|
By: ©Erik Guzowski
(Click on photos to see larger versions)
 Chiapas, Mexico -- Nine
languages are spoken in Chiapas, with Spanish used as the dominant
commercial language among the people. Outside of the main city
of San Cristobal, the native Mayan languages from the Chol, Chuj,
Lacandon, Mam, Tojolabal, Tzeltal, Tzotzil and Zoque are spoken.
A man walks in front of a scrawled message
"Fuerta ejeruto de Chiapas" in San Cristabol where
the Zapitista revolutionary movement occurred and is now at a
stand off. Although Chiapas in united by government with Mexico
City, uprisings still occur. On Jan. 1, 1004, a group that called
itself Ejercito Zapatista de Liberacion Nacional (EZLN, Zapatista
National Liberation Army) occupied San Cristobal de Las Casas
for a short time. The Mexican government was forced to meet some
of their demands in order to restore order to the area.
 A ruin in the old Mayan city, Palanque in the Chiapas
jungle. Only a few dozen of more than 500 ruins in the old Mayan
city has been excavated. The pyramids on the site were built
without use of metal tools, pack animals or carts. Originally,
the structures were painted red. In 1773 Father Ordonez y Aguilar
led an expedition to the site and claimed it was an Atlantis-like
civilization. Captain Antonio del Rio led a group of men to the
site in 1787 and published his views on the site for the Guatemalan
government. Once the report was released through a British resident,
visitors flocked to the site. Then in 1837, John L. Stephens
started to excavate and investigate scientifically the site.
 An Tzotzil Indian girl from San Pedro Chenalho just
below San Juan Chamula, both villages in Chiapas, studies with
her professor. About 14,000 people live in the are. Approximately
310,000 Tzotzils live around San Cristobal in all. Tzotzil Indians
are weavers.
 The rest of the population is made up of 150,000 Chols
on the north side of the state, 20,000 Mexican Mames near the
Guatemalan border and 25,000 Zoques in western Chaipas. There
are still about 300 Lacandons, the original descendants of the
Mayan traditions. They reside in the eastern Chaipas rain forest.
|
