zoque - coiteco CARNIVAL
Parachicos dance The carnival is the most popular and expected celebration of Ocozocoautla town. It’s celebrated on February or March, and it’s the syncretic ceremony that mix zoques believes, in honor of “Tajaj Jamá” (Sun father in zoque lenguaje), where people ask for abundant rain and good harvests, and the tradition related to European believes and Moors and Christians traditions. The main characters of the Fest are the chores masked dancers and the Mahoma. Other characters are: El Caballo (The horse), Los Tigres (The Tigers), El Mono (The Monkey), Tatamonos and Arreadores. The music is traditional Zoque music made of drum and flute. Ocozocoautla is located 36 km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
suchiapa Corpus Christi
An ancestral tradition of Suchiapa, that begins with a particular dance: the pathway of the mysterious “Nambusheli Tiger”, which is followed by the “colmenero” a person who blows the whistle during all the veneration way. Participate characters as the “Calalá” (a deer), “el Gigante” (the Giant is the person carrying a big feather crest with an snake face), “el Gigantillo” (“the young giant”), “los tigres” (the tigers) and “los chamulas” (the chamulas are the characters refers to inhabitants of the Chiapas highland). The musicians must play more than 30 songs, and the most representatives are the deer song, the chamula song, the crying song, the giant song, the chapulin song among others. The festivity takes place among the months of May and June (variable date). It is a reminiscence of the ancient rituals around the veneration of the jaguar. Suchiapa is located 16 km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
san juan CHAMULA CARNIVAL
POTTERY FROM amatenango del valle
TENEJAPA CARNIVAL
INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF HUMANITY Chiapa de Corzo city, celebrate the mestizo and a communitarian ritual, the most well-known and intense on Chiapas: The traditional January Great Feast. The whole city participated on the celebration, one of the greates and most colorful celebrations of Mexico that ends with the “comida grande” (great meal). Highlights are the colorful parade that is headed up by the representation of the legendary figure of the benefactress “María de Angulo” and the simulation of a naval battle with fireworks that is carried out in the Grijalva River the night of January 21. For several days the “parachicos” walk all around the streets, cheering with their “chinchines” or rattles, dancing and singing, launching alive and venerating the Lord of Esquipulas (January 15), San Antonio Abad (January 17), deceased patterns (January 18) and to San Sebastian (January 20), its patron saint. The colorful “parachico” costumes include fine masks carved in wood. Chiapa de Corzo is located 15 km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
The most traditional feast of the Tsotsil community is the “Kinta-Jimultik” or “the new fire”; it is celebrated 4 days before the Ash Wednesday, at this celebration is conjugated the catholic mysticism and the pagan rituals. During the festivity, some episodes of the Mayas sacred book is performed, the Popol Vuh is showed through the liturgy, the dances and the costumes of the actors. There are groups of people that participate and the most attractive are the “max”: monkey-men dressed as a XIX century French military with a long conic hat made of monkey skin and a knee blanket pant. San Juan Chamula is located 10 km from San Cristobal de Las Casas.
The Carnival feast last two weeks. The feast begins on Sunday, known as “xlo’k wantero”, where all around the town there is a flags parade. Next day the captains begins to make the grass mat bull known in tseltal language as “st’is a’k’ot wakax”. The same day is when the people boil the corn or nixtamal to prepare the beans tamales known as “sta’k’ajel ixim”. Another Important day is when the “alfereces” dressed with a red costume called Kuchoji´bal.
The Tseltal town of Amatenango del Valle is known for the excellent pottery made mainly by women, who at the moment of create each piece, used pre-hispanic methods. Pots, pitchers, vases, flower pots and zoomorphic figures as the beautiful jaguars are the products of this ancient tradition. Art of mixing water and soil, modeling clay by hand, dry it and burn it to open sky. Amatenango del Valle is located 35 km from San Cristobal de Las Casas.
Tenejapa is located 26 km from San Cristobal de Las Casas.
POPULAR ART
CHIAPAS AMBER The natural and cultural richness of Chiapas is reflected on the major quality and diverse productions of popular art in the country. Different ethnic and social groups and the twelve languages spoken in the State are related with textiles, lacquerware, pottery, metalwork, lapidary, cordage, basketry, wood carving, traditional toys elaboration, jewelry amber pieces, among other handicrafts works. All the faces of the everyday life, the feasts, and the rituals are showed on magnificent pieces of art made of women and men that keep the tradition through the centuries.
The amber is a fossilized resin of a great transparency and bright. The unique Mesoamerican deposits are in Chiapas (Simojovel, Huitiupan and Totolapa areas). Generality, amber is of warm colors, although it is possible to find it on cold colors as the blue, bluishgreen and purple. The most common colors of amber are the honey, yellow and red. It is also possible to find amber pieces with some inclusions that could be leafs, moss, or tiny prehistoric insects. The average age of the amber from Chiapas it is calculated in 25 million years old. With the amber are produce very high quality jewels that can be acquired in Chiapanecan towns. Simojovel is located 89 km from San Cristobal de Las Casas.
Tabasco
LACQUERWARE FROM CHIAPA DE CORZO
Chiapa de Corzo is located 15 km from Tuxtla Gutiérrez.
LIVING CULTURES Live History
Veracruz
Oaxaca
The traditional technique of lacquer that still is used in Chiapa de Corzo, is based on “axe”, a partial oily substance that is obtained from the grinding, boiling, filtering, and dried “coccus axin”, an insect that live on trees in a warm a humid places. This substance it is mixed with “tizate” (soil) and natural colors of mineral, vegetal and animal origin to be used as decorative paintings. The decoration of the lacquerware from Chiapas it is characterized by the bouquets of colorful flowers, and birds. The painting is applied with the little finger that gives a character distinctly regional.
Mayan textiles A great opportunity to know Chiapas is through its textiles. The weavings of the waste bloom has been during centuries the Mayan culture’s pillar. Each community it is identify by its own wearing style. The designs on the clothes have been used by Maya women during thousand years, and traditions still is alive thanks to the constant innovations of each embroider. On this way Maya textiles are more than beautiful that brings everybody attention. The designs reflect the strength of creation and nature; they are a unique language that express the cosmovision, believes, and a unique world. The distinguished places of Chiapas by the Textile art are Zinacantán, San Juan Chamula, San Andrés Larráinzar, Tenejapa, Aguacatenango, Magdalenas, Oxchuc, Venustiano Carranza, among others.
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