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State of Chiapas
Flag of State of Chiapas
Flag		 Coat of arms of State of Chiapas
Coat of arms
Location within Mexico
Location within Mexico
Municipalities of Chiapas
Municipalities of Chiapas
Country Flag of Mexico Mexico
Capital Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Municipalities 118
Largest City Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Government
 - Governor Juan José Sabines Guerrero
(PRD)
 - Federal Deputies PRI: 7
PRD: 5
 - Federal Senators PRI: 1
PRD: 1
PVEM: 1
Area
Ranked 8th
 - Total 74,211 km² (28,653 sq mi)
Population (2005)
 - Total 4,293,459 (Ranked 7th)
 - Demonym Chiapaneco
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
 - Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
HDI (2004) 0. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Tuxtla Gutiérrez is a Municipality and the capital city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Municipalities ( municipios in Spanish) are the second-level administrative division in Mexico (where the first-level administrative division is the The major metropolitan areas of Mexico, as reported in the 2005 census Incorporated places over 100 The United Mexican States (or Mexico) is a union of 31 thirty one States and one Federal District (the Mexican Federal District, or Distrito Juan José Sabines Guerrero is a Mexican politician son of the former Governor of Chiapas, Juan Sabines Gutiérrez and nephew of the writer Jaime Sabines The Party of the Democratic Revolution (in Spanish: Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD is one of the three main political parties in Mexico. The Chamber of Deputies (in Spanish: Cámara de Diputados) is the lower house of the Congress of the Union, Mexico 's bicameral The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional or PRI) is a Mexican Political party that wielded The Party of the Democratic Revolution (in Spanish: Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD is one of the three main political parties in Mexico. The Senate ( Spanish: Cámara de Senadores or Senado) is the upper house of Mexico 's Bicameral Congress. Area is a Quantity expressing the two- Dimensional size of a defined part of a Surface, typically a region bounded by a closed Curve. The following table presents a listing of Mexico 's 31 federal states (and its Federal District, officially not a state ranked in order of their surface area Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. The following table is a list of the 31 federal states and the Federal District of Mexico, ranked in order of their total population based on data from the 2000 and A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a People or the inhabitants of a place The Central Time Zone observes Standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC during standard time ( UTC−6) and five hours during Daylight saving Areas using UTC−6 Single zone countries Belize Costa Rica El Salvador Guatemala Daylight saving time ( DST The Central Time Zone observes Standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC during standard time ( UTC−6) and five hours during Daylight saving UTC−5 is the Time offset used in the North American Eastern Time Zone during Standard time and in the North American Central Time Zone during The Human Development Index ( HDI) is an index combining normalized measures of Life expectancy, Literacy, Educational attainment, and GDP 7076 - medium
Ranked 32nd
ISO 3166-2 MX-CHP
Postal abbr. The following table presents a listing of Mexico 's 31 federal states (and its Federal District, officially not a state ranked in order of their Human Development ISO 3166-2 is the second part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO Chis.
Website: http://www.chiapas.gob.mx

Chiapas is the southernmost state of Mexico, located towards the southeast of the country. The United Mexican States ( or commonly Mexico (ˈmɛksɪkoʊ () is a federal constitutional Republic in North America. Chiapas is bordered by the states of Tabasco to the north, Veracruz to the northwest, and Oaxaca to the west. Tabasco is a state in Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the west Chiapas to the south and Campeche to the Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave is one of the 31 states that constitute the republic of Mexico. The Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), in Spanish phonemically /oa'xaka/ named for its largest city, is one of the To the east Chiapas borders Guatemala, and to the south the Pacific Ocean. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions Chiapas has an area of 74,211 km² (28,653 sq mi). The 2005 census population was 4,293,459 people.

In general Chiapas has a humid, tropical climate. In the north, in the area bordering Tabasco, near Teapa, rainfall can average more than 3,000 mm (120 in) per year . In the past, natural vegetation at this region was lowland, tall perennial rainforest, but this vegetation has been destroyed almost completely to give way to agriculture and ranching. Rainforests are Forests characterized by high Rainfall with definitions setting minimum normal annual rainfall between 1750–2000 mm (68-78 inches Rainfall decreases moving towards the Pacific Ocean, but it is still abundant enough to allow the farming of bananas and many other tropical crops near Tapachula. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions Tapachula is a municipio ( municipality) and city with a hot humid climate in the Mexican state of Chiapas. On the several parallel "sierras" or mountain ranges running along the center of Chiapas, climate can be quite temperate and foggy, allowing the development of cloud forests like those of the Reserva de la Biosfera el Triunfo, home to a handful of quetzals and horned guans. A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally Tropical or Subtropical evergreen Montane moist forest characterized by a The Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno, is a spectacular bird of the Trogon family "Pavón" redirects here For other uses see Pavon. The Horned Guan, Oreophasis derbianus is a large approximately 85cm long

The state capital city is Tuxtla Gutiérrez; other cities and towns in Chiapas include San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán, and Tapachula. Tuxtla Gutiérrez is a Municipality and the capital city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. San Cristóbal de las Casas is a municipality ( municipio) and City in the central highlands of the Mexican state of Comitán (formally Comitán de Domínguez, for Belisario Domínguez) is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Tapachula is a municipio ( municipality) and city with a hot humid climate in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Chiapas is home to the ancient Maya ruins of Palenque, Yaxchilan, Bonampak, Chinkultic, and Tonina. The Maya civilization is a Mesoamerican Civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the Pre-Columbian Americas Palenque ( Bàak' in Modern Maya) is a Maya archeological site near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas Yaxchilan (also sometimes historically referred to by the names Menché and City Lorillard) is an ancient Maya city located on the Usumacinta River Bonampak ( Bòonam Pak' Painted Wall in Modern Maya) is an ancient Maya Archaeological site in the Mexican state Chinkultic is a moderate-size archeological ruin in what is now the state of Chiapas, Mexico, some 56km from the small modern city of Comitán. Tonina (Toniná in the Spanish language) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now

Most people in Chiapas are poor, rural small farmers. "Chiapas is aptly described as rich land with poor people. "[1] About one quarter of the population are of full or predominant Maya descent, and in rural areas many do not speak Spanish. The Maya peoples constitute a diverse range of the Native American peoples of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The state suffers from the highest rate of malnutrition in Mexico, estimated to affect more than 40% of the population. "Without roads, cities or even small towns, eastern Chiapas is a kind of dumping ground for the marginalized, in which all of the hardships peasants confront in the highlands are exacerbated. "[2]

Other social issues involve the increasing presence of the Central American gangs known as Maras, and illegal immigration from Central America in general, mostly directed towards the United States, but further aggravating the panorama of local poverty. Maras (or marabuntas) are Gangs originating from Central American countries such as El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, This floating influx of people is frequently subject to abuse and human rights violations from Mexican authorities.

