The Annals of the Cakchiquels

[iii]

BRINTON’S LIBRARY OF
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN LITERATURE.
NUMBER VI.

THE ANNALS

OF THE

CAKCHIQUELS.

THE ORIGINAL TEXT, WITH A TRANSLATION, NOTES AND
INTRODUCTION.

BY

DANIEL G. BRINTON

1885, Philadelphia

[iv]

[v]

PREFACE.

Both for its historical and linguistic merits, the document which is presented in this volume is one of the most important in aboriginal American Literature. Written by a native who had grown to adult years before the whites penetrated to his ancestral home, himself a member of the ruling family of one of the most civilized nations of the continent and intimately acquainted with its traditions, his work displays the language in its pure original form, and also preserves the tribal history and a part of the mythology, as they were current before they were in the least affected by European influences.

The translation I offer is directly from the original text, and I am responsible for its errors; but I wish to acknowledge my constant obligations to the manuscript version of the late Abbé Brasseur (de Bourbourg), the distinguished Americanist. Without the assistance obtained from it, I should not have attempted the task; and though I differ frequently from his renderings, this is no more than he himself would have done, as in his later years he spoke of his version as in many passages faulty.

For the grammar of the language, I have depended on the anonymous grammar which I edited for the American Philosophical Society in 1884, [vi]copies of which, reprinted separately, can be obtained by any one who wishes to study the tongue thoroughly. For the significance of the words, my usual authorities are the lexicon of Varea, an anonymous dictionary of the 17th century, and the large and excellent Spanish-Cakchiquel work of Coto, all of which are in the library of the American Philosophical Society. They are all in MS., but the vocabulary I add may be supplemented with that of Ximenes, printed by the Abbé Brasseur, at Paris, in 1862, and between them most of the radicals will be found.

As my object in all the volumes of this series is to furnish materials for study, rather than to offer finished studies themselves, I have steadily resisted the strong temptation to expand the notes and introductory matter. They have been limited to what seemed essentially necessary to defining the nature of the work, discussing its date and authorship, and introducing the people to whom it refers.

[vii]

CONTENTS.

[viii]

[9]

THE ANNALS
OF
THE CAKCHIQUELS.

INTRODUCTION.

Ethnologic Position of the Cakchiquels.

The Cakchiquels, whose traditions and early history are given in the present work from the pen of one of their own authors, were a nation of somewhat advanced culture, who occupied a portion of the area of the present State of Guatemala. Their territory is a table land about six thousand feet above the sea, seamed with numerous deep ravines, and supporting lofty mountains and active volcanoes. Though but fifteen degrees from the equator, its elevation assures it a temperate climate, while its soil is usually fertile and well watered.

They were one of a group of four closely related nations, adjacent in territory and speaking dialects so nearly alike as to be mutually intelligible. The remaining three were the Quiches, the Tzutuhils and the Akahals, who dwelt respectively to the west, the south and the east of the Cakchiquels.

These dialects are well marked members of the Maya linguistic stock, and differ from that language, as it is spoken[10] in its purity in Yucatan, more in phonetic modifications than in grammatical structure or lexical roots. Such, however, is the fixedness of this linguistic family in its peculiarities, that a most competent student of the Cakchiquel has named the period of two thousand years as the shortest required to explain the difference between this tongue and the Maya.[10-1]

About the same length of time was that assigned since the arrival of this nation in Guatemala, by the local historian, Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzman, who wrote in the seventeenth century, from an examination of their most ancient traditions, written and verbal.[10-2] Indeed, none of these affined tribes claimed to be autochthonous. All pointed to some distant land as the home of their ancestors, and religiously preserved the legends, more or less mythical, of their early wanderings until they had reached their present seats. How strong the mythical element in them is, becomes evident when we find in them the story of the first four brothers as their four primitive rulers and leaders, a myth which I have elsewhere shown prevailed extensively over the American continent, and is distinctly traceable to the adoration of the four cardinal points, and the winds from them.[10-3]

[11]These four brothers were noble youths, born of one mother, who sallied forth from Tulan, the golden city of the sun, and divided between them all the land from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec to the confines of Nicaragua, in other words, all the known world.[11-1]

The occurrence of the Aztec name of the City of Light, Tulan (properly, Tonatlan), in these accounts, as they were rehearsed by the early converted natives, naturally misled historians to adopt the notion that these divine culture heroes were “Toltecs,” and even in the modern writings of the Abbé Brasseur (de Bourbourg), of M. Désiré Charnay, and others, this unreal people continue to be set forth as the civilizers of Central America.

No supposition could have less support. The whole alleged story of the Toltecs is merely an euhemerized myth, and they are as pure creations of the fancy as the giants and fairies of mediæval romance. They have no business in the pages of sober history.

The same blending of their most ancient legends with those borrowed from the Aztecs, recurs in the records of the pure Mayas of Yucatan. I have shown this, and explained it at considerable length in the first volume of this series, to which I will refer the reader who would examine the question in detail.[11-2]

[12]There is a slight admixture of Aztec words in Cakchiquel. The names of one or two of their months, of certain objects of barter, and of a few social institutions, are evidently loan-words from that tongue. There are also some proper names, both personal and geographical, which are clearly of Nahuatl derivation. But, putting all these together, they form but a very small fraction of the language, not more than we can readily understand they would necessarily have borrowed from a nation with whom, as was the case with the Aztecs, they were in constant commercial communication for centuries.[12-1] The Pipils, their immediate neighbors to the South, cultivating the hot and fertile slope which descends from the central plateau to the Pacific Ocean, were an Aztec race of pure blood, speaking a dialect of Nahuatl, very little different from that heard in the schools of classic Tezcuco.[12-2] But the grammatical structure and stem-words of the Cakchiquel remained absolutely uninfluenced by this association.

