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Concept
Tzʼutujil people
Summary
The Tzʼutujil (Tzutujil, Tzutuhil, Sutujil) are a Native American people, one of the 22 Maya ethnic groups that dwell in Guatemala. Together with the Xinca, Garífunas (Black Caribs) and the Ladinos, they make up the 25 ethnic groups in this relatively small country. Approximately 100,000 Tzʼutujil live in the area around Lake Atitlán. Their pre-Columbian capital, near Santiago Atitlán, was Chuitinamit. In pre-Columbian times, the Tzʼutujil nation was a part of the ancient Maya civilization.
The arrival of the Spanish during the sixteenth century lead to the implementation of the cofradía religious system. In the nineteenth century, the nation transitioned to a capitalist economy.
The Tzʼutujil are noted for their continuing adherence to traditional Atiteco cultural and religious practices. Weaving and traditional songs are historically religiously significant practices. Some also practice Evangelical Protestantism or Roman Catholicism. They speak the Tzʼutujil language, a member of the Mayan language family.
The Tzʼutujil date from the post-classic period (circa 900–1500) of the Maya civilization. They inhabit the southern watershed of Lake Atitlán, in what is now defined as the Solola region of the Guatemalan highlands.
The ancestors of the Tz'utujil from Tulán, the ancient capital of the Toltec, moved to the region near Lake Atitlán. There, they established the capital Chiaa, which means “close to the water” on the hill of Chuitinamit. The leadership in Chiaa consisted of the supreme lord, the Ahtz'iquinahay (Lord of the House), and a lesser supreme lord, the Tz’utujil, who named the group after himself. South of Santiago Atitlan, the Ahtz'iquinahay, and his lords ran cacao plantations. In the fifteenth century, Quicab, the Ki’che Maya ruler, prevented westward migration through military violence against the Tz’utujil people.
In 1523 the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, with the help of the Kaqchikel Maya, defeated them in a battle close to the town of Panajachel. At that time they lost a portion of their lands, and the control of the lake.
Official source
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