BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 3.Plate 3. FISH DRYING ON ONE OF THE CAYS OFF THE COAST OF YUCATAN.FISH DRYING ON ONE OF THE CAYS OFF THE COAST OF YUCATAN.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 3.
FISH DRYING ON ONE OF THE CAYS OFF THE COAST OF YUCATAN.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 4.Plate 4 a. LEAF-THATCHED HOUSE.a. LEAF-THATCHED HOUSE.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 4.
a. LEAF-THATCHED HOUSE.
Plate 4 b. INDIAN HOUSE ON RIO HONDO.b. INDIAN HOUSE ON RIO HONDO.MAYO INDIAN HOUSES
Doors and windows may be made of wickerwork of liana, of split cabbage palm, or of a frame of sticks thatched with palm leaves. When a man undertakes the building of a new house his neighbors usually help him, and the residence is ready for occupancy in a few days, as all the materials are growing ready to hand in the neighboring forest, and require only cutting down and assembling. The facility with which their dwellings are constructed, and the difficulty in getting more than one or two crops in succession from each plantation, with their primitive agricultural methods, probably account for the frequent changes in site which one notices in Indian villages. As the lands in one neighborhood become impoverished, the population has a tendency gradually to desert the old village, and start a new one in a more favorable locality.
The kitchen, which is a replica of the house on a small scale, is usually placed a few yards behind it.
Fig. 8. Domestic altar.Fig.8.—Domestic altar.
Fig.8.—Domestic altar.
The furniture is of the simplest, consisting of a small round cedar table, with a little bowl-shaped projection which contains a lump of masa when tortillas are being made and chili peppers or salt at mealtimes. The seats are mere blocks of wood, 3 or 4 inches high (caanche), with perhaps one or two more pretentious low hollow-backed wooden chairs covered with deer skin or "tiger" skin. A number of calabashes of all shapes and sizes, with a few earthen water jars, iron cooking pots, and plaques for baking tortillas, are found in all houses. Hammocks (káan) of cotton or henequen fiber are always conspicuous articles of furniture, as they are slung all around the room, making it very difficult to move about in it when they are let down. In many houses contact with the hammocks is not desirable, as lice have a habit of leaving the body of the hammock during the day and secreting themselves in the knots between the body and the arms, whence they may transfer themselves to the garments of the unwary. If the hammock is large the father and mother often sleep in one, their heads at opposite ends, while the smaller children, frequently to the number of three or four, occupy another. There can be no such thing as privacy, as the whole family commonly sleep, live, and eat in a single room, which at most is divided into two apartments by a flimsy cotton curtain. A prominentobject in most Indian houses is an altar (canche), or high square table, upon which stands a wooden cross (fig.8). The altar is covered with a cotton cloth, embroidered in flowers and religious symbols; the cross is draped with ribbon or strips of colored fabric, and sometimes with crude models, in silver or gold, of legs, arms, and hands, representing thank offerings to some favorite Santo for the healing of corresponding parts of the body. Little images in wax, and, if the Indian can obtain them, religious oleographs and medallions, with colored-glass vases, are commonly found upon the altar, which is frequently dressed with fresh flowers.
The Indian's only tool is his machete, a heavy cutlass-like knife, about 16 inches long; with this he cuts and cleans his milpa, makes his house and most of his furniture, digs postholes, and fights and defends himself.
His indispensable belongings consist of a hammock, a few calabashes and pots, a machete, and a cotton suit, all of which he can carry slung over his back in a macapal; with his wife and dogs trotting behind him, he can leave his old home and seek pastures new with a light heart and untroubled mind, knowing that the bush will provide for all his needs.
Pottery making is rapidly dying out through the greater part of this area, owing to the importation of more convenient and durable vessels. It is undertaken almost exclusively by the older women, who employ a fine light yellow clay mixed with sand or powdered quartz. They make vessels in considerable variety, both as to size and shape, which are used for the storage of water and dry material, as corn, beans, and achiote, and as cooking pots. They do not use a potter's wheel, but mold the smaller utensils by hand and build up the larger by the addition of fragment upon fragment of clay. The outside is smoothed over with a little wooden spade-like implement. No polish, glaze, or paint is applied to the pottery, either inside or out; the highest effort at decoration resulting in merely a few incised lines just below the neck, or a rough scalloping around the rim. The pottery is burned in a clear, open wood fire; when completed the ware is known asul.