Later, when the Spanish occupation had brought with it[13] thousands of Nahuatl speaking followers, who supplied the interpreters for the conquerers, Nahuatl names became much more abundant, and were adopted by the natives in addressing the Spaniards. Thus the four nations, whom I have mentioned as the original possessors of the land, are, in the documents of the time, generally spoken of by such foreign titles. The Cakchiquels were referred to as Tecpan Quauhtemallan, the Quiches as Tecpan Utlatlan, the Tzutuhils as Tecpan Atitlan, and the Akahals as Tecpan Tezolotlan. In these names, all of them pure Nahuatl, the word Tecpan means the royal residence or capital; Quauhtemallan (Guatemala), “the place of the wood-pile;” Utlatlan, “the place of the giant cane;” Atitlan, “the place by the water;” Tezolotlan, “the place of the narrow stone,” or “narrowed by stones.”[13-1]

These fanciful names, derived from some trivial local characteristic, were not at all translations of the native tribal names. For in their own dialects, Quiche,

iche, means “many trees;” Tuztuhil,

utuhil, “the flowery spot;” Akahal, “the honey-comb;” and Cakchiquel, a species of tree.

Culture of the Cakchiquels.

These four nations were on the same plane of culture, and this by no means a low one. They were agriculturists, cultivating for food beans, peppers, and especially maize. To the latter, indeed, they are charged with being fanatically[14] devoted. “If one looks closely at these Indians,” complains an old author, “he will find that everything they do and say has something to do with maize. A little more, and they would make a god of it. There is so much conjuring and fussing about their corn fields, that for them they will forget wives and children and any other pleasure, as if the only end and aim of life was to secure a crop of corn.”[14-1]

In their days of heathenism, all the labors of the field were directed by the observance of superstitious rites. For instance, the men, who always did a large share of the field work, refrained from approaching their wives for some days before planting the seed. Before weeding the patch, incense was burned at each of the four corners of the field, to the four gods of the winds and rains; and the first fruits were consecrated to holy uses.[14-2] Their fields were large and extremely productive.[14-3] In this connection it is worth noting, in passing, that precisely Guatemala is the habitat of the Euchlæna[15] luxurians, the wild grass from which, in the opinion of botanists, the Zea Mais is a variety developed by cultivation.

Cotton was largely cultivated, and the early writers speak with admiration of the skill with which the native women spun and wove it into graceful garments.[15-1] As in Yucatan, bees were domesticated for their wax and honey, and a large variety of dye-stuffs, resins for incense, and wild fruits, were collected from the native forests.

Like the Mayas and Aztecs, they were a race of builders, skillful masons and stone-cutters, erecting large edifices, pyramids, temples, and defensive works, with solid walls of stone laid in a firm mortar.[15-2] The sites of these cities were generally the summits of almost inaccessible crags, or on some narrow plain, protected on all sides by the steep and deep ravines—barrancas, as the Spaniards call them—which intersect the plateau in all directions, often plunging down to a depth of thousands of feet. So located and so constructed, it is no wonder that Captain Alvarado speaks of them as “thoroughly built and marvelously strong.”[15-3]

[16]In the construction of their buildings and the measurements of their land, these nations had developed quite an accurate series of lineal measures, taking as their unit certain average lengths of the human body, especially the upper extremity. In a study of this subject, published during the present year, I have set forth their various terms employed in this branch of knowledge, and compared their system with that in use among the Mayas and the Aztecs.[16-1] It would appear that the Cakchiquels did not borrow from their neighbors, but developed independently the system of mensuration in vogue among them. This bears out what is asserted in the Annals of Xahila, that their “day-breaking,” or culture, was of spontaneous growth.

The art of picture writing was familiar to all these peoples. It was employed to preserve their national history, to arrange their calendar, and, doubtless, in the ordinary affairs of life.[16-2] But I am not aware that any example or description of it has been preserved, which would enable us to decide the highly important question, whether their system was derived from that of the Mexicans or that of the Mayas, between which, as the antiquary need not be informed, there existed an almost radical difference.

The word for “to write,” is

ibah, which means, in its[17] primary sense, “to paint;” ah

ib, is “the scribe,” and was employed to designate the class of literati in the ancient dominion. Painted or written records were called

ibanic.

They had a literature beyond their history and calendars. It consisted of chants or poems, called bix, set orations and dramas.[17-1] They were said or sung in connection with their ceremonial dances. These performances were of the utmost importance in their tribal life. They were associated with the solemn mysteries of their religion, and were in memory of some of the critical events in their real or mythical history. This will be obvious from the references to them in the pages of their Annals.

These chants and dances were accompanied by the monotonous beating of the native drum, tun, by the shrill sound of reed flutes, xul, by the tinkling of small metal bells,

alakan, which they attached to their feet, and by rattles of small gourds or jars containing pebbles, known as zoch. Other musical instruments mentioned, are the chanal, the whistle (pito, Dicc. Anon.), and tzuy, the marimba, or something like it.

These nations were warlike, and were well provided with offensive and defensive weapons. The Spanish writers speak of them as skilled archers, rude antagonists, but not poisoning their weapons.[17-2] Besides the bow and arrow,

ha, they[18] used a lance, achcayupil,[18-1] and especially the blow-pipe, pub, a potent weapon in the hands of an expert, the knowledge of which was widely extended over tropical America. Their arrow points were of stone, especially obsidian, bone and metal. Other weapons were the wooden war club,

haibalche; the sling, ica

; the hand-axe, i

ah, etc.

For defense, they carried a species of buckler, pocob, and a round shield called çeteçic chee, “the circular wood.” Over the body they wore a heavy, quilted cotton doublet, the xakpota, which was an efficient protection.

They may all be said to have been in the “stone age,” as the weapons and utensils were mostly of stone. The obsidian, which was easily obtained in that country, offered an admirable resource for the manufacture of knives, arrow heads, awls, and the like. It was called chay abah, and, as we shall see on a later page, was surrounded with sacred associations.

The most esteemed precious stones were the

ual, translated “diamond,” and the xit, which was the impure jade or green stone, so much the favorite with the nations of Mexico and Central America. It is frequently mentioned in the Annals of Xahila, among the articles of greatest value.

Engraving both on stone and wood, was a prized art. The word to express it was

otoh, and engraved articles are referred to as

otonic.

