters usually receive a minor cash settlement or other compensation, but occasionally they inherit animals or coffee trees.

Socialization. Children are socialized in the household. They are rarely apart from their mothers, who carry their children in large shawls tied on their backs as they work during the day and sleep next to them at night. Older siblings, especially girls, also play a large caretaking role. As children grow, they learn by watching and working with their parents and siblings. Young boys work with their fathers, girls with their mothers. Parents are generally tolerant, and children are usually respectful, although excessive drinking does, on occasion, produce abusive behavior in adult men. Schools, which are now found in most communities, are beginning to play a larger role; they are acquainting Indian children with Mexican national culture, history, and identity. Pupils rarely attend beyond the fourth grade because, to do so, they would need to migrate to the headtown or outside the municipio. The impact of formal education thus remains limited.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. During the nineteenth century, the Indians, as a class, were impoverished peons with little control over their lives. Marriage, residence, and other aspects of their existence were subject to control by Ladino ranchers. A strong sense of shared poverty persists. High status among Indians was traditionally achieved through community service, both civil and religious. Although these patterns remain evident, class differences are becoming more salient. Three classes are widely recognized: the landless, the subsistence farmers, and those who grow coffee and/or raise cattle.

Political Organization. Political organization closely follows the overall Mexican pattern. A presidente municipal (mayor of the municipio) is elected every three years and, together with a síndico (vice-mayor), a treasurer, and six regidores (aldermen), controls municipio finances, dispenses justice, and represents the municipio to the outside world. These are paid political offices. In monthly meetings, representatives from each hamlet discuss issues with municipio leaders. Within their hamlets, these agentes, who are chosen yearly, settle disputes and, with the help of secretaries and various public-works directors, plan hamlet activities. These are all voluntary positions.

Social Control. Social control is effected at one of three hierarchical levels: hamlet, municipio, and state. Although hamlet agentes can impose no sanctions, they are often successful at mediating internal disputes. Minor crimes and disputes within municipio boundaries are adjudicated by the municipio mayor or judge, who can impose fines and/or brief jail sentences. Serious crimes are often referred directly to the state judiciary or the legal section of the Indian-affairs agency. Land disputes that cannot be mediated locally go to the judiciary or to the land-reform office. There is a general desire among Indians to resolve their problems locally, but major conflicts, especially those crossing ethnic lines, are usually taken to outside authorities.

Conflict. Most conflicts involve land, and most of these conflicts, at least through the 1980s, pitted Indian against Ladino. The Indian strategy to obtain land was to invade, en masse, a Ladino ranch, harvest the coffee, kill and eat the cattle, plant milpas, and build houses. Then they would either offer to purchase the land or petition the government to grant it as an ejido. Ladinos, in response and sometimes in anticipation, would destroy Indian milpas and even whole communities. Recently, land disputes between Indians have increased.

Other sources of conflict are marital infidelity and accusations of witchcraft. The former are usually settled between the households involved; the latter frequently involve the assassination of the suspected witch. Theft is very rare.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. Religious beliefs and practices vary widely. Ceremonies range from the dedication of a new water system (to the earth god) to the singing of Baptist hymns on Saturday night. About 70 percent of the people are Catholic, and around 25 percent are Protestant; some profess no religious beliefs.

Local Catholic religious practices involve various saints, to whom certain aspects of Mayan gods are ascribed. The faithful pray to the saints and care for their images. In addition, many Catholics and a few others continue to believe in animal-spirit counterparts (chulel ).

Religious Practitioners . A Catholic priest holds regular church services and performs other ceremonies, such as baptisms and marriages, in the headtown for Indians and Ladinos. Catechists, lay people who read and discuss the Bible, lead Catholic services in many of the hamlets. Protestant speakers (predicadores ) lead church services in Pantelhó's several Protestant churches. Few traditional curers live in Pantelhó; most come from neighboring municipios.

The Tzotzil of Pantelhó have an active religious cargo system. Individual men, supported by their families, serve voluntarily in one of two sets of socially ranked cargos. There are fourteen year-long positions (six alguaciles, four mayores, and four regidores). These cargo holders are responsible for the care of the saints as well as the performance of other religious duties. Other individuals take responsibility for major celebrations. Alfereces sponsor the events, often at great personal expense; they are assisted by capitanes.

Ceremonies. The most important communitywide ceremonies occur on important Catholic holidays and saints' days. Carnaval is the largest celebration, followed by the feast days of Santa Catarina (the patron saint of Pantelhó), San Sebastián, San Martín, and Jesus of Good Hope. During these ceremonies, food, drink, and music are provided for all. Holy Week and All Saints' Day (Todos Santos) are also celebrated. Local residents believe their participation shows respect for God and will bring good fortune. Ceremonies devoted to Mayan gods are held in some hamlets before planting. Ceremonies are also held at the inauguration of new public works, on New Year's Eve, and on Independence Day. Curing ceremonies, which involve prayer and the ritual sacrifice of a chicken, are held in individual households.

Arts. Women's richly brocaded textiles are the traditional form of artistic expression. Men play the flute, guitar, and violin during religious celebrations. Peonage, poverty, and hard work have left little time for the development of diverse artistic traditions.

Medicine. A wide variety of medicinal practices can be found in Pantelhó. Doctors are available in the headtown, and antibiotics are widely used. Trained health workers administer Western medicine in the hamlets, and Indian midwives assist childbirth. In addition to Western medicine, herbal cures are widely used to treat digestive and respiratory disorders.

Death and Afterlife. Death may be attributed to natural or supernatural causes. Untimely death is suspect, especially in the case of healthy adults or children, and is often attributed to sorcery.

The dead are buried in unmarked graves in community cemeteries as soon as possible. Funeral celebrations are common and may involve considerable expense. During Todos Santos, the graves are covered with marigold petals, and candles are burned. Women ritually wail over the graves of family members. The dead are thought to return to visit their living relatives on Todos Santos and may bring good fortune if treated well, or bad fortune if neglected.

Bibliography

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Brown, Pete (1993). "The Creation of Community: Class and Ethnic Struggle in Pantelhó, Chiapas, Mexico." Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Irvine.

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PETE BROWN