The Indians living in the neighborhood of lakes and rivers possess dories or canoes which vary in size from tiny craft 5 to 6 feet long by 16 to 18 inches beam, capable of holding only a single individual, to large craft 25 feet or more in length, large enough to hold a dozen people. All their canoes are constructed by the simple process of hollowing out large logs, the more durable ones being made from cedar, the lighter ones from wild cotton (yaxche).
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 5.Plate 5. MAYA WOMAN, 105 YEARS OLD, SPINNING COTTON.MAYA WOMAN, 105 YEARS OLD, SPINNING COTTON.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 5.
MAYA WOMAN, 105 YEARS OLD, SPINNING COTTON.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 6.Plate 6. MAYA LOOM.MAYA LOOMa.Yamal.b.Xunche.c.Sikinche.d.Toboche.e.Cheil.f.Mamacche.g.Yoch.h.Botoch.i.New spindle.k.Old spindle.l.Cotton cloth.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 6.
The boats are pointed, bow and stern, and when steel tools are available to their makers the lines are often very graceful. Many of the boats, however, follow to some extent the contours of the logs from which they were made, being exceedingly clumsy and difficult to manage. On the rivers and lakes the only method of propulsion is by means of a broad-bladed cedar paddle about 5 feet long, or, where the water is shallow and the bottom hard, a long pole. Both men and women have acquired considerable dexterity in paddling and can keep it up at a 4-mile-an-hour gait from early morning till late at night, with very short intervals for refreshment. They use their canoes for trading corn, vegetables, lime, and live stock among villages along the river banks, for line fishing, spearing, and netting, and for getting from place to place. On the large lagoons and along the seacoast they sometimes use the pole to support a lug sail.
Spinning (kuch) is done by means of a spindle (hechech) of hardwood, 12 to 14 inches long, weighted about 3 inches from the bottom with a hardwood or pottery ring (pl.5). The upper end is revolved by the finger and thumb of the right hand, which are constantly rubbed on a piece of stonelike substance, made from deerskin burned and ground to a powder, to prevent them from sticking (fig.9). The cotton (taman) may be held in the left hand, or on the shoulder; the lower end of the spindle rests in a small calabash (luch), which is cemented into a support of woven liana (met), theluchandmettogether being known astoh(fig.10).
Fig. 9. Stonelike substance used to prevent fingers from sticking while spinning.Fig.9.—Stonelike substance used to prevent fingers from sticking while spinning.
Fig.9.—Stonelike substance used to prevent fingers from sticking while spinning.
Weaving is done on a simple loom consisting of a cloth beam and yarn beam (xunche) of light strong wood, connected by the warp (cheil) (pl.6). The cloth beam is attached round the back of the weaver by a thick henequen cord (yamal), enabling him to tighten the warp at will by simply leaning backward. The yarn beam is usually attached to a doorpost. The shuttle (botosh) consists of a light stick, pointed at both ends, on which the weft is wound obliquely. All the alternate warp strands may be raised together by means of a heddle (mamacche) consisting of a number of loops attached to a rod, each loop passing round a warp strand, so that when the rod is raised the warp threads are raised with it. The lease rods (halahteh) consist of splints of hard heavy wood, usually sapodilla, 2 to 3 inches broad, one-third of an inch thick in the center, with sharp edges and pointed ends. A loose rod (toboche) about the size of the yarn beamis used to roll up the completed material (yoch). The loom for cotton cloth is usually 21/2to 3 feet broad, but much smaller looms are frequently used for narrower strips of material.
The tobacco leaves are hung in bunches, often under the roof of the corn house, in the milpa, in a free current of air, till they are thoroughly dry; they are then powdered in a shallow basin, or the bottom cut from a large calabash, and mixed with the leaves of thechiohle, a species of vanilla, which gives a distinctive flavor and fragrance to the tobacco; finally the mixture is rolled into cigarettes (chiople) in a covering of corn husk (coloch).
Fig. 10. Calabash with liana base used in spinning.Fig.10.—Calabash with liana base used in spinning.
Fig.10.—Calabash with liana base used in spinning.
Baskets are woven from a special thin tough liana and from split cane; those of liana (ak), which are large and coarse, are commonly used for carrying corn from the milpa, slung over the shoulders like a macapal. The split-cane baskets, which are smaller and more neatly woven, are used in the house for all sorts of domestic purposes.
