Santa María Nebaj

{{For|the Maya archaeological site|Nebaj}} {{Infobox settlement   |official_name = Santa María Nebaj |other_name = Nebaj |native_name =  |nickname = |settlement_type = Municipality |motto =  |image_skyline = The central plaza of Santa Maria Nebaj, El Quiche, Guatemala.jpg |imagesize = 250px |image_caption = The central plaza of Nebaj, 2006 |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type = |blank_emblem_size = |image_map = |mapsize = |map_caption = |image_map1 = |mapsize1 = |map_caption1 = |image_dot_map = |dot_mapsize = |dot_map_caption = |dot_x = |dot_y = |pushpin_map = Guatemala |pushpin_label_position =bottom |pushpin_map_caption =Location in Guatemala |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = [[Image:Flag of Guatemala.svg|25px]] [[Guatemala]] |subdivision_type1 = [[Departments of Guatemala|Department]] |subdivision_name1 = [[Image:Flag of Quiché Department.svg|25px]] [[Quiché Department|El Quiché]] |subdivision_type2 = [[Municipalities of Guatemala|Municipality]] |subdivision_name2 = Santa María Nebaj |subdivision_type3 = |subdivision_name3 = |subdivision_type4 = |subdivision_name4 =  |government_footnotes = |government_type = [[Municipal]] |leader_title = Mayor (2016-2020) |leader_name = José Adolfo Quezada Valdez<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.municipalidadesdeguatemala.info/alcaldes-16/alcaldes-quiche-16.php |title=Alcaldes electos en el Departamento de Quiché |date=10 September 2015 |access-date=7 October 2015 |location=Guatemala |website=Municipalidades de Guatemala |language=es |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007175513/http://www.municipalidadesdeguatemala.info/alcaldes-16/alcaldes-quiche-16.php |archive-date=October 7, 2015 }}</ref> |leader_party = LIDER |leader_title1 =  |leader_name1 = |leader_title2 = |leader_name2 = |leader_title3 = |leader_name3 = |leader_title4 = |leader_name4 = |established_title =  |established_date = |established_title2 =  |established_date2 = |established_title3 =  |established_date3 =  |area_magnitude = |unit_pref = Imperial  |area_footnotes = |area_total_km2 = 558 |area_land_km2 =  |area_water_km2 = |area_total_sq_mi = |area_land_sq_mi = |area_water_sq_mi = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = |area_urban_sq_mi = |area_metro_km2 = |area_metro_sq_mi = |area_blank1_title = |area_blank1_km2 = |area_blank1_sq_mi =  |population_as_of = Census 2018 |population_footnotes = <ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/guatemala/admin/ Citypopulation.de] Population of departments and municipalities in Guatemala</ref> |population_note = |population_total = 72686 |population_density_km2 = auto |population_density_sq_mi = |population_urban_footnotes = <ref>[https://www.citypopulation.de/en/guatemala/cities/ Citypopulation.de] Population of cities & towns in Guatemala</ref> |population_urban = 31935 |population_density_urban_km2 = |population_density_urban_sq_mi = |population_blank1_title =Ethnicities |population_blank1 = [[Ixil people|Ixil]], [[K'iche' people|K'iche']], [[Ladino people|Ladino]] |population_blank2_title =Religions |population_blank2 = [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] or [[Oriental Orthodoxy]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mayanorthodoxy.com/map/|title=Map|access-date=2015-09-06|archive-date=2017-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506043544/http://www.mayanorthodoxy.com/map|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Evangelicalism]], (then recent historically) [[Roman Catholicism]], [[Maya religion|Maya]] |population_density_blank1_km2 = |population_density_blank1_sq_mi =  |timezone = |utc_offset = |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = {{coord|15|24|30|N|91|8|50|W|region:GT|display=inline,title}} |elevation_footnotes =  |elevation_m = 1900 |elevation_ft = |elevation_max_m = |elevation_min_m =  |postal_code_type =  |postal_code = |area_code = |blank_name = [[Köppen climate classification|Climate]] |blank_info = [[Oceanic climate|Cfb]] |blank1_name = |blank1_info = |website = |footnotes = }}

'''Santa María Nebaj''' ({{IPA|es|neˈβax}}; usually abbreviated to '''Nebaj''') is a town and [[Municipalities of Guatemala|municipality]] in the [[Guatemala]]n [[Departments of Guatemala|department]] of [[Quiché Department|El Quiché]]. Santa María Nebaj is part of the [[Ixil Community]], along with [[San Juan Cotzal]] and [[Chajul|San Gaspar Chajul]]. Native residents speak the Mayan [[Ixil language]].

