Awakatek people
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|
Qatanum | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 11,068[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Guatemala | Huehuetenango |
 Mexico | Chiapas, Campeche |
| Languages | |
| Awakatek, Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Catholic, Evangelicalist, Maya religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Ixil | |
The Awakatek (Awakateko) (in awakatek: Qatanum, "our people") are a Indigenous Maya people located in the municiapality of Champotón, Campeche, México and in the municiaplity of Aguacatán in the department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, place where they have their original settlement.[2]
The word Awakateko is a reference to the town of Aguacatán, which in Nahuatl means “place of abundant avocados”, they call themselves Qatanum, which translates to “our people”.
They formally settled in the southern Mexican territory during the Guatemalan Civil War in search of refuge from the violence, genocide, and military persecution of which the Indigenous peoples of their region were targeted. Finally, in Campeche, they founded new permanent communities along with other Indigenous peoples such as the Ixil and the Q'eqchi'.[3]
History
[edit]Archaeological evidence of their pre-Hispanic presence has been discovered in Chalchitán (a town originally called Coacutec due to its Nahuan origins). During a missionary expedition in 1643, the Irish Dominican Tomás Gage noted in his chronicles the cultivation of grapes by the Awakatek. In 1891, Chalchitán was incorporated into Aguacatán, resulting in the Chalchiteco people and the Aguacatecos forming social relationships. Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán reported in his work “Recordación Florida” that Chalchitán and Aguacatán were inhabited by around 480 speakers of a language with a "guttural pronunciation".[4]
Language
[edit]Their native Awakatek language (or qyool, "our language") is a Mayan language from the Mamean branch closely related to the ixil language. It is currently at very high risk of disappearance.[5]
Location
[edit]The Awakatek of Mexico are located in the state of Campeche in three communities in the municipality of Champotón; Maya Tecún, Maya Tecún II and Santo Domingo Kesté, there is also Awakatek population in the state of Chiapas.[6]
In Guatemala they live in municipality of Aguacatán, located in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes region of the department of Huehuetenango.
Religion
[edit]Their religion is mostly Catholicism mixed with native elements related to natural features, such as mountains, hills, water, clouds and rivers. Their patron saint is the Virgen de la Encarnación.[7]
Economy
[edit]According to data from the Federal Telecommunications Institute of Mexico, 60% of the Awakatek population in Mexico has a cell phone while 53.85% are at a very low level of marginalization, 15.38% at medium and 7.69% at high.[8]
Notes
[edit]- ^ See population census of 2002: "XI Censo Nacional de Población y VI de Habitación (Censo 2002) - Pertenencia de grupo étnico". Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 2002. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
- ^ See Gordon (2005): "Ethnologue: Languages of the World - Awakateko, A language of Guatemala". SIL International. 2005. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
- ^ "SIC México. Red Nacional de Información Cultural: Awakateko".
- ^ "Etnias" [Ethnicities]. www.prensalibre.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2006-07-16. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
Los awakatecos: agricultores y migrantes. Aguacatán es un municipio de Huehuetenango cuyo nombre significa "lugar de abundantes aguacates". Es el único lugar de Guatemala donde se habla awakateco. Los aguacatecos son un pueblo cuyos orígenes se pierden en el tiempo. Sus ruinas más antiguas son conocidas como Chalchitán, poblado que originalmente se llamó Coacutec, por su origen náhuatl. En 1643, el religioso Tomás Gage llegó al actual Aguacatán y se sorprendió por las uvas que se cultivaban en el lugar. "Se vende en las calles como cosas raras y grandes golosinas; y bien lo son, porque de México a Guatemala no hay ninguna como éstas", relató el dominico irlandés. En "Recordación Florida", Francisco de Fuentes y Guzmán escribió que en Chalchitán y Aguacatán vivían "cuatrocientos y ochenta habitadores de idioma especial, que se reduce a una pronunciación gutural". En 1891, Chalchitán fue anexado como barrio a Aguacatán. En la actualidad, los aguacatecos se dedican a diversas actividades. Resalta el cultivo de ajo y la cebolla, así como el pastoreo de ovejas, de cuya lana elaboran vistosos tejidos. Buena parte del desarrollo de este municipio se debe a las remesas que envían los aguacatecos que trabajar como agricultores en EE.UU. Aunque son diestros músicos, cada día se pierde una de sus principales tradiciones: las serenatas que a la luz de la luna y acompañadas de guitarras se escuchaban en sus calles. En Sábado Santo resalta la lectura del "testamento de Judas", una crítica jocosa a las autoridades y notables del pueblo. En fechas especiales, los pobladores se dedican a las danzas populares. Destacan La Culebra y Los Toritos, que se asemejan más a las de Chiapas, México, que a las del resto de Guatemala.
- ^ "Atlas de las Lenguas Indígenas de México: Awakateko, Qa'yool (Awakateko)".
- ^ "Atlas de los Pueblos Indígenas de México. Awakatekos - Localización y zona ecológica".
- ^ "Atlas de los Pueblos Indígenas de México. Awakatekos - Religión".
- ^ "Cobertura del servicio móvil en los pueblos indígenas con base en información proporcionada por los concesionarios en el año 2022: Awakateko" (PDF).
References
[edit]- Gordon Raymond G., Jr. (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (online version) (Fifteenth ed.). Dallas, TX: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671-159-X. OCLC 60338097. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-30.
- "XI Censo Nacional de Población y VI de Habitación (Censo 2002) - Pertenencia de grupo étnico". Instituto Nacional de Estadística. 2002. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
Ancestral background of Guatemalan citizens | |
| Guatemalan native groups (Maya and others) | |
| Former and extinct | |
| Guatemalan mestizo | |
| Descendants of Europeans (white or Criollo) | |
| Descendants of Asians | |
| Afro-descendants | |
| Americas | |
| More than 100,000 people | ||
|---|---|---|
| 20,000 – 100,000 people | ||
| 1,000 – 20,000 people | ||
| Less than 1,000 people | ||
| National | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
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