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Ixil Triangle

Villages

San Gaspar Chajul

Santa Maria Nebaj

San Juan Cotzal

 The Ixil Triangle lies north of the Cuchumatan mountains, constituting half of the Department of Quiche. The three towns that form this triangle are Santa Maria Nebaj, San Juan Cotzal, and San Gaspar Chajul. Bounded on the south and west by the Cuchumatanes and on the north by the foothills above the Peten rainforest, the Ixil area has been largely inaccessible until modern times. The inhabitants of this area speak Ixil Maya, a member of the Mamean language group. The many pyramids, painted stelae, and monuments found in this region suggest that the area was occupied continuously to the end of the Classic period.

Because of its natural defensive borders, the Ixil region was rarely under attack. Although by the fifteenth century, the Ixils were conquered by the Quiche Maya and the area has remained under their control ever since. Initially, Spanish invasion into the Ixil region was severe, however, the inhospitable Cuchumatanes held little attraction for the conquering Spanish, allowing the area to fall into neglect. As a result of their isolation, the Ixil Maya have been able to maintain much of their traditional beliefs and ways of dress. Unfortunately in the late 1970s and 1980s, the region was engulfed in a civil war, killing and displacing hundreds of thousands of Maya. Within the last five years, the region has begun to quiet, allowing many Indians to return home to their traditional way of life and dress.

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