In 1994, there was an outbreak of violence between the Mexican Government and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (the EZLN or Zapatistas). The Zapatista Army of National Liberation ( Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) is an armed Revolutionary group based in Chiapas Today, the EZLN (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, named in honour of Emiliano Zapata) has rejected the use of force and seek to be recognized as a voice of the disenfranchised. Emiliano Zapata Salazar ( August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in There are currently 32 "rebel autonomous zapatista municipalities" (independent Zapatista communities, MAREZ in Spanish), affiliated with the EZLN in Chiapas: examples of these communities are Ocosingo and Las Margaritas. Ocosingo is a city and its surrounding municipality ( municipio) of the same name in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Las Margaritas is a city and the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

Contents

History

Pre-Columbian

Chiapa de Corzo (Mesoamerican site), in the center of Chiapas, shows evidence of periodic occupations throughout pre-history, and evidence of continual occupation since 1400 BCE. Stela2Chiapa de CorzoJPG|thumb|right|300px|Stela 2 showing the date of 7 The oldest Maya Long Count date yet discovered, equivalent to December 36 BCE in the Gregorian calendar, was found on one of several monument shards there. The Maya calendar is a system of distinct Calendars and Almanacs used by the Maya civilization of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, and by The Gregorian calendar is the most widely used Calendar in the world today

In approximately 800 CE, Mangue-speaking Chiapaneca peoples from the north conquered the native Zoque and Maya towns. The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico; they speak variants of the Zoque languages. The mounds and plazas at Chiapas de Corvo date to approximately 700 BCE with the temple and palace constructed during the Late Formative, perhaps 400 BCE to 200 CE. Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into a number of named successive eras or periods from the earliest evidence of human habitation [3]

The Maya city of Palenque was founded in the early Pre-classic, with the first large structures constructed around 600 CE. Palenque ( Bàak' in Modern Maya) is a Maya archeological site near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas

History through the 19th century

Chiapas was conquered by Spain in the early 16th century, and became part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, administered as part of the Kingdom of Guatemala (what is now Central America), from Santiago de Guatemala. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. A viceroy is a royal official who governs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the Monarch. The Viceroyalty of New Spain (Virreinato de Nueva España was a name given to the Viceroy -ruled territories of the Spanish Empire in North America, The Captaincy General of Guatemala (Capitanía General de Guatemala also known as the Kingdom of Guatemala (Spanish Reino de Guatemala) was an administrative division La Antigua Guatemala (commonly referred to as just Antigua or La Antigua) is a city in the central highlands of Guatemala famous for its well-preserved

When Central America achieved its independence from Mexico in 1823, western Chiapas was annexed to Mexico. More of current day Chiapas was transferred after the disintegration of the Central American Federation in 1842, and the remainder of the current state taken from Guatemala in the early 1880s by President Porfirio Díaz. The Federal Republic of Central America, also known as the United Central Provinces of America, was a short-lived American State in Central America José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican politician ( September 15, 1830 – 2 July 1915) that would later become the president of Mexico

Chiapas remained one of the parts of Mexico least affected by change, with the descendants of the Spanish continuing to exercise much control over the native peoples through such institutions as debt peonage, despite attempts by the central government to abolish those practices. The words peon and peonage are derived from the Spanish peón (pe'on

In 1868 there was an armed native rebellion, led by the Tzotzil Maya as well as Tzeltal, Tojolabal, and Ch'ol; it almost succeeded in taking San Cristóbal, then the state capital, before it was suppressed by the Mexican army. The Tzotzil Maya of the central highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas are an indigenous group the direct descendants of Tzeltal is a Mayan language spoken in the Mexican state of Chiapas. San Cristóbal de las Casas is a municipality ( municipio) and City in the central highlands of the Mexican state of

Zapatista Army of National Liberation

Main article: Zapatista Army of National Liberation

In the twentieth century some people in Chiapas felt that their poor and largely agricultural area had been ignored by the government since enactment of the constitution of 1917. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation ( Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) is an armed Revolutionary group based in Chiapas Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States of 1917 is the present Constitution of Mexico. One of the chief complaints was that many indigenous farmers were required to pay absentee landlords, despite the fact that since the 1920s the Mexican government had been promising the peasants ownership of the land they had farmed and lived on for generations. Article 27 of the 1917 constitution guaranteed indigenous peoples the right to an ejido or communal land. The term Indigenous Peoples or autochthonous peoples can be used to describe any Ethnic group who inhabit a geographic region with which they have the earliest historical The ejido (from Latin exitum) system is a process whereby the government promotes the use of communal land shared by the people of the community As Mexico restructured its economy after the 1982 financial crisis, the state sector shrank due to privatizations and reorganization while land reform became less of a priority (it had long since been completed in most of the country, with Chiapas as a notable exception). Pre-Spanish age Spanish age Economic history of Spain Independence The Mexican War of Independence (1810-21 left a legacy of The Mexican government under President Carlos Salinas de Gortari sought to liberalize the closed and autonomous economy and increase its openness to trade. Carlos Salinas de Gortari ( Mexico City, April 3, 1948) is a Mexican economist and politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary As part of this process Mexico repealed the constitutional guarantee of communally owned ejidos for rural communities. As the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect on January 1, 1994, the indigenous peoples of Chiapas—struggling to make a living with few resources—felt increasingly left behind. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar)

