tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63624122826485238102023-11-16T05:01:47.345-08:00Ch'ol MayaAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-55224584734191518212014-05-06T07:06:00.001-07:002014-05-06T07:07:57.479-07:00IntroMy name is Joe Keszler and am a student at East Stroudsburg University. As part of my geography class assignments, I had to create a blog about a specific culture. The culture I was assigned was the Ch'ol Maya, a branch of the vast Mayan empire that covered Mesoamerica centuries ago. I've always been interested in the Mayan culture, so this should be a fun assignment.<br />
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I've posted the blogs in the following order from first(bottom) to last(top):<br />
<ol>
<li>History of the Ch'ol Maya</li>
<li>Chiapas: Homeland of the Ch'ol Maya</li>
<li>World of the Ch'ol</li>
<li>Ch'ol Maya and the Cosmos</li>
<li>Birds of the Ch'ol Maya</li>
<li>Ch'ol Maya and their neighbors</li>
<li>Ch'ol Maya Migrations</li>
<li>Ch'ol Maya Cultural Survival</li>
<li>References</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-56268960792828729642014-05-06T07:05:00.001-07:002014-05-06T07:05:38.872-07:00References<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The following links lead to the websites where I found all of my information. Thanks for checking out my blog! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://birdchaser.blogspot.com/2010/08/chol-birds.html">http://birdchaser.blogspot.com/2010/08/chol-birds.html</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114036/Chol"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/114036/Chol</span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_conquest_of_Yucat%C3%A1n</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/chiapas.html">http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/chiapas.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.yucatanadventure.com.mx/maya-gods.htm">http://www.yucatanadventure.com.mx/maya-gods.htm</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.yucatanadventure.com.mx/Maya-Cosmovision.htm#Maya_Cosmovision:__Holistic_Understanding_of_Our_Living_Universe_"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.yucatanadventure.com.mx/Maya-Cosmovision.htm#Maya_Cosmovision:__Holistic_Understanding_of_Our_Living_Universe_</span></a></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-16664119537918452082014-05-06T06:53:00.001-07:002014-05-06T06:53:15.807-07:00Ch’ol Maya Cultural Survival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Mayan culture as a whole has been a culture in decline
ever since the Spanish conquest in the early 16<sup>th</sup> century. I previously believed he conquistadors
dominated the Mayans in a swift takeover, however I found out it took 170 years
for the final Mayan landmark to fall to the Spanish. Due to the Mayans vast number of independent states,
they had no political center for the Spaniards to overthrow. The conquistadors had to takedown each
individual state one by one, making for a very lengthy war. Ever since then, those independent states
have continued to dwindle in numbers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s sad to
see such a spiritual and intelligent civilization destroyed by foreign
explorers for their own selfish gains. The Mayans had tons of riches, including
gold and silver that caused the Spaniards to start their crusade against the
natives. Instead of learning the new
culture and embracing new ideas and information, the Spaniards killed off and
destroyed as much as they could of the great Mayan civilization.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-americanhistory/Juan%20de%20Onate%20y%20Salazar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.legendsofamerica.com/photos-americanhistory/Juan%20de%20Onate%20y%20Salazar.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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A picture of that the Spaniards may have looked like to the Mayans during their conquest</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-17692545618846802662014-05-06T06:50:00.002-07:002014-05-06T06:50:51.672-07:00Ch’ol Maya Migrations<div class="MsoNormal">
The Ch’ol people did not always live in southeastern
Mexico. Over 2000 years ago, they lived
in what is now Guatemala and Honduras. Over a long period of time, the group
split in two, dividing into the Ch’ol and Chorti. The ch’ol migrated to their current location,
while the Chorti stayed in Guatemala.
