Dress
The men wear hats of platted palm leaf, which they make themselves; those woven from coarse split palm leaf are known as xani pok, those of very fine leaf, like Panama hats, bear the name bomi pok (pl. [1]). They wear cotton trousers (eex), or in some sections short cotton drawers (xkulex), with a short, loose, shirt-like jacket of cotton hanging outside the trousers. On the feet they use sandals of danta hide (xanapkeuel) held in place by a leather or henequen thong passing between the great and second toes and around the back of the heel to the front of the instep, where it is fastened. Formerly the cotton was grown, spun, and woven at home, but nowadays it is giving place to cheap imported English and American goods, while the sandals are being superseded by moccasins and even by imported shoes. The moccasins the Indians make themselves, tanning the hides (usually of deer or antelope) in lime and red mangrove bark and stitching the parts together with thin strips of leather. These moccasins, which are made on crude wooden lasts, are very comfortable and wear well.
BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 64 PLATE 1.
GROUP OF SANTA CRUZ INDIANS
Fig. 2.—Gold earrings made and worn by the Santa Cruz Indians.
The women wear two garments of cotton; the huipil (yuptè), a loose short-sleeved blouse, cut square at the neck, and reaching nearly to the knees, and a short skirt reaching to between the knee and the ankle, known as a pik. The neck, the lower border, and the armholes of the blouse and the edge of the skirt were formerly beautifully embroidered in varicolored floral and geometrical devices; now, however, cotton manufactured in England or the United States and stamped in colors to imitate the original embroidery is rapidly coming into use. The women formerly went barefooted or wore loose slippers; now they frequently wear imported shoes, often with high heels, a feature which renders their walk and carriage awkward and stilted. They often go bareheaded, but sometimes wear a sort of shawl (bostch) around the head and shoulders. Many of them wear large round or oval plaques of gold (tup) in the ears, survivals, probably, of the enormous round ear disks worn by the ancient Maya (fig. [2]).
Fig. 3.—Cross of tancasche bark worn by children.
Some of the women wear long gold chains, with religious medallions attached, while the smaller children wear a variety of curious objects, as small coins, shells, beads, dried seeds, and berries, with figurines in wood, stone, pottery, and metal, strung round their necks. Many of these are worn as charms or amulets to protect the wearer against diseases, accidents, or evil spirits, or to bring good luck. A charm worn by nearly all children consists of a small cross of tancasche bark (fig. [3]) which is regarded as a sovereign remedy for flatulence, a complaint from which, owing to the nature of their diet, nearly all suffer.