Such dissatisfaction led to the rise of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (Zapatistas, or Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional), which began an armed rebellion against the federal government on January 1, 1994 as a response to the implementation of NAFTA. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) In the same year, a large meeting of thousands of supporters of the anti-globalization movement was held in Chiapas. " Anti-globalization " is a term that encompasses a number of related ideas Some groups, such as the pacifist group Las Abejas, sympathize with the goals of the Zapatista revolution but not with the use of violence to accomplish those goals. Las Abejas, or "The Bees" is a Christian Pacifist civil society group of Tztotzil Maya formed in Chenalho Chiapas in 1992 following

Zapatista rebels are most comprised of Tzotzil and some Tzeltal. Besides a language, Tzeltal is also an identity and ethnicity. A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them [4] “In some highland communities, some people referred to the Zapatistas in native Tzotzil as “trouble makers” or as “thieves”— a reference to marauders who roamed the countryside in the 1910–1920 decade of the Mexican Revolution. Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1920 ( MCMXX) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920 of the Gregorian calendar The Mexican Revolution (Revolución Mexicana was a major armed struggle that started with an uprising led by Francisco I ”[5]

The Zapatistas have been cut off by the government from goods, political power, and their growth economically, because of the rebellion and for declaring themselves to be at war with the state of Mexico. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. “Such circumstances played in fueling the frustrations on which the Zapatistas capitalized. ”[2] The Mexican government also installed a Solidarity Program to help indigenous in the state of Chiapas. “The government’s Solidarity Program, which was ostensibly designed to alleviate poverty, but which instead became an instrument for rewarding political loyalty and contributed to the anger and frustration expressed through the Zapatista rebellion. ”[6]

The group is named after the iconic revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata who fought during the Mexican Revolution in the 1910s. Emiliano Zapata Salazar ( August 8, 1879 – April 10, 1919) was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution, which broke out in Zapata gained enormous respect throughout Latin America for defending the rights of the poor agricultural sector of Mexico. The Zapatistas were in principle a peaceful movement that was pushed to use the force of arms to guarantee the indigenous right to ejidos.

Another view of this could be that, the Zapatistas movement started out as one that was bloody, violent, and horrifying with an untold number of indigenous left dead in the streets; the numbers are estimated to be from 150-500. Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure or abuse The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like Storms and Earthquakes This was a movement that started out with the raiding and seizing of 4 cities in Chiapas (including San Cristóbal de las Casas), over 600 ranches, and control over about a quarter of Chiapas. San Cristóbal de las Casas is a municipality ( municipio) and City in the central highlands of the Mexican state of Events By Place World The population of the Earth rises to about 208 million people The Zapatistas took up arms not because they wanted to, but were forced, because of a non-compliance from the Mexican state; who was allowing corporate America to buy up their lands at cheap prices, and give nothing to the indigenous in return. Corporate America is an informal phrase describing the world of Corporations within the United States not under government ownership

Sub-Comandante Marcos

Sub-Comandante Marcos, the face of the Zapatistas, succeeded in attracting international attention, with the innovative use of modern information and communication technologies. Subcomandante Marcos, also known as Delegado Cero in matters concerning the Other Campaign, describes himself as the spokesman for the Mexican rebel

Marcos, spokesperson of the Zapatistas, has been quoted as saying, “Why does the government [refuse to put] national politics on the agenda for negotiation? Are the indigenous people of Chiapas “Mexicans” only for the purpose of being exploited?”[4] At this time he also goes by "Delegado Cero (Delegate Zero). " Marcos has a pet that he brings around with him to places. "He travels with an animal mascot, a deformed rooster he calls "el pingüino" ('the penguin'). According to a New York Times article of January 6, 2006, Marcos uses the animal as a symbol of the various disenfranchised people he champions. "

A surprising fact about the Zapatistas and indigenous of Chiapas, that is not widely known, is they actually showed political support of the Mexican government and the officials in power; no one can measure the numbers exactly because of election fraud. “The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has always claimed victory on the basis of overwhelming support from Mexico’s rural south. The Institutional Revolutionary Party ( Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional or PRI) is a Mexican Political party that wielded In the 1988 presidential elections…89. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) 9 percent of Chiapas voters, including impoverished Indian peasants, allegedly turned out for the PRI. For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. A peasant is an agricultural worker who subsists by working a small plot of ground ”[7] But as stated before, they cannot be sure these numbers are correct because of election scandals. The Zapatistas have actually, or did, view the Mexican system as an ally to their communities, until the system turned on them once again. After the Mexican Revolution and land reform acts, they came to see the government as an ally, until the start of the Salinas government put an end to agrarian reform. [8]

After the initial seizure of San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, the Mexican army kept the Zapatistas bottled up in their rural strongholds. San Cristóbal de las Casas is a municipality ( municipio) and City in the central highlands of the Mexican state of Sporadic armed repression by paramilitaries that appears to have been funded by local landowners, and with which elements in the federal government may have sympathized, followed. There was a series of massacres, most notably in 1997 in Acteal, where 47 refugees from indigenous communities, mainly women and children, were killed in a church, after a National Peace Accord had been signed. The Acteal Massacre was a massacre of 45 people attending a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic indigenous townspeople including a number of children and According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race

In 2000, the EZLN renewed its revolt, autonomizing a number of villages and sending a delegation into Mexico City. Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico While the delegation did not obtain everything it sought due to opposition in Congress, which the support of President Vicente Fox was not able to overcome, the villages remain under Zapatista control, in large part due to the local villagers and their support of the group. Vicente Fox Quesada ( born July 2 1942) is a Mexican politician who served as President of Mexico from 2000 to 2006 and currently In August 2003, the EZLN declared all Zapatista territory an autonomous government independent of the Mexican state. Since then, the armed EZLN has been lying low to some extent working on the government level to implement health care and educational institutions in poor rural indigenous communities that had until then been ignored and discriminated against by the central government. Anti-Zapatista paramilitary activity continues, pointing to the threat of re-escalation. [9]

In actuality,The Zapatistas continue to campaign, their efforts are continuous for indigenous autonomy and for humanity, are still going on today; without any clear progress. Currently the rebel movement is attempting to gain sovereignty and autonomy from Mexican government. With the implementation of what is called the Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle and the launching of The Other Campaign, the Zapatistas remain hard at work. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation ( Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) is an armed Revolutionary group based in Chiapas The Other Campaign (La otra campaña is a two-part plan of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN for its Spanish initials "The Zapatistas, through Subcomandante Marcos, along with other Indigenous peoples of the Americas, announced the Intercontinental Indigenous Encounter. They are inviting Indigenous from North and South America. " The struggle of the Zapatistas is not one that will go quietly into the night.

