Colonial Cakchiquels

highland Maya adaptations to Spanish rule, 1600-1700

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Cultural responses to colonial rule--beliefs, practices, organization, and more--of the Cakchiquel, a highland Maya people, during the 17th century are the topic of this case study. This was after the conquistadors overwhelmed the indigenous Mesoamerican states. After the epidemics of diseases, military conquest and loss of political autonomy came the development of a relationship between the Cakchiquels and their Spanish overlords that shaped the current situation in Guatemala and elsewhere in the region.