Zinacantecos Indians
The Zinacantecos have changed moderately over time but their strong heritage and belief systems have been carried through to present times. The language has stayed intact over several thousand years mainly because of its importance in expressing their cosmology, which in essence is the main principle upon which they live their lives. They have adopted some Spanish words and are all learning Spanish in school but their own language as well as many of their beliefs and rituals are still practiced within their social units. The Zinacanteco universe is based around a quadrilateral cosmos. There is a center of their above world called the "navel" which is a mound of earth in the Zinacantan ceremonial center. The entire world is extended from this navel. The four points that surround this center indicate the Vashak-Men or the "Four-Corner Gods". The significance of these gods and their connection with nature is proven when they see natural disasters as a theory of population control or as punishment for sins. An earthquake is experienced when the gods are tired and they are shifting the excessive burden from shoulder to shoulder, the earthquake is thought to kill enough people to balance out the burden.
The cargo system in Zinacantan still exists although there is a greater population of Zinacantan people and the cargo system holds sixty-one positions today. The houses are arranged around a central common area where the women weave, children play, and the men receive company. The most common houses are square houses made from mud brick or cement block walls and a tile roof. Each one has a school, a Catholic church dedicated to a particular saint, some may have stores, and they all have a cabildo. They all return home for lunch at noontime. But as I mentioned previously, the Zinacantecos adapted many of the Spanish colonists' beliefs and symbols and just added them to their own culture and made their own significant meaning out of them. Venus was coined the "Sweeper of the Path" because it appears before the sun as the morning star. The duties and roles of the men and the women are very well established and followed. They had an older style with wattle and daub walls and a thatched roof and the newer style proved to be more durable however more expensive to build. Times are changing however with the evolution of wage labor. The Zinacanteco people cannot use any part of the earth or any product of nature without an offering ceremony to the earth owner. There are quite a few shamans in Zincantan, there are no gender or age limitations however the majority of the shamans are men and only a few are very young. To be chosen for this position they must be good speakers in ritual situations and must have two years in the cargo system. Regardless of the size of their hamlet, waterhole, or domestic group a shaman must bless all new houses and settlements. The rules for the domestic groups follow a patrilocal residence and a patrilineal inheritance.
Common topics in this essay:
Earth Owner,
Senior Mountain,
Catholic Mass,
Cacique Zinacantan,
Ancestral Gods,
Cargo System,
Four-Corner Gods,
,
Joseph Mary,
Lower World,
inner soul,
ceremonial center,
cargo system,
zinacanteco people,
earth owner,
inside mountains,
water supply,
inner souls,
social system,
lower world,
bless houses settlements,
houses settlements shamans,
purchase own land,
earth owner earth,
called senior mountain,
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Acceptance Essays
