XINCA CULTURE: HISTORY, LOCATION, CHARACTERISTICS, WORLDVIEW, CUSTOMS - HISTORY - 2025

The Xinca culture was developed by one of the four great ethnic groups that inhabited pre-Columbian Guatemala. Its main feature was the use of the Xinca language, the only one in the region not related to Mayan. According to historians, they came from the Andes, from where they migrated sailing across the ocean.

The territory that the Xincas occupied before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors extended from the Pacific coast to the mountainous area of ​​Jalapa. According to the Spanish chroniclers, they put up great resistance before being defeated. After this, they had to participate as slaves in the conquest of current El Salvador.

Today's places where Xinca is spoken

The defeat against the Spaniards had meant, in addition to the loss of their freedom, a great slaughter among the Xincas. Later, after 1575, their culture practically disappeared due to the forced transfer of the population and the obligation to adopt the customs and beliefs of the conquerors.

Today, there are hardly any speakers of the Xinca language left in their traditional territories. Despite this, some organizations are trying to recover both the language and the ancient customs of this culture.

Origin and history

Most historians agree that the Xincas appeared in Guatemala between 900 AD. C. and 1100 d. The members of the Xinca tribes came to this territory from the Andes.

To make this journey, the Xincas followed the shores of the Pacific Ocean until they reached their destination. This circumstance explains the null relationship of the members of this culture with the ethnic groups that made up the Mayan empire.

There is not much data on the history of the Xincas during the following centuries. It is assumed that they lived with the Mayans and their descendants until the arrival of the Spanish conquerors.

Spanish conquest

The Spanish conqueror Pedro de Alvarado was the author of one of the first written mentions of the Xinca culture. This reference appeared in a breed that De Alvarado sent to Hernán Cortés.

The letter recounted the encounter of the Spanish troops with a tribe with different characteristics than those they had faced previously. This meeting took place southwest of Aticpac, when the conquerors marched towards El Salvador after defeating the Pipiles.

According to De Alvarado, this new tribe spoke a different language, in addition to having different physical features from the rest of the tribes.

In May 1524, Pedro de Alvarado arrived in Santa Rosa accompanied by 250 Spanish soldiers and 6,000 indigenous allies to confront the Xincas.

Xincas defeats

Two consecutive defeats, the first in Atiquipaque and the second in Tacuilula, left the Xincas very weak. In addition, the last battle involved heavy human losses.

Despite this, the Xincas continued to resist, albeit only through ambushes against the Spanish supply lines.

According to the chronicler Bernal Díaz del Castillo, the Xinca guerrilla war against the conquerors lasted until 1575. That year, the Spaniards finally defeated the, according to the same chronicler, "brave warriors" Xincas.

After their victory, the Spanish turned the surviving Xinca into slaves and forced them to collaborate in the conquest of El Salvador. Likewise, they were used as labor in projects such as the construction of the Cuilapa Slave Bridge, in Santa Rosa.

A good part of the Xincas were also forced to abandon their territories. Together with the obligatory cultural Hispanization, this caused the almost total extinction of their culture.

Geographic location

The Xincas, after their arrival from Andean lands, were occupying an extensive territory located in present-day Guatemala and part of El Salvador. Thus, their dominions extended from the Guatemalan Pacific coast to the mountains of Jalapa and areas of the departments of Jutiapa, Chiquimula, El Progreso and Escuintla.

Current Xincas

The latest statistics made by Guatemalan organizations reflect the scarcity of the Xinca population that exists today. These studies affirm that the population of this ethnic group is concentrated in seven municipalities, including Santa Rosa and Jutiapa.

The figures, however, vary greatly depending on the study in question. Thus, in 1991, only 25 individuals appeared who spoke the Xinca language. Six years later, another investigation increased the number to 297.

For its part, the official census drawn up in 2002 recorded the existence of 1,283 Xinca speakers. However, the last known figure, provided by an organization in defense of the recovery of the Xinca culture, raised that figure to 200,000 people.