Henequen fiber is used by the Indians for a great variety of purposes. The fiber is obtained from the leaf, which is cleaned upon a smooth board (pokche) about 4 feet long by 6 inches broad, in the following way: The top of the board is held against the lower part of the operator's chest while the lower end rests on the floor. The leaf is placed on the board and the pulp scraped from the fiber with a bar of hardwood, triangular in section. At the upper end of the board is a deep notch in its side, in which the cleaned part of the leaf is clamped, thus fixing the part which is being scraped. Thecleaning has to be done very early in the morning, as when the sun gets hot the juice from the pulp produces an unpleasant itching rash upon the skin. The fiber when cleaned and dried is made into rope and cord; from the cord hammocks, sacks, a coarse kind of cloth, and many other articles are manufactured. Candles are made by dipping a wick of twisted cotton into melted black beeswax (box keb), obtained from wild bees. Sometimes a number of the logs in which the wild bees hive are brought in to the village and placed one above the other, on trestles, to form a sort of apiary, in order that honey and wax may be always obtainable.
Oil for cooking and for burning in small earthenware lamps with twisted cotton wicks is obtained by breaking up the kernel of the cuhoon nut and boiling it in water. A clear rather thin oil floats to the surface, which may easily be skimmed off. Near the sea coconut oil is prepared in the same way.
The villages vary in size from two or three houses to two hundred or more, with inhabitants numbering from 10 or 12 to more than 1,000. In the smaller villages the houses are very irregularly disposed; in the larger they are arranged more or less regularly so as to form streets around a large central space, or plaza, where the dance house and church are usually situated. Each house is surrounded by its own patio, or yard, generally inclosed in a fence of "tasistas," in which the bush is allowed to grow to a considerable height in order to provide a convenient latrine for the women and children. Dogs, pigs, and vultures serve as scavengers. Many of the Indians, especially the Santa Cruz, are at great pains to conceal the whereabouts of their villages. Along the main roads only a few scattered groups of huts will be seen, while the larger villages are approached by tracks so inconspicuous that they may easily be missed. The villages themselves are surrounded by a maze of narrow tortuous paths, in which a stranger may wander about for some time before finding his way in. The Santa Cruz are said sometimes to cut the tongues from their cocks in order to prevent them crowing and so betraying the situation of the village.
The Indians are very jealous of outside interference in their affairs and do not permit foreigners to reside in their villages. An exception was made in the case of a number of Chinese coolies imported into British Honduras many years ago, most of whom ran away to the Santa Cruz country, where they were well received and married Indian wives. Among their offspring, it is interesting to note, are found a very unusual proportion of defectives. On one occasion the Mexican Government commenced to cut a road through from Peto to Santa Cruz, the Indian capital. Five of the Santa Cruz Indians went to see the work going on and were well received and given useful presents. On returning to their own country, however, they were executed by the head chief as traitors for encouraging the entry of outsiders into their territory.
The Indian girls married formerly at about 14 or 15, the boys at about 17 or 18 years. After the conquest of Bacalar, however, and the expulsion of Yucatecans from Indian territory a law was passed making marriage compulsory for all girls of 12 years of ageand upward. This was probably done with the idea of increasing the population, which had been considerably depleted by the long-continued war. Formerly, the first question of a girl's father to her suitor was "Hai tzak a kul hai tzak taman?" (How many macates of corn and cotton have you?); but at the present day there are not enough men to "go round." The Indians of British Honduras are usually married by the Catholic priest, though the actual ceremony is often performed months or even years after the young couple have set up housekeeping together, since owing to the remoteness of many of the Indian settlements the priest can visit them only at long intervals. Among the Santa Cruz marriages are not considered legal unless performed by an official known as theyumxcrib(probably derived from the MayaYum, "lord," and Spanishescribano), who holds a position somewhat analogous to that of colonial secretary in a British colony.
The babies and smaller children in general are pretty, merry little things. The mothers almost invariably nurse them well into the second year, as the mammary glands are remarkably well developed and the secretion is abundant and long continued. Children are much desired by both parents and are well treated and loved, though not spoiled. If the father and mother separate, the very young children remain with the mother; of the older children, the boys go with the father, the girls with the mother. If small children are left destitute by the death of both parents, the nearest relative takes them, and in the absence of relatives they are distributed by the subchief among families of his choosing in their own village. When a man dies his widow takes the home, furniture, domestic animals, corn, and plantations; other possessions, if such exist, are divided equally between the widow and the older children, each taking such articles as will be most useful to him or her. When a woman dies her jewelry, ornaments, and clothes are divided between her daughters. The marriage tie is a somewhat loose one, and the more the Indians come in contact with civilization the looser it seems to become. In British Honduras, where the Indians are closely associated with Spaniards, Mestizos, Negroes, and other races, the women change their partners with the utmost facility. The Negroes are calledkisinbosh, "black devils," by the Indians, a term which, however it originated, is now employed without any particularly opprobrious significance, as many of the Maya women show no repugnance to a Negro husband. A good deal of the immorality is brought about by the cheapness of rum and the facility with which it is obtainable by the Indians. The husband takes to drink, neglects his wife and family, and probably gets entangled with some other woman: the wife, in order to obtain food, clothing,and a shelter for herself and children, is driven to an alliance with some other man who is a better provider. The consequence is that in British Honduras all degrees of racial mixture are to be found between Indian women and European, East Indian, Chinese, and Negro men, who, again intermarrying, produce a bewildering racial kaleidoscope.