Geography

Chiapas is geographically divided into five zones. These are the rainforest, the highlands, the central valley, the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, and the Soconusco.

Rainforest

Main article: Lacandon Jungle

The tropical rainforest of Chiapas, which includes the Selva Lacandona, is quickly being deforested. Tha Lacandon Jungle (Spanish Selva Lacandona) is a jungle in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. This is due to population pressures forcing highlanders into the rainforest. These include ladino (Spanish-speaking) landowners, indigenous and mestizo campesinos of the Ch'ol, Tzeltal, Tzotzil, Tojolabal and other groups. Ladino is a Spanish term used to describe various socio-ethnic categories in Latin America, principally in Central America. Mestizo is a Spanish term that was coined during the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in Latin Tzeltal is a Mayan language spoken in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The Tzotzil Maya of the central highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas are an indigenous group the direct descendants of Tojolabal is an indigenous community in the southern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Migrants from Chiapas are being joined by Guatemalans fleeing the Civil War. The Guatemalan Civil War, the longest civil war in Latin American history ran from 1960 to 1996, and had a profound impact on Guatemala. These colonists constantly compete with one another for land, with the campesinos seizing or squatting on claimed land while landowners respond with the military or police. The economic activities of both groups contribute to the massive deforestation of the Lacandón. Rain falling on the forest drains into the Usumicinta river, which forms the border between Chiapas and the Petén department of Guatemala. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest The river flows into the sea in Tabasco, and deforestation may be a cause of the floods which inundated Villahermosa in 2007[10]

Highlands

The Central Highlands have been the population center of Chiapas since the Conquest. Tabasco is a state in Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Veracruz to the west Chiapas to the south and Campeche to the European epidemics were hindered by the tierra fría climate, allowing the indigenous peoples in the highlands to retain their large numbers. In Epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people is a classification of a disease that appears as new cases in a Tierra fria ( Spanish for cold land) is a pseudoclimatological term used in Latin America to refer to mountain locations within that realm where high Indigenous peoples provided labor for Spanish conquistadors, who also heavily settled the highlands. Indigenous highlanders were conscripted into labor service on plantations, drafted into debt servitude, which was so widely practiced that Chiapas earned the illustrious title of "Mexico's slave state" in the late 19th century [11].

Since World War Two, the highlands have benefitted from a boom in the energy and petroleum sectors. However, economic growth in these industries did not reach the subsistence farmers of the highlands. [11] High population and land reform pressured the poor and rich alike to move into the eastern rainforest. The highlands are home to the cities of San Cristóbal de las Casas and Comitán. San Cristóbal de las Casas is a municipality ( municipio) and City in the central highlands of the Mexican state of Comitán (formally Comitán de Domínguez, for Belisario Domínguez) is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Close to the rainforest, San Cristóbal was one of the first sites seized by the Zapatista army in their attack on January 1, 1994. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation ( Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) is an armed Revolutionary group based in Chiapas New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar)

Central Valley

The Sierra Madre de Chiapas is cut through the middle by the Río Grande de Chiapas, known outside of Chiapas as Río Grijalva. Grijalva River, also Tabasco R ( Spanish: Río Grijalva, known locally also as Río Chiapa is a 480 km The river flows from southwest to northeast. This area contains six of Chiapas' seven hydroelectric plants. Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water The construction of these dams flooded hundreds of thousands of hectares, making lakes out of former ejido lands. The ejido (from Latin exitum) system is a process whereby the government promotes the use of communal land shared by the people of the community The capital of Tuxtla Gutiérrez is located in the Central Valley, which enjoys a roughly tierra templada climate. Tuxtla Gutiérrez is a Municipality and the capital city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Tierra templada ( Spanish for temperate land) is a pseudoclimatological term used in Latin America to refer to places within that realm which are either

Sierra Madre de Chiapas

Main article: Sierra Madre de Chiapas

A continuation of the Sierra Madre del Sur, the Sierra Madre de Chiapas runs from northwest to southeast along the Pacific Ocean coast. Sierra Madre (known in Mexico as Sierra Madre de Chiapas) is a mountain range (located at) which runs northwest-southeast from the state of Chiapas in Mexico The Sierra Madre del Sur is a Mountain range in southern Mexico, extending 1000 km from southern Michoacán east through Guerrero, to the The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions It is extremely volcanic, resulting in high peaks, occasional eruptions and earthquakes, and rich soils. The mountains partially block rain clouds from the Pacific, a process known as Orographic lift, which creates a particularly rich coastal region called the Soconusco. Orographic lift occurs when an Air mass is forced from a low Elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain Soconusco is a region of the Mexican state of Chiapas, located in the extreme south of the state and bounded by the Republic of Guatemala on the southeast

The largest city in the Soconusco is Tapachula, site of the seventh Chiapaneco hydroelectric plant, José Cecilio del Valle[12]. Tapachula is a municipio ( municipality) and city with a hot humid climate in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

Soconusco

Main article: Soconusco

The Soconusco lies in the southernmost corner of Chiapas. Soconusco is a region of the Mexican state of Chiapas, located in the extreme south of the state and bounded by the Republic of Guatemala on the southeast It shares many ties with Guatemala, which claimed the territory until 1882. Guatemala (República de Guatemala) is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west the Pacific Ocean to the southwest Year 1882 ( MDCCCLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Since it was a part of the Aztec empire, Soconusco has been known for its agricultural products. Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who achieved political Then it was cacao, now the main product is coffee, which is grown on large plantations. CACAO is a research Java Virtual Machine developed at Vienna University of Technology. CoFFEE is an Open source Software for computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL in a digital classroom These plantations were owned by German-Guatemalans and employed indigenous peoples of the Mam group. The Mam are a Native American people of the highlands of western Guatemala. The tierra caliente climate of Soconusco allowed plantation agriculture to succeed, and in addition to coffee also grows sugar cane, rice, maize, and plantains. Tierra caliente ( Spanish for hot land) is a term used in Latin America to refer to those places within that realm which have a distinctly Tropical Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae Rice is a Cereal foodstuff which forms an important part of the diet of many people worldwide and as such it is a staple food for many Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica The plantain is a crop in the genus Musa and is generally used for cooking in contrast to the soft sweet Banana (which is sometimes called the

