Ch'ol are an indigenous people of southeastern Mexico, mainly located in the northern Chiapas highlands in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. As one of the Maya peoples, their indigenous language is from the Mayan language family, known also as Ch'ol. According to the 2000 Census, there were 140,806 speakers of Ch'ol in Chiapas, including 40,000 who were monolingual.
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Geographical history
The Maya regions can be divided into three different eco-logical areas: Southern Lowland, Northern Lowlands, and highlands/pacific slope region. The northern area was important because of its salt production, limestone, and cacao production. The limestone was essential to the construction of the Mayan cities and sculptures. The highlands consist of volcanic areas that are surrounded by mountain ranges from the Chiapas to Southern Guatemala. The mountain peaks vary from 3,300 to 13,100 feet (1,000 to 4,000 m). Additionally, the landscape is characterized by valleys with fertile land and large lakes. These characteristics made the region appealing to explorers who later exploited the locations abundant natural resources. [3]
History of the Ch'ol in Mexico
In 1554, the Spanish military first invaded Lacandon jungle, where the Lakandon Ch'ol and other indigenous groups lived. At the end of the 1550s, the Spanish invasion forced the Ch'ol and other Mayan groups into settlements called Reducciones. Eventually, when the reducciones were split, the Ch'ol were sent to the North, to Palenque, Tilá, and Tumbalá. The people sent to these regions were the ancestors of today's Ch'ol. The Ch'ol were forced to work on encomiendas until the Spanish crown gave them a document called the "cédulas reales" which granted them the land they had worked on for generations.
In the 19th century, President Benito Juarez established a system of agrarian ejidos with the intent of changing the traditional system of production in Mexico. To establish the system, Juarez took away land from indigenous tribes such as the Ch'ol. However, the ejidos did not provide enough natural resources to support the Ch'ol people. As a result, the Ch'ol began to move into the Lacandon Jungle. Today there is conflict between the Ch'ol and the Lacandon-Yucatec speakers as the Ch'ol continue to move into the land the Lacandones now claim as their own.
Language
The language that is called Ch'ol in English is referred to as "Lak ty'añ" means "our speech". The word Ch'ol refers to both the language and the people.
The Ch'ol language consists of three branches: Sabanilla, Tilá and Tumbalá. Although some linguists consider them as three different languages, they are commonly known as dialects of the same Ch'ol language. Speakers of Tilá and Tumbalá can usually understand each other. In total, there are an estimated 120,000 speakers of the Ch'ol language. The Tilá speakers inhabit Chiapas, Tila, and while the Tumbala inhabit north central Chiapas, Tumbala, Sabanilla, Misjia, Limar, Chivalita. Both dialects are spoken in Vicente Guerrero, Limar, and Chivalito.
Although most Ch'ol people are monolingual, those that speak Spanish have a variation called "Castia". This form of Spanish is characterized by:
Food and culture
The Ch'ol practice Christianity. However, many Mayan traditions are incorporated into the Ch'ols' Christian religious practices (more so than in other regions of Mexico). For example "cave worship has been legitimized throughout the region and local curers alternate between churches and caves to gain their powers and carry out their functions. Earth owner, the Mayan cave god, and Christ have been reconciled, and cave ceremonies have continued to be performed since the conversion of the population to Christianity" (pg 405)[4].
The staple food of the Ch'ol people are corn, livestock (chicken, turkey), beans, squash, bananas, greens and other fruits. A source of income for some Ch'ol includes selling livestock, (like pigs, cows and chicken) as well as fruits; this income is used to purchase soap, medicine and other essential materials.
Education and Bilingualism
The growing interaction between Spanish speakers and Ch'ol speakers has created a desire for higher education and more job opportunities. The interaction has also heightened the need to learn Spanish and has caused the stigmatization of native languages including Ch'ol. However, the majority of Spanish speakers in the Ch'ol community are males, younger women, and children. Children learn to speak Spanish in primary school; they are taught in Ch'ol till fourth grade when instruction begins to be given in Spanish. In some rural villages, there are secondary schools, but for higher education most have to travel to a different town. However, the cost of doing so generally prohibits this. In México, education is mandatory through secondary school, but many Ch'ol students (especially girls) stop attending around the sixth grade due to early marriage and financial issues.