The Tzeltal are a Maya people of Mexico, who chiefly reside in the highlands of Chiapas. The Tzeltal language belongs to the Tzeltalan subgroup of Maya languages. Most Tzeltals live in communities in about twenty municipalities, under a Mexican system called “usos y costumbres” which seeks to respect traditional indigenous authority and politics. Women are often seen wearing traditional huipils and black skirts, but men generally do not wear traditional attire. Tzeltal religion syncretically integrates traits from Catholic and native belief systems. Shamanism and traditional medicine is still practiced. Many make a living through agriculture and/or handcrafts, mostly textiles; and many also work for wages to meet family needs.
Kinship and Nagualism in a Tzeltal Community
Tzeltal, Mayan Indians of central Chiapas, in southeastern Mexico, most closely related culturally and linguistically to their neighbours to the west, the Tzotzil. The Tzeltal speak various dialects within the Maya language family. They live in an area that includes plains, gentle hills, and high peaks; the climate and vegetation vary with altitude. The economy is predominantly agricultural. Staple crops include corn (maize), beans of several varieties, and chilies; squash, manioc, peanuts (groundnuts), and other crops are also grown. Ceramics, spinning, weaving, mat making, and basket making are the major crafts. Wage labour also provides a source of income for some people. Tzeltal houses are typically made of logs or wattle and daub and have thatched roofs; houses with running water and electricity are rare. Most people live in small hamlets that are within walking distance of a village or town where a school, a market, and other services are located. Communities, each comprising a village and its hamlets, maintain their unique identities through variations in clothing styles, dialects, and religious celebrations. Men’s clothing typically consists of short pants, a knee-length shirt, a hat, sandals, and a red sash; women’s clothing usually includes a long wraparound skirt of wool, a sash, a cotton blouse or tunic, and a rebozo, or shawl. Women generally go barefoot.
Tzeltal Women Break Down Barriers in Traditional Music
The Tzeltal are an American Indian group concentrated in the central highlands of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Contiguous Indian groups are the Tzotzil to the west, the Ch’ol to the north and northeast, and the Tojolab’al to the southeast. The Tzeltal and Tzotzil languages form the Tzeltalan Subdivision of the Mayan Language Family. Lexico-statistic studies indicate that these two languages probably became differentiated around a.d. 1200. The Tzeltal-speaking population numbers approximately 50,000 and is distributed through twelve municipios, with thirteen main communities. Of the latter, nine are mainly Tzeltal: Aguacatenango, Amatenango, Cancuc, Chanal, Chilon, Oxchuc, Tenejapa, Petalcingo, and Sitalá. The other four communities are about 65 to 80 percent Tzeltal speaking: Altamirano, Ocosingo, Villa de las Rosas, and Yajalón. Ecologically, the Tzeltal region divides into three zones: north, central, and south. Some demographic and cultural variations are associated with these zones. More fundamentally, however, each Tzeltal community constitutes a distinct social and cultural unit, with its own lands, dialect forms, clothing style, kinship system, politicoreligious organization, and crafts.
At contact, the Tzeltal (or Tzental) Indians were located in eastern Chiapas, northeast of the Chiapanecs and between the Río San Pedro and the Río Grande. Also known as Zendal, the Tzeltal were divided into as many as forty-five autonomous states and had a “political organization and settlement pattern” that was similar to the Tzotzil. Although 47.6% of Chiapas residents claimed to be of pure indigenous heritage, a much smaller number of persons were classified as speakers of indigenous languages. A total of 98,105 persons five years of age and older spoke at least twenty-five indigenous languages in 1921, representing 27.4% of the state population five years of age and older. The most spoken languages in this census were the Tzetzal (25,839 speakers), Tzotzil (20,803), Zoque (11,592), Chol (10,330), Mame (6,158), Chontal (1,454), and Zapoteco (1,145).
Tzeltal People
Encyclopedia articles on the Tzeltal Indians.
Tzotzil and Tzeltal of Pantelhó
Articles on Tzeltal culture and history.
Tzeltal Texts
Scanned-in Tzeltal language materials from the Rosetta Project.
Tseltal Phrases
Vocabulary words and phrases from the Tseltal language.
AILLA: Tseltal
Archive of Tzeltal language recordings available for download.
Human Rights: Tzeltal
Translation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into Tzeltal.
Oxchuc Tzeltal Genesis
Tzeltal translations of Biblical passages.
Tzendal Prayer
Tzeltal translations of the Lord’s Prayer and other Christian prayers.
Lengua Tzeltal
Information on the Tzeltal language, including a linguistic map of Mexico. Page in Spanish.
Wikipedia: Tzeltal
Brief encyclopedia entry on Tzeltal.
House of Languages: Celtala
Information about Tzeltal language usage.
Bachajón (Lowland) Tzeltal
Demographic information about Tzeltal from the Ethnologue of Languages.
Tzeltal Language Tree
Theories about Tzeltal’s language relationships compiled by Linguist List.
Aguacatenango Tzeltal Language Structures
Bachajón Tzeltal Language Structures
Tenejapa Language Structures
Tzeltal linguistic profiles and academic bibliographies.
Tzeltal People
Encyclopedia articles on the Tzeltal Indians.
Tzotzil and Tzeltal of Pantelhó
Articles on Tzeltal culture and history.
Tzeltal Vocabulary
Our list of vocabulary words in the Tzeltal language, with comparison to words in other Mayan languages.
Tzeltal Maya Pronunciation Guide
How to pronounce Tzeltal words.
Tzeltal Animal Words
Illustrated glossary of animal words in the Tzeltal language.
Tzeltal Colors
Worksheet showing color words in Tzeltal.
Tzeltal Tales of Demons and Monsters
Collection of Tzeltal legends for sale online.
The Ancient Maya
Excellent historical overview of ancient Mayan civilization in general.
Native American Books
Evolving list of books about Mayas and Native Americans in general.
Endangered Languages Project: Tzeltal
Bibliography of Tzeltal language resources.
Los Tzeltales
Information about the Tzeltal tribe in Spanish.
TZELTAL WORD SET
(Click here for Tzeltal pronunciation guide)
| English (Français) | Tzeltal words |
| One (Un) | Jun |
| Two (Deux) | Che’eb |
| Three (Trois) | Oxeb |
| Man (Homme) | Winik |
| Woman (Femme) | Ants |
| Dog (Chien) | Tsit |
| Sun (Soleil) | K’akal |
| Moon (Lune) | U |
| Water (Eau) | Ja’ |
Click here to see Tzeltal vocabulary words compared to words in related Mayan languages: Maya Vocabulary Words
The Tzeltal Indian Tribe are a Maya People of Mexico. A decedent of one of the earliest Mesoamerican cultures. Today there are a guesstimated 400,000 peoples of the Tzeltal peoples. The location of the Tzeltal people are in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. During the mid 16th century the Spanish conquered Mayan territory, including the area which is now known as Chiapas (Location of the current known Tzeltal Tribe). The Spanish established the city of San Cristóbal de las Casas in 1528. The Tzeltal people, being on the edge of the city were forced to labor in the mines, mills and haciendas of the state for little to no wages. The Tzeltal consist now, post-colonial era of being a mix of catholic belief and “old” indigenous spiritual belief, where shamanism and magical practices still remain. The cosmology of the Tzeltal is based on the concept of the interaction among the body, mind and spirit of a person and how these interact with the community, the world and the supernatural.
Indigenous Peoples Literature 
