The islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1891-1899, 1895-09-05
THE MAYA WOMEN.
THEY ARE INTELLIGENT, SWEET TEN
PEREO AND BEAUTIFUL.

Never Looked Into a Mirror.
An unfamiliar word, but as old as the
hills almost, is this word Maya. Among
the Brahmans it means illusion and is
the name of the earth, the material
world, which, according to the Brah-
manical doctrine, is nonexlstent an
illusion. Maya Dew was the name OF
the beautiful mother of Buddha. Maya
in the feminine energy OF Brahma and
the mother of all the gods, even of
Brahma himself. Any Greek dictionary
informs Us that Maya is the good moth
er Of all gods and men. La Japan the
goddess Maya is still worshiped- The
beautiful Indian. poem "Ramayana"
tells us about great navigator named
Maya, who i'll ages long gone by took
forcible possession of the countries at
the south of the Hindoostanee peninsula
and settled there.
The Maya people of America were in
oiden times great nation, occupying
the territory comprised between the 18TH
mus Of Tehuantepec and that OF Da-
rien We know that they were navlga-
tors, their boats being depicted in very
ancient books and paintings In 1902,
when Columbus came to America for
the fourth time, he met on the high
seas q large boat, i'll which were men,
women and children. 1t also had car
90 Of merchandise, consisting of weap-
ons, tools, products of the earth and
ready made garments The travellers
called themselves Mayas. They were i'll
the habit of travelling to Cuba and other
islands to trade with their Inhabitants.
The Mayas We're neatly clothed i'll white
cotton raiment. They were self possessed
and courteous. Fifteen years later their
land, today called Yucatan, was invad-
ed by the Spaniards, but it cost the
white men % years Of warfare to get
control Of that country, for every Maya
fought like a hero. They were sons of
fearless mothers.
In reading the works left by the
Spanish chrOniclers-priests who ac-
cOmpanied the SOldierS-We learn that
the Maya women were very good look
ing, as many are at the present day;
that they were charitable, sweet tenn
pered, industrious, modest and so free
from vanity that they never consulted
the mirror, although their husbands
did. In physique these women were
large and beautifully shaped.
Their complexion was light brown,
and their silky black hair very album
dant. Father CogOlludo, a Spanish priest,
wrote, "These women are more beauti-
FIJI and better tempered than those Of
Spain. They always dressed them
selves, as they do at the present time,
in flowing white garments, and in their
happier days were greatly addicted to
the use of perfumes and flowers. They
We're industrious, devoted wives and
fond mothers, but exacted great defer
ence from their children. Their ideas of
mOdesty were so strict that they did not
permit their daughters to look boldly
into the face Of man, and if girl
showed want of shyness the indignant
matron would pinch her arms. After
the Spanlards were i'll possession of the
land they subjected these women to in
dignities and cruelty. Among many
other things it is recorded that in one
village they found two young women of
remarkable beauty, one bride, the 9TH
er Il maiden, and they hanged both, so
that there should be no trouble about
them. Many young mothers were hung
from trees and their infants suspended
from their feet. Those who escaped
death were enslaved with theil hus-
bands and children.
Long ago, as far back as our studies
enable us to know anything about that
nation, the Maya women seem to have
enjoyed the same privileges as the men,
TO have had equal power in politics and
equal authority.
Today, when business is to be trans
acted, the wife takes the active part, her
husband nodding his head affirmatively
1t is not that she desires to domineer,
but because he looks up to her, relying
on her Judgment. She complies with
admirable moderation and modesty. She
is eloquent and forceful without being
loquaciOus and she never scolds. When
she pleads for him, being more able
reasoner than he is. If he gets intoxicat-
ed, she guides him home. If he strikes
her, she says, He does not know what
he is doing" regarding him with an
gelic forbear3nce, so that domestic
brawls are quite unknown. 1t is her
pleasure to give him the best of what
no
worst.
This woman's home has matched
roof and earthen floor She has no pref
ty objects around her Hammocks serve
as seats by day as we'll as beds by night.
There is one low chair or stool on which
she sits while her busy fingers make the
garments Of the family. In one corner
stands bench and grinding stones Her
hands grind all the corn used in that
humble abode. The fire is built ON the
floor between three stones, on which
rests the clay pot or the disk for baking
tortillas. Outside at the back of the hut
there is a long dugout, serving as a
washtub, resting on trestles. There she
stands for some hours every day, her
AOCe bsi1O, SO1pSiIuS up W uST Sl-
bows, yet her hands are small and pref
ty, her voice is sweet and low, her Ian
guage never rude, and if you approach
her hat she welcomes you with such per-
feet grace and self possession, mingled
with cordiality, that you ask yourself if
she is not a princess in disguise She
may be, but, alas the palaces of her
sires are crumbling away in the forests
where her husband cuts timber for his
master, the white man, now owner of
the soil The dying race must bear its