The community is named in part for [[Nebaj]], a [[pre-Columbian]] [[archaeological site]] of the [[Maya civilization]].

==History==

===Spanish conquest=== {{Main article|Spanish conquest of Guatemala}}

[[File:Sierra de los Cuchumatanes01.jpg|thumb|left|The difficult terrain and remoteness of the Cuchumatanes made their conquest difficult.]] In the ten years after the fall of Zaculeu, various Spanish expeditions crossed into the [[Sierra de los Cuchumatanes]] and engaged in the gradual and complex conquest of the [[Chuj people|Chuj]] and [[Q'anjob'al people|Q'anjob'al]] peoples.<ref>{{harvnb|Limón Aguirre|2008|p=10}}</ref> The Spanish hoped to extract gold, silver and other riches from the mountains, but their remoteness, the difficult terrain, and relatively low population made the conquest and exploitation of this area extremely difficult.{{sfn|Limón Aguirre|2008|p=11}}

The population of the Cuchumatanes is estimated to have been 260,000 before European contact. By the time the Spanish arrived in the region, the Mayans had already suffered high mortality from the Old World infectious diseases brought by colonists and spread by traders. Their population had declined to 150,000, with accompanying social disruption to many communities from the epidemics of disease.{{sfn|Lovell|2005|p=71}}

After the western portion of the Cuchumatanes fell to the Spanish, the [[Ixil people|Ixil]] and [[Uspantek people|Uspantek]] Maya were sufficiently isolated to evade immediate Spanish attention. The Uspantek and the Ixil were allies. In 1529, four years after the Spanish conquest of Huehuetenango, Uspantek warriors were harassing Spanish forces, and [[Uspantán]] was trying to foment rebellion among the K'iche'. Uspantek activity became sufficiently troublesome that the Spanish decided that military action was necessary.

[[Gaspar Arias]], [[alcalde|magistrate]] of Guatemala, penetrated the eastern Cuchumatanes with sixty Spanish infantry and three hundred allied indigenous warriors.{{sfn|Lovell|2005|p=64}} By early September he had imposed temporary Spanish authority over the Ixil towns of [[Chajul]] and [[Nebaj]].{{sfn|Lovell|2005|pp=64–65}} As the Spanish army marched east toward Uspantán; Arias received notice that the acting governor of Guatemala, [[Francisco de Orduña]], had deposed him as magistrate. Arias handed command over to the inexperienced [[Pedro de Olmos]] and returned to confront de Orduña. Although his officers advised against it, Olmos launched a full-scale frontal assault on Uspantán. As soon as the Spanish began their assault, they were attacked from the rear by more than two thousand Uspantek warriors. The Spanish forces were routed with heavy losses; many of their indigenous allies were slain, and many more were captured alive by the Uspantek warriors. They [[Sacrifice in Maya culture|sacrificed]] the enemies on the altar of their deity [[Maya Hero Twins|Exbalamquen]]. The survivors fought their way back to the Spanish garrison at Q'umarkaj.<ref name="Lovell05p65">{{harvnb|Lovell|2005|p=65}}</ref>

A year later [[Francisco de Castellanos]] set out from Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (by now relocated to Ciudad Vieja) on another expedition against the Ixil and Uspantek. He led eight corporals, thirty-two cavalry, forty Spanish infantry, and several hundred allied indigenous warriors. The expedition rested at [[Chichicastenango]] and recruited further forces before marching seven [[League (unit)|leagues]] northward to [[Sacapulas]] and climbing the steep southern slopes of the Cuchumatanes. On the upper slopes, these forces clashed with a force of between four and five thousand Ixil warriors from Nebaj and nearby settlements. A lengthy battle followed, during which the Spanish cavalry outflanked the Ixil army and forced them to retreat to their mountaintop fortress at Nebaj. The Spanish force besieged the city, and their indigenous allies managed to scale the walls, penetrate the stronghold and set it on fire. Many defending Ixil warriors withdrew to fight the fire, which allowed the Spanish to storm the entrance and break the defences.<ref name="Lovell05p65" />

The victorious Spanish rounded up the surviving defenders, and the next day Castellanos ordered them to be branded as [[Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies|slaves]] as punishment for their resistance.{{sfn|Lovell|2005|pp=65–66}} After learning of this battle, the inhabitants of Chajul capitulated to the Spanish. The Spanish continued east towards Uspantán, where they found it defended by ten thousand warriors, including forces from [[Cotzal]], [[Cunén]], Sacapulas and Verapaz.

