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The Tz'utujil Maya In the municipality of Santiago Atitlán we are almost all Tz'utujil Maya. Our people have lived here next to Lake Atitlán since long before the Spanish conquest many centuries ago. An important part of our culture is our traditional clothing. The women in our community wear beautiful huipiles (emboirdered shirts) and cortes (woven skirts). Many families still make their own traditional clothing. After weaving the cloth, they spend a lot of time embroidering the beautiful designs. The tipical designs of Santiago Atitlán are figures from the Maya calendar or other symbols that were important to our ancestors embroidered in deep red thread on a white background. However, fashions have changed. You can still see people wearing the traditional designs, but now-a-days embroidered flowers and birds against a purple background is more in style. Some people in our community don't wear the traditional clothing anymore, but for many of us our traditional clothing continues to be extremely important. It is a way of connecting to the long history of our ancestors here by Lake Atitlán, celebrating our Mayan culture and uniting us as a community. We also speak an ancient language called Tz'utujl, which has been passed down to us from our ancestors. The public schools in Santiago Atitlán and Panabaj are bilingual. They teach us in Tz'utujil and Spanish. I'd like to give you a few examples so that you can learn a little of our language. ~ Brenda The Numbers...
To greet someone you can say...
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