The Chiapas swordtail (Xiphophorus alvarezi) is named after this region. The Chiapas Swordtail (Upland Swordtail or Xiphophorus alvarezi is a livebearing Freshwater fish of the Order Cyprinodontiformes, family Poeciliidae

Energy

The energy resources of Chiapas include the seven hydroelectric plants on Grijalva and its tributaries and petroleum in the north. Six out of these seven are located in the Central Valley, including the Manuel Moreno Torres plant in Chicoasén, the most productive in Mexico. All of the hydroelectric plants are owned and operated by the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad, CFE), while the petroleum resources are owned by Petróleos Mexicanos, PEMEX. The Comisión Federal de Electricidad ( English: Federal Electricity Commission) is the Mexican state-owned electric Monopoly Petróleos Mexicanos ( PEMEX) is Mexico 's state-owned Petroleum company [12]

Demographics

About 55% of the state's population consists of Mestizos, 40% Amerindian (mostly of Maya ancestry); and around 35% of the indigenous population do not speak Spanish as their first language. Mestizo is a Spanish term that was coined during the Spanish Empire to refer to people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry in Latin For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. The Maya peoples constitute a diverse range of the Native American peoples of southern Mexico and northern Central America.

The products they produce are their only livelihood, yet corporations working with the Mexican government, have found ways to extort and take from them; as well as ladino’s who are ranchers that control Chiapas politics. A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business [4]

The 20th century saw massive population growth in Chiapas. From less than a million inhabitants in 1940, the state had approx. 2,000,000 in 1980[11] and over 4 million in 2005[13]. Overcrowded land in the highlands was relieved when the rainforest to the east was subject to land reform. Cattle ranchers, loggers, and subsistence farmers migrated to the rain forest. The population of the Lacandón was only 1,000 people in 1950, but by the mid-1990s this had increased to 200,000[14].

“Chiapas is almost an internal colony for the rest of Mexico, providing oil, electricity, timber, cattle, corn, sugar, coffee, and beans, but receiving very little in return. ”[1] “Household income, education, and basic standard of living fall far behind the national average, and infant mortality is much higher. ”[1]

"Only 11 percent of adults earn what the government calls moderate incomes of at least $3,450 per year (versus 24 percent nationally); less than 50 percent of households have running water (versus 67% nationally); and only 14 percent have televisions (versus 45% nationally). Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic "[1] Chiapas is only 3% of Mexican population. In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology They produce 13% of country's maize, 54% of its hydroelectric power, 5% of the nation's timber, 4% of its beans, 13% of its gas, and 4% of its oil; while nearly half of Chiapas is without electricity. Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water Lumber or timber is Wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural Material for Construction, or Bean is a common name for large plant Seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae (formerly Leguminosae used for human food or animal This page is about the physical properties of gas as a state of matter An oil is a substance that is in a viscous Liquid state ( "oily") at ambient temperatures or slightly warmer and is The indigenous peoples of Chiapas have always produced and supported Mexico’s system, yet are "extorted, taken from, colonized, oppressed, and exploited in every way possible". This article is about a type of political territory For other uses see Colony (disambiguation. The Oppressed is a Welsh anti-fascist Oi! band that was formed in 1981 in Cardiff. The Exploited is a punk band from the second wave of UK punk, formed in 1979 [4]

Murals

The Zapatista communities of Chiapas are celebrated for their murals. Vibrantly colourful communal paintings done on the outside walls of village buildings tell the recent Zapatista story of resistance—a story that often uses images of historical political heroes.

Landmarks

The Sumidero Canyon is occupied by an artificial lake, the dam , which produces a large percent of the electricity in Mexico. Sumidero Canyon ( Spanish: Cañón del Sumidero) is a Canyon located about 40 km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, capital of the Mexican state The sides of the cañon are covered with tropical vegetation.

According to the limited geography model of the Book of Mormon, now widely accepted by LDS religious scholars, Chiapas is the most plausible location of the land of Zarahemla. The Book of Mormon is a Sacred text of the churches in the Latter Day Saint movement. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest Christian denomination in the United States and the largest and most well-known According to the Book of Mormon, the Land of Zarahemla (popularly attributed to Biblical Hebrew זֶרַע חֶמְלָה Zéraʻ Ḥemlā "seed of Chiapas has since seen an increase in Mormon tourism. Tourism is Travel for Recreational or Leisure purposes The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel

Municipalities

Chiapas is subdivided into 118 municipalities (municipios). A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a City, Town, or Village, or See municipalities of Chiapas

Major communities

Alcohol use

Alcohol use in rural Chiapas has been studied by North American anthropologists for over half-a-century. The Mexican state of Chiapas is divided into 119 municipalities ( municipios) Chiapa de Corzo is a small city and municipio ( municipality) situated in the west-central part of the Mexican state of Chiapas Comitán (formally Comitán de Domínguez, for Belisario Domínguez) is the fourth-largest city in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Ocosingo is a city and its surrounding municipality ( municipio) of the same name in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Ocozocoautla de Espinoza is a town and municipality in the Mexican state of Chiapas. San Cristóbal de las Casas is a municipality ( municipio) and City in the central highlands of the Mexican state of Tapachula is a municipio ( municipality) and city with a hot humid climate in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Tuxtla Gutiérrez is a Municipality and the capital city of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Many of these studies have included Tzotzil communities in the highlands of Chiapas. These studies done on alcohol use vary in their specific aim; some seek to understand ritualized drinking practices, some are more interested in casual drinking environments, and others still are focused on alcohol related abuse and methods used by rural Chiapanecos to quit drinking.