The Indians are a short-lived race, a fact due partly to their indigestible and badly cooked food and partly to the prevalence among them of malarial fever (chokuil), with accompanying anemia (xcan mucui) and splenic enlargement (canchikin), but chiefly to overindulgence in alcohol whenever an opportunity offers. Notable exceptions to this rule are, however, not uncommon, and once an individual passes the four-score mark he or she is quite likely to live to well over 100 years: dried up, wrinkled, and feeble, but clinging to life with an almost incredible tenacity.
Landa frequently mentions the fact that in his day drunkenness (kaltal) was the curse of the Indians and the cause of many crimes among them, including murder, rape, and arson.[1]At the present time these remarks apply equally well; indeed, drunkenness is probably more prevalent than formerly, as the rum is made locally and is far more intoxicating than thebalchè, which Landa describes as a drink made from fermented honey, water, and roots. Moreover, the people drink rum at all times and seasons, whereas both the preparation and consumption ofbalchèwere to some extent ceremonial, as was the resulting intoxication. Drunkenness is not considered in any way a disgrace, but is looked on rather as an amiable weakness. The women, especially the older ones, drink a good deal but they usually do so in the privacy of their own houses. I have seen, however, a little girl of 14 or 15 purchase a pint of rum in a village liquor store, and go out on the plaza, where she drank it in a few gulps; then, lying down in the fierce heat of the afternoon sun, she lapsed into alcoholic coma. Alcohol effects an extraordinarily rapid change for the worse in the Indian's temperament; from a quiet, polite, rather deferential individual, he is converted almost in a moment into a maudlin idiot, staggering about singing foolish snatches of native songs, and endeavoring to embrace everyone he comes in contact with. When thwarted while in this condition his temper is likely to flare up at the slightest provocation, whereupon the thin veneer of civilization and restraint is sloughed in a moment, and he becomes savage, impudent, overbearing, and contemptuous toward the stranger, and ready to draw his machete and fight to kill, with friend or foe alike.
On the death of the head chief (noh calanornohoch yumtat) among the Santa Cruz and Icaichè the oldest of the subchiefs (chan yumtopilob) is supposed to succeed him; as a matter of fact there are always rival claimants for the chieftainship, and the subchief with the strongest personality or greatest popularity among the soldiers usually succeeds in grasping the office. There are nearly always rival factions endeavoring to oust the chief in power, and the latter rarely dies a natural death. The village subchiefs are elected by the people. The power of the head chief is practically absolute over the whole tribe. Some years ago, when Roman Pec was head chief, one of the subchiefs came to Corozal, the nearest town in British Honduras, to purchase powder, shot, and other supplies. He remained some time, as he had many friends in the place, and obtained, among other things, a bottle of laudanum to relieve toothache. On returning to his village he was met by three soldiers, who informed him that he was to go with them at once to the head chief, as the latter was angry with him on account of his long absence from the country. Aware that this was equivalent to a sentence of death, he asked permission to retire to his house for a few minutes, to get ready for the journey, and taking advantage of the opportunity, he swallowed the whole contents of the bottle of laudanum. This began to take effect very shortly, and long before reaching the capital he was dead.
The method of executing those sentenced to death is curious. The accused does not undergo a formal trial, but the evidence against him is placed before the head chief; if he is convicted, he has an opportunity of defending himself and of producing witnesses in his behalf. Three or four soldiers are chosen by the chief to carry out the sentence; this they do by chopping the victim to death with their machetes when they catch him asleep or off his guard. Several men always perform this act, all chopping the victim at the same time, so that no single individual may be directly responsible for his death. Imprisonment as a punishment for crime is unknown, fine, flogging, and death being the only three methods employed for dealing with criminals. Fines and flogging may be administered by the subchiefs, but sentence of death can be passed only by the head chief. The severity of the flogging is regulated by the nature of the offense, and after it is over the recipient is compelled publicly to express sorrow for his crime and go around humbly kissing the hands of all the spectators, after which he is given a large calabash of anise to drink. The heaviest punishmentis inflicted for witchcraft or sorcery, as thepulya, or sorceress, is greatly dreaded by the Indians. She is literally chopped limb from limb; but whereas the bodies of other victims executed in this way are always buried, that of thepulyais left for the dogs and vultures to dispose of.
