Tolupan community - Honduras

LEONARDO GONZÁLEZ | HONDURAS
1982, Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Lives and Works in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Gocoy, Namaywuai, Toman, Our Final Breath, 2015, sound installation
Courtesy: the artist

Ethnic group: Tolupan
Language: Tol
Speaker: Timoteo Cálix
Location: Montaña de la Flor, municipality of Orica. This municipality is located in the north of the department of Francisco Morazán and is surrounded by the Sierra de Misoco, which serves as a boundary between the departments of Francisco Morazán and Olancho, in the intermediate area of Honduras

My name is Timoteo Cálix and I am Tolupan. They say that our ancestors fled the region known as Santa Marta because they could no longer bear the exploitation and enslavement they were subjected to by the governor, for the production of maize, beans, sarsaparilla and other crops. Four families fled under the guidance of our first chief, Juan Martínez.
From my father and my mother, I inherited the language and traditions which I passed on to my own family. “The Ritual of the Moon” is our most ancient ritual; we perform it at every eclipse of the moon. We gather to play the drums all night long, in order to scare away the dark until the light returns. We believe that if the moon disappears, the darkness can kill the whole of our tribe. Nowadays, the Tol language is dying out. Young Tolupans no longer wish to speak or practise it. They think that they have become civilized and it embarrasses them.
Translation from Tol language
Timoteo Cálix / Leonardo González