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Voices and images: Mayan Ixil women of Chajul
Chapter Two: The culture of the Maya Ixil
10. A church wedding
The newlyweds are leaving the church and going to their home. They are happy, accompanied by the whole family. Before, when there weren’t church weddings, our marriage traditions were different.
The newlyweds have adopted a new form of wedding dress, but we don’t want our traditional traje to be lost. Before, the traje of the women included a long wide headwrap for their hair, a ceremonial huipil, and necklaces. The boy used to wear a red jacket that was handwoven and called a cotón, white pants and a white shirt with a red sash around the waist.
During the wedding ceremony family members invited by the boy’s parents make tamalitos wrapped in leaves from the corn plant to share with the girl’s relatives. One or two big pots of meat or chicken stew are also prepared for all the guests. When everyone is finished eating, they prepare another pot of soup and a large piece of meat to take to the girl’s parents. Later in their home they will make it into tamales or a stew for the parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents of the young couple.
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