Although much outnumbered, the advantages of the Spanish cavalry and the firearms of the infantry enabled them to defeat the Mayans. The Spanish overran Uspantán and branded all surviving warriors as slaves. The surrounding towns also surrendered, and December 1530 marked the end of the military stage of the conquest of the Cuchumatanes.<ref name="Lovell05p66">{{harvnb|Lovell|2005|p=66}}</ref>

The Spanish divided the Ixil people among four towns: Nebaj, Cotzal, Chajul and Ilom.

===20th century: Guatemala Civil War=== {{Main article|Guatemala Civil War}}

In 1982, in the remote Guatemalan highlands, where the military classified those most isolated as being more accessible to the guerrillas, it identified many villages and communities as "red" and targeted them for annihilation. This was especially true in [[Quiche Department]], where the army had a well-documented belief from the Benedicto Lucas period that the entire indigenous population of the Ixil area was pro-[[Guerrilla Army of the Poor|EGP]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Counterinsurgency Operations in El Quiché|date=February 1982|publisher=CIA, secret cable|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB32/docs/doc20.pdf}}</ref> A major part of Rios Montt's pacification strategy in [[El Quiche]] was "Operation Sofia," which began on July 8, 1982 on orders from Army Chief of Staff [[Héctor Mario López Fuentes]]. "Operation Sofia" was planned and executed by the 1st Battalion of the Guatemalan Airborne Troops with the mission to "exterminate the subversive elements in the area - Quiché."<ref name=sofia>{{cite web|url=http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB297/Operation_Sofia_hi.pdf|last=Doyle|first=Kate|year=2009|title=Operación Sofía|series=National Security Archive Electronic|volume=Briefing Book No. 297|website=[[National Security Archive]]|location=George Washington University|access-date=13 February 2015}}</ref>

The majority of the Ixil population were subsequently forced into a polarized situation in which neutrality was viewed with suspicion by both the military and left-wing insurgents. Leading to a situation described as "being caught between two fires" by Ixil civilians.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stoll |first1=David |title=Between two armies in the Ixil towns of Guatemala |date=1994 |publisher=Columbia University Press |publication-place=New York | isbn=0-231-08182-0}}</ref>

The [[International Centre for Human Rights Research|CIIDH]] database documented 18,000 killings by government forces in the year 1982. In April 1982 alone (General Efraín Ríos Montt's first full month in office), the military committed 3,330 documented killings, a rate of approximately 111 per day. Historians and analysts estimate the total death toll could exceed this number by the tens of thousands.<ref name="Chapter 4: The 1980s">{{cite web|url=http://shr.aaas.org/guatemala/ciidh/qr/english/chap4.html |title=Chapter 4: The 1980s |publisher=Shr.aaas.org |date=31 January 1980 |access-date=13 November 2011}}</ref> Some sources estimate a death toll of up to 75,000 during the Rios Montt period, mostly within the first eight months between April and November 1982.{{sfn|Schirmer|1988|p=44}}

==Climate==

Nebaj has a [[subtropical highland climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]: ''Cwb'').