Fiesta

The celebration of Fiesta has been recorded in anthropological studies for decades. Fiesta is an annual celebration that serves to bring a community together through services, religious expression, and exchange[16]. Throughout the celebration the use of alcohol pervades the atmosphere, and nearly everyone from public officials[17] to the musicians [18] consumes some amount of alcohol. Not all of this alcohol use is in the spirit of celebration though. Alcohol use has worked its way into numerous ritual acts related to Fiesta, commonly as a gift presented to colleagues during the celebration. In fact, offering alcohol to another can be an act of thanks [19], payment for work [20], and as a way to celebrate the work that has been done [21]. The ritualized nature of these events is quite clear, as expressed by this passage from Eber (an example of celebration of successful work):

“When Victorio finishes distributing the money, the male server begins to serve shot glasses of rum. [ . . . Various helpers drink the rum . . . ] Each answers Victorio and Angélika with “I am drinking” as they accept the cup and “I have finished” when they hand it back to the drink pourer. ” [22].

Informal drinking

Christine Eber’s ethnography Women and Alcohol in a Highland Maya Town contains many telling accounts of non-ritual, informal/casual drinking. Through her accounts she illustrates that individuals in rural Chiapas begin and continue drinking for many reasons. Presented here are three of Eber’s accounts.

First, Eber points out that ritual drinking can lead to non-ritual drinking, or as in her example, individuals that drink heavily during fiesta do not always stop once fiesta is over [23]. She talks about Victorio, who “. . . drank non-stop for twenty days” after fiesta had ended. Victorio’s wife showed concern for his well-being, but he insisted that he had no problem and continued drinking heavily. Eventually Victorio was fighting with his close friends and becoming destructive, and it was due to the embarrassment brought on by his drunken actions that he first began to scale back on his drinking.

A second example of informal drinking comes in the form of Pascuala, who said that the death of her daughter caused her to start drinking [24]. Pascuala’s daughter was five years old when she died, and her death hit Pascuala hard both because it was a shock and because she was left alone with nothing to help her cope but extensive housework and alcohol. Pascuala’s drinking began to pervade her daily activities, though she never drank when working out of town because she would embarrass herself.

A third example of non-ritual alcohol use comes from Bartolo and Otelia, a married couple who both drank heavily [25]. The couple’s neighbor, a relative, would often have to come over to break up fights, or take Otelia out of the house when Bartolo was particularly violent (he had chased her from their house on many occasions with a machete). Their drinking was not always physically destructive however, and many days they would sit at the table and trade harsh insults. Their heavy drinking did make some friends and family uncomfortable and certainly put Eber on edge, but there had been no community-wide attempts to make them stop drinking.

By these ethnographic accounts we can see that drinking occurs in nearly any setting and for numerous reasons in rural Chiapas. Victorio was a man who let the ritual drinking of Fiesta run away with him [23]. Pascuala was a woman whose daughter’s death caused her to turn to alcohol as a coping mechanism [26]. Bartolo and Otelia were simply an older couple who passed the time by drinking heavily [25].

Familial abuse

Familial abuse is one of the more widely studied alcohol-related issues in rural Chiapas [27]. It should be noted that familial does not simply entail spousal abuse; accounts of familial abuse in rural Chiapas have been recorded from the perspectives of wives, husbands, fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, brothers, and sisters [28]. Many times, the abused acknowledge alcohol as the primary source of the violence [28]. One woman talks about how she and her sisters used to cry at night when their parents would not come home on account of being drunk in town for days at a time. Furthermore, this same woman notes that alcohol related abuse in her household was often over trivial matters:

“My parents felt like hitting me for any little thing. If our jug broke when we went to the waterhole, they hit us. Just for that!” [29]

However, alcohol is not always seen as the primary catalyst of violence. Women have cited money (both the lack and procurement of), failure to adequately perform duties as wives, failure to produce children, lack of obedience, or the fact that, “ . . . they were men” as reasons for violence [30]. When reading about alcohol related abuse in rural Chiapas, keep in mind that alcohol is only one facet of a multi-sided culture and that it would be a mistake to simply hold alcohol consumption responsible for violence.

Quitting

In Christine Eber’s ethnography Women and Alcohol in a Highland Maya Town she presents a few different accounts of people’s methods for quitting alcohol use [28]. Two culturally significant accounts will be mentioned here: cold turkey quitting and dream cures.

When discussing Fiesta and musicians, Eber mentions Pablo, who said “Rum, no more” [31]. Pablo was a musician who, against the wishes of his friends, stayed sober during fiesta (many musicians use the stupor from alcohol to keep themselves awake and active throughout the event). He said that drinking does him harm, and that God said that heavy drinking would certainly kill someone. Instead of being paid with rum for his playing during fiesta, he took money that he and his wife used to buy what they wanted.

An account not related to Fiesta was of Angélika, who said “My dream cured me” [32]. Angélika was asked how she came to quit drinking, and she recounted a dream that she had. In her dream, the Moon (the Virgin Mary) came from the sky and scolded her for continuing to drink because alcohol was not sustenance, and it dulled her nerves. The Moon further pointed out that Angélika’s friends were constantly embarrassing themselves due to alcohol use and that they were going to embarrass the Moon as well. Angélika finally states that the Moon gave her a medicine which she drank, and has yet to imbibe alcohol again.

Pablo’s method of quitting was an active decision on his part, which involved repeatedly turning down his friends’ gifts of drink [19]. They mocked and taunted him, but he said that he was healthier and his wife was happy, so he was content. Angélika’s method of quitting was much more spiritual [32]. The Moon administered a medicine to Angélika, which she says cured her of her addiction to alcohol. She says that she never had the urge to drink again after that dream, her spirit was removed from the drink.