Although stone and wood were the principal materials on which they depended for their manufactures, they were well[19] acquainted with several metals. Gold and silver were classed under the general name puvak, and distinguished as white and yellow; iron and copper were both known as

hi

h, and distinguished also by their color. The metals formed an important element of their riches, and are constantly referred to as part of the tribute paid to the rulers. They were worked into ornaments, and employed in a variety of decorative manners.

The form of government of the four nations of whom I am speaking approached that of a limited monarchy. There was a head chief, who may as well be called a king, deriving his position and power through his birth, whose authority was checked by a council of the most influential of his subjects. The details of this general scheme were not the same at all periods, nor in all the states; but its outlines differed little.

Among the Cakchiquels, who interest us at present, the regal power was equally divided between two families, the Zotzils and the Xahils; not that there were two kings at the same time, as some have supposed, but that the throne was occupied by a member of these families alternately, the head of the other being meanwhile heir-apparent.[19-1] These chiefs were called the Ahpo-Zotzil and the Ahpo-Xahil; and their eldest sons were entitled Ahpop-

amahay and Galel Xahil, respectively, terms which will shortly be explained.

[20]The ceremonial distinction established between the ruler and those nearest him in rank, was indicated by the number of canopies under which they sat. The ruler himself was shaded by three, of graded sizes, the uppermost being the largest. The heir-apparent was privileged to support two, and the third from the king but one. These canopies were elaborately worked in the beautiful feathers of the quetzal, and other brilliant birds, and bore the name of muh, literally “shade” or “shadow,” but which metaphorically came to mean royal dignity or state, and also protection, guardianship.[20-1]

The seat or throne on which he sat was called tem,

hacat, and

alibal, and these words are frequently employed to designate the Supreme Power.

The ceremonies connected with the installation of a king or head chief, are described in an interesting passage of the Annals, [Sec. 41]: “He was bathed by the attendants in a large painted vessel; he was clad in flowing robes; a sacred girdle or fillet was tied upon him; he was painted with the holy colors, was anointed, and jewels were placed upon his person.” Such considerable solemnities point to the fact that these people were on a much higher plane of social life than[21] one where the possession of the leadership was merely an act of grasping by the strongest arm.

Of the four nations, the Quiches were the most numerous and powerful. At times they exercised a sovereignty over the others, and levied tribute from them. But at the period of Alvarado’s conquest, all four were independent States, engaged in constant hostilities against each other.

There is no means of forming an accurate estimate of their number. All early accounts agree that their territory was thickly populated, with numerous towns and cities.[21-1] The contingent sent to Alvarado by the Cakchiquel king, to aid in the destruction of Quiche, was four thousand warriors in one body, according to Alvarado’s own statement, though Xahila puts it at four hundred. There are various reasons for believing that the native population was denser at the Conquest than at present; and now the total aboriginal population of the State of Guatemala, of pure or nearly pure blood, is about half a million souls.

The Capital City of the Cakchiquels.

The capital city of the Cakchiquels is referred to by Xahila as “Iximche on the Ratzamut.” It was situated on the lofty[22] plateau, almost on a line connecting Gumarcaah, the capital of the Quiches, with the modern city of Guatemala, about twelve leagues from the latter and eight from the former. Its name, Iximche, is that of a kind of tree (che=tree) called by the Spanish inhabitants ramon, apparently a species of Brosimium. Ratzamut, literally “the beak of the wild pigeon,” was the name given to the small and almost inaccessible plain, surrounded on all sides by deep ravines, on which Iximche was situated. Doubtless, it was derived from some fancied resemblance of the outline of the plain to the beak of this bird.

The capital was also called simply tinamit, the city (not Patinamit, as writers usually give it, as pa is not an article but a preposition, in or at); and by the Aztec allies of the conqueror Alvarado, Quauhtemallan, “place of the wood-pile,” for some reason unknown to us.[22-1] The latter designation was afterwards extended to the province, and under the corrupt form Guatemala is now the accepted name of the State and its modern capital.

The famous captain, Pedro de Alvarado was the first European to visit Iximche. He entered it on April 13th, 1524 (old style). In his letter describing the occurrence, however, he says little or nothing about the size or appearance of the buildings.[22-2]

[23]Scarcely more satisfactory are the few words devoted to it by Captain Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who spent a night there the same year. He observes that “its buildings and residences were fine and rich, as might be expected of chiefs who ruled all the neighboring provinces.”[23-1]

When the revolt of the Cakchiquels took place, soon afterwards, Iximche was deserted, and was never again fully inhabited. The Spaniards ordered the natives to settle in other localities, the fortifications of their capital were demolished, and many of the stones carried away, to construct churches and houses in other localities.

The next account we have of it dates from the year 1695, when the historian and antiquary, Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzman, wrote a detailed description of its ruins from personal inspection. The account of this enthusiastic author is the only one which supplies any approximate notion of what the city must have been in its flourishing period, and I therefore translate it, almost entire, from the recently published edition of his voluminous work, the Recordacion Florida.[23-2] His chapter will throw light on several otherwise obscure passages in Xahila’s narrative.

“Tecpan goathemala was a city of the ancient inhabitants, populous, wonderful and impregnable, from the character of its position, situated in this valley (of Chimaltenango), on an elevated and cool site. It lies eight leagues in a straight line[24] from New Guatemala. Around this ancient and dismantled town, now falling into utmost decay, extends a deep ravine, like a moat, plunging straight down to a depth of more than a hundred fathoms. This ravine, or moat, is three squares in width from one battlement or bank to the other, and they say that a good part of it was a work of hands, for the security and defense of the city. There is no other entrance than a very narrow causeway, which cuts the ravine at a point a little north of west. The whole area of the space where are these ancient ruins measures three miles from north to south and two from east to west, and its complete circumference is nine miles. In the heart and centre of this area was prominently erected that great city of Tecpan goathemala.

