ABSTRACT
I present in this chapter foundational narratives that depict the creation and establishment of order in the universe and in Chamula society. The texts themselves date from the period of 1965 to 1979, although the translations have been an ongoing enterprise that has occupied my attention to the present. None of these texts has ever been published before. As the introduction will indicate, these narratives are not presented as “the canon,” or even as a representative canon, of Chamula life and thought. Rather, they are a sample of what I regard as typical expressions of truths whose verity is assumed by most Chamula Tzotzils. The texts themselves are highlighted here, refecting my early and continuing conviction that native discourse speaks clearly, but not necessarily without interpretive help. The extensive footnotes provide exegesis and clarification where this seems indicated. I have also used the occasion of this chapter to introduce the small core of narrators whose stories inform much of the content of this book.
