Kaqchikel people

Kaqchikel (Cakchiquel)
Total population
A Kaqchikel family
832,968^[1]
Regions with significant populations
Guatemala	^[2]
Languages
Kaqchikel, Spanish
Religion
Catholic, Evangelicalist, Maya religion
Related ethnic groups
K'iche', Tzutujil

The Kaqchikel (also called Kachiquel^[3]) are one of the indigenous Maya peoples of the midwestern highlands in Guatemala. The name was formerly spelled in various other ways, including Cakchiquel, Cakchiquel, Kakchiquel, Caqchikel, and Cachiquel.

In Postclassic Maya times the capital of the main branch of the Kaqchikel was Iximché. Like the neighboring K'iche' (Quiché), they were governed by four lords: Tzotzil, Xahil, Tucuché and Acajal, who were responsible for the administrative, military and religious affairs. The Kakchikel recorded their history in the book Annals of the Cakchiquels, also known as Memorial de Sololá.

The Chajoma were another Kaqchikel-speaking people; the ruins of Mixco Viejo have been identified as their capital.

Iximché was conquered by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. At that time, the Kaqchikel were the enemies of the neighbouring K'iche' Kingdom, and helped the Spaniards to conquer it. The first colonial capital of Guatemala, Tecpán Guatemala, was founded near Iximché on July 25, 1524. On November 22, 1527, after several Kaqchikel uprisings, the capital was moved to Ciudad Vieja, near Antigua Guatemala.

The Kaqchikel language, one of the Mayan languages, is spoken today by 400,000 people. They subsist agriculturally, and their culture reflects a fusion of Maya and Spanish influences.

References

↑ According to the official 2002 census: "XI Censo Nacional de Población y VI de Habitación (Censo 2002) - Pertenencia de grupo étnico". Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas. 2002. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-27. The Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) mentions a different number
↑ Ethnologue report for Guatemala
↑ Baily, John (1850). Central America; Describing Each of the States of Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. London: Trelawney Saunders. p. 83.

Indigenous peoples of Mexico

More than 100,000 people	Nahua Maya Zapotec Mixtec Otomi Totonac Tzotzil Tzeltal Mazahua Mazatec Huastec Ch'ol Chinantec Purépecha Mixe Tlapanec Tarahumara

20,000 – 100,000 people	Mayo Zoque Chontal Maya Popoluca Chatino Amuzgo Tojolabal Huichol Tepehuán Triqui Cora Mam Yaqui Cuicatec Huave

1000 – 20,000 people	Tepehua Kanjobal Pame Chichimeca Jonaz Guarijio Chuj Chocho Tacuate Mexicanero Ocuiltec Pima Bajo Jacaltec

Less than 1000 people	Kekchí Lacandon Ixcatecos Seri K'iche' Motocintlec Kaqchikel Paipai Tohono O'odham Cocopah Kumiai Kikapú Cochimí Ixil Kiliwa Aguacatec Opata

Note: List is ordered by decreasing size of population.

Authority control	LCCN: sh85018725 BNF: cb11979347z (data)

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