“The whole surface of the soil in this ancient city seems to have been artificially prepared, by means of a cement or mortar, laid by hand, to a depth of three-fourths of a yard. Close to the brink of the ravine there are the sumptuous ruins of a magnificent and stately edifice, in length a hundred measured paces, and in width the same, thus forming a perfect square, all of stone and mortar, the stone accurately cut with great skill, polished and nicely adjusted. In front of this building is a great square plaza, of much dignity and beauty; and on its northern side one can still recognize and admire the ruins of a palace which, even in its broken vestiges, reveals a real magnificence. This royal edifice also has in front of it some squares as large and spacious in their splendor as that which has already been mentioned. Surrounding this remarkable structure, are a vast number of foundations, which, according to tradition, and by what is obvious by examination, were the houses and dwellings of[25] nobles and of the great number of ahaguaes, besides those who gave their constant attention to the king. In this quarter or ward of the nobility, there are several wide and capacious streets, which, as the foundations indicate, ran from east to west.

“Through the middle of the site of the city, from north to south, runs a trench a fathom and a half in depth, and its battlements of stones laid in mortar rise more than half a fathom in height. This trench divided the city into two parts, leaving the residences of the chiefs and nobles on the eastern side; those of the common people to the west. The principal street runs from the entrance of the city to the chief square of the Temple, which is near the Palace; and from this main street others run east and west, north and south, branching off from the main street, having many dwellings upon them well arranged and located, and displaying the high cultivation of the ancient rulers.

“Another broad street runs close to the main street, from the trench mentioned, toward the east, for about a quarter of a league, ending at a small hill which overlooks the town, on whose summit is a circular wall, not unlike the curb of a well, about a full fathom in height. The floor within is paved with cement, as the city streets. In the centre is placed a socle or pedestal of a glittering substance, like glass, but of what composition is not known.

“This circular structure was the tribunal or consistory of the Cakchiquel Indians, where not only was public hearing given to causes, but also the sentences were carried out. Seated around this wall, the judges heard the pleas and pronounced sentences, in both civil and criminal causes. After[26] this public decision, however, there remained an appeal for its revocation or confirmation. Three messengers were chosen as deputies of the judges, and these went forth from the tribunal to a deep ravine, north of the Palace, to a small but neatly fitted up chapel or temple, where was located the oracle of the demon. This was a black and semi-transparent stone, of a finer grade than that called chay (obsidian). In its transparency, the demon revealed to them what should be their final decision. If it was that the sentence should be confirmed, the accused was immediately executed on the central pedestal mentioned, which also served as a place of torture. If, on the other hand, nothing could be seen in the transparency of the stone, the accused was forthwith discharged. This oracle was also consulted in all their military undertakings; and war was declared or not, as it seemed to dictate, as is stated both by Spaniards and the oldest natives. But in the early days of our occupation, when these facts came to the knowledge of the Reverend Bishop Don Francisco Marroquin, of glorious memory, he gave orders that this stone should be artistically squared, and he consecrated it and used it as an altar stone, and at this day it is so employed on the grand altar of the convent of San Francisco de Tecpan goathemala, and it is considered a jewel of unusual beauty and value. The size of the stone is a full half yard in each direction.

“The principal gate of this stronghold or citadel was upon the causeway mentioned; and they say it was closed with two doors set in the solid wall, the external one opening outward, the internal one inward, and both were of the stone called chay. Thus, one of these doors backed up against the[27] other, as we sometimes see double doors in our prisons. They were always guarded with double guards, one within, the other without, and these guards were changed every seven days. In the open country, on the other side of the ravine, there were a number of mounds, about a quarter of a league apart, extending for a considerable distance. On these, lookouts were constantly stationed, to give notice of the invasions of the Quiches or of the Sotojil king.”

The site of Iximche was visited in 1840 by the eminent American traveler, John L. Stephens. He states that its position, the steep and profound barranca, and the plain, “warrant the description given of it by Fuentes.” A century and a half had, however, almost erased the vestiges of human life. “The ground was covered with mounds of ruins. In one place we saw the foundations of two houses, one of them about one hundred and fifty feet long by fifty feet broad.”

Mr. Stephens was also fortunate enough to see and examine the mysterious divining stone, preserved in the church of Tecpan Guatemala. But a great disappointment awaited him. “This oracular slab is a piece of common slate, fourteen inches by ten, and about as thick as those used by boys at school, without characters of any kind upon it.”[27-1]

A few years after Mr. Stephens’ visit, the government of Guatemala appointed a commission to survey and examine these ruins. They completed their labors successfully, but[28] I have been unable to learn that the results were published, although they were written out and placed in the governmental archives.[28-1]

Computation of Time.

I propose, in a future work, to discuss the methods of reckoning time in use in Central America; but a brief explanation of that adopted by the Cakchiquels is essential to a comprehension of their Annals.

The Cakchiquels were probably acquainted with the length of the year as 365 days; there is even some evidence that they allowed an intercalary day every four years, by beginning the reckoning of the year one day earlier.

The beginning of their year is stated, by most authorities, to have been on the day corresponding to our January 31st or February 1st, old style (February 11th or 12th, new style).

The year was not divided into lunar months, as was the case with the hunting tribes, but in a manner similar to the highly artificial and complicated system that prevailed among the Mayas and Mexicans. This allotted to the solar year twenty months of eighteen days each, leaving a remainder of five days, which the Mexicans called nemontemi, insufficient; the Mayas n yail kin, days of pain or of peril, and the Cakchiquels

api

ih, days of evil or days at fault; and which were not included in the count of the months.[28-2]

[29]Dates, however, were not assigned by a simple reference to days of the month, but by days of the week; these weeks being of thirteen days each, and including every day of the year. The week days were not named, but numbered only.

As will be noted in the Annals, more importance was attached to the day on which an occurrence took place than to the year. This is common with untrained minds. Every citizen of the United States knows that George Washington was born on the 22d of February; but it would puzzle a large portion of them to be asked the year of his birth.

Names of the Cakchiquel Months.

