Tecún Umán
Encyclopedia
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. According to the Kaqchikel annals, he was slain by Spanish Conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
Don Pedro de Alvarado
Pedro de Alvarado
Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the conquest of Mexico led by Hernan Cortes...
while waging battle against the Spaniards
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
in the grasslands of El Pinal (Valley of Olintepeque
Olintepeque
Olintepeque is a municipality in the Quetzaltenango department of Guatemala. It is located on the Xequijel River.Olintepeque is known for being the place where the legendary K'iche' king Tecún Umán died in single combat with the Spanish conquistador, Pedro de Alvarado on February 18, 1524...
) on February 20, 1524. Tecún Umán is considered the most representative of his people for his bravery and dignity because he fought to protect his land and his people. He was declared Guatemala's official national hero on March 22, 1960 and is commemorated on February 20, on the anniversary of his death. Tecún Umán has inspired a wide variety of activities ranging from the production of statues and poetry to the retelling of the legend in the form of folkloric dances to prayers. Despite this, Tecún Umán's existence is not well documented, and it has proven to be difficult to separate the man from the legend.
Battle of El Pinal
In the middle of November 1523, the Estremaduran captain Don Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras had been sent on an important mission by Hernán CortésHernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
to discover and conquer the lands south of Mexico. For this journey, Alvarado was given three hundred soldiers, a hundred and twenty archers and gunmen, one hundred and thirty five horsemen, and several hundred Cholutec and Tlaxcaltec
Tlaxcaltec
The Tlaxcalteca were an indigenous group of Nahua ethnicity that inhabited the Kingdom of Tlaxcala located in what is now the Mexican state of Tlaxcala.-Pre-hispanic history:...
allies. Arriving in Guatemala in 1524, the Spanish conquistadors discovered natives who were of ethnological Maya and Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
origin, the most powerful presence being K'iche'. At that time, Alvarado allied himself with those of the Kaqchikel, who had long been bitter rivals of the K'iche' nation. Prior to setting foot in Guatemala, the Kaqchikels had already surrendered to the Spaniards in 1520 and asked for assistance in defeating their enemies. Cortés had sent messengers to the K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj
K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj
The K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj was a state in the highlands of modern day Guatemala which was founded by the K'iche' Maya in the thirteenth century, and which expanded through the fifteenth century until it was conquered by Spanish and Nahua forces led by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524.The K'iche'...
, requesting their peaceful submission to Spanish rule and a cessation of hostilities towards the Kaqchikel. The K'iche denied their requests and quietly prepared for battle. When the army arrived at Xelajú (modern-day Quetzaltenango) the K'iche' steward of the town sent word to Q'umarkaj. The K'iche' chose Tecún Umán as their commander against the Spanish troops, and so it was that he and his 8,400 warriors met the aggressors in El Pinal, where they were defeated.
The legend
The legends say Tecún Umán entered battle adorned with precious quetzalResplendent Quetzal
The Resplendent Quetzal, Pharomachrus mocinno, is a bird in the trogon family. It is found from southern Mexico to western Panama . It is well known for its colorful plumage. There are two subspecies, P. m. mocinno and P. m...
feathers, and his nahual (animal spirit guide), also a quetzal bird, accompanied him during the battle. In the midst of the fray, both Alvarado and Tecún, warriors from worlds apart, met face to face, each with weapon in hand. Alvarado was clad in armor and mounted on his warhorse. As horses were not native to the Americas and peoples of Mesoamerica had no beasts of burden of their own, Tecún Umán assumed they were one being and killed Alvarado's horse. (While another version says he merely attacked the horse in an attempt to knock Alvarado down, having no prior illusion that both man and animal to be one and the same.) He quickly realized his error and turned for a second attack but Alvarado's spear pierced through his opponent's chest and into his heart. It was then his nahual, filled with grief, landed on the fallen hero's chest, staining its breast feathers red with blood, and thereafter died. From that day on, all male quetzals bear a scarlet breast and their song has not been heard since. Further, if one is to be placed in captivity, it would die, making the quetzal a symbol of liberty.
Another account claims a much more complex confrontation of religious and material forces. In this version Tecún Umán himself literally transformed into a quetzal or in some variations an eagle adorned with three crowns of gold, precious diamonds and emeralds. Other natives had attempted to kill Alvarado, but he was protected by a powerful maiden, commonly associated with the Virgin Mary. Tecún called upon his own magic, and in the intention of killing Alvarado, struck Alvarado's horse dead. Upon learning he had killed only the beast and not the man, he had attempted to correct his mistake, but was quickly impaled by Alvarado's spear.
