New Americas Module: Guatemala Maya Daily Wear overview image
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New Americas Module: Guatemala Maya Daily Wear

  • Post Date: 9/18/2020
  • Author: Beth Watkins, education and publications coordinator
  • Reading Time: 2 minute read

Spurlock’s Americas gallery has several new exhibit cases highlighting cultures from across the western hemisphere. These include displays of objects from western Illinois, the US Southwest, Guatemala, Panama, and the Arctic. This post will focus on the current selection of clothing worn by Maya peoples in Guatemala.

Maya clothing, or traje, is a combination of bright colors, unique designs, and distinctive motifs and symbols. Communities can be distinguished by the clothing they wear, as well as by the Maya language they speak. People have traditionally woven their own clothes, though materials from vendors are becoming more popular.

  • women and children sitting on stairs selling flowers
    Women and children sit in front of Iglesia de Santo Tomás, a large Catholic church built by the colonizing Spanish in the mid-16th century in Santo Tomás Chichicastenango. Ca. 1975 Kieffer-Lopez Collection.

The selection of garments in this module are made and worn by the following cultural groups:

  • K’iché Maya from Santo Tomás Chichicastenago and Zacualpa, El Quiché Department
  • Jakelteco (Poptí) and Mam Maya from Jacaltenango and Todos Santos Cuchumatán, Huehuetenango Department
  • Tz’utujil Maya from Santiago Atitlán, Sololá Department

All objects in this module are part of the Kieffer-Lopez Collection.