[30]To appreciate the bearing of these names, one must remember that this is a rural calendar, in which the months were designated with reference to farming and household incidents. Thus, the “winged ants” referred to, are a species that appear in March and April, shortly before the first of the rainy season; the fourth month is cloudy or misty, from the frequent rains; the first and second grandsons refer probably to the “suckers,” which must be plucked from the growing corn; in the eighth month the earth is moist, and must be kept, by tillage, “soft to the hand;” the others have obvious rural allusions, down to the last, when the natives went “in the woods” to gather fuel. The names appear to be all in the Cakchiquel dialect, except the first, Tacaxepual, the resemblance of which to the name of the second Mexican month, Tlacaxipehualiztli, is too striking to be a coincidence, and perhaps the seventeenth, Itzcal, which is very like the eighteenth of the Mexican calendar, Izcalli; but if borrowed from the latter, two Cakchiquel words, of similar sound but different meaning, have been substituted for the original by the familiar linguistic principle of otosis or paronomasia.

Names of the Cakchiquel Days.

[31]The calendars in use were of two different kinds, the one called

hol

ih, literally “the valuer or appraiser of days,” which was employed exclusively for astrological and divining purposes, to decide on which were lucky and unlucky days; and may

ih, “the revolution or recurrence of days,” which was for chronological purposes.[31-1]

It will be noticed that in Xahila’s Annals, every year ends on a day Ah, and that each such closing day is numerically three less than the day Ah terminating the preceding year. There are also obvious inconsistencies in his identification of native dates with the Christian calendar; but these, and the numerous difficult questions they suggest, would take me too far afield to enter upon in the present introductory paragraphs. The object of this volume is rather to furnish material for study than to undertake the study itself.

The brief description of their reckoning of time, given by Sanchez y Leon, may be quoted: “They divided the year into 18 months, and each month into 20 days; but they counted only by nights, which they mentioned as dawns (alboradas); the movements of the sun in the ecliptic governed their calendar; they began their year forty days before ours; they celebrated annually three great feasts, like Easters, at which periods both sexes assembled together at night, and indulged in drunkenness and wantonness.”[31-2]

I think in this extract the author should have said that they began their year 40 days later than ours, as this would bring his statement more into conformity with other writers.[32]

Personal and Family Names.

Among the Cakchiquels, each person bore two names; the first his individual name, the second that of his family or chinamitl. This word is pure Nahuatl, and means a place enclosed by a fence,[32-1] and corresponds, therefore, to the Latin herctum, and the Saxon ton. As adopted by the Cakchiquels, it meant a household or family of one lineage and bearing one name, all of whom were really or theoretically descended from one ancestral household. To all such was applied the term aca, related or affined;[32-2] and marriage within the chinamitl was not permitted. When a man of one chinamitl married into another, every male in the latter became his brother-in-law, baluc, or son-in-law, hi.[32-3]

Each chinamitl was presided over by a recognized leader, the “head of the house,” whose title was ah

alam, “the keeper of the tablets,”[32-4] probably the painted records on which the genealogy of the family and the duties of its members were inscribed.

The division of the early tribes into these numerous families was not ancient, dating, according to tradition, from about a century and a half before the Conquest.[32-5]

[33]The family name was sometimes derived from a locality, sometimes from a peculiarity, and at others from astrological motives.[33-1]

The personal name was always that of the day of birth, this being adopted for astrological reasons. There was a fixed opinion that the temperament and fortunes of the individual were controlled by the supposed character of his birthday, and its name and number were therefore prefixed to his family name. This explains the frequent occurrence in the Cakchiquel Annals of such strange appellatives as Belehe Queh, nine deer; Cay Batz, two monkey, etc.; these being, in fact, the days of the year on which the bearers were born. They should be read, “the 9th Queh,” “the 2d Batz,” etc.

Tribal Subdivisions.

The chinamitl appears to have been the sub-gens. Besides it, there are other words frequently recurring in the Annals referring to divisions of the community, hay, home or household;

hob, sept or division; and ama

tribe or city.

The first of these, hay, appears to be a general term applied to a community, without necessarily implying relationship. An Indian, asked where he is from, will answer in ah-hay vae, “I am of this place,” referring to his village. Yet it is evident that in early times, all of one village were considered to be related. The word hay, moroever, does not signify a house as an edifice. In that sense the proper term is ochoch.

[34]The frequent references by Xahila to the seven tribes, or rather the seven cities, vuk ama

, and the thirteen divisions or provinces, oxlahuh

hob, are not explained in the course of the narrative. These numbers retained sacred associations, as they were adopted later to assign the days of worship of their divinity (see [Sec. 44]). Brasseur is of opinion that the thirteen divisions refer to the Pokomams,[34-1] but that such a subdivision obtained among the Cakchiquels as well, is evident from many parts of their Annals. The same division also prevailed, from remote times, among the Quiches,[34-2] and hence was probably in use among all these tribes. It may have had some superstitious connection with the thirteen days of their week. The

hob may be regarded as the original gens of the tribe, and the similarity of this word to the radical syllable of the Nahuatl calp-ulli, may not be accidental. I have elsewhere spoken of the singular frequency with which we hear of seven ancestors, cities, caves, etc., in the most ancient legends of the American race.[34-3]

Terms of Affinity and Salutation.

In the Cakchiquel grammar which I edited, I have given a tolerably full list of the terms of consanguinity and affinity in the tongue (pp. 28, 29). But it is essential to the correct[35] understanding of the text in this volume, to recognize the fact that many such terms in Cakchiquel are, in the majority of cases, terms of salutation only, and do not express actual relationship.

Examples of this are the words tata, father, used by women to all adult males; and tee, mother, employed by both sexes in addressing adult women. In Xahila’s writings, we constantly find the words nimal, elder brother, and cha

, younger brother, inserted merely as friendly epithets. The term mama, grandfather, almost always means simply “ancestor,” or, indeed, any member of an anterior generation beyond the first degree. This word must not be confounded with mam (an error occurring repeatedly in Brasseur’s writings), as the latter means “grandchild;” and according to Father Coto, it may be applied by a grandparent of either sex to a grandchild of either sex.

Titles and Social Castes.

