The Indian Tribes of Guatemala. The two chief tribes were the highly cultured Cakchiquel and Quiché. They lived in what may be described as the central portion of modern Guatemala. To the north of them dwelt the Choles, Lacandones, Mopanes, and Itzas; to the south, along the Pacific coast, were the Pipiles. With the exception of the latter, all these people spoke dialects of Maya. It is well to note, however, that both Fuentes y Guzman (1882) and Stoll (1884) arrived at the conclusion that at least two thousand years must have elapsed to permit of the development of the differences that exist between the Maya of Yucatan and the Maya of the Cakchiquel and of the Quiché.
Account of the Cakchiquel and of the Quiché. The migration myths of the Cakchiquel and of the Quiché show that they came originally from the region of Mexico. Much later the Pipiles, a Nahuatl tribe, formed trade colonies on the Pacific coast.
The Government and the Cities of the Cakchiquel and of the Quiché. The ruler was chosen alternately from two families, the Zotzil and the Xahil. In like manner the early Colombian chiefs of Tunja and of Muequeta alternately chose from among their relatives the chief of Suamo. The title of the ruler was Ahpo-Zotzil or Ahpo-Xahil, as the case might be. The word ahpo, like the Quichua word apu, which it resembles, means "Great Chief." There was a marked division into classes among the Cakchiquel and the Quiché. In addition the sacerdotal body was strongly intrenched in the social system. The Annals of the Cakchiquel (Brinton, 1885) throw some light on the history of these people. These Annals were written by a member of the Xahil family. The mythical accounts go back to the reign of King Gagavitz, who flourished about 1380. Sometime early in the fifteenth century the Cakchiquel came into violent contact with the Quiché, and Quikab, King of the Quiché, made good, for a time, his rule over the Cakchiquel. Later the latter regained their freedom and founded Iximché.
Spanish Conquest. What Cortes was to Mexico and Montejo was to Yucatan, Pedro de Albarado or Alvarado was to Guatemala. He was sent to that country by Cortes, with whom he had been in Mexico. Leaving Mexico on November 13, 1523, he went to Guatemala with about eighty adventurous followers, an abundance of munitions, and some ships. He reduced the whole region of the Cakchiquel-Quiché peoples to a Spanish province. (Cortes, apud MacNutt, 1908, vol. ii, p. 178; Fuentes y Guzman, 1882, vol. i, p. 46.) On July 25, 1524, the official title of this city became Santiago de los Cavalleros de Goathemala. In 1533 the King ordered Alvarado, whom he had made Governor of Guatemala, to make to him a full report concerning the country and its people and their customs. In 1541 Alvarado died at Guatemala, having in the meantime been to Peru. From that time down to about 1675 the city and Audiencia of Guatemala enjoyed a fair measure of prosperity under the usual type of Spanish rule. In 1675 some Chol Indians arrived there, asking the Dominican Provincial of Guatemala, Padre Maestro Fray Francisco Gallegos, for missionaries to teach them the Christian faith. (Villagutierre, p. 150 ff.)
Gallegos and Delgado. As a result of this Gallegos himself and Padre Fray Joseph Delgado set off from Guatemala and traveled twenty-three leagues through very rough country. At length they came upon some Choles, whom they formed into three small villages called San Lucas, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, and Santiago. They later made these villages one and placed in it the thirty or so Indians whom they had baptized. As the other Indians had withdrawn further to the north, the Provincial and Delgado determined to go after them. The Indian converts objected to this, but the missionaries overcame their fears. In due time they came to a certain hill which the natives worshiped as God of the Mountains. Some Indian lads they had with them as servants urged the Padres to place an offering of copal before this god in order to propitiate him and prevent him from destroying them all. Of course the two priests refused to give in to the superstitious fears of their servants. They said Mass instead. As a result all their followers, save two bearers, left them.
The Indians are Friendly to them. Once the mountains had been safely crossed, the Padres found that the Indians on the other side came to see them readily enough. When the natives found that their white visitors meant them no harm, they welcomed them and made a comfortable pathway, over which they conducted the Padres.
The Route Taken by the Two Padres. After some time they reached the shore of a large, fine river called Yaxha. There they encamped for a while, going on afterward to the house of a cacique named Matzin, who was later christened Martin. He treated them very well and they founded the village of San Jacinto Matzin and preached the Christian faith there. Four leagues away lived another cacique, called Ilixil, to whom, in spite of the risk of hunger, they went. First founding a village called San Pedro y San Pablo Ilixil, the Padres baptized many children. In that same village of Ilixil they met some Indians who had come thither from Cahabon and who offered to act as guides. With them the Padres went to a place called May. After several interesting adventures, told by Villagutierre (p. 157), they renamed the village San Joseph May.
The rainy season shortly afterward began, and the missionaries retired toward Cahabon, setting up crosses as landmarks at suitable places along the way. When they regained their first village, San Lucas Tzalac, they found matters much as they had left them. From San Lucas they went to Cahabon, and from there to Cohan, in search of some Indians called Axoyes, of whom they had heard. In response to a call issued from Coban by Gallegos, one hundred and eighty persons came to him. They had already been baptized and wanted only to confess.
Several Villages Founded. On this trip Padres Gallegos and Delgado baptized twenty-three hundred and forty-six persons and founded many villages: San Lucas Tzalac, Nuestra Señora del Rosario, San Jacinto Matzin, San Pedro and San Pablo Ilixil, Assumpcion, San Joseph May, San Miguel Manche, San Francisco Sacomo (= Secouamo on Hendges 1902?), and San Fernando Axoy. Villagutierre (p. 161) gives a long list of the places to which the Padres did not go.
The Dominicans and the Franciscans. We have already seen that most of the curacies in Yucatan were in the hands of friars of the Franciscan Order. In Guatemala, on the other hand, there was for a long time a dispute between the Dominicans and the Franciscans as to which should have the privilege of proselytizing in Guatemala. This quarrel, which Remesal (p. 587 ff.) plainly thought disgraceful, was at its height from 1551 to 1560. On January 22, 1556, cedulas were dispatched from Valladolid bidding both the orders to live at peace with each other. Both orders had fine churches in Guatemala.