This relationship explains why the two branches have such close language
ties from my previous blog. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Other than that one large-scale
migration, the Ch’ol have stayed relatively in place ever since. I can’t find any records of Ch’ol Maya living
anywhere else in Central or South America. They are content with their
location, as they have some of the most fertile ground in Mexico to grow
agriculture on. They have cultivated the
same land for thousands of years, I wouldn’t want go migrate elsewhere if I
were them, either.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-70091970936461455212014-05-06T06:49:00.002-07:002014-05-06T06:49:35.481-07:00Ch’ol Maya and their Neighbors<div class="MsoNormal">
The Ch’ol have immediate neighbors in Chiapas, like the
Tzeltal, as well as close relatives in Tabasco, the Chontal, and the Chorti of
eastern Guatemala. The Tzeltal just about double the Ch’oles population in
Chiapas. Even though they were severely
oppressed under Spanish rule for hundreds of years, they were able to persevere
to be a majority of the Chiapas population today. </div>
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The Ch’olan language has
similarities to both the Chontal and Chorti languages. The three languages
together are believed to be the modern languages that relate to the classic
Maya language the closest. The Chontal and Chorti people are also the only outside
of Chiapas to speak a dialect of the Cholan language.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLJKBRaOpjB6KRJdZLTPMjjhNhvXcCdOa3MZQoO1APHmZN0nJFqR0P_EQrUGhogqr_1GjKVedlCMesWhELEqsmo_gy-_-S7WzOjtnDk-QvuooAU7Ch4-oVP8UabRmJY6L6O31OGZrQ6S3/s1600/map.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjLJKBRaOpjB6KRJdZLTPMjjhNhvXcCdOa3MZQoO1APHmZN0nJFqR0P_EQrUGhogqr_1GjKVedlCMesWhELEqsmo_gy-_-S7WzOjtnDk-QvuooAU7Ch4-oVP8UabRmJY6L6O31OGZrQ6S3/s1600/map.png" height="293" width="400" /></a></div>
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This was a map of where each of these cultures were located but the markers didn't transfer into the blog</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-46197964237795084502014-05-06T06:45:00.005-07:002014-05-06T07:09:09.279-07:00Birds of the Ch’ol Maya I actually came across my own professor, Dr. Rob Fergus’,
blog about birds from the Ch’ol Maya area.
He also spoke about the trip in class one time and showed us pictures; I
remember he said all the locals were very nice.
Some of the birds he highlights in his blog that he saw are the
Slate-colored Solitaire, Crimson-collared Tanager, Red-legged Honeycreeper,
Striped Cuckoo, Yellow-bellied Eleania, and Red-lored Parrot. Upon further research, none of these birds
are endangered or vulnerable.<br />
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I also
found a website, <a href="http://www.mexico-birding.com/chiapas.html">http://www.mexico-birding.com/chiapas.html</a>,
that offers a two week tour of Chiapas to go birding and see some of those
birds. If you have the time and money it
could be a really cool way to see the scenery of Chiapas. You also get to see some of the ancient ruins
that still miraculously stand. Below are some pictures I found of birds from the area. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<img src="http://www.billholsten.com/photos/Costa-Rica-2011/Red-legged-Honeycreeper-Sub-adult-Male.jpg" height="139" width="200" /><br />
Red-Legged Honeycreeper<br />
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<img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2581/4187335615_6609684cd8_z.jpg?zz=1" height="200" width="185" /><br />
Yellow-bellied Eleania <br />
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<img height="148" src="https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSajSyvCvygBVfdvujdeJau-lbKtiMHycodMXiYSi00yEg_x79oE6F19A" width="200" /></div>
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Crimson-collared Tanager</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-11328653709449700412014-05-06T06:41:00.001-07:002014-05-06T06:41:42.861-07:00Ch’ol Maya and the Cosmos<div class="MsoNormal">
I couldn’t find specific information on the Ch’ol Maya and
their cosmic beliefs but what I found about the Mayan people in general was
pretty cool. The Maya have always had a
deep understanding of Mother Nature, Earth’s cycles, the Cosmos, and life and
death. These beliefs still play an important role today when talking about the
J-Men or Ix-men, or Mayan Senior Healers or Priests. The Mayan’s belief about the Earth and the
Universe was that humans were an “integral part of a living planet Earth which
is in turn an integral part of the Solar Planetary System, which in turn is an
integral part of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is one of the many galaxies in a
known living universe filled with holographic living consciousness
interconnected with the whole cosmic experience.” (Bartolome & Gordon)<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Mayan’s
vision of the cosmos is the most interesting part of their culture. They were so intelligent about their
existence on our planet. Thousands of
years ago they developed the mathematical position of zero, had a high
understanding of astronomy, complex calendar systems, built incredible
structures, and developed an intricate system of hieroglyphs. I can’t help but
wonder how they had all of this knowledge about outer space without the
technology we have today.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<img src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTgQCDKQti8O3XRGJhzC4eAz3ecY4qpXcFZyGfQFRjxxyMJbGdA" /><br />
This is a picture of the Maya Calendar showing the end of a cycle on Dec. 21, 2012<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-30377146062033800142014-05-06T06:38:00.001-07:002014-05-06T06:38:23.066-07:00World of the Ch’ol<div class="MsoNormal">
As I said in my previous blog, the Ch’ol Maya make a living
off of the land. Their main crops are
corn, beans, and squash, but they also harvest coffee, sugarcane, potatoes,
rice, and vegetables. The Ch’oles most sacred crop is Corn, or maize, and they
have referred to themselves as “los miliperos” for centuries. Miliperos roughly translates to “the people
whose lives and existence have revolved around the cultivation of maize.” (Shmal) They even had a corn god whom they worshipped
called Yum Kaaz. The Mayans had many god’s that they worshipped, but after the
Spanish conquest they were forced to conform to what their conquerors
wished. In Chiapas a strong following
formed around the Virgin Mary and Saint Rose of Lima.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Ch’ol
people lived quite a different life then I do today in Pennsylvania, it’s
difficult to imagine worshipping a god that was connected to a crop. It’s even more difficult to imagine being
forced to change my religion by new conquerors.
