Ciudad Real (Sp) The colonial name of San Cristóbal de Las Casas which was restored during the 1920s and 1930s when the Mexican government attempted to ban saints’ names as part of its persecution of the Catholic Church. Ciudad Real is the name of the Spanish city to the south of Toledo in Castilla-La Mancha that was the home of the conquistador of the Chiapas highlands.

Coleto,-a (Sp) Resident of the town of Ciudad Real. The name is derived from the little pig tail worn by colonial Spaniards, which is much like the ones worn today by bullfighters.

copal (Nahuatl) Resin used as incense.

enganchador (Sp) Labor contractor who persuades Indians to become migrant workers on distant plantations.

enganchado (Sp) Indentured laborer, induced into running up a debt to his “employer” for more than he will ever be able to pay off. “The enganchados are guarded most carefully, for there is the ever present danger of their running away on the slightest opportunity,” from a 1909 news article quoted by John Kenneth Turner in Barbarous Mexico (1910).

gobernador (Tz/Sp) A village official with a variety of duties, just above the alcalde in rank. (In Spanish, governor.)

ilol (Tz) A shaman or seer who can be male or female.

Jobel (Tz) Ciudad Real. Lit. “Grass” (the valley of San Cristóbal was once a meadow).

Ladino,-a (Sp) A person of mixed or pure Spanish descent who does not belong to an Indian community.

luk (Tz) “Long pole with a question mark of sharpened metal used for weeding.”—Carter Wilson, A Green Tree and a Dry Tree (1972).

madrina (Sp) Used by Castellanos to refer to the wife of a mayordomo (see below) who also has ceremonial duties. (In Spanish, godmother.)

mayordomo (Tz/Sp) A religious official appointed to maintain and serve a specific saint for one year. (In Spanish, steward.)

martoma (Tz) Tzotzil form of mayordomo, also used as a term of address.

nana (Sp) Grandmother; nanny; nurse; mother.

nahual (Tz) The animal that is the double or alter ego of a human soul.

pasión (Tz) Tzotzil religious official with specific duties involving the celebration of Carnival.

patrón,-a (Sp) Boss; master, mistress.

pichulej (Tz) Strips of woven palm used for making hats and other things.

pom (Tz) Incense made from the resin of the Copal tree.

posh (Tz) Rustic sugar cane liquor drunk—and often made—by Tzotzils.

posol (Na) Finely ground corn kneaded into a ball for storage and transportation, then mixed with water and drunk.