Tzeltal people

The Tzeltal are one of the descendants of the Maya, which was one of the early and largest Mesoamerican cultures. This group left behind a large number of archeological sites such as Tikal and Palenque, and the Mayan linguistic group is one of the largest linguistic groups in the Americas, subdivided into Huastec, Yucatec, eastern Maya and Western Maya.^[2] Mayan civilization reached its height in the Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, but from 900 to 1200 CE went through a period of decline into smaller, rival city-states with almost all cities completely abandoned by the 15th century. It is not known to Western scholarship why Mayan civilization collapsed.^[3][4] From this point on, various Mayan-dialect speaking peoples formed related but distinct cultures with various related languages. The Spanish conquered Mayan territory in the early to mid 16th century including what is now the state of Chiapas. Over most of the colonial period until the Mexican Revolution, this and other Indigenous groups were forced to labor in the mines, mills and haciendas of the state for little to no wages. Even during the 20th century economic and political marginalization remained severe, culminating in the Zapatista uprising in 1994, in which many of the Tzeltal people participated along with other Indigenous groups.^[2][3]

In the mid 20th century, the population of the state and the highlands experience population growth which outstripped local resources.^[5] Since the 1930s, many Tzeltals, along with other Indigenous and mestizos have migrated from the highland areas into the Lacandon Jungle. These migrants came to the jungle area to clear the forest and grow crops and raise livestock, especially cattle. Now there are groups of Tzetzals in the lowlands living with members of other Indigenous groups.^[6][7] This process of taking over “empty jungle” to create settlements for highland Chiapas Indigenous groups continued with the support of the Zapatistas, which whom the Tzetals were generally supportive of putting them in conflict with the area’s native Lacandon people and environmental groups.^[6][8]

The Tzeltal call themselves Winik atel, which means "Working Men" in their language, or as the “batzil’op” or “those of the original word” referring to the Mayan oral tradition.^[2][9] They are largest Indigenous ethnicity with 278,577 people aged five years of age or more in the state of Chiapas who speak the language according to the 2000 census and an estimated 500,000 total, representing 34.41% of the total Indigenous population of Chiapas.^[10][11] They are followed by the closely related Tzotzil Maya who also live in the Los Altos region near San Cristóbal.^[9] The traditional territory of the Tzeltal is to the northeast and southeast of San Cristóbal in the municipalities of San Juan Cancuc, Chanal, Oxchuc, Tenejapa, Altamirano, Sitalá, Socoltenango, Yajalón, Chilón, Ocosingo, Amatenango del Valle and Aguacatenango .^[9] Tzeltal territory is bordered by that of the Tzotzils to the west, the Ch'ols to the north and north east and the Tojolabal to the southeast. The Tzetals in the main concentration distinguish themselves more against “Ladinos” (Spanish speakers, usually of mixed race) and from those Indigenous in the more rural areas.^[12] This is mostly due to a history of socioeconomic oppression and conflict with colonial, then later state and federal authorities. However, many Tzeltal practices have survived to the present day because of this group’s large number vis-à-vis the Spanish and Ladinos, giving it a certain amount of power to resist acculturation to European culture.^[13]

Many Tzeltal communities are governed under a concept of “usos y costumbres” (usage and customs) which attempts to allow for the maintenance of traditional Indigenous societal structures. This is theoretically respected unless it conflicts with the rights given under Mexico’s Constitution. However, there has been controversy among Tzeltal and other Indigenous group as to the "empowerment" of women, with many women suffering greater poverty, lower levels of education and a much more limited access to positions of power than men. One recent case involves a Tzeltal named Cecilia Lopez from Oxchuc who registered as a pre candidate for the PAN party in 2009, but whose name was then removed from the rolls.^[14]

The Western Maya language group is dominant in Chiapas with the most common variety being Tzeltal, along with Tzotzil .^[2] The two languages are part of the Tzeltalan subdivision and are closely related, estimated to have started separating around 1200 CE.^[2][12] The two are related to other Western Maya languages in the state such as Chontal, Ch'ol, Tojolabal, Chuj, Q'anjob'al, Acatec, Jakaltek, and Motozintlec .^[2] The Tzeltal language is concentrated in twenty of Chiapas' 111 municipalities, with two main dialects; highland (or Oxchuc) and lowland (or Bachajonteco).^[2][10] Most children are bilingual in the language and Spanish although many of their grandparents are monolingual Tzeltal speakers.^[11]