The Ixil () are a
Maya people
Maya () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people who lived w ...
located in the states of
Campeche
Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...
and
Quintana Roo
Quintana Roo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 administrative divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into municipalities of ...
in
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
and in the municipalities of
Santa María Nebaj,
San Gaspar Chajul, and
San Juan Cotzal in the northern part of the
Cuchumatanes mountains of the department of
Quiché,
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
. These three municipalities are known as the
Ixil Triangle and are the place of origin of the Ixil culture and where the majority of the population lives.
During the
Guatemalan Civil War
The Guatemalan Civil War was fought from 1960 to 1996 between the government of Guatemala and various Left-wing politics, leftist rebel groups. The Guatemalan government forces committed Guatemalan genocide, genocide against the Maya population o ...
(1960-1996), the Ixil people were victims of repression and violence by the Guatemalan military government in what is known as the
Guatemalan genocide
The Guatemalan genocide, also referred to as the Maya genocide, or the Silent Holocaust (, , or ), was the mass killing of the Maya peoples, Maya Indigenous people during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996) by successive Guatemalan military go ...
; many were displaced forcibly to Mexico to escape the violence. Once on Mexican territory, they established refugee camps that later turned to new towns and permanent communities.
Language
The
Ixil language belongs to the
Mamean branch of Mayan languages and has two dialects: Ixil Nebajeño and Ixil Chajuleño. It is very closely related to the
Awakatek language.
Location
In Campeche, the Ixil live in the communities of Quetzal Edzná and Los Laureles from the
Campeche
Campeche, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche, is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, make up the Administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the sta ...
municipality and in Maya Tecún II from the municipality of
Champotón. In Quintana Roo they live in the localities of Kuchumatán and Maya Balam from the Bacalar municipality.
Genocide
In the early 1980s, the
Ixil Community was one of the principal targets of a
genocide
Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
operation, involving systematic rape, forced displacements and hunger during the
Guatemalan civil war
The Guatemalan Civil War was fought from 1960 to 1996 between the government of Guatemala and various Left-wing politics, leftist rebel groups. The Guatemalan government forces committed Guatemalan genocide, genocide against the Maya population o ...
. In May 2013
Efraín Ríos Montt
José Efraín Ríos Montt (; 16 June 1926 – 1 April 2018) was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as ''de facto'' President of Guatemala from 1982 to 1983. His brief tenure as chief executive was one of the blo ...
was found guilty by a Guatemala court of having ordered the deaths of 1,771 Ixil people. The presiding judge, Jazmin Barrios, declared that "
e Ixils were considered public enemies of the state and were also victims of racism, considered an inferior race." According to a 1999 United Nations
truth commission
A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...
, between 70% and 90% of Ixil villages were razed and 60% of the population in the ''altiplano'' region were forced to flee to the mountains between 1982 and 1983. By 1996, it was estimated that some 7,000 Maya Ixil had been killed. The violence was particularly heightened during 1979–1985 as successive Guatemalan administrations and the military pursued an indiscriminate
scorched-earth
A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...
(in ) policy.
In 2013, General
Efraín Ríos Montt
José Efraín Ríos Montt (; 16 June 1926 – 1 April 2018) was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as ''de facto'' President of Guatemala from 1982 to 1983. His brief tenure as chief executive was one of the blo ...
, who served as
President of Guatemala
The president of Guatemala (), officially titled President of the Republic of Guatemala (), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a single four-year term. The position of President was created in 1839.
Selectio ...
from 1982 to 1983, was found guilty of genocide against the Ixil people. In 2018, a Guatemalan court ruled that the army committed acts of genocide, but no one was convicted.
In 2024, General Manuel Benedicto Lucas García (brother of President
Fernando Romeo Lucas García) was placed on trial for genocide, crimes against humanity, forced disappearances, and sexual violence against the Maya Ixil people. He ordered more than 30 massacres and destroyed 23 villages in the Maya Ixil region, causing the death of at least 1,771 people when he led the army between 1981 and 1982.
Celebrations
In Campeche, the Ixil celebrate the Day of the Nature with a ceremony to thank Mother Earth for the food granted to them. This ceremony starts near a body of water where the people come together to share cultivated products like corn, beans, fruits and vegetables.
Religion
In Campeche, the Ixil people praise the Sun (''K'ii'' in Ixil) in a daily ritual where the head of the family goes right to the sunset, and in ceremonial manner thanks the Sun for its light and for guiding his path to work, asking to not suffer any accident along the way or get lost.
See also
*
Ixil language
*
Ixil genocide
Notes
References
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{{Authority control
Indigenous peoples in Guatemala
Maya peoples of Guatemala
Mesoamerican cultures
Quiché Department
Indigenous peoples in Mexico
Ethnic groups in Mexico
Maya peoples of Mexico