General characteristics

As noted, the Spanish forced the surviving Xincas to abandon their culture and language. For this reason, it is difficult to know for sure the way of life of this town beyond the stories of the oldest of the towns and what is written by some chroniclers of the conquest.

Locker room

In fact, the clothing considered traditional among the Xincas corresponds to that worn by the oldest of today's Xinca peoples.

Until then, Xinca men wore white cotton garments with short sleeves. In addition, they used to wear a cotton, a kind of loincloth.

For their part, the women wore a naked torso, with a cotton skirt that covered from the waist to the ankle. Currently, they wear red blouses and keep the aforementioned petticoat.

Economy

Analysis of the Xinca language has provided some interesting facts about its economy. Thus, most of the words related to agriculture are borrowings from the Mayan languages, which has led historians to affirm that this activity was unknown to the Xincas until their Mayan neighbors taught them to do it.

Likewise, remains have been found that show that they were hunters. With this activity they were able to complete their diet with some meat.

Finally, the Xincas in some areas collected salt, possibly to trade with it. In these exchanges they also offered part of the products they grew.

Political entities

The archaeologist Francisco Estrada Belli has carried out a study on the Xinca settlements that have been found. His conclusion has been that this culture was organized into four different political entities.

The first was Nueve Cerros, on the Los Esclavos River. It was the largest settlement and had nine high pyramids.

Ujuxte, one kilometer from Chiquimulilla, is the second most important entity. At the beginning of the Preclassic it was quite small, but it grew to become the settlement with the highest population density.

The last two entities, less important than the previous ones, were María Linda, in Santa Rosa, and La Nueva, in Jutiapa.

Technology

The Xincas stood out for their weapons manufacturing techniques. Most were built with very sharp sticks and points. At first, they were intended for hunting, but later they proved their effectiveness in the fight of this culture against the Spanish conquerors.

Worldview

Oral tradition has been the main way to learn about some Xinca legends prior to the conquest.

The Xinca culture has some sacred books in which its spirituality is explained. This is reflected in the celebration of various ceremonies, all led by the spiritual guides of the community.

The purpose of these ceremonies is to establish communication with the heart of heaven on earth. The most important are the Special Day for communication with the creator and the Day of communication for creation.

Nature

Nature and the stars were, and continue to be, a fundamental part of Xinca spirituality. For them, for example, the lunar cycle has a great importance in the balance that the community must maintain.

The natural elements, according to their worldview, transmitted valuable signals to human beings and provided them with knowledge. This implies, in turn, that the Xinca inhabitants had to maintain an attitude of respect towards nature.

The earth, as the mother of the rest of the natural elements, was the most important thing in the spirituality of this culture. Behind her appeared water, air and fire.

Water

Another element considered sacred was water. For the Xincas, this liquid served as a communication between man and the gods.

An ancient legend claimed that this culture could access all the wisdom of the universe. Their beliefs indicated that the center of the galaxy, from which all wisdom emerged, was in a place called La Palanganita de Oro, in Santa María Ixhuatán. When a person immersed himself in the water, he was nourishing himself with that wisdom.

Religion

Xinca society, like most in pre-Columbian America, was theocratic. Experts say that, at first, their religion was quite simple, but over time it ended up becoming one of the most mysterious on the continents. Also their ceremonies and rituals were increasing in complexity.

Their main deity was Tiwix, great lord of the sky and all-seeing eye. Beside him was Hene Pulay, the original creator. The latter was the lord of the water and was represented as a serpent with two heads.

This culture had developed a sacred calendar called Cholq'ij. It had cycles of 20 days, the number of fingers that human beings have adding hands and feet.

Customs and traditions

The pressure from the Spanish to abandon their traditions plus the reduction of their population caused the Xinca culture to practically disappear. Today attempts are being made to recover part of its cultural heritage.

Seasons

Male Xincas dress up as women to announce the arrival of summer. When winter approaches, they dress in the leaves of various trees, such as the banana, the maguey, the paradise or the mango.

