Jakaltek people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 47,024[1] - 88,000[2] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Guatemala |
47,024 - 77,000[3] |
 Mexico |
approx. 11,000[4] |
| Languages | |
| Jakaltek (Poptí), Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Roman Catholic, Evangelicalist, Maya religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Kanjobal - (Maya peoples) | |
The Jakaltek people[pronunciation?] are a Mayan people of Guatemala. They have lived in the foothills of the Cuchumatán Mountains in the Department of Huehuetenango in northwestern Guatemala since pre-Columbian times, centered on the town of Jacaltenango. Located on a plateau overlooking Mexico, Jacaltenango is 1,437 m above sea level and its surrounding villages are located at both higher and lower elevations. The town of Jacaltenango is a governmental, religious, and market center of the region. In the Jakaltek language the town of Jacaltenango is called Xajlaj[pronunciation?], or “place of the big white rock slabs.”
For many years, this area was physically and culturally the most remote from Spanish centers in the country. The 72-km trip from Huehuetenango, the capital of the department, was a two-day walk. Since 1974, when an unpaved road was built from the Pan-American Highway to Jacaltenango, it has been a five-hour bus ride from Huehuetenango to Jacaltenango. Electricity came to town in 1979.[5] This relative isolation has resulted in the preservation of many customs in the community which have been lost elsewhere. For example, a few Jakaltek people still use the blowgun[6] for hunting small animals and birds. The Jakaltek also maintain a belief system which involves Naguals and Tonals[7]
Notes
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<references />, or <references group="..." />| Guatemalan Indians/Mayans | |
|---|---|
| Guatemalan mestizo | |
| Descendants of Europeans (whites or Criollos) | |
| Descendants of Asians | |
| Descendants of African slaves | |
| Americas | |
| More than 100,000 people | |
|---|---|
| 20,000–100,000 people | |
| 1,000–20,000 people | |
| Less than 1,000 people | |
- ↑ According to the official 2002 census for Guatemala: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Estimates of Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) for 1998 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ According to the official 2002 census: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Note that the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) mentions a higher number of 77,000 for Guatemala in 1998 [1]
- ↑ Estimate of the Summer Institute of Linguistics for 1998: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=gt
- ↑ Carol Ventura. Maya Hair Sashes Backstrap Woven in Jacaltenango, Guatemala, Cintas mayas tejidas con el telar de cintura de Jacaltenango, Guatemala, 2003, ISBN 0-9721253-1-0.
- ↑ Carol Ventura. "The Jakaltek Maya Blowgun in Mythological and Historical Context", in Ancient Mesoamerica, 2003, 14.2: 257-268.
- ↑ * Stratmeyer, Dennis & Jean , 1977,"The Jacaltec Nawal and the Soul Bearer in Concepcion Huista", in Cognitive Studies of Southern Mesoamerica, Helen L. Neuenschander and Dean E. Arnold eds.,Summer Institute of Linguistics, Museum of Anthropology Publication 3
