Corn is a cereal grain native to Mesoamerica that was first found in Guatemala around 3000BC. Corn was represented within the Mayan cosmovision as a sacred deity – depicted by the ‘Kan’ glyph discovered by Cyrus Thomas in 1882. Kan is one of the principal figures featured on the Tzolkin (Mayan) calendar and as a number is represented by the figure 8. According to the Mayan, gods decided, after trying with different materials, to create man from corn:
“The sun was almost out when four animals, the fox, the coyote, the parrot and the crow presented themselves to the gods and accompanied them to a place where a lot of yellow and white corn grew. The gods began to model this food that became the blood and flesh of human beings. Four men were created like this: Balam Quitzé, Balam Acab, Manucutah and Iqui Balam. They were beautiful, strong, intelligent, saw and knew everything. ”- excerpt from The Creation of Popol Vuh
This is why in Guatemala, you can hear people say Guatemalans are “men of maize”.
The symbolism and importance of corn was also seen during the Olmec culture (from 800BC onwards), where it was represented by a piece of jade formed into the shape of an axe.
In Petén, at the Cival archeological site, an ancient offering plate in the shape of a cross was discovered with spaces at each corner for placing these pieces of jade – symbolizing the 4 heads of corn that inhabit the 4 corners of the cosmos and associating the plant once more with the deities of the Mayan culture. Several authors have given a name to the God of Corn – ‘Hun Hunahpú’– the hero of the Popul Vuh (the ancient story that relates the journey from the underworld to rebirth and new life).
This story was depicted in Mayan artworks as a corn plant emerging from a turtle’s shell and transforming ultimately into the sun. It is believed that part of the Mayan kings’ regal dress was a jade effigy worn on the forehead – known as a sak hunal – that represented the God of Corn.
Corn is not only vital for the history of the country but also for its development.
Mayans also developed farming techniques to maximize their corn production, cultivating their land for a couple of years, collecting the production and then burning the surface of the land. They would then let it recover for as long as five years. This time is enough for the land to get back some of the much needed nutrients. Afterwards, not only corn but a variety of fruit and perhaps other grains can be cultivated.
Corn is sacred, this means that young generations who are learning to grow it, have also been taught that there is a ritual to be held before cultivating it. As far a as week before, preparations are made for this special ceremony in which the farmers give thanks to the gods for the future of the crop and also ask for their blessing so that water will abound, the sun be kind and the earth will allow them to succeed.
Worldwide, there are a recognized 25 varieties of corn; and 13 of these are farmed in Guatemala with the widely-consumed varieties being the white, black and yellow corn.
As part of Guatemalan’s daily diet, corn is present in their three meals, whether it’s in the shape of as tortillas, tamalitos (corn dough seasoned and then wrapped around corn leaves to be then boiled until cooked), chuchitos (a chubbier version of the tamalitos with sauce in the middle and different kind of meat) or tamales (bigger versions of the chuchitos, with a bigger piece of pork or chicken and the dough is cooked differently wrapped in banana leaves, which makes for a softer texture).
Regardless of where they live, corn is everywhere in the lives of the chapines – even in beverages. If you haven’t tried the famous atol de elote (with grains) or the atol blanco (made with corn dough and seasoned with black beans and chile), that should be a must in your list.
