Rabin Ajaw 2011

In my first blog entry I wrote about the Rixq'uun Kaq Koj (Queen of the Red Lion Hill) pageant in San Cristóbal, explaining that it was a sort of "Miss America" for indigenous women. Well, the Rabin Ajaw pageant is really the Miss Guatemala for indigenous women. 90 candidates who had won their local pageants (including the Rixq'uun Kaq Koj from San Cristóbal) travelled to Cobán to compete in the Rabin Ajaw (roughly - daughter of the King) competition.

I attended with my friend, Mirna (former queen of San Cristóbal, below), and her daughter.

Typical Guatemalan dress (though I'm mixing it up a little--guipil [top] is from Chimaltenango, while the corte [skirt] is from Cobán)

As with the Rixq'uun Kaq Koj, the contestants in the Rabin Ajaw had to dance the son de marimba, and answer questions in their mother tongue (there were about 10 Mayan languages represented), as well as in Spanish. No cooking this time. Each canditate took 3-5 minutes to enter, some bringing dancers with them, some with elaborate choreographed entrances, many carrying candles or another symbol of their hometown.

A few of the 90 candidates in the pageant

My friend, Mirna, competing for Tactic

From Quetzaltenango

Candidate from Cobán with an accompanying "diablo" dancer

Marimba Ensemble from San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango--the origin of the woman who won the 2010 competition

With all of the elaborate entrances, the women took about 2 hours to enter. This was broken up, however, by marimba performances, folkloric dances from Huehetenango, and a futuristic interpretation of the Mayan ball game. The entire competition lasted untl 6:00 a.m. when they finally announced the winner (from Totonicapan). Needless to say, we didn't stay for the whole thing. We left after the son dances and woke up to see the new queen parading through the streets without a hint of exhaustion in her step!

As I've learned, the indigenous queens here are more than just beauty queens. They hold a certain power, as apparently this sort of ceremony has been happening for hundreds of years, and thus carries the authenticity of the ancestors. In Tactic, for example, the queen has to be accompanied by members of the local folkloric committee whenever she goes to official events. The family I was staying with was part of that organization and one of the daughters had to follow the queen (a 16-yr old girl, mind you) from her house to the event, stay with her at the event and then accompany her home, which would often be a 5 or 6 hour committment. And this is only the local queen of Tactic. Imagine the posse for the Rabin Ajaw!