A more radically different version states Tecún Umán had an opportunity to kill Alvarado but ultimately failed and was slain by one of Alvarado's subordinates, a soldier known by the name of Argueta.
Local folklore from the area around the former K'iche' capital of Q'umarkaj preserves the belief that he was buried at the small archaeological site of Atalaya, 600 metres (656.2 yd) from Q'umarkaj itself.
Historical evidence
The true existence of a historical Tecún Umán is subject of ongoing debate. One piece of evidence to suggest he lived comes from a letter written by Alvarado to Hernán Cortés. However, the letter is quite sparing in details, with Alvarado only mentioning of the battle that ensued: "in this affair one of the four chiefs of the city of Utatlán was killed, who was the captain general of all this country." Alvarado did not provide a name for the K'iche' general; nor did he mention how or by whose hand the man was killed. Several other indigenous documents describe the arrival of Alvarado in what would become Guatemala, including the Título K'oyoi which describes the battle in terms similar to the modern legend. This document also contains the earliest known reference to the K'iche' leader as "Tecum Umam".The Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh is a corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the Post Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the People."...
confirms the observations of Bartolomé de las Casas and the Título de Totonicapan, which record that four lords ruled the K'iche' at the time of the Spanish conquest. The first-born son of the Keeper of the Mat (the most powerful of the lords) was expected to prove himself by leading the K'iche' army and was given the title "nima rajpop achij", the same title given to Tecún Umán in the Título K'oyoi. This is all tied together by the genealogy of the K'iche' lords that is given near the end of the Popul Vuh and a section of the Título de Totonicapan, which both refer to the son of the Keeper of the Mat as "Tecum" at the time of Alvarado's arrival.
A second explanation for the absence of greater detail in Alvarado's letter is that Tecún Umán actually did battle with one of Alvarado's subordinates, by the name of Argueta. This suggestion is based on the claim of Argueta's descendants that the lance they keep as an heirloom of their predecessor is stained with the blood of the K'iche' hero.
Name
It is believed that "Tecún Umán" was more than likely not the ruler's name at all but may have functioned as a sort of title. The earliest recorded appearance of the name is in the Título K'oyoi in which he is referred to as "nima rajpop achij adelantado Tecum umam rey k'iche' don k'iq'ab'." Translated, this phrase means: "great captain-general Tecum, grandson of the K'iche' king Don K'iqab'." Therefore the word "uman" or "umam" simply means "grandson of" and is not part of Tecún's name at all. It has been suggested that "umam" may have been a reference to his genealogy, or the name may have originally been derived from another title given to the hero, "q'uq'umam", meaning "ancient one of quetzal feathers", or it might have come from the indigenous name for a prominent local volcano: "Teyocuman."Baile de la Conquista
The Guatemalan Baile de la ConquistaBaile de la Conquista
The Baile de la Conquista or Dance of the Conquest is a traditional folkloric dance from Guatemala. The dance reenacts the invasion led by Spanish Conquistador Don Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras and his confrontation with the K'iche' Maya ruler Tecún Umán...
("Dance of the Conquest") is a traditional dance borrowing its structure from the Spanish Baile de los Moros ("Dance of the Moors") which commemorates the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. The dance is known to have been performed throughout regions of colonial Latin America, when Catholic priests encouraged the dance to aid in the conversion of various native populations.
In Guatemala, the dance recounts the early events of the conquest, centering on the confrontation between both Tecún Umán and Pedro de Alvarado, which in turn serves as a symbol for the much larger conflict in which they were involved. The dance reenacts the invasion led by Alvarado and the conquest of Guatemala. To fit the traditions of the Baile de los Moros, the role of the Moorish prince is replaced with that of Tecún Umán. It has therefore been suggested that the structure of the dance forced them to create a leader for the native armies, with Tecún Umán created specifically for that purpose. This theory is generally given little credence, in light of the observation that such documents as the Título K'oyoi appeared long before the first performances of the Baile de la Conquista.
National Hero
Tecún Umán was declared a National Hero of Guatemala on March 22, 1960 and is celebrated annually on February 20. Tecún Umán's namesakes include a small town in the department of San Marcos on the Guatemala-Mexico border as well as countless hotels, restaurants, and Spanish schools throughout Guatemala. He is also memorialized in a poem by Miguel Ángel AsturiasMiguel Ángel Asturias
Miguel Ángel Asturias Rosales was a Nobel Prize–winning Guatemalan poet, novelist, playwright, journalist and diplomat...
that bears his name. In contrast to his popularity, he is at times rejected by Maya cultural activists who consider his status as a national hero a source of irony, considering the long history of mistreatment of Guatemala's native population.