AWAKATEKO ARE INDIGENOUS TO MAYAN ETHNIC GROUPS AND LIVE IN HIGHLANDS OF GUATEMALA. THE TRADITIONAL HOME OF THE AWAKATECO WAS IN A VOLCANIC RANGE. THEY LIVE AT 1500 TO 3000 M WITH WITH YEARLY RAINFALL OF 100 CM. IT IS A HUMID AREA CHARACTERIZED AREA BY AREAS RANGING FROM HEAVY FORESTS TO RAIN FORESTS.
THEY LIVE IN OVER 300 SQUARE KM. ABOUT 87% OF THE POPULATION . THE MAYA CIVILIZATION FLOURISHED IN THE LOWLANDS OF THE PETEN AND YUCATAN. A QUEST WAS IN THE 16TH CENTURY WESTERN GUATEMALA HIGHLANDS THE CLASSIC MAYA HAD PASSED THEIR PEAK.
THE LATINOS HAD FORMED A LOCAL GOVERNMENT WHO HAD DICTATORIAL POWER OVER THE INDIANS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY WHO HAD DICTATORIAL POWER OVER OVER THE INDIANS IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY. THE AWAKATEKO BEGAN TO DISSOLVE IN 1944. BETWEEN 1904 - 1964 THE CIVIL-RELIGIOUS SYSTEM COLLAPSED. POWER WAS SHIFTED FROM ELDERS TO YOUNGER GROUPS HAT ALLOWED THE AWATECO TO ASSERT LEADERSHIP. BY 1971 THE GUATEMALA MILITARY SENT TROOPS TO AQUACANTAN BECAUSE OF AN INDIAN UPRISING. SOME INDIANS WENT TO PRISON FOR A WEEK. VARIOUS POLITICAL PROBLEMS PERSISTED.
AWAKATECKO SETTLEMENTS HAVE FOCUSED ON CENTRAL PLAZAS, WHERE TRADE AND EXCHANGE TAKE PLACE. THEIR MARKET IS A CENTRAL SOCIALIZING PLACE FOR MERCHANTS. THEY BUILT HOUSES AROUND THEIR AGRICULTURE PLOTS AND THE CENTRAL TOWN. THEIR FARMERS HAVE LESS THAN 22 HECTARES OF LAND. THEIR TYPICAL HOUSE IS ONE ROOM DWELLING OF ADOBE WITH PORCHES WHERE FAMILIES GATHER. THEY HAVE NO FURNITURE EXCEPT A PLANK BED. THEY HAVE A BATH OR SAUNA LOCATED NEAR THE HOUSE.
THEY MARRY AT THE AGE OF 15 TO 18. THE FATHER OF THE BRIDE SETS A PRICE. BOTH MUST HAVE TO SOME DEGREE THE SAME RELIGION. THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY IS ARRANGED WITH TRADING CACAO BEANS. THE INFLUENCE OF MISSIONARY WORK. ONCE MARRIED THE BRIDE LIVES AT THE BRIDE'S HOUSE. SHE IS VISITED NIGHTLY BY HER HUSBAND. IN THREE WEEKS THEY MOVED TO THE HUSBAND'S HOUSE. SONS LIVE NEAR PARENTS LAND AND DAUGHTERS LEAVE THEIR HOMES. DIVORCE IS NOT COMMON.
THE COMMON DOMESTIC UNIT IS FATHER MOTHER AND TWO CHILDREN. SOME FAMILIES HAVE WIDOWED PARENTS. OBEDIENCE OF CHILDREN IS INSTILLED AT A VERY EARLY AGE.
THEY PRACTICE A MIX OF CATHOLICISM , PROTESTANT, NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP. THEY HAVE MANY GODS REPRESENTING THE NATURAL FEATURES - MOUNTAINS, SPRINGS. PLANETS ARE CONSIDERED GODS.. DECEASED PARENTS ARE AN ACTIVE PART IN THEIR LIVES. THEY HAVE A STRANGE WAY OF COMMUNICATING WITH DECEASED RELATIVES. SHAMANS LEAD MAGICAL AND PUBLIC RITUALS. THEY HELP IN SPIRITUAL CLEANSING BY SCATTERING BEANS ON THE GROUND. THEY PICK THEM UP WHILE RECITING THE DAYS OF THE WEEK.
SOME OF THE FESTIVALS LASTED 7 DAYS AND THEY HAD PARADES, MUSIC , DANCING, AND MUCH DRINKING.
SHAMANS PERFORMED CEREMONIES. THERE WERE 3 DANCES WITH SOME MINOR RITUALS. IN THEIR TRADITIONAL RELIGION DEAD ANCESTORS PLAY A PROMINENT ROLE IN CURING THROUGH SHAMANIC INTERVENTION. SHAMANS ARE HIRED FOR SPIRITUAL CONSULTATION.
THESE INDIANS DO NOT CONCEIVE OF THE AFTER LIFE AS A HEAVEN OR HELL. THEY BELIEVE PEOPLE ARE ACTIVE IN THEIR ACTIVE LIFE. THIS WAS CALLED ANCESTOR WORSHIP. IT ALL CHANGED IN THE 1950'S WHEN CATHOLIC MISSIONS CAME HERE. THEY DRASTICALLY CHANGED THEIR LIVES.
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