Histories and Stories from Chiapas: Border Identities in Southern Mexico

GLOSSARY

GLOSSARY ANIPA: Asamblea Nacional Indígena Plural por la Autonomía (National Plural Assembly for Indigenous Autonomy). Avecindados: Peasants who live on ejido lands but do not have land rights. Bolos: Drunkards. Cacicazgo: Chiefdomship, or the jurisdiction of a cacique. Cacique: During the colonial period, the native ruler of a community; in modern times, the political boss of a community. Caciquismo: The political system that imposes the rule of the cacique. Cafetal: Coffee plantation. Calzón rajado: Short piece of woolen cloth worn by men on top of their cotton trousers. Caporal: Foreman. Cashlanes: Local term to refer to nonindigenous peoples living in Mexico. Castilian: Spanish language, or people who speak Spanish. CCI: Centro Coordinador Indigenista (Indigenist Coordinator Center). CEOIC: Consejo Estatal de Organizaciones Indígenas y Campesinas (Council of Indigenous and Peasant Organizations). CEPROCOM: Centro de Producción Comunitaria (Center for Community Production). Chamulas: Term for the people of San Juan Chamula (Tzotzil-Maya Indians). Chapines: Derogatory term for Guatemalans. Chiman: Sorcerer. Chuj: Local term to refer to the temazcal, or steambath, of pre-Hispanic origin still used in many indigenous communities in Mesoamerica. It is a small room with a low ceiling made of earth and cane, in which there is a small stove with stones that are heated at a very high temperature to produce steam. Tseng 2001.4.30 17:41 DST:103 6289 Hernandez / HISTORIES AND STORIES FROM CHIAPAS / sheet 279 of 317 258 Glossary CIACH: Centro de Información y Análisis de Chiapas (Chiapas Center for Information and Analysis). CNC: Confederación Nacional Campesina (National Peasant Confederation). CNI: Congreso Nacional Indígena (Indigenous National Congress). COICS: Coordinadora Indígena y Campesina de la Sierra (Sierra Indigenous and Peasant Organization). Compadre: Kinship relationship between a parent and a godparent. CONASUPO: Compañía Nacional de Subsistencias Populares (National Company of Popular Basic Products). CONPAZ: Coodinadora de Organizaciones Gubernamentales por la Paz (Governmental Organizations Coordination for Peace) Copal: Pungent pine pitch incense used in Maya religious ceremonies. COPLAMAR: Coordinación Federal del Plan Nacional de Zonas Deprimadas y Grupos Marginados (Federal Coordination of the National Plan for Marginalized Areas and Groups). Corte: Piece of cotton cloth woven on a foot loom; wrapped around women’s waists and tied by a hand-woven belt. Coyotaje: Corrupt practices of middlemen in which advantage is taken of the lack of market opportunities. Coyote: Guides for hire for Guatemalan workers wishing to cross illegally into Mexico on their way to the United States. Also used to refer to crooked intermediaries who arrange for the sale of small producers’ coffee. CTM: Confederación de Trabajadores Mexicanos (Confederation of Mexican Workers). Ejidatario: Owner of ejido lands. Ejido: Land returned to a community as part of land reform. ENAH: Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National School of Anthropology and History). Enganchadores: Recruiters. Enganchamiento: System in which recruiters toured indigenous villages, paying workers in advance and forcing them to remain on the plantation until the owner considered that they had worked enough to repay their debts. EPR: Ejército Popular Revolucionario (Revolutionary Popular Army). EZLN: Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (Zapatista National Liberation Army). Finca: A large farm; in Chiapas usually a commercial plantation growing coffee for sale on the international market. Finquero: The owner of a finca. FIPI: Frente Independente de Pueblos Indígenas (Independent Front of Indigenous Peoples). FOCIES: Frente de Organizaciones y Comunidades Indígenas de la Sierra (Front of Indigenous Organizations and Communities of the Sierra). Galleras: Plantation living quarters for laborers. GEPA: German Environmental Protection Agency. Huipil: Hand-woven blouse worn by indigenous women. Tseng 2001.4.30 17:41 DST:103 6289 Hernandez / HISTORIES AND STORIES FROM CHIAPAS / sheet 280 of 317 Glossary 259 Idiomista: A local term for those who speak an Indian language. The word derives from idioma, or language. A closer translation is the neologism ‘‘languagist.’’ Ilol: Practitioner of traditional medicine. Indigenismo: State policies that promoted integration, designed for indigenous peoples by non-Indians. INI: Instituto Nacional Indigenista (National Indigenist Institute). ISMAM: Indígenas de la Sierra Madre de Motozintla (Motozintla Sierra Madre Indigenous Peoples). Jornaleros: Day laborers. Mayordomo: Local finca administrator. Mestizo: Term used to designate a descendant of mixed Indian-white parentage, used more generally to refer to the Mexican population that does not identify itself culturally as Indian. NAFTA: North American Free Trade Agreement. Naguales: Witches. NGO: Nongovernmental organization. OCEZ: Organización Campesina...