The burial

Chapter Two: The culture of the Maya Ixil

12. The burial

He died of an illness because he was already very old. The family of the deceased was keeping vigil one night together with the visitors who had come by, since the tradition is that when people find out about someone who has died, they get together to pitch in and help out in the home of the deceased’s family. To contribute to the cost of everything they bring cooked, ground corn, firewood, sugar, dried corn, beans, and money. The women take charge of preparing the meal for visitors and they welcome them with a cup of coffee. The men take charge of making the coffin for the dead person and some relatives help by providing the wood. Other men pitch in by digging the grave in the cemetery and, after all these preparations, another group takes charge of carrying the coffin to the cemetery. After the wake and burial the women come to clean the house of the deceased’s family. They come to wash clothes and clean the house thoroughly for three days. This is the way the townspeople of Chajul help each other out.

The son of the man who died is very sad because he doesn’t have a child and is already getting old. He is very worried because he doesn’t have anyone to bury him or take care of his farm animals if he dies. His deceased father was very poor and now he is gone. We know that now he now no longer has to suffer this poverty because he is resting. We know that the same thing will happen to us because we know that we have to die when our time comes. If we die of an illness we have to have a coffin and be taken for burial to the cemetery. People with money are buried with monuments, but those of us who are poor only get buried in a hole in the ground. First a hole has to be dug in the earth. When the dead are buried in the cemetery, the family members go to visit them from time to time, to put flowers or candles on their graves. All Saints’ Day is a feast day for speaking to and remembering the dead.

Brief history of the deceased man: When he was 30 years old he was a sacristan and helped the priest and served in the Cofradía. He would go with his group in the saints’ procession so that God would give us rain and days of sun. This is what he used to do in the Catholic church. He also used to cultivate the earth and he had only two sons, who married and cared for their families. Later his wife died and he was left alone, without any daughter, without anyone to care for him in his home. He was alone in his home when he got sick.