Marriage

Although this tradition is disappearing, until a few years ago courtship and marriage were governed by a series of deeply rooted customs.

For a couple to form, the man had to drop his hat in front of the woman he wanted to commit to. If she picked it up and returned it to her, the answer was yes.

After a time of courtship it was time for marriage. The groom's and bride's families had to each look for an intermediary, the so-called personero.

The two representatives decided on a date for the formal hand request to be made, always by the man. The two family members decided that day if the marriage was acceptable and, if so, when to celebrate it.

This first meeting between the two family members was accompanied by a party in which the friends of the two young people participated. From that circle of friends the groomsmen also came out, who received a special gift called uyuxté.

After the ceremony, the celebration was held at the home of the bride's family. The next day, it was the turn to celebrate the wedding at the groom's family home.

Medicine

Today's Xinca communities have preserved some of their traditions related to medicine. Those in charge of administering them are the women healers. Its remedies include some herbs with healing properties.

Boiled water at a high temperature together with cinnamon is one of the most used remedies by the Xincas for cough relief. On the other hand, those who suffer from the heart are treated with a tea made with orange leaves.

Language

Indigenous languages ​​in Guatemala - Source: Chabacano

In reality, the so-called Xinca language was made up of four different languages. These were similar enough to each other that many thought it was a single language.

The four Xinca languages ​​were: Yupiltepeque, typical of the town that gives it its name and Jutiapa, which became extinct before 1920; the Jumaytepeque, which is still preserved in the upper area of ​​the volcano of the same name, although by very few speakers; the Chiquimulilla, practically extinct; and the Guazacapán, also disappeared.

The first to refer to this language was Archbishop Pedro Cortés y Leal, in 1780. Another religious, also Archbishop Cayetano Francos y Montoro, decided in the 19th century to put an end to this language to be able to impose on Christianity more easily.

Isolated language

These languages ​​are considered by philologists as isolated languages. This is because, unlike the rest of the languages ​​in the area, they do not belong to the Mayan family.

However, many Mayan loanwords have been found, especially for terms related to agriculture.

Gastronomy

The Xincas, like the rest of the peoples in the area, made the most of the resources that the land offered them. Thanks to that and to the agricultural activity they were able to enjoy a fairly varied day.

The traditional crops were beans, corn, squash and, in general, all the products of the area.

Wild plants

Members of this culture also collected various types of wild plants to use as food. At first, they ate them after a simple cooking, but over time they developed some recipes considered traditional today, such as the chipilín broth.

meats

It is known that the Xincas were also hunters, so the supply of meat was assured. However, it was not until the arrival of the Spanish when they began to use an animal that today has become the basis of many of their dishes: the pig.

Drinks

The production of drinks continues to be one of the strengths of the members of this culture. Many recipes come from ancient traditions, such as the one called Ixtahuata. It is composed of fermented banana to which cinnamon is added.

The fermentation process was widely used to obtain traditional drinks. The products used were the same that served them as food, although to drink them they used to add some sweet element, such as ginger or honey.

Corn was one of the most popular bases for making beverages. A good example is chilate, a soft drink made from yellow corn.

References

1. Let's talk about Cultures. Xinca: culture, society, food, clothing, and much more. Obtained from hablemosdeculturas.com
2. Guatecultura. Xinca culture. Retrieved from guatecultura.weebly.com
3. Ministry of Culture and Sports of Guatemal. Diagnosis: current situation of the Xinka culture. Recovered from hmcd.gob.gt
4. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Xinca. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. Rogers, Chris. The Use and Development of the Xinkan Languages. Recovered from books.google.es
6. Antigüeña Spanish Academy. Cultural Ethnic Groups in Guatemala. Obtained from spanishacademyantiguena.com
7. Wikiwand. Xinca people. Retrieved from wikiwand.com
8. Revolvy. Xinca people. Retrieved from revolvy.com