Tzʼutujil peopleThe 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.
Kaqchikel languageThe Kaqchikel language (in modern orthography; formerly also spelled Cakchiquel or Cachiquel) is an indigenous Mesoamerican language and a member of the Quichean–Mamean branch of the Mayan languages family. It is spoken by the indigenous Kaqchikel people in central Guatemala. It is closely related to the Kʼicheʼ (Quiché) and Tzʼutujil languages. Kaqchikel is taught in public schools through Guatemala's intercultural bilingual education programs. Kaqchikel is spoken by the indigenous Maya in Central Guatemala.
Tzeltal peopleThe Tzeltal are a Maya people of Mexico, who chiefly reside in the highlands of Chiapas. The Tzeltal language belongs to the Tzeltalan subgroup of Maya languages. Most Tzeltals live in communities in about twenty municipalities, under a Mexican system called “usos y costumbres” which seeks to respect traditional indigenous authority and politics. Women are often seen wearing traditional huipils and black skirts, but men generally do not wear traditional attire. Tzeltal religion syncretically integrates traits from Catholic and native belief systems.
Huehuetenango DepartmentHuehuetenango is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. It is located in the western highlands and shares the borders with the Mexican state of Chiapas in the north and west; with El Quiché in the east, with Totonicapán, Quetzaltenango and San Marcos in the south. The capital is the city of Huehuetenango. Huehuetenango's ethnic composition is one of the most diverse in Guatemala. While the Mam are predominant in the department, other Maya groups are the Q'anjob'al, Chuj, Jakaltek, Tektik, Awakatek, Chalchitek, Akatek and K'iche'.
Chʼortiʼ peopleThe Chʼortiʼ people (alternatively, Chʼortiʼ Maya or Chorti) are one of the indigenous Maya peoples, who primarily reside in communities and towns of southeastern Guatemala, northwestern Honduras, and northern El Salvador. Their indigenous language, also known as Chʼortiʼ, is a survival of Classic Choltian, the language of the inscriptions in Copan. It is the first language of approximately 15,000 people, although the majority of present-day Chʼortiʼ speakers are bilingual in Spanish as well.
Chontal MayaThe Chontal Maya are a Maya people of the Mexican state of Tabasco. "Chontal", from the Nahuatl word for chontalli, which means "foreigner", has been applied to various ethnic groups in Mexico. The Chontal refer to themselves as the Yokot'anob or the Yokot'an, meaning "the speakers of Yoko ochoco", but writers about them refer to them as the Chontal of Centla, the Tabasco Chontal, or in Spanish, Chontales. They consider themselves the descendants of the Olmecs, and are not related to the Oaxacan Chontal.
Francisco de MontejoFrancisco de Montejo (fɾanˈθisko ðe monˈtexo; 1479 – 1553) was a Spanish conquistador in Mexico and Central America. Francisco de Montejo was born about 1473 to a family of lesser Spanish nobility in Salamanca, Spain. He never documented his parentage during his lifetime but his father was probably Juan de Montejo. His mother is unknown but her surname may have been Téllez. He had a brother, Juan, who served with him in the New World and a sister, Maria, whose son Francisco de Montejo would become an important conquistador in Yucatán.
Quetzaltenango DepartmentQuetzaltenango is a department in the western highlands of Guatemala. The capital is the city of Quetzaltenango, the second largest city in Guatemala. The department is divided up into 24 municipalities. The inhabitants include Spanish-speaking Ladinos and the Kʼicheʼ and Mam Maya groups, both with their own Maya language. The department consists of mountainous terrain, with its principal river being the Samalá River. the department is seismically active, suffering from both earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Yucatec Maya languageYucatec Maya (ˈjuːkətɛk_ˈmaɪə; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as màaya t’àan [màːjaʔˈtʼàːn]) is a Mayan language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic community of Yucatec Maya speakers in San Francisco, though most Mayan Americans are speakers of other Mayan languages from Guatemala and Chiapas. According to the Hocabá dictionary, compiled by American anthropologist Victoria Bricker, there is a variant name mayab tʼàan [majabˈtʼàːn], literally "flat speech").
LencaThe Lenca, also known as Lepa Wiran, meaning “Jaguar People” or “People of The Jaguar” are an Indigenous people from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They speak various dialects of the Lenca language such as Chilanga, Putun (Potón), and Kotik. Although the Lenca speak different dialects, they’ve always understood and coexisted with each other. In Honduras, the Lenca are the largest tribal group, with an estimated population of more than 450,000.