There are a number of terms of frequent recurrence in Xahila’s text, expressing the different offices in the government, rank in social life and castes of the population, which offer peculiar difficulty to the translator, because we have no corresponding expressions in European tongues; while to retain them in the version, renders it less intelligible, and even somewhat repulsive to the reader. I have thought it best, generally, to give these terms an approximate English rendering in my translation, while in the present section I submit them to a critical examination.

The ordinary term for chief or ruler, in both the Cakchiquel and Maya dialects, is ahau. Probably this is a compound[36] of ah, a common prefix in these tongues, originally signifying person, and hence, when attached to a verb, conveying the notion of one accustomed to exercise the action indicated; to a noun of place, a resident there; and to a common noun, a worker in or owner of the article; and u, a collar, especially an ornamental collar, here intended as a badge of authority. Ahau is, therefore, “the wearer of the collar;” and by this distinction equivalent to chief, ruler, captain, lord, king, or emperor, by all which words it is rendered in the lexicons. It is not a special title, but a general term.

Scarcely less frequent is the term ahpop. This is a compound of the same prefix ah, with the word pop, which means a mat. To sit upon such a mat was a privilege of nobility, and of such dignitaries as were entitled to be present at the national council; ahpop, therefore, may be considered as equivalent to the German title Rath, counsellor, and appears to have been used much in the same conventional manner. In the Cakchiquel lexicons, popoh is “to hold a council;” popol, a council; popoltzih, “to speak in council,” etc. All these are derived from the word pop, mat; from the mats on which the councillors sat during their deliberations.

Personages of the highest rank, of the “blood royal,” combined these titles. They were ahau ahpop, “lords of the council.” Uniting the latter title to the family names of the ruling house, the chief ruler was known as Ahpo’ Zotzil, and the second in rank and heir-apparent, as Ahpo’ Xahil. The oldest son of the former bore the title Ahpop-

amahay, which is translated by the best authorities “messenger of the council,” and ordinarily was applied to an official who communicated the decisions of the councils of one village to that[37] of another.[37-1] Another title, mentioned by Xahila, is ahpop-achi, the last word means man, vir.

A third article, which distinguished the higher classes, was the seat or stool on which they sat during solemn ceremonies. This was called

aalibal, an instrumental noun from the verb

al, to be visible or prominent, persons so seated being elevated above, and thus distinguished from others, from this the verbal form,

alel, was derived, meaning “he who is prominent,” etc., or, more freely, “illustrious,” “distinguished.”[37-2] The title ahpop

alel meant, therefore, originally “he who is entitled to a mat and a stool,” that is, in the council chamber of his town.

Another official connected with the council was the orator appointed to bring before it the business of the day. His title was ah uchan, from ucheex, to speak, and it is translated by Spanish writers, the “rhetorician, orator.”[37-3] A similar personage, the ah tzih vinak, “the man of words,”[37-4] was in[38] attendance on the king, and, apparently, was the official mouth-piece of the royal will. Still a third, known as the lol-may, which apparently means “silence-breaker,” was, according to the dictionaries, “an envoy dispatched by the rulers to transact business or to collect tributes.”[38-1]

Very nearly or quite the same organization prevailed in the courts of Quiche and Atitlan. The chiefs of the latter province forwarded, in 1571, a petition to Philip II, in which they gave some interesting particulars of their former government. They say: “The supreme ruler was called Atziquinihai, and the chiefs who shared the authority with him, Amac Tzutuhil. These latter were sovereigns, and acknowledged no superiors.... The sovereign, or king, did not recognize any authority above himself. The persons or officers who attended at his court were called Lolmay, Atzivinac, Galel, Ah-uchan. They were factors, auditors and treasurers. Our titles correspond to yours.”[38-2]

The name here applied to the ruler of the Tzutuhils, Atziquinahay, recurs in Xahila’s Annals. It was his family name, and in its proper form, Ah

iquin-i-hay, means “he who is a member of the bird family;”[38-3] the bird being the totemic symbol of the ruling house.

[39]While the nobles were distinguished by titles such as these, the mass of the people were divided into well defined classes or castes. The warriors were called ah-labal, from labal, war; and they were distinguished from the general male population, who were known as achi, men, viri. These were independent freemen, engaged in peaceful avocations, but, of course, ready to take up arms on occasion. They were broadly distinguished from the tributaries, called ah-patan; the latter word meaning tax or tribute; and still more sharply from the slaves, known as vinakitz, “mean men,” or by the still more significant word mun, hungry (Guzman, Compendio). The less cultivated tribes speaking other tongues, adjoining the Cakchiquels, were promiscuously stigmatized with the name chicop, brutes or beasts.

A well developed system of tribute seems to have prevailed, and it is often referred to by Xahila. The articles delivered to the collectors were gold, silver, plain and worked, feathers, cacao, engraved stones, and what appear as singular, garlands (

ubul) and songs, painted apparently on skins or paper.

Religious Notions.

The deities worshiped by these nations, the meaning and origin of their titles, and the myths connected with them, have been the subject of an examination by me in an earlier work.[39-1] Here, therefore, it will be needless to repeat what I have there said, further than to add a few remarks explanatory of the Cakchiquel religion in particular.

According to the Popol Vuh, “the chief god of the Cak[40]chiquels was Chamalcan, and his image was a bat.”[40-1] Brasseur endeavored to trace this to a Nahuatl etymology,[40-2] but there is little doubt it refers, as do so many of the Cakchiquel proper names, to their calendar. Can is the fifth day of their week, and its sign was a serpent;[40-3] chamal is a slightly abbreviated form of chaomal, which the lexicons translate “beauty” and “fruitfulness,” connected with chaomar, to yield abundantly. He was the serpent god of fruitfulness, and by this type suggests relations to the lightning and the showers. The bat, Zotz, was the totem of the Zotzils, the ruling family of the Cakchiquels; and from the extract quoted, they seem to have set it up as the image of Chamalcan.

