In reply to kathy.

Yeah, a "palo" is a little stick. But his is second name is "Palas", which is the Q'anjob'al equivalent of "Francisco". The Q'anjob'al names all have analogs in Spanish, so Nas Palas shows up as "Anastasio Francisco" on his cedula (state ID card). Although racism is now officially illegal, it persists in many subtle ways after centuries of oppression, and their Q'anjob'al (and therefore, true) names never appear on any official government documents.