The water festival in San Pedro
La fiesta del agua en San Pedro
Object Details
| Subject Language | Tzeltal |
| Language PID(s) | ailla:119666 |
| Title [Indigenous] | |
| Language of Indigenous Title | |
| Title | The water festival in San Pedro |
| Language Community | San Pedro Pedernal |
| Country(ies) | Mexico |
| Place Created | San Pedro Pedernal, Chiapas |
| Date Created | 2009-05-02 |
| Description [Indigenous] | |
| Language of Indigenous Description | |
| Description | 2009-05-02 -- 05-03 This recording documents the ritual called "water festival" ("sk'in ja" in Tseltal). This takes place every year. The first day they go to different springs, first they gather in the church where they offer candles and incense to the Patron Saint, asking blessings that everyone returns safely. Later begins the round of each spring, when they leave the traditional authorities first form the ch'uy k'al, which is to say, the President of the church goes in the middle; on the left go three bailiffs with flags with the symbol of Santa Cruz; the same on the right; and behind them go the musicians (drum and flute), also musicians that play guitar, accordion and base guitar. All the rest go behind them. First they direct themselves to the spring called "reedbed spring" (in Tseltal, "sit ja' jalaltik"), the spring called "water dog" (in Tseltal, "kelem ja' "). And the spring called "Yan ch'en". Mr. Carlos Sánchez López is in charge as Ch'uy k'al, and with the president of the church, they are the principals of the fiesta. The ch'uy k'al is responsible for performing the prayer at each spring. On this first day they visit three springs. At each spring are held prayers and dances. On the second day, they gather at the church, afterwards they are directed to the spring called "the restoration", in the same fashion they perform the same ceremony; before Sr. Adolfo Calvo made an invitation to all those present to participate in this activity. Afterwards they returned to the center of the communal lands, they arrived at the spring called "shelter water". The other springs that they visit don't have names because they are on other properties. This was celebrated so that the water would not dry up in times of drought and so the people should not suffer for lack of water because that is the primary necessity. * In total, they visited thirteen springs inside and outside the communal lands, but because of a mechanical failure (camara and recorder) I wasn't able to record it all. |
| Genres | Ethnography |
| Source Note | 090502_San_Pedro_Pedernal_skin_ja |
| References | |
| Contributor(s) Individual / Role | Polian, Gilles (Researcher) Méndez Girón, Juan (Researcher) Gómez Sánchez, María (Researcher) |
| Contributor(s) Corporate / Role |