The generic term for their divinities, employed by Xahila, and also frequently in the Popol Vuh, is

abuyl, which I have elsewhere derived from the Maya chab, to create, to form. It is closely allied to the epithets applied in both works to the Deity,

akol, the maker, especially he who makes something from earth or clay; bitol, the former, or fashioner;

aholom, the begetter of sons; alom, the bearer of children; these latter words intimating the bi-sexual nature of the principal divinity, as we also find in the Aztec mythology and elsewhere. The name

axto

, the liar, from the verb

axto

oh, to lie, also frequently used by Xahila with reference to the[41] chief god of his nation in its heathendom, may possibly have arisen after their conversion to Christianity; but from the coincidence that the Algonkin tribes constantly applied such seemingly opprobrious terms to their principal deity, it may have arisen from a similar cycle of myths as did theirs.[41-1]

There are references in Xahila’s Annals to the Quiche deities, Exbalanquen, Cabrakan, Hunahpu, and Tohil, but they do not seem to have occupied any prominent place in Cakchiquel mythology. Several minor gods are named, as Belehe Toh, nine Toh, and Hun Tihax, one Tihax; these appellations are taken from the calendar.

Father Pantaleon de Guzman furnishes the names of various inferior deities, which serve to throw light on the Cakchiquel religion. Four of these appear to be gods of diseases, Ahal puh, Ahal te

ob, Ahal xic, and Ahál

anya; at least three of these second words are also the designations of maladies, and ahal is probably a mistake of the copyist for ahau, lord. As the gods of the abode of the dead, he names Tatan bak and Tatan holom, Father Bones and Father Skull.

Another series of appellations which Guzman gives as of Cakchiquel gods, show distinctly the influence of Nahuatl doctrines. There are Mictan ahauh, lord of Mictlan, this being the name of the abode of darkness, in Aztec mythology; Caueztan ahauh, probably Coatlan, lord of the abode of serpents; Tzitzimil, the tzitzimime of the Aztecs; and Colele,[42] probably colotl, the scorpion, or tecolotl, the owl, which latter, under the name tucur, is also mentioned by Xahila.[42-1]

Father Coto refers to some of their deities of the woods and streams. One of these, the Man of the Woods, is famous throughout Yucatan and most of Central America. The Spaniards call him Salonge, the Mayas Che Vinic, and the Cakchiquels ru vinakil chee; both these latter meaning “the woods man.” What gives this phantom especial interest in this connection is, that Father Coto identifies the woodsman with the Zaki

oxol, the white fire maker, encountered by the Cakchiquels in Xahila’s narrative ([Sec. 21]).[42-2] I have narrated the curious folk-lore about the woodsman in another publication, and need not repeat it here.[42-3] His second name, the White Fire Maker, perhaps refers to the “light wood” or phosphorescence about damp and decaying trees.

To the water-sprites, the Undines of their native streams, they gave the name xulu, water-flies, or ru vinakil ya, the water people.

As their household gods, they formed little idols of the ashes from the funeral pyres of their great men, kneading them with clay. To these they gave the name vinak, men or beings (Coto).

[43]Representations of these divinities were carved in wood and stone, and the words chee abah, “wood and stone,” usually mean, when they appear together in Xahila’s narrative, “idols or images in wood and stone.”

The Stone God, indeed, is a prominent figure in their mythology, as it was in their daily life. This was the sacred Chay Abah, the Obsidian Stone, which was the oracle of their nation, and which revealed the will of the gods on all important civil and military questions. To this day, their relatives, the Mayas of Yucatan, attach implicit faith to the revelations of the zaztun, the divining stone kept by their sorcerers, and if it decrees the death of any one, they will despatch him with their machetes, without the slightest hesitation.[43-1] The belief was cherished by the rulers and priests, as they alone possessed the power to gaze on the polished surface of the sacred block of obsidian, and read thereupon the invisible decrees of divinity. (See above, p. [25]).

As the stone came from the earth, it was said to have been derived from the under world, from Xibalbay, literally the unseen or invisible place, the populous realm in Quiche myth, visited and conquered by their culture hero, Xbalanque. Hence in Cakchiquel tale, the Chay Abah represented the principle of life, as well as the source of knowledge.[43-2]

The Cakchiquel Annals do not pretend to deal with[44] mythology, but from various references and fragments inserted as history, it is plain that they shared the same sacred legends as the Quiches, which were, in all probability, under slightly different forms, the common property of the Maya race. They all indicate loans from the Aztec mythology. In the Cakchiquel Annals, as in the Popol Vuh and the Maya Chronicles, we hear of the city of the sun god, Tulan or Tonatlan, as the place of their origin, of the land Zuiva and of the Nonoalcos, names belonging to the oldest cycles of myths in the religion of the Aztecs. In the first volume of this series I have discussed their appearance in the legends of Central America,[44-1] and need not refer to them here more than to say that those who have founded on these names theories of the derivation of the Maya tribes or their ruling families from the Toltecs, a purely imaginary people, have perpetrated the common error of mistaking myth for history. It is this error that renders valueless much that the Abbé Brasseur, M. Charnay and others of the French school, have written on this subject.

Xahila gives an interesting description of some of their ancient rites ([Sec. 44]). Their sacred days were the 7th and 13th of each week. White resin was burned as incense, and green branches with the bark of evergreen trees were brought to the temple, and burned before the idol, together with a small animal, which he calls a cat, “as the image of night;” but our domestic cat was unknown to them, and what animal was originally meant by the word mez, I do not know.

He mentions that the priests and nobles drew blood with[45] the spines of the gourd tree and maguey, and elsewhere ([Sec. 37]) refers to the sacrifice of infants at a certain festival. The word for the sacrificial letting of blood was

ohb, which, by some of the missionaries, was claimed as the root of the word

abuil, deity.

Human sacrifice was undoubtedly frequent, although the reverse has been asserted by various historians.[45-1] Father Varea gives some curious particulars. The victim was immolated by fire, the proper word being

atoh, to burn, and then cut in pieces and eaten. When it was, as usual, a male captive, the genital organs were given to one of the old women who were prophetesses, to be eaten by her, as a reward for her supplications for their future success in battle.[45-2] The cutting in pieces of Tol

om, in the narrative of Xahila, has reference to such a festival.

