Tz'utujil

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Tz'utujil
population = 78,498 [According to the official 2002 census: cite web |url=http://www.ine.gob.gt/Nesstar/Censo2002/survey0/dataSet/dataFiles/dataFile1/var26.html |title= XI Censo Nacional de Población y VI de Habitación (Censo 2002) - Pertenencia de grupo étnico |accessdate=2008-05-27 |publisher=Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas |date=2002 Note that the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) mentions a higher number [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=gt] ]
region1 = flag|Guatemala
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ref1 = lower| [ [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=gt Ethnologue report for Guatemala ] ]
region2 = Sololá
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languages = Tz'utujil
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related = K'iche', Kaqchikel
footnotes = The Tz'utujil (Tzutujil, Tzutuhil, Sutujil) are a Native American people, one of the 21 Maya ethnic groups that dwell in Guatemala. Together with the Xinca, Garífunas (Black Caribs) and the Ladinos, they make up the 24 ethnic groups in this relatively small country. Approximately 100,000 Tz'utujil live in the area around Lake Atitlán. Their pre-Columbian capital, near Santiago Atitlán, was Chuitinamit.

The Tz'utujil are noted for their continuing adherence to traditional cultural and religious practices. Evangelical Protestantism and Roman Catholicism are also practiced among them.

The term Tz'utujil also denotes their native language, and their nation in pre-Columbian times, a part of the ancient Maya civilization.

The Tz'utujil people

The Tz'utujil date from the post-classic period (circa 900-1500 ) of the Maya civilization, inhabiting the southern watershed of Lake Atitlán, in the Solola region of the Guatemalan highlands.

Today they dwell in the towns of San Juan La Laguna, San Pablo La Laguna, San Marcos La Laguna, San Pedro La Laguna, Santiago Atitlán, Panabaj, Tzanchaj, (believed to have been the inspiration, because of its similar sound, for the name "Santiago") and a very few in San Lucas Tolimán, although they used to inhabit a much wider region. In 1523 the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, with the help of the Cakchiquel Maya, defeated them in a battle close to the town of Panajachel in which they lost a portion of their lands, and the control of the lake.

Although tourism is now an increasing source of income, many still practice traditional methods of farming of the two main crops in the region, coffee and maize (corn}. Tourism is benefiting most significantly from the work of talented artists and weavers who are anxious to gain recognition for the notable creativity and uniqueness of what they offer to the world community. San Juan is one of three Tz'utujil communities where artists have adapted the international genre of Arte Naif to express the cultural traditions, beliefs, ceremonies and daily activities of their indigenous culture. This form of art and its most accomplished of the Tz'utjil practitioners have been recognized in the definitive UNESCO-sponsored book on the subject, "Arte Naif: Contemporary Guatemalan Mayan Painting", 1998. The weavers of San Juan are among the very few indigenous artisans who make their own dyes for the thread they use. In the case of San Juan weavers, they produce the dyes largely from plants grown locally.

In 2005, several hundred Tz'utujil died in the mudslides caused by Hurricane Stan. From Panabaj and Tzanchaj, rescuers recovered 160 bodies, while 250 remained missing from both towns.

ee also

*Martín Prechtel is an author who writes of his experiences with the Tzutujil people.
*Maya mythology
*Maya calendar
*Ixchel

References

External links

* [http://www.santiagoatitlan.com Website of Santiago Atitlán]
* [http://www.authenticmaya.com/Chuitinamit.htm Chuitinamit History and description]
* [http://www.authenticmaya.com/guatemalafolk.htm Guatemala indigenenous people Photo Gallery]
* [http://www.vidasanpedro.blogspot.com Anthropologist's Blog about learning Tz'utujil in San Pedro La Laguna]