Abstract

PIEDRASANTA HERRERA, Ruth. Para servir a Dios y a la costumbre: los maxtoles o maestros de coro entre los Chuj de Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Península [online]. 2006, vol.1, n.1, pp.67-78. ISSN 1870-5766.

Among the Chuj people, the maxtoles or choir teachers are religious specialist whose activities are specially related to funerary rituals. This essay concerns the great syncretic-religious power that they had built through centuries. With this objective some conceptions about death and the consideration that deceased people deserved are reviewed in two historic chuj towns: San Mateo Ixtatán and San Sebastian Coatán.

Keywords : conceptions about death; funerary rituals; maxtoles; Chuj people; Guatemala.