Notes

The fragment from The Annals of the Cakchiquels follows a tone and written style that resembles that of Chronicles of the Conquest rather than Ancient Indigenous Literature. The main difference here is that this looks like a historical account from the Cakchiquels’ point of view. This differs from the style Ancient Indigenous Literature presents because in this excerpt it is a retelling of what actually happened and there is no moral message behind it. The reasons why is that names, locations, and a brief description is given of what was going on. We can see the arrival of the Spaniards. We can also see the conflict between the different indigenous communities and the relationship between the Conquistadors and the natives.

The main reason why this shows signs of being part of the Chronicles of the Conquest is that we are given more information that seek historical. Here we are given the point of view of someone who is part if the Cakchiquel. He describes the arrival of the Spaniards, or “Castilians” at Iximche. “It was on the day 1 Hunahphu when the Castiliand arrived at Iximche with their chief, Tunatiuh”, starts the excerpt off. Immediately we see the person it is involving, someone names Tunatiuh who seems to be someone of a high status and the rest of the Castilians. We are also given the location, Iximche. The reason why this is more of a historical Chronicle is that normally in Ancient Indigenous Literature, the names of locations are not given in a historical context like it is given here. The narrator would state in his accounts that the Spaniards were in good terms with the rest of the indigenous people.

Things were a bit different however. The Spaniards would be involved with conflicts the indigenous people had amongst themselves for many years. After being received well by the locals, it was time for some gritty details. The Cakchiquel were in conflict with other tribes as started with, “Then , Tunatiuh agreed to join the chiefs in their wars, and the chiefs…” at this time the indigenous group were in conflict with other groups like the Tzutujils and the Atacat. As the days went by the original indigenous inhabitants have been displaced and have been conquered by the Spanish.

To conclude, I want to say that this is more of a Chronicle of the Conquest because it talks about history in a way that is not exaggerated only to receive benefits but it shares an account of someone of the Cakchiquel tribe. We can also see more facts of what happened which included names and locations. Instead of just presenting a story about morals we are given an actual historical account on what happened when the Spaniards arrived to conquer Central America.