In efforts to understand the background of Damasco...

In efforts to understand the background of Damasco, Robin and I reading a book called “Telling Maya Tales: Tzotzil Identities in Modern Mexico” written by an anthropologist, Gary Gossen, associated with the “Harvard Chiapas Project” from the 1960s-90s. It focuses on San Juan Chamula, but it also discusses the diaspora of expelled communities like Damasco. As Mr. Gossen describes his first encounters with the people of Chamula, he relates that he began to be more accepted within the community once their three worst initial fears were dispelled. They were as follows: that he was a Protestant missionary, Mexican government spy (looking for illegal liquor stills), or an engineer “seeking ways to change their community without their approval.” Their anxiety stemmed from a government project that built a radio tower on a sacred mountain where their animal soul companions and earth lords dwell. The earth lords are believed to have control over precipitation. A severe drought occurred the next year and was attributed to this sacrilege. This exemplifies the lasting effects of an imposed project, which I fear is the initial direction of this Chiapas project this summer.

The book has shed some light for me on their religious beliefs and how Christianity has been interwoven with their indigenous identities. They believe that everyone has an animal soul companion, which is one of the following a jaguar, coyote, fox, or a weasel. They do not know which animal is their soul companion, but if their animal soul companion dies then they will die three days later. The strength of the animals corresponds to disparities in social standing and longevity. For example, the first people had to be strong to survive so their animal soul companions were the jaguar and the coyote.

I have also wondered how the proud indigenous peoples reconcile praying to images of whites or ladinos such as Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and John the Baptist (or San Juan for whom Chamula is named). According to a simplification from the book, they believe that the first people created were Ladinos, but they were immoral and even ate babies – (this is more of a creation myth than literal truth). Then God created the Indians as the second, more moral, and true people. The earth lords were created first with the Ladinos, which is why they look like them. For example, Jesus is Our Father the Sun Lord, and Mary is Our Mother the Moon Lord.

While this book might be true of Chamula, I am eager to discover if some of these beliefs are held in Damasco especially since they were expelled for religious reasons. Heriberto, our host father, has explained to Robin and I that the leaders of Chamula use religion as a means of control to retain political power and economic prosperity. The converts to Protestantism often quit vices, mainly drinking, which hurt the economy and differentiated them in a homogenous community. Chamula has also been able to retain its “Indianness” from these subsequent expulsions.