Corn and the land

Chapter Three: Women and their daily life

7. Corn and the land

The custom in Chajul during the planting season is that the women prepare a special lunch, together with drinks made of corn for the men who are sowing. When the men finish their lunch, they take the corn leaves used to wrap the stuffed chile peppers and tie them to a tree because this has special meaning.

The traditional lunch differed in former times. Back then, the special lunch for men doing the planting consisted of tamales, beans flavored with pepita seed that had been ground and stained red with achiote, tomato sauce with hard boiled egg, and, for dinner, there was meat or chicken stew. Instead of being paid with money, the workers took turns helping each other.

When the cornfield is high, chemical fertilizer is applied so that the corn will grow well. They have to wait until the ears of corn appear to do this. Prior to this, they have to weed the corn three times so that the harvest will come. The people of Chajul cultivate corn more than other things because their only food consists of tortillas, tamalitos, and boxboles. These are the traditional foods of the Ixil.

Since corn is the main crop, along with some beans, corn is what they sell for the purchase of fertilizer for the next crop. The women sell one or two almudes of corn each market day so they can buy chile and other items.

When it is time to harvest the corn, what we call the tapisca, everyone feels happy because everyone has a chance to work, men, women, boys, and girls. Men and women harvest and they are paid 10 to 15 quetzales a day. The boys and girls help their mothers carry the harvested corn to the place where it is piled up.

Also, while the men harvest, the women cook beans. When the harvest ends, they rent a truck to take the load home. The women prepare a meal for the helpers. It’s like a party to celebrate the corn’s arrival in the house.