K'iche'

K'iche' family at their home in San Andrés Xecul, Totonicapan

The K'iche' (or Quiché) are one of the largest ethnic groups in Guatemala. They are ethnically Maya and live in the highlands to the north and the west of Lake Atitlán, primarily in the departments of Quetzaltenango, Totonicapan, and El Quiché. Estimates place the current K'iche' population of Guatemala at around 2 million.

K'iche' also denotes the traditional language of the K'iche' people. This language is still spoken in most K'iche' communities, but many community members also speak Spanish and some do not speak K'iche' at all.

History

Mythological Origins

The Popol Vuh, sometimes called the "Maya Bible," gives us an insight into the creation of the first K'iche' and relates the foundation of the K'iche' kingdom. The version of the story that is available to us today was written down in the 17th century by several members of the lineages that had ruled the kingdom until their defeat at the hands of Pedro de Alvarado and his allies.

The Popol Vuh tells us that, even before the sun rose for the first time, the first four heads of the K'iche' lineages were modeled from corn dough. They were created with the ability to see and understand everything instantly: "The moment they turned around and looked around in the sky, on the earth, everything was seen without any obstruction," but the gods worried that their creations would "become as great as gods" and limited the clarity with which their works saw. Thus were created the first fathers of the K'iche'. Next, the gods created the four women who would be the mothers of the K'iche' people. Other lineage heads, whose descendants would form the other tribes, were also created in this time before the dawn.

The lineage heads then travel east to Tulan Zuyua, where they receive their patron deities. Leaving the city after passing several tests, the K'iche' lords begin their search for a suitable place to establish their kingdom. At the request of their patrons, the lineage heads hide the gods in places where their enemies will not be able to find them, then ascend the mountains to witness the dawn of the sun. As the sun rises, the K'iche's find themselves separated from the other lineages.

At this point, the lords begin to assert their dominance over the other tribes in the region. This is accomplished through military prowess and guile. Later, the sons of the first lords return to the eastern city to be given their titles, returning to firmly establish the kingdom that their fathers had originated. They construct a series of settlements, and continue to reinforce their power through military victories. The writers of the Popol Vuh trace the descendants of these great lords through the mid sixteenth century, when they are writing.

Prehispanic Period

Scholarship has followed two lines in an effort to establish the origins of the K'iche' people: some scholars assert that there is evidence to suggest that the K'iche' developed as a distinct people in situ while others argue that the journey described in the Popol Vuh reflects an actual migration of lineages from further north who incorporated themselves into local groups to establish the K'iche' state. Their origins notwithstanding, the K'iche' state began to expand following the establishment of Utatlan around the year 1200 and was firmly established as one of the most powerful polities in the highlands by 1250.

Thereafter, the power of the K'iche' expanded quickly, to encompass an extensive territory and large population. By 1470, the K'iche' kingdom began to experience occasional revolts by its conquered subjects. Around the same time, the neighboring Kaqchikel kingdom began a campaign of expansion. Conflicts between the K'iche' and Kaqchikel were ongoing upon the arrival of Spanish expeditionary forces.

Colonial Period

The K'iche' first made contact with the Spanish conquistadors in 1523, with the arrival of an expeditionary force led by Pedro de Alvarado.

Subsistence

Milpa Agriculture

The traditional form of plant husbandry throughout the Maya region is called milpa agriculture. A milpa is a small plot of land used to grow maize (corn), beans, and squash. This form of agriculture has a number of benefits. In the field, the corn provides shade to the squash and a stalk in which the bean plants can climb. Each plant also returns nutrients to the ground that the other two use, so the land is productive for much longer than it would be if it were only used to grow one type of crop. What is more, these three plants together provide nearly all of the nutrients needed by the human body.

Milpas are still very common around K'iche' settlements, but a number of changes have occurred over the years. Many families now grow only corn in their milpa, so the land is somewhat less productive and chemical fertilizers are needed. Many K'iche's have also turned away from traditional farming techniques, growing flowers, vegetables, or other crops for export. Wheat became a popular crop during the ____ but the practice quickly declined after imports from the United States became cheaper than locally produced wheat in the ____. Most families no longer own enough land to produce all of the food that they require, and many people have turned to other avenues to provide for their families.

Religion

Traditional Maya religious custom, or costumbre, is a syncretic conglomeration of pre-Columbian traditions and Catholicism. It combines devotion to the Catholic saints and celebrations of the Catholic festivals with traditional dances and elaborate ceremonies conducted at ceremonial sites that are scattered throughout the surrounding mountains.

Evangelical Protestantism has become increasingly strong since its arrival in the region in the 1970s.

Sources and Further Reading

• Carmack, Robert M. 1981. The Quiche Mayas of Utatlán: The Evolution of a Highland Guatemala Kingdom. ISBN 0806115467
• Carmack, Robert M. and John M. Weeks. 1981. The Archaeology and Ethnohistory of Utatlan: A Conjunctive Approach. American Antiquity 46(2): 323-341.
• Fischer, Edward F. and R. McKenna Brown. 1996. Maya Cultural Activism in Guatemala. ISBN 0-292-70851-3
• Tedlock, Dennis. 1996. Popol Vuh: The Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life. ISBN 0684818450