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| Pedro Rafael González Chavajay Las Huellas de Ayer y de Hoy The Footsteps of Yesterday and Today Right Panel 2001 30" x 40" |
| At the time depicted in this painting, the right panel of
the triptych, the only church in San Pedro was the Catholic Church. Now
around half of the people in town are evangelical Christians, so the
Catholic Church no longer represents the whole community. The
processions used to consist of the Catholic Church, the municipality,
and the Maya costumbres. One still sees processions on holy and
festival days, and when someone dies. The processions today, however,
are entirely religious and usually part of the Catholic Church, never
with participation of the municipal government and never with the masked
dancers.
In Huellas de Ayer y de Hoy the texeles [women members of the cofradías] follow the alcalde; afterwards come men and women carrying pom [incense]; then come the cofrades carrying the image of Saint Peter which normally resides in the church building; they are surrounded by texeles carrying flowers; and finally in a long line winding from the steps of the church building in the background come the other members of the congregation. The women in these processions always wear their perrajes covering their heads. There has been a resurgence of interest among the women in their distinctive perrajes. While most women always wear their traditional traje, the use among men is dying out. While before 1950 nearly all men wore traje on a daily basis, now there is only one young man in San Pedro who wears traje on a daily basis. All the other men who use it are elderly. Those men who do own traje, and a lot do not because of how expensive it is, will only put it on for ceremonial occasions such as a procession. |