Lidia Lopez from Guatemala and Her Family Making Tortillas

This is a Mayan family in San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Guatemala. Lidia Lopez and her sisters are making tortillas to accompany a traditional meal called Pepian (also spelled Pipian.) In Guatemala, corn is served with almost every meal, often in the form of tortillas. Not only is corn commonly grown by families in rural areas, the people of Guatemala have a special relationship with corn dating back centuries. According to traditional Maya religion, the gods first made men out of mud, then wood. But neither material worked. Finally men were created from corn, and some Mayan people today still believe their flesh was once made from corn.