Mythologies of the Ch’orti’ Tribe

The Chʼortiʼ tribe (alternatively, Chʼortiʼ Maya or Chorti) are one of the Indigenous Maya peoples, who primarily reside in communities and towns of northeastern Guatemala, northwestern Honduras, and northern El Salvador. Their indigenous language, also known as Chʼortiʼ, is a survival of Classic Maya language, the language of the inscriptions in Copan. It is the first language of approximately 15,000 people, although the majority of present-day Chʼortiʼ speakers are bilingual in Spanish as well. The Chʼortiʼ area, which had Copán as its cultural center, was the headquarters of the ancient Mayan civilization. The Chʼortiʼ people in Honduras are known for their first ruler Yax K'uk' Mo' (pronounced 'Yash Kook Mo') who was the founder and first king of the dynasty that ruled the Maya city of Copan (also known as Oxwitik) for nearly 400 years. Known formally by his royal name, K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo', he reigned for eleven years from 426 to 437 CE. His name is translated as "Radiant First Quetzal Macaw" or "Sun-Eyed Green Macaw" or even "Sun In The Mouth of the Quetzal Bird". The Chʼortiʼ belong to the Meridional Mayans, and are closely related to the Mayans in Yucatán, Belize and Northern Guatemala. They are also somewhat related to the Choles, Mayans who currently live in Chiapas.

Chortí, Mayan Indians of eastern Guatemala and Honduras and formerly of adjoining parts of El Salvador. The Chortí are linguistically related to the Chol and Chontal (qq.v.) of Chiapas, Oaxaca, and Tabasco in southeastern Mexico. Culturally, however, the Chortí are more similar to their neighbours on the west, the Pocomam. They live in an uneven terrain varying from lowlands to mountains; climate is warm and wet in the lowlands, cool to cold in the highlands. The Chortí are agriculturalists and small-scale merchants. Individual Chortí villages specialize in a crop or craft product, which they trade or sell to other Chortí villages to provide necessities. Corn (maize), fruits and vegetables, sugarcane, coffee and tobacco, and beans are among village agricultural specializations. Baskets, hats, woven mats, tanned leather, wood products and carpentry, pottery, charcoal, leather goods, soap, indigo dye, and processed sugarcane are among the goods and skills traded. Tortillas and beans are dietary staples. Several sleeping houses, a kitchen, and outbuildings make up the typical household among the Chortí. Their buildings are constructed of leaves, poles, or thatch on a pole framework. Weaving and pottery making are practiced at the household level as well as at the village industrial level. Their clothing is semitraditional; women wear handwoven skirts and blouses and men wear white cotton shirts and pants. Households made up of eight or nine related families are the rule among the Chortí; the father of the family group acts as head of household. Ritual kinship bonds are made at the baptism of children. Their religion is basically Roman Catholic, and is centred on the veneration of patron saints. The Catholic laymen’s society (cofradía) arranges fiestas and has care of the village’s patron saint. Various native gods and spirits are acknowledged and propitiated.

The ancestral lands of the Mayan Ch’orti’ Peoples cover a vast amount of territory in eastern Guatemala, principally in the municipalities of Camotán, Jocotán, San Juan Ermita, Olopa, Quezaltepeque, in Chiquimula y La Unión, in the department of Zacapa, and extend to the neighboring countries of El Salvador and Honduras. According to national statistics, the majority of the Ch’orti’ people, numbering around 56,000, live in Guatemala. The Ch’orti’ are descendants of Copa Kalel, of the Kingdom of Payaquí and Copan, in Guatemala and Honduras. Like most Mayan communities, the Ch’orti’ have suffered from theft of their lands, political repression, cultural loss, and recently, have been victims of media disinformation, arrest, and murder of their leaders who have dedicated their lives to defending their lands. The Ch’orti’ cannot grow their own food and products for local markets without access to land. They also cannot prioritize crop types according to climate change. Faced with the reality that the lands of their ancestors are and continue to be in the hands of wealthy farmers, the Ch’orti’ people are used as a cheap source of labor, and the government of Guatemala is continuing to taking away their titles to communal lands. The Ch’orti’ community is starting to fight for their land and recognition of their cultural ancestry. Coordinadora de Comunidades y Asociaciones por el Desarrollo Integral del Pueblo Ch’orti’ (COMUNDICH) began in 2004 with a mission to revitalize their identity, empower legitimate Indigenous Ch’orti’ authorities through councils and communal juntas, and promote spirituality, and reclaim territory. In 2007, COMUNDICH started a community process for the recovery of Ch’orti’ communal lands. This resulted in a three year-long battle with little resources to obtain communal title documentation from the General Archives of Central America, Register General of the Property, and the Catholic Church. The investigation enabled the community to learn about their history. They learned how past generations of Ch’orti’ fought for their lands while the Spanish colony became the Guatemalan State.

