Guatemala Culture
by: Wolf Sebring
Guatemala culture is based on the Mayan and Spanish heritages. The Mayans were the first to settle here and later the Spanish conquered the region in its quest for the new world. Today, the Mayans live in the villages while the mestizo (mixed) population lives in the cities and surrounding agricultural areas. The latter mestizo people in this country are also known as landinos. In addition to these two classes, there are also groups with origins from European and African immigrants. The predominant religion in this culture is Roman Catholicism. Many of the indigenous people here have mixed in their traditional forms of worship. It is estimated that 40% of the people are Protestants and 1% of the people practice Maya religions. The Mayan people like to create from yarn brightly-colored textiles from which they weave shirts, blouses, dresses, and capes. What is different about their woven goods are that you can tell a person's home town by the design of the patterns they make or wear. The people of the Maya still like to arrange marriages in their communities however in practice most couples choose each other and elope. You will notice that a Mayan woman will not walk in front of her husband. The husbands like to drink a lot and if one falls down, his wife must care for him until he awakes. There has been a history of strife between the Mayan people and the government here. This tension goes all the way back to the time of the Spanish conquerors. The Spanish never quite did get total allegiance from these natives. Peace treaties have been signed between the two groups and now tourists are more willing to venture outside of the capital. The culture has also been influenced by the immigration of many Europeans to include quite a few Germans in the latter half of the 19th century. Many Guatemalan travel to and from the United States and you can also see influence from the Untied States in that the dollar is the recommended foreign currency to use. And more and more, you see the influences of Asian cultures on Guatemala culture as immigrants come in from Japan, China, Korea, and the Middle East. |
