KEKCH

Mayan Indians of central Guatemala, living in damp highlands and lowlands of irregular terrain. The Kekch raise corn and beans as staple crops. These are planted together in plots that are burned off and then worked with digging sticks. Sexual taboos and fertility rituals are associated with the planting. Houses are built of thatch and poles, without windows, and hammocks are used for beds. In some places women still weave, using the backstrap loom, but pottery and weaving are on the decline and commercially made cloth now predominates. Nominally Roman Catholic, the Kekch have the cofrada, or laymen's religious society, whose duties include the celebration of the community's patron saint's day and the protection of the saint's image. Worship of pre-Christian deities is well preserved, however; the most important of these is Tzultacaj (Tzuultaq'ah), god of the mountains and valleys.