Tzeltal

Tzeltal, Mayan Indians of central Chiapas, in southeastern Mexico, most closely related culturally and linguistically to their neighbours to the west, the Tzotzil. The Tzeltal speak various dialects within the Maya language family. They live in an area that includes plains, gentle hills, and high peaks; the climate and vegetation vary with altitude. The economy is predominantly agricultural. Staple crops include corn (maize), beans of several varieties, and chilies; squash, manioc, peanuts (groundnuts), and other crops are also grown. Ceramics, spinning, weaving, mat making, and basket making are the major crafts. Wage labour also provides a source of income for some people.

Tzeltal houses are typically made of logs or wattle and daub and have thatched roofs; houses with running water and electricity are rare. Most people live in small hamlets that are within walking distance of a village or town where a school, a market, and other services are located. Communities, each comprising a village and its hamlets, maintain their unique identities through variations in clothing styles, dialects, and religious celebrations. Men’s clothing typically consists of short pants, a knee-length shirt, a hat, sandals, and a red sash; women’s clothing usually includes a long wraparound skirt of wool, a sash, a cotton blouse or tunic, and a rebozo, or shawl. Women generally go barefoot.

The ritual kinship institution of intensive godparenthood, or compadrazgo, is strongest in communities with influential Ladino or other nonindigenous populations. In more traditional locales, godparents are chosen but the ties invoked are less formal. Tzeltal religion and rituals are syncretic, combining aspects of indigenous belief systems with elements of Roman Catholicism. In many places, a laymen’s religious society, the cofradía, elects officers to organize and sponsor the fiesta of the local patron saint and to care for the saint’s image.

Early 21st century estimates indicated a Tzeltal population of approximately 300,000 people.