Recorded in San Pedro Chenalho, Mexico, by Thierry Zeno (1976-1996)
crédits

When the sun is out, our ancestors played the drums and the bugle. They asked Jesus to let them live. Our fathers and mothers said a bird would come and put us to death. If the sun went out, our chickens and turkeys would eat us...

Some 150.000 Tzotziles live in the high plateaus in the state of Chiapas. They form, with the Tzeltales, a closely related tribe, one of the most prominent Indian communities in Mexico. Of Mayan extraction, they retain a traditional life comparatively devoid of hispanic influence. The Chenalho community is made up of 18.000 Tzotziles and 2.000 Ladinos (hispanisized half breeds).