Military service is compulsory for all adult males among the Santa Cruz, though many avoid such service by payment to the chief of a certain sum in money or its equivalent. Small garrisons were kept up at Santa Cruz, Chan Santa Cruz, Bacalar, and other Indian towns where soldiers were permanently stationed. No uniform was provided, though many of the men were armed with Winchester rifles. They were provided also with a ration of corn and beans, and often took their wives along with them as cooks.
Indian men and women of all ages and classes, when attacked by any serious malady, are found to be lacking in vitality and stamina; they relinquish hope, and relax their grip on life very easily, seeming to hold it lightly and as not worth a fight to retain. An elderly man or woman will sometimes take to the hammock without apparent physical symptoms of disease beyond the anemia and splenitis from which nearly all suffer, and merely announceIle in cimli, "I am going to die." They refuse to eat, drink, or talk, wrap themselves in a sheet from head to foot, and finally do succumb in a very short time apparently from sheer lack of vitality and absence of desire to continue living.
Malaria is without doubt the chief scourge of the Indian's existence. Many of the villages are built in low-lying situations, with mosquito-breeding swamps all round them, while the scrubby bush and rank vegetation are allowed to grow in the yards right up to the houses, furnishing good cover and an excellent lurking place for the insects; moreover, the Indians seldom use mosquito curtains, as they seem to have acquired a sort of immunity to the irritation caused at night by the noise and biting of the pests. Practically all Indians suffer from malaria, which is the main cause of the splenic enlargement and anemia so prevalent among them. In some cases the spleen reaches an enormous size, nearly filling the abdominal cavity, and deaths from a slight blow or fall, causing rupture of this organ, are by no means uncommon. Malaria is usually treated by means of profuse sweating (kilcabankil), the patient lying wrapped in a cotton sheet in the hammock, with a fire burning beneath and drinking sudorific bush medicine. This in itself is an excellent remedy, but in the midst of the sweat patients frequently plunge into cold water, thus becoming thoroughly chilled, a procedure very apt to bring on pneumonia, to which they are peculiarly subject.
The splenic enlargement is treated by applying a number of small circular blisters (xacal) containing chichem juice to the skin, over the affected organ, which seem to be remarkably efficacious in reducing the swelling.
In the winter when the nights are cold the Indians often lie out all night in the wet, a practice which frequently results in pneumonia and death. Hookworms and many other varieties of intestinal parasites are prevalent, owing to the earth-eating habits of the children, the earth being taken usually from the immediate vicinity of the house, where pigs and other domestic animals have their quarters. This disgusting habit no doubt accounts in part for the swollen bellies and earthy color of many of the children.
Smallpox (ǩak) invading an Indian village is a terrible scourge, far worse than in a more civilized community of the same size, where partial immunity has been acquired. Sometimes the whole unaffected population depart en masse, leaving the dead unburied and the stricken lying in their hammocks, with a supply of food and water, to do the best they can for themselves. The Indians employ the same mode of treatment for this disease as for malarial fever—sweating followed by immersion in cold water, treatment which, it need hardly be said, is not infrequently followed by disastrous results.
Venereal diseases of all kinds are remarkably rare among all the Indian tribes. Among the Santa Cruz and Icaichè such diseases were practically unknown. Even among the mixed breeds of British Honduras they are comparatively rare, notwithstanding the fact that these natives have come much in contact with people of many other races, especially of late years with Mexican Chicleros, nearly all of whom are affected with venereal disease in one form or another.
Simple fractures of the long bones are set very neatly and skillfully in the following way: The fractured limb is pulled away from the body with considerable force in order to overcome the displacement; over the fractured bone is wound a thick layer of cotton wool, and over this are applied a number of small round, straight sticks, completely surrounding the limb, their centers corresponding nearly to the seat of fracture; these are kept in place by a firm binding of henequen cord. The limb, if an arm, is supported in a sling; if a leg, the patient is confined to his hammock till the fracture is firmly knit. Excellent results are secured by this method, the union being firm, and the limb nearly always uniting in good position.
