Nahualá facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nahualá
Municipality
Nahualá Location in Guatemala
Country	Guatemala
Department	Sololá
Municipality	Nahualá
Government
• Type	Municipal
Area
• Municipality	218 km2 (84 sq mi)
Elevation	2,467 m (8,094 ft)
Population  (census 2002)
• Municipality	51,939
• Density	238/km2 (620/sq mi)
• Urban	17,174
• Ethnicities	Kʼicheʼ Ladino
• Religions	Catholicism Evangelicalism Maya religion
Climate	Cwb
Website	http://www.inforpressca.com/nahuala/

Nahualá (pronounced na-wa-la') is a municipality in the Sololá department of Guatemala. Sometimes, people call the town Santa Catalina Nahualá. This is to honor its patron saint, Saint Catherine of Alexandria. However, its official name is simply "Nahualá".

In the past, the town's name was spelled Nagualá. Even older records show spellings like Nauala, Niguala, Niuala, and Navala. The name Nahualá, or Nawala' in the Kʼicheʼ language, is also used for the Nahualate River. In the local Nahualá dialect, the river is called Niwala'. This river starts in the northern part of Nahualá and flows right through the center of the town's main area, known as the cabecera.

Nahualá is home to the radio station Nawal Estereo. This station is the modern version of La Voz de Nahualá. That original station started in the 1960s with help from Catholic priests. Today, Nawal Estereo mostly broadcasts in the Kʼicheʼ language. Some programs are also in Kaqchikel and Spanish.

What Does the Name Nahualá Mean?

Local people in Nahualá say the name means "enchanted waters," "water of the spirits," or "magical water(s)." They often don't like the common Spanish translation, agua de los brujos, which means "water of the shamans."

Scholarly Interpretations of the Name

Experts usually believe the name Nahualá comes from two parts. One part is the Nahuatl word nagual or nahual. This word means "magician" and is linked to clear or powerful speech. The other part is the Kʼicheʼ word ja', which means "water."

The Meaning of 'Nawal'

About a thousand years ago, the word nawal came into Mayan languages. It began to mean "spirit[s]" or "divine co-essence[s]". It also referred to "shaman[s]" in Kʼicheʼ. Some Maya language experts have suggested the "true" name should be Nawalja' or Nawal-ja'. However, the word ja' is often shortened at the end of words, especially place names. This happens in Kʼicheʼ and other related Mayan languages.

Old Records and Place Names

The new names like Nawalja' and Nawal-ja' don't match how the word was pronounced in sixteenth-century Kʼicheʼ. Old documents written by native nobility in Latin letters show this.

For example, the sixteenth-century Título Yax mentions a place called "navala" or "nauala." This site was south of the Yax territory in San Miguel Totonicapan. Some scholars thought a similar name in the Annals of the Kaqchikel referred to modern Nahualá. Many tourism and political groups still repeat this idea. However, it might actually refer to an older community. This community, called San Juan Nahualá or San Juan Nagualapan, was about 20 kilometers south.

Local Landmarks in Old Texts

The Kaqchikel Annals do mention many places around and within the township. This includes the hill Chwi' Raxon, located in the center of the modern main town. One of the earliest mentions of Nahualá in the highlands is in the sixteenth-century Kaqchikel-language Xpantzay Títulos. It speaks of a place called "chohohche niguala." This is now a modern area of Nahualá called Chojojche'. Its name means "Dry/Rattling Trees" or "Before the Crow Tree."

Other old texts from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries mention Nahualá directly. They use names like "navala" or "nauala." They also describe the community through its landmarks. The Título de Totonicapán mentions Siija, an old fortress on a hill 12 kilometers west of Nahualá's main plaza. It also mentions Pa Raxk'im, a mountain range covering most of the township. This is also the name of a village far from the central plaza. Other local sites in these old texts include Chi Q'al[i]b'al and Chwi'/Cho Poop Ab'aj. These are mentioned in the Anales de los Cakchiqueles. Other local sites include Chwi' Raxon, Xajil Juyub', Pa Tz'itee', and Chwi' Patan.

A Brief History of Nahualá

Even though old documents mention Nahualá, some experts and even many Maya people have wrongly claimed the community was only founded in the late 1800s. This idea comes from mistaken interpretations of local stories.

Ancient Origins of Nahualá

Nahualá was settled a very long time ago, at least during the Pre-Classic Period. An archaeologist named John Fox studied the area in the 1970s. He found buildings from the Pre-Classic, Classic, and Post-Classic Periods.

