Chamula, Chiapas

Chiapas is a region of revolution and resistance. Around San Cristobal, there are many fully indigenous villages that have fought to maintain their cultural identity. While tourists and foreigners - Guera and Mexican alike- are invited to view church services and buy indigenous handicrafts, there are no hotels in the villages and at the end of the day, foreigners are expected to leave.

Chamula is a fully indigenous village of the Chamula people. This town is know for its large church, where the Chamula people have created a Catholicism with an indigenous twist. While I couldn't take pictures of the inside of the church, I will try my best to paint you a picture with words.

The inside of this church is outside of time. I entered the church in what seemed like complete darkness. While my eyes adjusted to the new light, my feet began moving acrossed a soft and springy surface. White tile was covered in mounds and mounds of dried out pine needles. Fully adjusted, my eyes are met with the flickering light of thousands upon thousands of candles. The candles fill tables in front of the saints. They stand upright on the ground in rows of four or five nearly 15 candles deep. Should my eyes deceive me, I could image the candles suspended in air, flickering with the movement of the people. The entirity of the church, closed off from the outside world, is lit solely by the light of the candles.

In front of the rows of candles, whole families sit around an aged patriarch. This can either be the grandmother or grandfather (great-grandmother and great-grandfather?). As the candles burn and the children fidget, the wisened leader of the family rocks back and forth, chanting a prayer in a native tongue that sounds magical. The church is filled with this chanted prayer starting and ending, weaving in an out of all the prayers like a musical tapestry, completely illumined by candle light. The families all wear their indigenous dress of wooly looking skirts and panchos over and around bright, multicolored silken shirts.

This church is also known for sacrificing animals. One family invites my friends and I near to their candles and prayer to explain the ceremony to us. A small child holds a chicken with bound legs. The child has been very sick for 15 days and the family has gathered to pray for the health of the child. The elder chants and rocks back and forth for several minutes. Finally, the chicken is brought to the elder, the neck is broken, and the body of the chicken is signed in a cross over the child several times. The candles are then put out with Coca-cola and the elder's prayer is accompanied by the hiss and pop of burning Coca-cola. Before leaving, the family drinks the remaining cola.

Suddenly, I notice chickens and Coca-cola throughout the sanctuary and imagine that this same ritual is performed again and again, day and night. We finally leave the church, eyes shocked by daylight and returned abruptly to current time. Perhaps I will return to see how a Mass is performed in this indigenous world.