Bleeding, a favorite remedy for all complaints, is especially resorted to in cases of headache and malarial fever. Usually the temporal vein, less frequently one of the veins in the front of the forearm, is opened, having been first distended with blood by tying a ligature around the upper arm. A chip of obsidian, a sharp splinter of bone, or a snake's tooth, serves as a crude lancet; the use of the last causesconsiderable pain, but is believed to have some esoteric virtue connected with it.
Decoctions made from the charred carcasses of animals at one time were much employed, certain animals being regarded as specifics for certain diseases. Thus, during an epidemic of whooping cough (xinki sen) a decoction from the charred remains of the cane rat was almost exclusively given to the children to relieve the cough, though in this case it is difficult to trace the connection between the remedy and the disease.
Many eye troubles are treated by placing a small rough seed beneath the lower lid of the affected eye, where it remains for a day; when the seed is withdrawn it is covered with mucus, to which the doctor points as the injurious matter, the cause of all the trouble, which he has removed.
Massage is practiced chiefly for uterine and ovarian pains by the older women, who also act as midwives; it is used also in conjunction with kneading and manual manipulation in the cure of neuralgic pains, strains, stiffness, and rheumatism.
In confinements, which usually take place either in the hammock or on the floor, the dorsal position is invariably assumed. In such cases also massage over the uterus is performed by the midwife. If the desired results are not secured, the patient is made to vomit by thrusting a long coil of hair down her throat, while a woman of exceptional lung power is sent for to blow into her mouth, with the object of hastening delivery.
The Indians use for medicinal purposes a great variety of plants which grow in their country; some of these are purely empirical remedies; others produce definite physiological results and are frequently used with good effect, while a few, apparently on the assumption that "similia similibus curantur," are employed because of some fancied resemblance in form to the diseased part, asxhudub pek, twin seeds of the size of small eggs, the milky juice of which is used as an external application for enlarged glands and for various forms of orchitis.
The following plants are used medicinally by the Indians as remedies for the diseases named, respectively:
Acitz.—The milky juice of a tree, used as an application for chronic sores and ulcers.Acam.—The leaves of this plant are applied hot to reduce the swelling and relieve the pain in enlargement of the spleen and liver.Purgacion Xiu.—An infusion made from the leaves is administered warm in bladder and urethral troubles.Pakaal.—An infusion made from the leaves of the orange tree is given as a sudorific.Pichi.—A paste made from the leaves of the guava is applied to "bay sore," a specific ulcer somewhat resembling "oriental sore."Pomolche.—A mouth wash made from the milk of this tree is used in cases of stomatitis and ulceration of the mouth.Quimbombo.—The wild okra is greatly esteemed as an external application in cases of snake bite.Sisim.—An infusion made from the leaves is used as a sudorific in cases of malarial fever.Sicilpuz.—A yellowish fruit sometimes used as a purgative.Cabalpixoy.—The fruit of this tree is given in cases of diarrhea, and an infusion made from the bark is used in diarrhea and dysentery.Claudiosa Xiu.—An infusion made from the whole bush is greatly esteemed as a bath and lotion in all uterine and ovarian complaints.Chalche.—The spinous leaf of this plant is used as a local application to relieve neuralgic pains, and an infusion made from the leaves is given for rheumatism.Chamico.—An infusion made from the leaves of the convolvulus mixed with other leaves is given to relieve asthma and bronchial catarrh.Chaac.—The arrowroot, eaten raw, is regarded as a useful remedy in all bladder and urethral complaints.CuƆuc.—The wood, ground into a paste, is applied to the heads of small children suffering from fever and convulsions.Ruda.—The leaves of this plant are universally used as an external application for children suffering from convulsions, and frequently in the same manner for the relief of almost any nervous complaint in adults.Pica pica.—A sort of cowhage which, mixed with atol or some corn beverage, is largely used as a vermifuge for children.
Acitz.—The milky juice of a tree, used as an application for chronic sores and ulcers.
Acam.—The leaves of this plant are applied hot to reduce the swelling and relieve the pain in enlargement of the spleen and liver.
Purgacion Xiu.—An infusion made from the leaves is administered warm in bladder and urethral troubles.
Pakaal.—An infusion made from the leaves of the orange tree is given as a sudorific.
Pichi.—A paste made from the leaves of the guava is applied to "bay sore," a specific ulcer somewhat resembling "oriental sore."
Pomolche.—A mouth wash made from the milk of this tree is used in cases of stomatitis and ulceration of the mouth.