Sanchez y Leon states that the most usual sacrifice was a child. The heart was taken out, and the blood was sprinkled toward the four cardinal points as an act of adoration to the four winds, copal being burned at the same time, as an incense.[45-3]

A leading feature in their ceremonial worship was the sacred dance, or, as the Spanish writers call it, el baile. The native name for it is xahoh, and it is repeatedly referred to in the Annals. The legendary origin of some of these dances,[46] indeed, constitute a marked feature in its narratives. They are mentioned by the missionaries as the favorite pastime of the Indians; and as it was impossible to do away with them altogether, they contented themselves with suppressing their most objectionable features, drunkenness and debauchery, and changed them, at least in name, from ceremonies in honor of some heathen god, to some saint in the Roman calendar. In some of these, vast numbers of assistants took part, as is mentioned by Xahila ([Sec. 32]).

Magic and divination held a very important place in Cakchiquel superstition, as the numerous words bearing upon them testify. The form of belief common to them and their neighbors, has received the name Nagualism, from the Maya root na, meaning to use the senses. I have traced its derivation and extension elsewhere,[46-1] and in this connection will only observe that the narrative of Xahila, in repeated passages, proves how deeply it was rooted in the Cakchiquel mind. The expression ru puz ru naval, should generally be rendered “his magic power, his sorcery,” though it has a number of allied significations. Naval as a noun means magician, naval chee, naval abah, the spirit of the tree, of the stone, or the divinity embodied in the idols of these substances.

Another root from which a series of such words were derived, was hal, to change. The power of changing or metamorphosing themselves into tigers, serpents, birds, globes of fire, etc., was claimed by the sorcerers, and is several times mentioned in the following texts. Hence the sorcerer was called haleb, the power he possessed to effect such transformations halibal, the change effected halibeh, etc.

[47]Their remarkable subjection to these superstitions is illustrated by the word lab, which means both to divine the future and to make war, because, says Ximenez, “they practiced divination in order to decide whether they should make war or not.”[47-1]

These auguries were derived frequently from the flight and call of birds (as in the Annals, Secs. [13], [14], etc.), but also from other sources. The diviner who foretold by grains of maize, bore the title malol ixim, the anointer or consecrator of maize (Dicc. Anon).

The priesthood was represented by two high priests, elected for life by the ruler and council. The one who had especial custody of religious affairs wore a flowing robe, a circlet or diadem on his head ornamented with feathers, and carried in his hand a rod, or wand. On solemn occasions he publicly sacrificed blood from his ears, tongue, and genital organ.

His associate was the custodian and interpreter of the sacred books, their calendars and myths, and decided on lucky and unlucky days, omens and prognostics.

In addition to these, there were certain old men, of austere life, who dwelt in the temples, and wore their hair in plaited strands around their heads (trenzado en circulo), who were consulted on ordinary occasions as diviners.[47-2]

The funeral rites of the Cakchiquels have been related at considerable length by Fuentes, from original documents in[48] the Pokoman dialect.[48-1] The body was laid in state for two days, after which it was placed in a large jar and interred, a mound being erected over the remains. On the mound a statue of the deceased was placed, and the spot was regarded as sacred. Father Coto gives somewhat the same account, adding that these mounds were constructed either of stone or of the adjacent soil, and were called cakhay or cubucak.[48-2] He positively asserts that human sacrifices accompanied the interments of chiefs, which is denied by Fuentes, except among the Quiches. These companions for the deceased chief on his journey to the land of souls, were burned on his funeral pyre. A large store of charcoal was buried with the corpse, as that was supposed to be an article of which he would have special use on his way. Sanchez y Leon mentions that the high priest was buried in his house, clothed and seated upon his chair. The funeral ceremonies, in his case, lasted fifteen days.[48-3]

The Cakchiquel Language.

The Cakchiquel tongue was reduced to writing by the Spanish missionaries, and therefore, in this work, as in all the MSS, the following letters are used with their Spanish values,—a, b, c, ch, ç, e, i, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, t, y.

The following are not employed:—

d, f, g, j, s, ñ, z.

The following are introduced, but with sounds differing from the Spanish:—

h. This is always a decided rough breathing or forcible[49] expiration, like the Spanish j, or the strong English h; except when it follows c or

, when it is pronounced as in the Spanish, cha, che, etc.

k. This has never the sound of c, but is a rough palatal, the mouth being opened, and the tongue placed midway, between the upper and lower walls of the oral cavity, while the sound is forcibly expelled.

v. This letter, whether as a consonant (v) or a vowel (u), is pronounced separately, except when it is doubled, as in vuh (uuh), book or paper, when the double vowel is very closely akin to the English w.

x. In Cakchiquel and its associated dialects, this letter represents the sound of sh in the English words she, shove, etc.

Besides the above, there are five sounds occurring in the Cakchiquel, Quiche and Tzutuhil, for which five special characters were invented, or rather adopted, by the early missionary Francisco de la Parra, who died in Guatemala, in 1560. They are the following:—

h

The origin and phonetic value of these, as given by the grammarian Torresano, are as follows:[49-1]—

This is called the tresillo, from its shape, it being an old form of the figure three, reversed, thus,

. It is the only true guttural in the language, being pronounced forcibly from the throat, with a trilling sound (castañeteando).

From its shape this is called the cuatrillo, Parra having[50] adopted for it an old form of the figure 4. It is a trilled palatal, between a hard c and k.

The name applied to this is, the cuatrillo con coma, or the 4 with a comma. It is pronounced somewhat like the c with the cedilla, ç, only more quickly and with greater force—ds or dz.

This resembles the “4 with a comma,” but is described as softer, the tongue being brought into contact with the teeth, exactly as tz in German.

h A compound sound produced by combining the cuatrillo with a forcible aspirate, is represented by this sign.

Naturally, no description in words can convey a correct notion of these sounds. To learn them, one must hear them spoken by those to the manner-born.

Dr. Otto Stoll, who recently made a careful study of the Cakchiquel when in Guatemala, says of Parra’s characters:—

“The four new signs added to the European alphabet, by some of the old writers on Cakchiquel (Parra, Flores), viz:

,