Rituals and symbols

The Zinacanteco people, a Tzotzil speaking ethnicity of the San Lorenzo Zinacantán municipio, celebrate four distinct stages of life: birth, baptism, marriage, and death. The Tzotzil Maya of the central highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas are an indigenous group the direct descendants of San Lorenzo Zinacantán is a municipio (municipality in the southern part of the Central Chiapas highlands in the Mexican state of Each of the four stages involves a combination of various degrees of symbolic interaction. [33]

Birth

The first major life stage is birth. The creation of a child is thought to be due to the mixing of the “Hpwersa”-from the Spanish word for “force”- from both man and woman. Though the male is viewed as the major contributor in procreation, the woman’s role is also important, as she is the one responsible for providing nourishment and acting as a “receptacle” for the child. A midwife is employed to aid in the birth and also plays a role vital to the wellbeing of the child. After the child is born, it is censed with copal and prayers are recited over the child after which point the child is dressed in clean clothes. Copal is a type of Resin produced from plant or tree secretions, often taken from members of the genus Copaifera. Following this step, the next rite establishes the sex identity and helps to fix the soul into the body. The midwife rubs salt two times on the top of the baby’s mouth and gives it three chilies in order to provide “heat”[34] to the baby’s body which is, until this point, viewed as “cold”[34]. If the child is a boy, his hand is touched to items that he will use in life including a hoe, digging stick, splinter of pitch-pine, and a billhook. If the child is a girl, her hand is touched to a sword for the loom[35], carding comb, spindle, thread, a mano and needle. Following this step, the baby is returned to the mother however, both mother and child are swathed in blankets in order to help block them from the potentially harmful views of other individuals. The umbilical cord and placenta are buried behind the house and are used as a divine influence over the number of children that will be born as either male or female to the family. Though it is not necessarily an illness, the mother is treated as if she is recovering from sickness for the next few weeks. She is confined to the house, must take three ritual sweat baths with the midwife, cannot perform tasks she normally would had she not given birth, and is only allowed to eat “hot” foods. The sweat lodge (also called sweat house, medicine lodge, or medicine house) is a ceremonial Sauna and an important ritual used by This process is possibly done to restore the mother to her previous state of equilibrium. Also during this time, the baby is guarded from view so that his/her soul is protected.

Baptism

The second major life stage is baptism. Because the Zinacanteco people were influenced by European culture, traces and combinations of Christian rituals are often incorporated into the four life stages, baptism included. Baptism, for Catholics[36], is the most important of the Seven Sacraments and is also quite important to the Zinacanteco as it is used to permanently fix the innate soul in the body if the child. It is viewed as a way in which to create bonds of ritual kinship between the parents and the godparents; this bond is known as compadrazgo. The compadre (literally "co-father" or "co-parent" relationship between the parents and Godparents of a child is an important bond which originates when Baptism obligations “create(s) a network of interdependence among Zinacantecos which extends beyond the bonds of kinship and constitutes a most important basis to the dynamic of the society” [33]. The godparents of the child, or compadres, are chosen with for distinct factors in mind including: that they must be members of a different patrilineage, that they have previously or are currently called upon to serve as compadres for three other children of the family, that they must live relatively nearby, and that they are willing and able to provide economic and political services in the future should the need arise. Patrilineality (aka agnatic kinship) is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage it generally involves the Inheritance of property names or titles The actual ceremony of baptism involves ritual steps starting with the child’s parents requesting the godparents to be “embracers”. This role requires that the godparent that is the same sex as the child hold the child during the ceremony. A ritual meal follows the ceremony and in the months that follow, the child receives food and clothes from the compadres. “Ceremonies associated with birth and baptism may be seen as a linear sequence characterized by phases of separation, transition, and incorporation” [33]. These phases are evident upon observation of each life phase.

Marriage

Marriage is the third stage in the life cycle. This stage is extremely important for a male because it is not until he is married that he is viewed and treated as a full member of society. The courtship process of marriage is lengthy and can become expensive. With the help of family friends, relatives, compadres and the male’s parents, the costs of courtship are provided for properly. The courtship process begins with a male choosing a female and then choosing two “petitioners” to convince the female’s father to allow the marriage to take place. If the female’s father accepts, he accepts liquor that has been offered to him however, if he refuses, the petitioners try again but with the male’s second choice for a wife. Once the female’s father accepts the proposal a trial period takes place involving the male and female’s families to see if the relationship will actually work in practice. There is also a bride price to be paid but the payment is gradual and may take up to two years. Only after the bride price is paid does the female’s father allow the “house entering ceremony” to take place. Once this ceremony occurs, gifts are given from the male’s family to the female and both families can call each other “kumpadre” and “kumale”; this establishes a permanent compadrazgo relationship. The female’s father then selects two “embracers” to serve as ritual advisors to the couple. The actual wedding has three phases, including a civil ceremony, a church ceremony, and a house ceremony which is then followed by a ritual meal. During the house ceremony, the embracers formally introduce the female to her new home and then advise the couple on their mutual responsibilities as a married couple. A dance is performed around the couple by both families as a symbol of melding both families. However, since the Zinacanteco are patrilineal in descent and patrilocal in residence pattern, the female’s family no longer has any claim to her services and the embracers become her “parents”. This lengthy process is an example of separation, transition, and incorporation. [33]

Death

Death is the final stage of the life cycle though it is not necessarily a result of “natural causes”. Death, to the Zinacanteco, may result from losing ones soul, having one’s animal companion released from its corral, irreversibly selling one’s innate soul to the Earth Lord or, very seldom, through physical injury. After the moment of death, the body is washed and the deceased’s head is placed “toward the setting sun” and then the area is fenced off within the house using household articles. There is a period of mourning and ritual meals that follow. The same night, the body is placed in a coffin including a small bag of money and charred, ground tortillas as sustenance for the afterlife. The following morning the coffin is taken out of the house. If the deceased was a married female, her widower must announce his choice for a new wife. After the coffin is outside the house, a woman performs a rite that will “loosen the soul from the house”, “prevent the soul from returning to see its possessions”, and to “make it forget its house and not come back to frighten the living”. [33] The coffin is taken to be buried and when it is half-buried personal objects associated with the deceased-often torn, burned, or damaged in some way- are put into the grave. The objects are damaged so that they cannot be used against the living after the deceased is buried. When the grave is completely filled, it is then covered with pine needles and a wooden cross that has been decorated with pine tree tops and red geraniums. These decorations are used as a means of communication. A dead body is seen similarly to a fetus in that it is “cold” and must be provided with “heat” for the soul, therefore burning candles, censing the body, and presence of liquor are used to accomplish this goal.

