Sunday, April 13, 2014

Birds of The Tz'utujil

In the entire region of Guatemala, there are a total of 706 species of birds. Only 1 of those species is extinct, which is the Atitlan Grebe, Podilymbus gigas. That species just so happens to be from the Lake Atitlan region where the Tz'utujil inhabit. This extinction seems to have occurred by major alterations to the habitat in which they lived. Out of the 706 species, and 1 extinct, only 14 are threatened species, which is 2% of the birds. They live seemingly in tune to the people who live in the area without that much destruction. 

Tz'utujil Cosmos

The Tz'utujil Cosmos is what they believe about the world such as religion. Before European conquest, they had believed in traditional Mayan religion such as a sun god, etc. After the Spanish came they introduced Catholicism and Protestantism, which are now prominent in their culture. In some cases, there is a combined religion of Catholicism and traditional Mayan religion. A lot of ceremonies held hold true to traditional Maya practices, but are often times held in the honor of a Catholic patron saint. There a few ideas about death and afterlife in the culture. A tradtional belief is that after death one part of a person is regenerated into descendants and another part goes into the sky to assist the movement of the sun. Another belief is that only those who are sacrificed or die as a child proceed into heaven.

World of the Tz'utujil Maya

The world of the Tz'utujil Maya people is basically how they make a living and their cultural landscape. They have been consistent throughout the years with how they make a living. Most Tz'utujil still participate in an 'agrarian' society of agriculture. They mostly grow two main crops: coffee and maize(corn). Due to the magnificent landscape that surrounds their homes in the Lake Atitlan region, tourism has started to become a sufficient way to profit. Also, a common livelihood in the Tz'utujil people is weaving. They are one of the few cultures to still create the dyes from plants they use.