The Temples of Tayasal Described by Avendaño. "In order to worship the ... idols[2.3] there are nine very large buildings, made in the form of the churches of this Province,--all new, with traces of others which had been burned, although they built them again, as I saw in the case of two which had been rebuilt. All such buildings have a wall about a yard and a half high and of the thickness of six quarters; the bench or seat all around, which stands out from the middle inwards, is three quarters thick and the rest, which stands out above, is three quarters thick; so that both together form two rows of seats around the said churches, and all repainted and polished."
The Palace of Canek, Chief of the Itzas. "Of this same workmanship is the hall[2.4] which the King or Ah Canek has as a vestibule to his house, in which he receives his guests as he did us, although in addition it has the floor covered with bitumen and polished, which the said temples do not have. At the entrance of the said hall stands a large stone table more than two yards long and proportionally broad, placed on stone columns, with twelve seats of the same around it for the priests. This is the table of sacrifice, which they call in their language Mayactun,--the first object which our eyes perceived in that first reception, from which, with the preceding attempts on the lake, we were able to conjecture that they would put us to death; and the more so when we saw that the number of people who ran together at the novelty of seeing us was so great, that besides filling all the hall inside, those who could not find a place there, obstructed on the outside all the light which the hall had, and which came in all around it, so that they left us in such gloomy darkness, that, being seated, as I was, in the midst of my companion Padres, we could only perceive one another by the touch; but such a thing did not come into our minds, but rather we understood that here was the room of welcome for all...."
The Districts of Peten Itza. "I asked them how many districts that Peten had on which we were, and counting by the fingers on their hands and the toes on their feet, they told me there were twenty-two, which they went on to describe by their names, and they are as follows:
"Districts of Peten Ytza on which the King Ah Canek lives--
| That of King Ahcanek | That of Ach Cat Baca |
| That of noh ah chata | That of ach cat halach Vinic |
| That of Ah tze tzin batab | That of ach cat Mulcah |
| That of the cacique nohche | That of ach cat Kinchil |
| That of ach chatan ek | That of ach cat Kinchan |
| That of ach cat Cixban | That of ach cat Kayom (?) |
| That of noh tzo can Punab | That of ach cat Cit can |
| That of noh tzo can noh | That of ach cat Ytza |
| That of tzo can tzic | That of ach cat Pop |
| That of ach can Matan cua | That of ach cat Camal |
| That of ach cat Batun | That of ach cat Mas Kin |
"These towns or districts bear the names of the cacique or head who rules them, as seen by the table above, although all have separate names of their own, and all are subject, as are also the other Petens, to the King Ahcanek, and also all the communities which are found in Cha Kan Ytza, besides those who are found on the main land towards the East situated around the said Petens. This kingdom came to him by inheritance, and so their Kings are always Ah Can Eks. But not because of this are all the Caneks of royal blood or relations of one another; since also all those of his own town or district are called Caneks, and not on this account are they his relations, since they also bear their lawful names and only have this one because of the chief who rules them. It is well known to the King that he holds this place through blood, since it is certain that he and his family have a rare character and goodness, since he is so very good that all treat him with some boldness, so that he is not able to govern what he possesses...."
Extent of the Itza Dominion under the Chief Canek. It is from the Franciscan Fray Alonso Cano, who wrote about 1696, that we derive the clearest information as to the extent of the Itza dominions. He says: "... The other forty-five leagues from Mopan to the Lake one travels (though with various windings) from South to North, with some little tendency to the North-west. This land belongs to the Mopanes and Ahizaes, and it stretches to the East as far as the sea-coast ... Of the boundaries of the Ahiza nation on the North the men of Yucatan will give trustworthy information."
All the foregoing leads one to believe that the influence of Canek, petty chief of the Itzas, and of his immediate subjects was felt throughout the region east of Lake Peten, the region in which are located Alain (or Yalain), San Clemente, Yaxha, and Tipu. Indeed Villagutierre (p. 460) leaves us in no doubt as to the fact that Chamaxculu, the aged chief of Alain, was the direct vassal of Canek.
Quincanek. So far we have been considering only the political aspect of the Itza state. There was an important sacerdotal organization as well. As to its exact nature there is, unfortunately, some confusion. Villagutierre says that the head of the priesthood was the oldest brother of Canek and that he bore the title of Quincanek. Cano says that Cuin Kenek was the chief of Peten. Pedro Sanches de Leon, writing in the eighteenth century, says (p. 146 ff.): "In that time (1700-1703), or a little before, the conquest of the Lake of the Ahitzaes took place, and the Indian kings were seen to enter Guatemala as prisoners; they were called after baptism Don Jose and Don Francisco Canek, and with them also was the high-priest of this nation, who was also called Canek...." Maler uses the terms Canek and Kincanek interchangeably. The question is not an important one, and I shall make no attempt to solve it.
Further Information about the Region. "... In the northerly direction lies the Kingdom of Yucathan; towards the South, the road which the men of Gautemala have opened, starting from Vera Paz; on the West, Cha Kan Ytza and the Cehaches; on the East, slightly North, the nation of the men of Tipu; in the direction of the South, running from East to West, are very high ridges, which are really the Sierra Madre, from which (in New Spain) they exploit mines, and as there are mines there, there is no doubt that there are some here, since it is one and the same ridge. There must be mines in the environs of this nation of the Ytzaes, because the most of the Indians (in some large ear drops which they wear) have roses of silver hanging down, and others of silver and gold, and as the Spaniards do not come to this nation, nor the Indians of this Province of Yucathan, nor of the other provinces, because they are afraid of them, I do not know where they could get this gold and silver unless they took it from some mine. In the said southerly direction running towards the East, the said Peten Ytzaes have their farms and tilled fields on the main land; and in said fields they have their houses as in Peten, so as to live there all the time that the cultivation lasts, so that the houses are doubled in number as well as the families. From this, people imagine that this nation is more numerous than it really is.