San Andrés Sajcabajá () is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
Guatemalan
department of
El Quiché
EL, El or el may refer to:
Religion
* El (deity), a Semitic word for "God"
People
* EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer
* El DeBarge, music artist
* El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American p ...
. The municipality is formed by the town San Andrés Sajcabajá, and 62 rural communities.
The majority (89%) of its population is ethnic
K'iche' K'iche', K'ichee', or Quiché may refer to:
* K'iche' people of Guatemala, a subgroup of the Maya
*K'iche' language, a Maya language spoken by the K'iche' people
**Classical K'iche' language, the 16th century form of the K'iche' language
*Kʼicheʼ ...
.
History
In pre-colonial times, the area was known as Sajcabajá and was populated by one of the lineages of the
K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj K'iche', K'ichee', or Quiché may refer to:
*K'iche' people of Guatemala, a subgroup of the Maya
*K'iche' language, a Maya language spoken by the K'iche' people
** Classical K'iche' language, the 16th century form of the K'iche' language
* KʼicheÊ ...
. After the defeat of the K'iche', the Spanish colonial presence in Sajcabajá began between 1552 and 1580, when the
Dominican convent in
Sacapulas
Sacapulas is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché.
History
Pre Hispanic era
Worried about the defection of the aj K’ub’ul family chief -who had taken his family away in order to look for fertile and, above ...
was put in charge of the conversión of its population, through the colonial
reducciones
Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such red ...
system.
[Jean PIEL. ''Sajcabaja: Muerte y resurreccion de un pueblo de Guatemala, 1500-1970''. Mexico/Guatemala, CEMCA/SISG, 1989.]
During the colonial era, San Andrés Sajcabajá functioned as a staging place, between
Joyabaj
Joyabaj () is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. It is located about 50 kilometers from Santa Cruz del Quiché, in the Sierra de Chuacús mountains.
Joyabaj was an important part of the royal route to Mexico d ...
and
Sacapulas
Sacapulas is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché.
History
Pre Hispanic era
Worried about the defection of the aj K’ub’ul family chief -who had taken his family away in order to look for fertile and, above ...
, on the road (
camino real) connecting the Guatemalan capital (then located in
Tecpán) to
Chiapas.
San Andrés Sajcabajá was established as a municipality in 1892.
In recent history, San Andrés Sajcabajá suffered the consequences of the 36 year
Guatemalan civil war
The Guatemalan Civil War was a civil war in Guatemala fought from 1960 to 1996 between the government of Guatemala and various leftist rebel groups. The government forces have been condemned for committing genocide against the Maya population of ...
(1960-1996). These consequences were especially hard felt in the years 1981-1984, when the Guatemalan army established a military garrison in the town's Catholic convent, and began a campaign of unprecedented repression against the population.
Geography
The municipality of San Andrés Sajcabajá is situated in the
Sierra de Chuacús mountain range. The town and its rural communities are located at an altitude between 1,000 and 2,000 m. Its climate is temperate, with mean temperatures oscillating between 12 °C and 24 °C, and an annual precipitation between 1,000 - 2,000 mm.
As a result of its mountainous character, over 77% of the municipality's territory is too steep to be of any other agricultural use than forestry.
The principal agricultural products are maize and beans, which are cultivated for local consumption. Horticulture is only practised in a small number of communities with access to irrigation. Horticultural products, like tomatoes, onions, cabbage, squash and
güisquil, are sold on the local market.
Notes
References
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*
External links
Municipal Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Andres Sajcabaja
Municipalities of the Quiché Department