Quimbombo.—The wild okra is greatly esteemed as an external application in cases of snake bite.
Sisim.—An infusion made from the leaves is used as a sudorific in cases of malarial fever.
Sicilpuz.—A yellowish fruit sometimes used as a purgative.
Cabalpixoy.—The fruit of this tree is given in cases of diarrhea, and an infusion made from the bark is used in diarrhea and dysentery.
Claudiosa Xiu.—An infusion made from the whole bush is greatly esteemed as a bath and lotion in all uterine and ovarian complaints.
Chalche.—The spinous leaf of this plant is used as a local application to relieve neuralgic pains, and an infusion made from the leaves is given for rheumatism.
Chamico.—An infusion made from the leaves of the convolvulus mixed with other leaves is given to relieve asthma and bronchial catarrh.
Chaac.—The arrowroot, eaten raw, is regarded as a useful remedy in all bladder and urethral complaints.
CuƆuc.—The wood, ground into a paste, is applied to the heads of small children suffering from fever and convulsions.
Ruda.—The leaves of this plant are universally used as an external application for children suffering from convulsions, and frequently in the same manner for the relief of almost any nervous complaint in adults.
Pica pica.—A sort of cowhage which, mixed with atol or some corn beverage, is largely used as a vermifuge for children.
Both children and adults play many games, most of which have probably been introduced since the conquest. A favorite among these is a game known astak in kul, in which a number of players stand in a row with their hands behind their backs while one, who holds a small pottery disk in his hand, stands behind the row, another standing in front. The one holding the disk places it in the hands of one of those in the line, who in turn passes it to his neighbor, so that it travels rapidly up and down the line. The player in front has to guess in whose hand the disk is at the moment of guessing. If he is right, the holder of the disk has to come in front while the one who guessed correctly joins the line.
Chacis a sort of "knucklebones," played with pottery disks, which are tossed from the palm to the back of the hand and back again; the one who drops fewest disks in a given number of double throws wins the game.
The boys make little bows (pohoche) and arrows (hul) tipped with black wax, with which they play war and hunting games.
A seesaw made from a small tree balanced on a stump is popular, as is also a sort of merry-go-round constructed from a cross of poles fixed on top of a stump by means of a wooden pin, which rotates freely. The children sit at the extreme ends of the poles and make the contrivance rotate by kicking against the ground vigorously at intervals as they go around.
The bull roarer, made from a dry seed pod, is popular in some villages and is probably one of the few toys used by the natives before the conquest.
Cricket, baseball, marbles, kites, and spinning tops have been introduced among the Indians of British Honduras, and all have their devotees.
The Indians, who are extremely superstitious, believe that the air is full ofpishan, or souls of the dead. They imagine that these souls are at liberty at all times to return to earth, and that at certain seasons they are compelled to do so. They are regarded as being capable of enjoying the spirit, though not the substance, of food or drink provided for them. Some of thesepishanthe Indians believe to be friendly and some inimical to mortals. They believe also in spirits, usually mischievous or harmful, known asxtabai, who often take the form of beautiful women, though they have never been human. The natives will whisper a message into the ear of a corpse with the certainty of having it conveyed to a friend or relative in the next world. They firmly believe that the clay images of the gods upon incense burners, at one time found in considerable numbers in forests which had been uncut since the days of their ancestors, live, walk about, and dance at certain seasons. Another belief held by the Indians is that the images of Christian saints are endowed at times with life and perform acts desired by their devotees. A celebrated wooden image, supposed to represent San Bernardo, was credited with considerable powers in this respect, and when an Indian wanted rain for his milpa, the return of an errant wife, or any similar blessing, he would come and pray to the image to obtain it for him. On one occasion an Indian came asking the saint to aid him in the recovery of pigs which he had lost, and on returning to his village found that the pigs had arrived home before him. Next day he returned with the intention of making an offering to the saint, and incidentally to the owner of the house where the image was kept. He found the poor Santo with torn clothes and many burs sticking all over him. On inquiring how this happened he was informed that the saint had been out in the bush hunting for pigs, a quest which had given him a great deal of trouble before he could find and drive them home, and that when he got back he was tired out, his clothes torn by thorns, and covered with burs—an explanation with which the Indian was perfectly satisfied.
