t CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTHWEST GUATEMALA—McBRYDE 123 
§ 
suits, is uncommon.'* There are only a few pro- 
fessional Indian merchants living in Panajachel. 
Tax recorded five, one an Atiteco. 
This vegetable-garden economy?” was not known 
in Panajachel in Alonso Ponce’s time, 1586 (op. 
cit., vol. 1, p. 447), when the delta was planted to 
corn and “many fig and peach trees.’ Neither of 
these fruits is to be found there today, vegetables and 
coffee having replaced them, along with much of 
the maize. As a consequence, the production of this 
basic grain is insufficient, so that it must be bought 
in the plaza by most Panajachelefios, from Indians 
of east Lake municipios. Native fruits, of which 
injertos and jocotes are particularly important, prob- 
ably were grown then as now.! A 1778 Noticias 
(Anon., Ms. 1778, p. 16, f. 235) records rope manu- 
facture there, and this is corroborated by Tax’s rec- 
-ords of tradition and folklore. The growing tourist 
trade at Panajachel, a fairly important industry by 
1930, probably had its beginning in the establishment 
of Tzanjuyu, about 1885.1"4 
. 
SANTA CATARINA PALOPO 
Just 2 miles southeast of Panajachel by a well- 
beaten path skirting precipice walls, one comes upon 
a little village so different from the first that it might 
almost be a part of another continent. And yet 
those two villages have existed, 2 miles apart, since 
about the time of the discovery of America, and 
possibly before. A native of one village may be dis- 
tinguished from one of the other almost as far away 
171 JIn direct contrast with this is the transplanted, exotic economy of 
a small settlement of Totonicapefios (almost always craftsmen of some 
sort), called Patanatic (3 km. northeast of Panajachel village, yet 
within this municipio), who tan leather, make sandals, and dress 
lumber (all as in Totonicapan, whence they emigrated, according to the 
unpublished 1930 census report, in 1890). They probably came orig- 
inally to work on the lumber finca, Santa Victoria, less than a kilometer 
away. This culture is similar to that of Panimaché, a canton of 
Chichicastenango just to the north. Costumes and language of the home- 
‘land are preserved, as usual, and women use the tumpline and sandals, 
as in their former municipio. 
172 The first dated reference I have found relating to gardening of 
European vegetables by Indians in Guatemala is in the Relacién for 
vere Paz written in 1574 and covering the years since 1544. The 
vegetables and herbs mentioned were coles, radishes, lettuce, parsley, 
coriander, yerba buena, borage, marjoram, fennel, artichoke, and onions; 
“which bear very well and the water-wheel is not necessary, for the 
Lord waters them’? (Anon., Ms. 1574, p. 5, f. 93). This referred to 
the year-round rains of Vera Paz, which made it a favorable place 
for introducing such crops. Oviedo (1851-55, vol. 1, pp. 373-374), also 
writing early in the 16th century, lists a great number of European 
vegetables, with the remark in almost every case, that they do not seed, 
but the seeds must be brought from Europe. Most vegetable seeds are 
still imported (see p. 32). - 
178 The ahachel, or matasano, from which the name ‘“Panajachel” is 
derived, should have been the injerto, if we judge by its present 
abundance. 
1% The 1930 census report states that power navigation on the Lake 
_ began here in 1888, with the steam launch ‘General Barillas.”” 
as the human limbs are discernible, so different are 
the costumes (see pls. 6; 7, d, ¢, f,.9;-9, a, 6). Santa 
Catarina dress resembles that of San Lucas far more 
closely than it does the Panajachel costume. And 
of the 13 common words selected by Tax! (1937, *p: 
346) from Andrade’s list, only five approach identity. 
Of all the Lake neighbors, this is perhaps the ex- 
treme example of diversity in proximity, in a region 
where such a condition is almost the rule. There 
are almost as many inhabitants in Santa Catarina 
as there are in Panajachel; and population density is 
much greater in Santa Catarina because of its highly 
limited area. Yet there is no delta, nor even much 
of a beach. Steep slopes are right at their backs and 
all around the banks of their little-sheltered bay (map 
20; pl. 22, a, b). Since the Lake has risen (begin- 
ning in 1933) even the narrow beach is reduced, and 
the rush-fringed shoal is deepened. There is some 
fairly level land above the cliffs behind an elevated 
glade, just 600 m. (1,968 ft.) higher than the Lake. 
Most of this is cultivated, however, by the small 
settlement (labor) of Xepéc, a community of Luci- 
anos, from the high plateau municipio of Quiché- 
speaking Indians, Santa Lucia Utatlan.17* One of 
them told me that they had been there only about 25 
years, and had bought 5,000 cuerdas!*® (roughly 
1,000 acres) from the Catarinecos. The latter have 
an insignificant caserio, Xesiguan, situated high on 
the bench, and remote from cabecera or chief village 
(Santa Catarina). 
The old church of Santa Catarina (bell dated 1762) 
was 20 feet (6 m.) above the water level in Septem- 
ber 1936, the lowest such edifice on the Lake (except 
for the later ruins of Jaibalito) ; it is built on a gently 
sloping terrace 100 feet (30.5 m.) wide. Most of the 
houses are on the steep slopes behind. In Santa 
Catarina much importance is attached to jocotes, 
which are sold in great numbers, and to the small 
quantities of oranges and injertos. Four tablénes (pl. 
22, c) near the small Xepéc Creek were planted to 
onions by a Catarineco, and twice that many by 
Panajachelenos who rent the land. The limited local 
maguey is spun into cord, though it is not durable in 
water and so is not suitable for fishing. There are a 
few merchants in Santa Catarina, some selling 
16 They cultivate, in addition to corn and beans, such cold-land crops 
as broadbeans and wheat—in contrast to the jocotes, oranges, and 
tomatoes grown in the village directly below. 
176T could not verify this. The area seemed a bit exaggerated. I 
can testify, however, to the existence of the settlement, though neither 
this nor Xesiguan is included in the official 1921 census. This may be 
attributed to an oversight rather than to their not having been there. 
Catarinecos concurred on the age and provenience of both settlements. 
