Society-TZELTAL

The Tzeltal are a North American Indian ethnic group concentrated
in the central highlands of the State of Chiapas, Mexico. Continguous
Indian groups are the Tzotzil to the west, the Chol to the north and
northeast, and the Tojolabal to the southeast. The basic population
cleavage in the Chiapas highlands, however, is not between the various
Indian groups, but rather between the Ladinos (Spanish-speaking, usually
racially mixed people), who occupy primarily the major towns, and
the Indians, who live primarily in outlying municipios.

The Tzeltal and Tzotzil languages form the Tzeltalan subdivision of
the Mayan language family. Lexico-statistical studies indicate that
these two languages probably became differentiated around 1200 A.D.
(Vogt 1969: 140).

The Tzeltal-speaking population numbered approximately 50,000 around
1950. This population is distributed through 12 municipios, with 13
main communities. Of the latter, 9 are almost entirely Indian (i.e.,
reported to be over 85 percent Tzeltal-speaking): Aguacatenango, Amatenango,
Cancuc, Chanal, Chilon, Oxchuc, Tenejapa, Petalcingo, and Sitala.
The other 4 communities are about 65 to 80 percent Tzeltal-speaking:
Altamirano, Ocosingo, Villa de las Rosas, and Yajalan (Villa Rojas
1969: 195-96; Vogt 1969: 139).

Ecologically, the Tzeltal region can be divided into three zones:
north, central, and south. Some demographic and cultural variations
coordinate with these zones. More fundamentally, however, each Tzeltal
community constitutes a distinct social and cultural unit. "Each community
has its well-defined lands, its own dialect forms, wearing apparel,
kinship system, politico-religious organization, economic resources,
crafts, and other cultural features" (Villa Rojas 1969: 197). Strong
intracommunity solidarity contrasts with the lack of any social or
political solidarity at the ethnic group level.

Agriculture is the basic economic activity of the Tzeltal peasants.
Traditional Mesoamerican crops--maize, beans, squash, and chilies,
are the most important, but a variety of other crops, including wheat,
manioc, sweet potatoes, cotton, chayote, and some fruits and vegetables,
are also raised. Regional variations in ecological conditions lead
to concomitant differentiation in agriculture. Domestic animals include
poultry, pigs, burros, and cattle, but these animals are seldom eaten.
Tzeltal villages are noted for craft specialties. Surplus produce
and craft products are traded throughout the region by a system of
regional periodic markets, and these markets link the Tzeltal to the
wider Mexican economic system. Finally, many Tzeltal are dependent
to some extent on wage labor in order to provision their households.

All of the Tzeltal communities follow an essentially similar structural
pattern, with a town center, which may be heavily or thinly populated,
and a number of communities, called parajes, which are scattered over
the municipio. The town is the political, religious, and commercial
center of the entire community. The town centers are divided into
two sections, called barrios or calpules, each with its own local
authorities and sometimes its own patron saint. In addition to political
and religious functions, each barrio traditionally was endogamous.

Some of the other major aspects of traditional Tzeltal social organization
that persist today in the more conservative communities are exogamous
patrilineal sibs, patrilineal lineages within which land is inherited,
and an Omaha type of kinship terminology. In the more acculturated
communities, the sib-lineage system tends to disappear and to be replaced
by a bilateral system similar to that characterizing Ladino society.
Although there are some extended families, the nuclear family is the
basic pattern.

The Tzeltal religious system is a syncretic blend of Catholic and
indigenous elements. Annual community ceremonies are held in honor
of particular saints. As in most Mesoamerican Indian communities,
office holders in the civil-religious hierarchy are in charge of these
celebrations as well as more secular village affairs. Shamanism and
witchcraft are also found among the Tzeltal.

Villa Rojas (1969) contains an excellent general summary of Tzeltal
ethnography and culture history, which provides a very useful starting
point for the study of Tzeltal culture.

Culture summary by Robert O. Lagace and Eleanor C. Swanson



Villa Rojas, Alfonso.
 The Tzeltal.
 In Robert Wauchope, ed.
 Handbook of Middle American Indians.
 Vol.
 7.
 Austin, University of Texas Press, 1969: 195-225.
 Vogt, Evon Z. Chiapas highlands.
 In Robert Wauchope, ed.
 Handbook of Middle American Indians, Vol.
 7.
 Austin, University of Texas Press, 1969: 133-151.


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