This page is about the Native American people; for other uses, the dish, see Quiché (disambiguation).

The K'iche' (or Quiché in Spanish spelling), are a Native American people, one of the Maya ethnic groups. The term also denotes their native language, and their states in pre-Columbian times, which were associated with the ancient Maya civilization.

El Quiché is also the name of a department of modern Guatemala.

Rigoberta Menchú, an activist for indigenous rights who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992, is perhaps the best-known Quiché.

People

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The Quiché people live mostly in the highlands of Guatemala. Most of them speak the Quiché language, although most also have at least a working knowledge of Spanish, except in some isolated rural villages.

The El Quiché department of Guatemala is named after the Quiché people. The department is the heartland of the people, but in former times they were spread over a wider area of the Guatemala highlands.

History

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In pre-Columbian times, the Quiché were one of the most powerful states in the region. They bordered the Cakchiquel.

The Quiché were conquered by the conquistador Pedro de Alvarado in 1524. Their last king, Tecún Umán, who was killed by Alvarado, remains a folk-hero and figure of legend. Umán died fighting Alvarado's army at the valley of Quetzaltenango, where as many as 10,000 Quiché lost their lives. After the battle, the Quiché surrendered and invited Alvarado to their capital, Gumarcaj, however Alvarado suspected an ambush and had the city burned. The ruins of the city can still be seen, just a short distance from Santa Cruz del Quiché.

The Popol Vuh, the most extensive and complete pre-Columbian literary text known today, tells how the world and humans were created by the gods, the story of the divine brothers, and the history of the Quiché from their migration into their homeland up to the Spanish conquest.

Maya peoples | Mesoamerican cultures | Quiché | Quiché | Quiché | Quiché