Tecún–Umán (?–1524)
Tecún-Umán (?–1524)
Tecún-Umán (d. 20 February 1524), Native-American leader of resistance to the Spanish Conquest of Guatemala under Pedro de Alvarado y Mesía. Son of the Quiché king Kicab Tanub, and a leader of the Quiché armies, Tecún-Umán has been identified by some writers as the war leader mentioned by Pedro de Alvarado in his first letter of relación (recounting) to Hernán Cortés. Alvarado speaks of the warrior as one of the four lords of Utatlán, the Quiché capital, and as general of the region. Alvarado says that Tecún-Umán was killed at the battle of Piñal. (The date is disputed, but many agree on 20 February 1524.)
Since then, especially in the twentieth century, there has been considerable accretion of myth and legend to the name of Tecún-Umán. He was proclaimed the national hero of Guatemala on 22 March 1960.
See alsoSpanish Conquest.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Busto Rodríguez, Alfonso del. Muerte heróica de Don Tecún Umán. Guatemala: s.n., 1995.
Paz Cárcamo, Guillermo. La mascara de Tekum/Ri uk'oj Tekum. Guatemala: Editorial Cholsamaj, 2006.
Murdo J. MacLeod