The Acala Chʼol were a former Chʼol-speaking

Maya people The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of 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 within that historical reg ...

who occupied a territory to the west of the

Manche Chʼol The Manche Chʼol were a former Chʼol-speaking Maya people inhabiting the extreme south of what is now the Petén Department of modern Guatemala, the area around Lake Izabal (also known as the ''Golfo Dulce''), and southern Belize. The Manche C ...

and east of the

Chixoy River The Chixoy River or Río Chixoy is a river in Guatemala. The river is called Río Negro from its sources in the highlands of Huehuetenango and El Quiché until it reaches the Chixoy hydroelectric dam (located at ), where the Río Salamá and Ri ...

in what is now the

Alta Verapaz Department Alta Verapaz () is a department in the north central part of Guatemala. The capital and chief city of the department is Cobán. Verapaz is bordered to the north by El Petén, to the east by Izabal, to the south by Zacapa, El Progreso, and Ba ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. The Acala should not be confused with the people of the former Maya territory of

Acalan Acalan (Chontal Maya: ''Tamactun'', Nahuatl: ''Acallan'') was a Chontal Maya region in what is now southern Campeche, Mexico. Its capital was Itzamkanac. The people of Acalan were called ''Mactun'' in the Chontal Maya language. Cuauhtemoc, ru ...

, near the

Laguna de Terminos Laguna (Italian and Spanish for lagoon) may refer to: People * Abe Laguna (born 1992), American DJ known as Ookay * Andrés Laguna (1499–1559), Spanish physician, pharmacologist, and botanist * Ana Laguna (born 1955), Spanish-Swedish ballet ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. By the 17th century the Acala had two principal towns; Cagbalam had 300 multiple-family houses and Culhuacan had over 140. The towns were divided into four sections, each governed by their own ruler. The combined population of these two towns has been estimated at 7,000. The Acala were allies of the

Lakandon Chʼol The Lakandon Chʼol were a former Chʼol-speaking Maya people inhabiting the Lacandon Jungle in what is now Chiapas in Mexico and the bordering regions of northwestern Guatemala, along the tributaries of the upper Usumacinta River and the foothill ...

, their immediate neighbours to the west, and the two peoples sometimes cooperated militarily. The Acala are known to have cultivated cacao and

achiote ''Bixa orellana'', also known as achiote, is a shrub native to Central America. ''Bixa orellana'' is grown in many countries worldwide. The tree is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also called or ) obtained ...

. In 1555 the Spanish carried out a military expedition against the Acala in retaliation for their killing of Dominican friar Domingo de Vico and his companion Andrés López. The Spanish and their Christianised

Qʼeqchiʼ Qʼeqchiʼ () (Kʼekchiʼ in the former orthography, or simply Kekchi in many English-language contexts, such as in Belize) are a Maya people of Guatemala and Belize. Their indigenous language is the Qʼeqchiʼ language. Before the beginning of ...

Maya allies captured 260 Acalas, and hanged 80 of these; the rest were sold as slaves. Many Acala were rounded up by the Qʼeqchʼi and forcibly moved to settle the San Marcos and San Juan Acala districts of

Cobán Cobán ( kek, Kob'an), fully Santo Domingo de Cobán, is the capital of the department of Alta Verapaz in central Guatemala. It also serves as the administrative center for the surrounding Cobán municipality. It is located 219 km from Guat ...

, capital of colonial Verapaz. Acala from the Chama region were settled in the San Marcos district; the San Juan Acala district received the former inhabitants of the

Chisec Chisec is a town and municipality in the north of the Guatemalan department of Alta Verapaz that was founded in 1813. It is situated at 230 metres (755 ft) above sea level. The municipality covers a territory of 1244 km². Approximately ...

region. By 1720 the Acala had been completely extinguished, such that there was not even memory of them. Some of the Lakandon and Acala Chʼols fled their forcible resettlement in Cobán and returned to former Acala territory along the course of the Xoy River, where they became known as the Ah Xoy.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{authority control Maya peoples History of Guatemala Former indigenous peoples in Guatemala Alta Verapaz Department Maya Contact Period