Q'eqchi'

ETHNONYMS: Kekchí, K'ekchí

Orientation

The Q'eqchi' are a Central American Mayan group who speak a number of different dialects of the Q'eqchi' language. Located largely within the department of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, there are also lesser populations of Q'eqchi' Indians in the departments of Peten, Izabal, and Baja Verapaz, as well as parts of the Toledo District of southern Belize.

In the late 1980s the number of Q'eqchi' speakers was estimated at 350,000 in Guatemala and 4,000 in Belize. The Q'eqchi' inhabit a combined total land area of 12,000 square kilometers.

The Q'eqchi' language is a descendant of Proto-Mayan; it belongs to the Quichean Branch of the Macro-Mayan languages and is closely related to the Poqomam and Poqomchi' languages spoken today.

History and Cultural Relations

The Q'eqchi' have a long history of political conflict. Even before the Spanish Conquest, which began in earnest in 1529, Guatemala was known as Tezulutlan, or "the land of war." The combined factors of military resistance and the dispersal of the Q'eqchi' population for agricultural reasons made centralized governmental control by the Spanish highly difficult. For this reason, Friar Bartolomé de las Casas was given permission to attempt to pacify the Q'eqchi' through religious conversion. Although the church was never able to gain complete control, its actions did have a strong influence on the Q'eqchi' people. The church's attempts to protect the Q'eqchi' led to an isolated Q'eqchi' enclave that was not part of the economic growth of Spanish-colonial Guatemala. Once the church lost its ability to govern the Q'eqchi', the Indians were open to exploitation from outside sources.

During the nineteenth century, plantation agriculture, which was supported by government policies, had two marked negative effects on the indigenous population. First, communal tribal lands were privatized by the plantation owners, and second, it became increasingly necessary for the Q'eqchi' to work on the plantations as wage laborers for their economic subsistence. By 1877, all communal landownership was abolished by government decree. Because of the ensuing land pressures, in 1889 many Q'eqchi' began to emigrate east to Belize.

Because of the poverty created by these historical developments, there has been much political unrest during the twentieth century. The Guatemalan government has responded to indigenous activism with military repression which has often proved devastating to the Q'eqchi'. During the 1980s, as much as 25 percent of the Q'eqchi' population in Guatemala emigrated to the United States.

Settlements

The Q'eqchi' live in relatively dispersed villages. Because they are an agricultural people, they locate their houses at the center of their maize fields rather than in dense communities; however, it is not uncommon for closely linked kin to cluster into groups of up to five households. Traditional houses consist of single-room dwellings with pole walls and a palm roof. Additional rooms are occasionally constructed for food storage.

Economy

Maize, otherwise known as milpa, is central to the lives of the Q'eqchi'. It is produced through swidden agriculture: at the beginning of each growing season, the farmer chooses his field, marks it with stones, burns the vegetation on the growing area, and plants his crop. Coffee and cardamom are also cultivated as cash crops.

The staples of the Q'eqchi' diet are maize, beans, and chilies. Other crops supplementing the diet are squashes, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Fish caught in mountain streams are also consumed.

There is a certain degree of flexibility within the division of labor between men and women, but most agricultural production is performed by males, and most food-processing and household maintenance is completed by females. Many Q'eqchi' women are also skilled in textile production. On their looms they create intricately woven and brocaded blouses.

Differing policies by the Guatemalan and Belizean governments have shaped Q'eqchi' land tenure in these respective countries. Privatization of tribal lands in Guatemala has forced many to become day and migrant laborers. In Belize, the government has allowed the Q'eqchi' to live on reservations. In both countries, individuals lease government lands or simply squat on government lands unofficially.

Kinship

Although the patrilineal bond is important, there are no formal patrilineal descent groups. Kinship is traced bilaterally. Kinship terms emphasize generational differences, and cousins are considered marriageable.

Marriage and Family

At the age of 6 or 7, male children begin to go to the fields with their fathers, and female children stay at home with their mothers. Between the ages of 12 to 15 for females and 15 to 18 for males, children are considered adults. At this time, they are able to marry and become independent.

Marriage is arranged by the parents of the children and most often includes a form of bride-price. The parents of the male form a relationship with the parents of the female over time, and if all is satisfactory the children are married. After marriage, the children usually form an independent household.

Households usually consist of only the nuclear family, but it is not uncommon for households to cluster, creating a form of multidwelling extended-family household.

Given the degree of mobility in Q'eqchi' society, there is often little to transmit; however, parents often grant the inheritance of property to the children who offer labor or care giving to the parent during his or her lifetime.

Sociopolitical Organization

The Q'eqchi' have strong beliefs in egalitarianism. Within the nation of Guatemala, however, they are considered secondary citizens. For this reason, Q'eqchi' social and political power is limited to the community level, at which a civil-religious hierarchy prevails. There are three main officers within the civil hierarchy—the alcalde, the concejal, and the sindico; they are elected by a popular assembly.

The religious hierarchy shows less of a Spanish influence. It is here that Q'eqchi' are able to build status for themselves. The role of mayordomo consists of organizing and funding fiestas and church festivals. Sponsorship of these events translates into prestige and status.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Traditional beliefs in the Tzuultaq'a (gods of the mountains and valleys) have been influenced by the Catholic church. The Q'eqchi' have accepted the Christian God, and they hold fiestas to celebrate the patron saint of each village. Within the Q'eqchi' cosmology, the Tzuultaq'a preside over nature. It is believed that the Tzuultaq'a live in caves in the mountains, from which they are able to maintain the natural order.

Other than the priest of each local Catholic church, there are three types of traditional religious specialists: ilonel, curers who use ceremonies and herbs; aj ke, diviners who advise and predict; and aj tul, sorcerers who cast spells. Although these are three separate roles, it is possible for one person to fulfill all three.

Before planting his crops each year, the farmer and his wife perform a fertility ritual. They simulate intercourse in three corners of their dwelling and then consummate the act in the fourth corner. Other ceremonies include both the veneration of saints and idols at altars within the homes and observance of the Day of the Dead.

At death the body is wrapped in a petate (a straw sleeping mat) and buried with all the things that will be needed for the journey to the afterlife. These items include a hat, sandals, and a net.

Bibliography

Bert, Nancy A. (1988). "K'ekchi' Horticultural Labor Exchange: Productive and Reproductive Implications." In Human Reproductive Behavior, edited by L. Betzig, M. Borgerhoff Mulder, and P. Turke, 83-96. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Carter, William E. (1969). New Lands and Old Traditions: Kekchi Cultivators in the Guatemalan Lowlands. Gainesville: University of Florida Press.

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (1978). Guatemala 1978: The Massacre at Panzos. IWGIA Document 33. Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.

Schackt, Jon (1986). One God, Two Temples: Schismatic Process in a Kekchi Village. Oslo: University of Oslo, Department of Social Anthropology; Universitetsbokhandelen.

Wilk, Richard R. (1991) Household Ecology: Economic Change and Domestic Life among the Kekchi Maya in Belize. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

Wilk, Richard, and Mac Chapin (1989). "Belize: Land Tenure and Ethnicity." Cultural Survival Quarterly 13(3): 41-46.

Wilson, Richard (1991). "Machine Guns and Mountain Spirits: The Cultural Effects of State Repression among the Q'eqchi' of Guatemala." Critique of Anthropology 11(1): 33-62.

Wilson, Richard (1993). "Anchored Communities: Identity and History of the Maya-Q'eqchi'." Man 28:121-138.

Wilson, Richard (1995). Maya Resurgence in Guatemala: Q'eqchi' Experiences. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.