Episodes of symbols

As previously stated, most if not all rituals involve a culmination of several symbols in varied degrees. “Symbols are crucial in the Zinacanteco case, not only because the performance of ritual constitutes a focal concern of the society but also because it serves to store and transmit elements of the Zinacanteco prescriptions for a coherent and orderly society and to provide measured ways for the society to change over time” [33]. There are recurring episodes of symbols that are intricately involved with each other in daily life and “underline essential and distinctive qualities of the culture” [33]. The themes of these symbols are focused around three different actions, “talking, seeing and embracing” and two states, “heat and time”. “The actions are performed by Zinacantecos to affect or express two basic conditions: to provide for and symbolize the proper amount of ‘heat’, and to place and symbolize the Zinacanteco and his activities within the slow of ‘time’ in the universe. [33]

The action of talking is a crucial element in life because it is a way to directly affect a person’s experience in life via other men and also with the gods. The Zinacanteco are highly verbal and actually differentiate, through a specific hierarchy, the different types of talking used and who uses which type. There is a premium placed on people who are able to say the correct thing at the right time.

Being able to see extends beyond the physical realm of visual perception. Seeing means to know or have insight in general. For example, Shamans can see into the mountains by way of dreams. In this way they are able to have a connection with the ancestral gods that live in the mountains. Also, the long process of education for the young is conceived as “learning to see”. The youth are thereby taught how to learn about, understand, and interpret the world as a responsible member of society would. This is an example of what would be called, in anthropology, enculturation. Enculturation is the process whereby an individual learns the accepted norms and value emphases of an established Culture through repetition so that the individual can become

Embracing is viewed as one of the most important duties of parents. They are expected to embrace their child, meaning they should care for the child so that is does not lose its innate soul. Throughout the four stages of life, there are always types of embracers and their responsibility is to guard and carry the soul of the individual they are “embracing”. On a larger scale, to the Zinacanteco, the Sun and the Maya moon goddess are the mother and father of the universe and by perpetually moving around their creation, they are thereby “embracing” it. The traditional Mayas generally assume the moon to be female and the moon's phases are accordingly conceived as the stages of a woman's life

“Heat” symbolizes a general quality of existence and is accumulated with age and as power increases. Similarly, as was seen in the life stage of death, a deceased person is considered “cold” because right before death they are said to have reached their peak of “hotness”. Heat is used as a language to describe power differences in the universe. The candle is a physical item that combines two of the main actions and/or conditions including heat, light, and “disappearing”. The candle gives off physical heat, provides light for the action of seeing, and in going from solid to gas represents a transition from material to divine. The burning of copal, as in the life stage of birth, is used as a vehicle for transferring heat to the baby as well as a transition from the material to divine as with the candle. Copal is a type of Resin produced from plant or tree secretions, often taken from members of the genus Copaifera.

Finally, the concept of time is also vital to the Zinacanteco. They are a people extremely concerned with knowing when plans are scheduled for, and actually, a wrist watch is almost always the first thing acquired in the industrial world [33]! The use of symbols and meaning of such symbols plays a tremendous role in the highly structured system of the Zinacanteco people. They rely on clusters of symbols borrowed from European culture and ancient Maya culture to maintain, and also evolve, their current culture.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Collier, George A pg 16
  2. ^ a b Collier, George A pg 11
  3. ^ Lowe, p. The 2007 Tabasco flood occurred in late October and early November 2007 in the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, in which as much Subcomandante Marcos, also known as Delegado Cero in matters concerning the Other Campaign, describes himself as the spokesman for the Mexican rebel The Zapatista Army of National Liberation ( Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) is an armed Revolutionary group based in Chiapas A Place Called Chiapas is a Canadian documentary of first-hand accounts of the Ejercito Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN the ( Zapatista Army of National Subcomandante Marcos, also known as Delegado Cero in matters concerning the Other Campaign, describes himself as the spokesman for the Mexican rebel 122-123.
  4. ^ a b c d Collier, George A
  5. ^ Collier, George A pg 9-10
  6. ^ Collier, George A pg 12
  7. ^ Collier, George A pg 17
  8. ^ Collier, George A
  9. ^ Chiapas: paramilitary resurgence seen. World War 4 Report (2007). Retrieved on 2008-02-29. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Leap years Although the modern calendar counts a year as 365 days a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours
  10. ^ Washington Post Nov. 19, 2007: A12
  11. ^ a b c Benjamin, Thomas. A Rich Land, a Poor People: Politics and Society in Modern Chiapas. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1996.
  12. ^ a b Comisión Federal de Electricidad
  13. ^ (Spanish) Website of the National Institute of Statistics, Geography, and Data Processing
  14. ^ Benjamin, Thomas. A Time of Reconquest: History, the Maya Revival, and the Zapatista Rebellion. The American Historical Review, Vol. 105, no. 2 (April 2000): 417-450.
  15. ^ Instituto de Historia Natural y Ecología
  16. ^ Gonzalez 1999, pp. 165
  17. ^ Eber 1995, pp. 98
  18. ^ Eber 1995, pp. 94
  19. ^ a b Eber 1995, pp. 96
  20. ^ Eber 1995, pp. 93
  21. ^ Eber 1995, pp. 103
  22. ^ Eber 1995, pp. 103-104
  23. ^ a b Eber 1995, pp. 109
  24. ^ Eber 1995, 120
  25. ^ a b Eber 1995, pp. 126
  26. ^ Eber 1995, pp. 120
  27. ^ Eber 1995, Glantz 1996
  28. ^ a b c Eber 1995
  29. ^ Eber 1995, pp. 112
  30. ^ Glantz 1996, pp. 125
  31. ^ Eber 1995, pp. 95
  32. ^ a b Eber 1995, pp. 115
  33. ^ a b c d e f g h i Vogt, EZ. Tortillas for the Gods: A Symbolic Analysis of Zinacanteco Rituals. Harvard University Press, London 1976.
  34. ^ a b Maya Medicine
  35. ^ Mayan Weaving Guatemalan Weaving
  36. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Baptism

References

Further reading

External links

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