PAYA INDIAN IN HONDURAS

THEY NUMBER ABOUT 1800 FOLKS. THEY LIVE IN 11 VILLAGES. THEY HAVE PINE AND COVERED VALLEYS. THEY HAVE PINE AND SAVANNAH COVERED VALLEYS. THEIR POPULATION HAS BEEN DRASTICALLY REDUCED DUE TO ASSIMILATION AND COLONIAL PRESSURES. IN 1982 THERE WERE ONLY 7 RACIALLY PURE PAYA INDIANS.

BEFORE CONQUEST THERE WERE 1000'S ON 26,000 SQ. KM. THEY WERE SEMI NOMADIC PEOPLE THAT INHABITED THIS LAND AND GREW CROPS. ON HIS THIRD TRIP TO AMERICA IN 1498 CHRIS COLOMBUS MET THE PAYA AND CALLED THEM TAIYA. THEY WERE ATTACKED BY EUROPEAN DISEASES.

IN 1864 THE PAYAN WERE AWARDED LEGAL TITLE TO THE COMMUNAL LANDS. THE HONDURUS FRONTIER MOVED EASTWARD AND DEVELOPED THE PAYAN. BY THE 1920'S ONLY 600 PAYAN WERE LEFT! LOGGERS AND IMMIGRANTS PUT PRESSURE ON THE LANDS AND ERASED THIS CULTURE. THERE AREA FEW GROUPS LEFT. THEY GROW CORN, BEANS, AND CASSAVA WITH HOES AND DIGGING STICKS, AND MACHETES.
THEY RAISE OPUTIA, A CACTUS. THEY HUNT DEER, MONKEYS, PIGS, TURKEYS, IGUANA, AND TAPIR. MOSTLY PEOPLE HAVE LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR TRADITIONS OF THEIR ANCESTORS.

THE YUCCA ROOT IS PREPARED INTO TORTILLAS, TOMALE, AND THE PASTE IS BOILED LIKE CORN TOMALES. YUCCA ARE THEIR MAIN FOOD ITEM. KUNI IS A BEVERAGE OF A ROOT.

CORN IS USED AS A TOMALE IN ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, AND WITH BEANS RICE, EGGS, PORK, CHICKEN, AND MEAT. CHICHA IS A FERMENTED DRINK FROM THE YUCCA ROOT. CORN IS USED AS FRESH OR DRIED KERNALS AND THESE OR DRIED KERNALS AND THEY ADD SUGAR TO HELP WITH FERMENTATION. THEIR TRADITIONAL HOUSE WAS COMMUNAL FOR THREE FAMILIES. SOME SINGLE ROOM HOUSES WERE BUILT FOR ONE FAMILY WITH ONE BEDROOM. MORE RECENTLY THEY HAD WOODEN HOUSES OF TWO ROOMS, ONE ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES.

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