The men are very unwilling to dig either in ancient mounds or ruins, as they are afraid of being haunted by thepishanof those whose remains they may disturb; and nothing will induce them togo into caves or burial chambers in mounds. Many curious superstitions hang about the ruins found throughout the country. I was assured by an Indian at Benque Viejo that he had gone on one occasion to the ruins situated near the village, and seeing a pigeon seated on a tree, raised his gun to shoot it; before he could do so, however, the pigeon turned into a cock, and this almost immediately into an eagle, which flew at him, driving him away. There is another superstition about these ruins to the effect that when the first settlers came to Benque Viejo they wished to build the village near the ruins, where the land is very good for growing corn, but were repeatedly driven off by a little old man with a long gray beard. At last, giving up the idea, they contented themselves with the present site for the village.
For many years, between the expulsion of the Yucatecans from Bacalar by the Indians and the conquest of the latter by the Mexican troops, some 12 years ago, no Catholic priests were permitted to visit the Santa Cruz country. The Indians, however, appointed priests from among themselves, who carried out, so far as can be ascertained from those of their number who left the territory and settled in British Honduras, a sort of travesty of the rites of the Roman Catholic Church freely interspersed with many of those of their ancient religion, which had survived. The headquarters of this religious cult was the capital, where it centered around what was known as the "Santa Cruz," a plain wooden cross, 2 to 3 feet high, which had probably been removed from some church after the expulsion of the Spaniards. This cross was supposed to be gifted with the power of speech (a belief arising no doubt from the exercise of ventriloquial powers by one of the priests), and acted as a sort of oracle, to whom all matters of importance—civil, military, and religious—were submitted for decision. It need hardly be said that the cross never failed to return an answer to all these questions, in entire conformity with the wishes of the chief.[2]
The Indians here under consideration occupy an intermediate position between the civilized Maya of northern Yucatan, who have lost nearly all tradition and traces of their former civilization, and the Lacandones of the Usumasintla Valley, who have probably changed but little in their customs and religious observances since the conquest. Nominally they are Christians, but the longer one lives among them, and the better one gets to know them, the more he realizes that their Christianity is to a great extent merely a thin veneer, and that fundamentally their religious conceptions and even their ritual and ceremonies are survivals—degenerate, much changed, and with most of their significance lost—but still survivals of those of their ancestors of pre-Columbian days. To Christianity, not as a separate religion, but as a graft on that which they already practiced, they seem to have taken kindly from the first; and at the present day, as will be seen, the sun god, the rain god, St. Laurence, and Santa Clara may all be invoked in the same prayer, while the Cross is substituted in most of the ceremonies for the images of the old gods, though many of the latter are called on by name. The four principal religious ceremonies of the Indians are, as might be supposed, closely associated with agriculture, especially with the corn crop. The first of these ceremonies takes place at the cutting of the bush in which the corn plantation is to be made, the second at the planting of the corn, the third during its ripening, and the fourth at harvest time. Of these the third, known as theCha chac, which takes place during the ripening of the corn, and whose object is to secure sufficient rain for that purpose, is by far the most important, and it alone will be described, as it embraces the offerings and ritual of all the other ceremonies.
Fig. 11. Chichanha Indian priest in front of altar at Cha chac ceremony.Fig.11.—Chichanha Indian priest in front of altar at Cha chac ceremony.
Fig.11.—Chichanha Indian priest in front of altar at Cha chac ceremony.
The day previous to the ceremony the men of the family prepared thepib, an oblong hole in the ground, in which the various corn offerings were to be baked, while during the night the women were busy grinding corn to make masa (a thick paste of ground maize) and pumpkin seeds to makesikil. Very early in the morning of the day of the ceremony the priest with his assistant arrived at the house of the giver. This priest called himselfmen, but was called by the owner achac, while the Chichanha priest called himself anah kin. The Indians chose a site in the midst of a grove of large trees. After clearing away the undergrowth they swept clean a circular space about 25 feet in diameter. In this they proceededto erect two rude huts, one 12 feet the other 6 feet square; both were thatched with huano leaf, and the floor of the smaller hut was covered with wild plantain leaves. In the center of the larger hut was erected a rough altar 6 by 4 feet and 4 feet 6 inches high, built of sticks bound together with bejuco (fig.11). The central part of this altar was covered by an arch of "jabin" branches with the leaves still attached. About a dozen small calabashes in their ring supports (Mayachuyub) were placed on the altar, and three more were hung to a string passing from the side of the shed to a post a few yards away. The masa prepared the previous night was then brought out in four large calabashes, two of these being placed under the altar and two on top of it; a large calabash ofsikiland one of water were also placed on the altar and a jar ofbalchè(a drink made of fermented honey in which is soaked the bark of a tree) beneath it.