Zinacantán

The second town that we went to is home to a different tribe of the Tzotsil ethnic group. It is larger in area but smaller in population than Chamula. This demographic difference probably explains why Zinacatan seems cleaner and quieter than Chamula.

Once again, the women's clothing marks the territory. The women here also wear long black skirts. But instead of being made of wool, they are made of cotton. They are more flowly than those of the women in Chamula. They wear beautiful shawls with shiny purple and blue flower embroidery. You kind of get an idea of the outfits from the pictures. We stopped at the house of a family that the tour guide knows. We only met the women because the men work in the fields during the day. The ladies were weaving, cooking, and taking care of the children. One girl did a weaving demonstration. And she gave us permission to take pictures! It was so impressive that I got fancy and recorded it on my camera. The video is not working on the blog so I posted the photo.

The guide then took us into the family's ritual room and proceeded to tell us some of his very strong opinions. First, he says he "trusts" the motivations of the Zapatistas. Then he talked at legnth about his concern that the indigenous culture is in danger of extinction to to the missionary efforts of protestants and evangelicals. He called this the "second conquest." Of course I was alarmed when he said that the Tzotsiles are never going to "go to Salt Lake City and tell the Mormons that their prophet is wrong so why should their missionaries come knocking on these people's doors telling them that sacrificing chickens is not the right way to worship God?" I appreciated his solidarity with the indigenous people and to be perfectly honest, he makes a valid point. I just hope that the Mormon missionaries are more tactful and respectul in their approach than he suggested. I am going to church tomorrow and I'll make my own opinions.