When the Saints Go Marching

When the Sai•nts Go Marchi•ng In the Chiapas Highlands Kazuyasu Ochiai* alene. ry Magd f St. Ma e box o ed by th s follow ndrew i of St. A he box artha. T “Let’s escort our Santa M Road to Holy Father together!” The shout of the head church caretaker sinks into the darkness before dawn. From here and there come the replies of his col - leagues: “Let’s escort him together!” Their families, officials and volunteers stand at the roadside with net bags full of supplies for the coming overnight trip. Flashlights in their hands are lit and begin moving like fireflies. Skyrockets and firecrackers suddenly rock the dreaming cool and humid air over 7,000 feet above the sea. The smoke comes float - ing on the night mist. But the village is still asleep. Under a big wooden cross by the roadside, an elderly church caretaker is helping a young man secure the leather forehead strap of a large box wrapped with a reed mat and a rope. * Professor of anthropology at Hitotsubashi Uni ver sity, Tokyo, Japan. Photos courtesy of the author. 39 The box is heavy, and not only physically. The res - measure was to exert pressure on the mestizo bar ponsibility of carrying it is weighty for the young owners in order to expel them from the township , man, since in the box is carefully stored the prota - it also affected the vendors of yakiko’, a fermented gonist of the day: a wooden image of St. Andrew, the drink made from raw sugar that is mostly produced patron saint of this town, San An drés Larráinzar, a in nearby Magdalenas. The people of Magdalenas Tzotzil-Maya-speaking community of Chiapas, the began to say that their patron saint, St. Mary Mag - southern-most state of Mexico. dalene, was angry about the Andreseros ’ decision Why is there a saint’s image in the box? And and that she might not come to visit the forth - where is it going? Andreseros , as the inhabitants of coming festival in Larráinzar. After negotiations, Larráinzar are known, would answer with just one yakiko’ vendors from Magdalenas were allowed word: kompánya ! Kompánya , a Tzotzil word derived to continue their business at the Sunday market from the Spanish compañía , means the relations in Larráinzar. When the visiting saint from Mag da - between the patron saints of neighboring villages lenas arrived on the morning of the St. Andrew’s who visit each other on festival days. If you still festival, people exclaimed with relief, “Oh, our Holy look nonplussed, they might explain a little bit Mother is not angry!” more, “Our Father, the Apostle St. Andrew, goes to According to anthropologist Marta D. Turok, see the festival of his younger a fairly serious land dispute sister, and Our Mother comes raged between Mag dalenas to see the festival of her elder and Santa Marta in the early brother.” The younger sister, or 1970s. The people of Mag da - Our Mother, means either St. Kompánya , a Tzotzil word, means lenas decided not to invite their Mary Magdalene or St. Mar - the relations between the patron neighbors’ image of St. Mar - tha and her elder brother St. saints of neighboring villages who tha to their festival in 1973 . Andrew, Our Father. They are visit each other on festival days. St. Mar tha came anyway, how - the patron saints of the adja - ever, since, in the eyes of the cent villages, Mag da lenas, San - people of Santa Marta, she wa s ta Marta and Larrái n zar . St. not to be blamed and had no Andrew also has a little brother, St. James, patron reason to stay home. The mood at the festival was saint of the village of Santiago, and he visits the fes - ten se. Nobody from Magdalenas got drunk, which tival of his little brother and vice versa. The exchange was quite unusual on such a festive occasion. San - of saints’ images is thus an opportunity to enact the ta Marta was represented only by the official del - mythological sibling relations among the patron egatio n, not the usual friendly throngs. Santa Marta , saints of neighboring communities. in return, sent Magdalenas an official invitation to Kompánya is not unique to these communities: the forthcoming festival. Magdalenas declined, at in the 1980s I found that more than 100 com mu - which point Santa Marta proceeded to diversify its nities of northern Chiapas were practicing it or kom pán ya . Images of St. James and Our Lady of Cha - had practiced it. Kompánya is not a per manent rit y, from Santiago and La Caridad, a nearby mes ti - institution. It reflects sensitive and dyna mic political zo- ow ned ranch, respectively, were invited to attend , and diplomatic relations among villages. It might in addition to St. Andrew from Larráinzar, to