What the Spanish did to the natives of Central and South America was
brutal. They killed so many people and
destroyed so much knowledge that now can never be retrieved about these ancient
people.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP2O0_7of32NCkkkFAcRiCrI6S8oqTMUM16Joii9HX3R_f5NBKJjITPpHUqs3VNaIkOpc9sDWmwX1UEiiuY2QoFYcjaTyp2YlOcgGJPd5ldTxtF7wldbaT_bXrpr8_YWPY_Bfresn_S6Ob/s1600/maya+women.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP2O0_7of32NCkkkFAcRiCrI6S8oqTMUM16Joii9HX3R_f5NBKJjITPpHUqs3VNaIkOpc9sDWmwX1UEiiuY2QoFYcjaTyp2YlOcgGJPd5ldTxtF7wldbaT_bXrpr8_YWPY_Bfresn_S6Ob/s1600/maya+women.png" height="201" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ch'ol Mayan women cultivating their fertile land</div>
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(www.atlas.gc.ca)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-47381181898080988242014-05-06T06:34:00.000-07:002014-05-06T06:34:52.344-07:00Chiapas: Homeland of the Ch'ol Maya<div class="MsoNormal">
The Ch’ol have lived in a variety of landscapes, although
they are mainly lowlanders in Chiapas, Mexico. The climate is humid and it
rains often. The highlands have valleys
with fertile land and large lakes so it is perfect for growing corn, beans, and
squash. In the lowland they harvest salt
and cacao and mine limestone, which is essential to the construction of their
cities and sculptures. Poultry and pigs are also now economically important. It seems that the majority of the Ch’ol
people are modernizing, as their clothing is now semi-traditional and they
worship a combination or Roman Catholic and their traditional pagan
syncretism. Saints are worshipped in the
church, while mountains, caves, the Sun, and the Moon are also worshipped.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I find the
history and culture of the Maya so interesting, all the mysterious pyramids
must be related to their ancient worshipping of the moon and stars. I wish there were more records of the ancient
Mayan culture.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-WQfuevmkwQJ_lL0Vv7wyJszrgZvMxMIKrciessPR0noq5FunXVjUjZlz0Snpk8-MTRx2Rk_fE822FhKgGpHQe7qp-BSCgzth7mK75h4mBFXHGUgs5WzRaysx0Ath4WSkoBlMBNbSxOu/s1600/maya+clothes.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-WQfuevmkwQJ_lL0Vv7wyJszrgZvMxMIKrciessPR0noq5FunXVjUjZlz0Snpk8-MTRx2Rk_fE822FhKgGpHQe7qp-BSCgzth7mK75h4mBFXHGUgs5WzRaysx0Ath4WSkoBlMBNbSxOu/s1600/maya+clothes.png" height="320" width="203" /></a></div>
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This is a picture of a modern Ch'ol Mayan wearing semi-traditional clothing<br />
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(Alejandro Linares Garcia)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6362412282648523810.post-91278205771565522302014-05-06T06:28:00.001-07:002014-05-06T07:14:43.991-07:00History of the Ch'ol Maya<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
There aren’t many specifics known
about the Ch’ol Mayan people at the time of the Spanish conquest in the early
16<sup>th</sup> century. They were located in what is now northern Chiapas in
southeastern Mexico. Some Mayan linguists suspect that the language of the
Mayan hieroglyphs was an earlier form of Ch’ol. I think this puts this branch
of the Maya in a particularly cool position.
They could be one of the most important branches in the history of the
Maya people. The Cholan branch of the
language is known to be very conservative, meaning it has not changed very much
over time. Maybe the Ch’ol people are
the closet speakers to the original Maya before the Spanish conquered them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There are still two dialects of the
Ch’ol language: the Ch’ol of Tila and the Ch’ol of Tumbala. 43,870 people speak the Ch’ol of Tila, of
which 10,000 are monolinguals, and 90,000 speak the Ch’ol of Tumbala, where 1/3
of the speakers are monolinguals. I wonder if the monolingual speakers still
live a very traditional Mayan life or if they have modernized at all.</div>
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<img alt="Map: where the Mayan languages are spoken" src="http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/maya/01b-Maya-Mapa1.gif" height="187" width="200" /> <br />
<img alt="Map: where the Mayan languages are spoken" src="http://www-01.sil.org/mexico/maya/01c-Maya-Mapa2.gif" height="177" width="200" /></div>
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These pictures show the Ch'oles location in southeastern Mexico</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14476006627441194650noreply@blogger.com0