The Ch’orti’ area, with Copán as a key center, was a focal point of the ancient Mayan civilization. The indigenous Ch’orti’ speakers belong culturally and linguistically to the southern Mayan groups and thus are most closely related to the Mayas of the Yucatan, Belize, and northern Guatemala. Other Cholan groups, like the Chols of Chiapas and the Chontales of Tabasco, are linguistic and cultural cousins of the Ch’orti’. Confronted by the Spanish invasion, the Ch’orti’, lead by their leader Copán Calel, put up a fierce resistance but were eventually subdued. Historically, the Ch’orti’ Maya of Honduras occupied the departments of Ocotepeque, Copán, and a narrow strip of land in the northern part of Cortes and Santa Barbara. The territory of all the former Ch’orti’-speakers extended from northwestern El Salvador in the south, the Motagua River of Guatemala in the west, the Caribbean to the north, the aforementioned departments of Honduras in the east. Today, most of the remaining 20,000 Ch’orti’-speakers are located in the townships of Jocotán and Olopa in the Department of Chiquimula, Guatemala. In our country, the Ch’orti’ populations live in areas that are difficult to access, including rural communities (aldeas) in Copán Ruinas, Santa Rita, Cabañas, and Paraíso in the Departament of Santa Rosa de Copán, and those of Nuevo Ocotepeque and Sensenti in the Departament of Ocotepeque. Although few of these rural people still speak Ch’orti’, our cultural and physical heritage largely comes from the former Ch’orti’ speakers. Despite various forces motivating the abandonment of their distinctive cultures, such ethnic discrimination, the arrival of new religions and schools, and territorial separation from Ch’orti’-speaking populations in Guatemala, the rural populations continue to reproduce various unique traditions. For example, they continue to use such Ch’orti’ words as kume (ch. ku’m) for youngest child, ixchoko (ch. ijch’ok, girl) for youth, tzik’in for the Month of the Dead, and chiwan for pataste (or chayote and guisquil in other countries). Their music is played on various instruments, including the teponagua, the cortin, drums, flutes, rattles, timbrels, and deer antlers. While our diet has been reduced to mostly corn tortillas and beans, we preserve ancient recipes such as chilar, pozol, atole dulce, and atole agrio (chuco) corn drinks, fermented sugarcane and pineapple drinks, and tortillas, tamales (ticucus, xepes, etc.), totoposte, and soups. We worship and venerate nature through rituals to the earth, wind, and rain gods, and the consagration of seeds. The current inhabitants of the departments of Copán and Ocotepeque are to some extent direct descendents of the Chortís. The Ch’ortís of Copán use Spanish as their main means of communication. Few people speak Ch’ortí, and those that do, come from Guatemala. The territorial boundaries between Honduras and Guatemala have separated the Ch’orti’populations in both countries. This has contributed to the loss of the language and ethnic extinction in general; however, they still maintain their traditional dress. Their musical culture is expressed through a series of instruments, such as teponagua, cortin, tambor (drum), pito, chincin, sonaja, and cuerno. The rhythm most representative is the Baile of the Gigantes (Dance of the Giants). Their diet has been reduced to corn and beans. Corn is prepared in various ways: drinks (chilar, pozol, atole dulce and agrio), tortillas, tamal de viaje, totoposte, and alcoholic beverages (made with fermented pineapple and sugar cane juice. Ch’ortís revere the environment through rituals for the gods of the earth and consecration of seeds in honor of the wind gods. We also know hundreds of medicinal herbs and remedies.

The origin and early years of the Ch’ortí people are indeed fascinating topics to explore. To start, it’s important to note that they are indigenous to the region that encompasses present-day Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.According to archaeological evidence, their long history in the area, dates back thousands of years. It is believed that their ancestors were part of the larger Maya civilization, which flourished throughout Central America from around 2000 BCE until the arrival of European colonizers. The Ch’ortí developed their specific culture and traditions as they passed through thee major periods prior to 900CD. During this time, the Maya civilization began to form, and the Ch’ortí were likely an integral part of this cultural development. The Ch’ortí region saw the rise of early Maya city-states and the development of agricultural practices. Classic Period (250 CE – 900 CE) witnessed the peak of Maya civilization and the flourishing of Ch’ortí culture. Prominent Maya city-states, such as Copán in western Honduras, played a vital role in the Ch’ortí history. Copán was a major political and cultural center, known for its impressive architecture, hieroglyphic writing, and intricate artwork. The Ch’ortí people have a rich oral tradition that traces their lineage and history back to the ancient Maya. They are known for their agricultural practices, including the cultivation of maize (corn), beans, and squash. These practices have been passed down through generations, contributing to the cultural identity of the Ch’ortí people.