Traditional Craftsmanship

Grinding stones found near Quetzaltenango date back to 500 BCE. These were likely made near Nahualá's main town. People there still dig up volcanic basalt rock. They carve these stones into grinding tools. These tools are then sold throughout Guatemala's western highlands.

Who Lives in Nahualá?

Quiche Mayan Women at Nahualá market

Almost everyone living in Nahualá is from the Kʼicheʼ Maya ethnic group. They speak the Kʼicheʼ language.

Population Numbers

The total population of the township is thought to be between 50,000 and 85,000 people. About 10% of these residents live in the main town. The exact numbers vary a lot. This is because some of Nahualá's land and several large villages are also claimed by its neighboring township, Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán.

Understanding the Land Conflict

Officially, Nahualá and Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán share their land. This is based on an old agreement from 1779. Today, the total area of both municipalities is 218 square kilometers. About two-thirds of this land is controlled by the people of Nahualá, known as AjNawala'iib'.

Recent Disputes

Disagreements between the two towns have been common, especially since 1999. That year, the government of Guatemala decided to move the main town of Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán. Its original location was damaged by Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The new site chosen was Chwi' Patan, which is within Nahualá's territory. A North American Catholic priest working in Nahualá in the 1960s nicknamed this spot "Alaska."

Treaty and Unrest

National government officials tried to make a deal between the mayors of Nahualá and Ixtahuacán. This deal would allow Ixtahuacán's main town to move. However, people from Ixtahuacán moved onto the land too early. They did this before the deal was fully made, before the land was surveyed, and before Nahualá or the private landowners were paid.

Some Nahualeños were hurt or killed during conflicts. Many Nahualeños see Ixtahuacán's early move onto Chwi' Patan as a theft. The national government and the elected local governments later changed the original agreement. But the payment has still not been fully made. Many Nahualeños refuse to accept the agreement. They say that the general population and Nahualá's local elders (called principales in Spanish or ri'j'laab' in Kʼicheʼ) were not given a chance to approve the treaty. These elders traditionally have more authority than elected officials.

Ongoing Issues

Nahualeños say that Ixtahuacanecos have been making Nueva Ixtahuacán bigger. They claim this is happening by illegally taking farmland from Nahualeños living nearby. They also report that Ixtahuacanecos have bothered Nahualeño farmers. They have blocked access to fields and destroyed crops and sheds in the Chwi' Pataan area.

Since 1999, the government of Guatemala has tried to solve this conflict. They have tried to set a clear border between the two areas. But their efforts have been difficult. This is due to ongoing fights and land invasions. It's also because they don't fully understand the complex ways indigenous people use and own land.

Languages Spoken in Nahualá

The main language spoken in Nahualá is Kʼicheʼ. More and more people in the township are learning to speak Spanish, also called castellano. However, about 30% of adults do not speak Spanish.

Other Local Languages

Not speaking Spanish doesn't mean people only speak one language. Many residents, especially those involved in trade or living in the far west and south of the township, also speak Kaqchikel and Tz'utijil. These languages are closely related to Kʼicheʼ.

Sign Language in the Community

A significant number of people in Nahualá also communicate using an indigenous natural sign language. Locals call this language Meemul Ch'aab'al or Meemul Tziij, which means "mute language(s)." The number of people born deaf or who become deaf early in life is very high in Nahualá. In the main town, this rate is more than 10 times higher than the worldwide average.

Kʼicheʼ Dialect of Nahualá

Since the 1970s, many linguists have studied the Kʼicheʼ dialect spoken in Nahualá. They believe it is a very old and traditional dialect in terms of its sounds and words. Some Maya linguists have even suggested that the official Kʼicheʼ alphabet should follow the sounds of the Nahualá dialect.

The Nahualá dialect has kept sounds that have been lost in other Kʼicheʼ communities. This includes towns linked to the old Kʼicheʼ kingdom, like Q'uma'rka'aaj (now Santa Cruz del Quiché) and Chwi' Meq'ina' (San Miguel Totonicapán). Nahualá's local dialect keeps an ancient Proto-Mayan difference between five long vowels (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu) and five short vowels (a, e, i, o, u). Because of this, linguists want the language to be called "Kʼicheeʼ" instead of Kʼicheʼ or Quiché.

Unlike most other Kʼicheʼ dialects, the Nahualá dialect also has the sounds /h/ and /ŋ/. These sounds only appear at the end of words. Linguists have confirmed that the /h/ sound comes from an older Proto-Mayan sound. The origin of the /ŋ/ sound is not fully understood. It only appears in a few words, so it is not considered important enough for official recognition.

See also

In Spanish: Nahualá para niños