so lid ify be suspended temporarily or definitively when fric - Santa Marta’s position and isolate Magdalenas. It tion arises between communities, and a new kom - was not until the dispute was finally settled some pánya might be established to strengthe n the ties years later that kompánya between Santa Marta and between villages. Magdalenas resumed. The two newly invited saints’ Andreseros remember that in October 1978, images continue to be kompánya of Santa Marta. they decided to ban the sale of alcoholic bever ages Oh my! With all this talk of kompánya diplo - in the town on Sundays. Although the aim of this macy, we have fallen behind the procession of St. 40 Andrew that left the village at dawn. We should be quins are drawing near to each other, each bow ing escorting our Holy Father! Pyrotechnicians lead three times: the procession, musicians follow playing drums and “Welcome, brother, I am happy to receive you!” flutes, the box is surrounded by church care takers “How are you, my sister? I have come to pay or martoma (Spanish mayordomos ) and their wives tribute to you!” with incense burners in their hands. Since the box After host and visiting officials and martoma is heavy, its carrier changes every half a mile or so. exchange courtesies for about an hour, the host sain t When the procession arrives at the meeting place leads the visiting saints to the church. When the of the host community, the box is first placed on a procession enters the crowded plaza, the church reed mat lying on a bed of pine needles. After offer - bells start up an incessant clanging. Going at the ing a prayer, the caretakers untie the rope of the head of the saints, dancers and musicians perform box and open various packages of paraphernalia. on and on and pyrotechnicians excite the festive A scarlet velvet canopy is extended and tied to the air with generous amounts of skyrockets and fire - four poles. A white palanquin is placed on the reed crackers. This is the high point of the day. The mat, and onto this the im age of St. Andrew is placed saints proceed with much pomp into the nave of and carefully secured. the church, where they are placed and receive can - After a while, the church bells clang and the dles, prayer and offerings from worshippers. After host saint, also mounted on a palanquin, comes to a while, the visitors are invited to the host officials’ the meeting place with a large escort and man y spec - houses and are entertained with drinks. In the tators. The visiting and hosting saints on palanquins evening people enjoy yet more fireworks, drinking shouldered by respective martoma are face to fac e and chatting until midnight. The visiting delega tion with each other. At the signal of a high martoma , sleeps in houses allotted by the local officials. every martoma , whether host or visitor, genuflect s Early next morning the visiting officials gath - three times, crossing himself and advancing one er in the church to prepare for the return trip. A step each time. This movement makes it l ook as Catholic priest says mass, in a regular ceremony though the host saint and visiting saints on palan - that makes no reference to the kompánya . For the Saints and officials marching from the The image of St. Andrew in Larráinzar holds A saint’s day market place is where people church of Larráinzar to the meeting place an X-shaped cross, decorated with peacock from different villages meet. to bid farewell. feathers, on which the saint was martyred. 41 Saint exchanges between villages played a role in the indigenous uprisings of 1711 in the Chiapas Highlands. Catholic Church kompánya is a rather dubious Spain. Apparently, however, there was and is no prac tice, but the priest tactfully turns a blind eye . custom of visiting saints either in sixteenth-cen - The plaza is packed with vendors from early tury or modern Spain, although processions and morning. At around eleven o’clock the church bells pilgrimages ( romerías ) do take place frequently on a clang vigorously and the saints’ images are taken grand scale. We have yet to learn the origin of kom - out of the nave of the church. Salvos of firecrack - pánya in Chiapas. To the best of my knowledge, ers again make the air of the plaza tremble. The the earliest recorded account of saint ex change in saints and the escorts then proceed to the same Chiapas was between Socoltenango and Co mi - meeting place as that of the day before to bid each tán, now mestizoized towns, in 1688. A ccording other farewell. They bow face to face three times to Father Francisco Ximénez, an image of St.

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