{{Weather box | width = auto | collapsed = yes | metric first = yes | single line = yes | location = Nebaj (1991–2020) | Jan record high C = 27.1 | Feb record high C = 30.5 | Mar record high C = 33.3 | Apr record high C = 33.4 | May record high C = 30.4 | Jun record high C = 30.0 | Jul record high C = 28.2 | Aug record high C = 31.2 | Sep record high C = 26.9 | Oct record high C = 27.9 | Nov record high C = 27.9 | Dec record high C = 28.6 | year record high C = 33.4 | Jan high C = 20.2 | Feb high C = 21.6 | Mar high C = 23.5 | Apr high C = 25.0 | May high C = 24.4 | Jun high C = 23.3 | Jul high C = 22.3 | Aug high C = 22.6 | Sep high C = 22.6 | Oct high C = 21.6 | Nov high C = 20.1 | Dec high C = 20.1 | year high C = 22.3 | Jan mean C = 14.1 | Feb mean C = 14.9 | Mar mean C = 16.1 | Apr mean C = 17.7 | May mean C = 17.8 | Jun mean C = 17.6 | Jul mean C = 16.9 | Aug mean C = 17.0 | Sep mean C = 17.1 | Oct mean C = 16.4 | Nov mean C = 14.9 | Dec mean C = 14.4 | year mean C = 16.2 | Jan low C = 7.2 | Feb low C = 7.3 | Mar low C = 8.1 | Apr low C = 9.9 | May low C = 11.4 | Jun low C = 12.4 | Jul low C = 11.2 | Aug low C = 11.2 | Sep low C = 11.7 | Oct low C = 11.3 | Nov low C = 9.2 | Dec low C = 7.9 | year low C = 9.9 | Jan record low C = -0.6 | Feb record low C = -3.1 | Mar record low C = -1.0 | Apr record low C = -3.1 | May record low C = 1.0 | Jun record low C = 3.7 | Jul record low C = 3.7 | Aug record low C = 4.9 | Sep record low C = -2.2 | Oct record low C = 2.2 | Nov record low C = -0.6 | Dec record low C = -0.8 | year record low C = -3.1 | precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 36.7 | Feb precipitation mm = 21.9 | Mar precipitation mm = 34.1 | Apr precipitation mm = 72.3 | May precipitation mm = 154.2 | Jun precipitation mm = 341.2 | Jul precipitation mm = 278.6 | Aug precipitation mm = 313.6 | Sep precipitation mm = 351.5 | Oct precipitation mm = 227.2 | Nov precipitation mm = 111.8 | Dec precipitation mm = 49.5 | year precipitation mm = 1992.6 | unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 7.2 | Feb precipitation days = 5.0 | Mar precipitation days = 5.5 | Apr precipitation days = 7.9 | May precipitation days = 13.4 | Jun precipitation days = 23.9 | Jul precipitation days = 22.9 | Aug precipitation days = 22.9 | Sep precipitation days = 24.3 | Oct precipitation days = 18.6 | Nov precipitation days = 11.5 | Dec precipitation days = 8.8 | year precipitation days = 171.9 | source 1 = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|NOAA]]<ref name="WMONormals">{{cite web |url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-4-WMO-Normals-9120/Guatemala/CSV/Nebaj_NA.csv |title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Nebaj |publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date = February 1, 2024}}</ref> }}

== Geographic location ==

Santa María Nebaj is at the northern side of [[Quiché Department]], in the region known as [[Franja Transversal del Norte]].<ref name=segeplan/>

{{Geographic location |width=auto | Center = Santa María Nebaj | North = [[Ixcán]], [[Quiché Department]] municipality | East = [[Cotzal]] and [[Chajul]], Quiché Department municipalities<ref name=segeplan/> | South = [[Sacapulas]], Quiché Department municipality<ref name=segeplan>{{cite web|author=SEGEPLAN|title=Municipios de Quiché, Guatemala|url=http://www.segeplan.gob.gt/2.0/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=category&id=2:alta-verapaz&Itemid=333|location=Guatemala|website=Secretaría General de Planificación y Programación de la Presidencia de la República|access-date=30 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702175532/http://www.segeplan.gob.gt/2.0/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&task=category&id=15:quiche|archive-date=2 July 2015}}</ref> | Southeast= [[Cunén]], Quiché Department municipality | West = [[Aguacatán]], [[Chiantla]], Santa Eulalia, [[San Juan Ixcoy]] and [[Barillas]], [[Huehuetenango Department]] municipalities }}

==See also== * {{Portal-inline|Guatemala}} * {{Portal-inline|Geography}} * [[List of places in Guatemala]]

==Notes and references== {{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

===References=== {{Reflist}}

===Bibliography=== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book|last=Limón Aguirre|first=Fernando|year=2008|title=La ciudadanía del pueblo chuj en México: Una dialéctica negativa de identidades|publisher=El Colegio de la Frontera Sur – Unidad San Cristóbal de Las Casas|location=San Cristóbal de Las Casas, México|url=http://www.ciesas.edu.mx/proyectos/relaju/cd_relaju/Ponencias/Mesa%20Valladares-Castro/LimonAguirreFernando.pdf|access-date=15 September 2011|language=es|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722210906/http://www.ciesas.edu.mx/proyectos/relaju/cd_relaju/Ponencias/Mesa%20Valladares-Castro/LimonAguirreFernando.pdf|archive-date=22 July 2012}} * {{cite book|last=Lovell|first=W. George|year=2000 |chapter=The Highland Maya |editor=Richard E.W. Adams |editor2=Murdo J. Macleod|title=The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Vol. II: Mesoamerica, part 2 |location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=392–444|isbn=0-521-65204-9 |oclc=33359444}} * {{cite book|last=Lovell|first=W. George|author-mask=1|year=2005 |title=Conquest and Survival in Colonial Guatemala: A Historical Geography of the Cuchumatán Highlands, 1500-1821 |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |location=Montreal, Canadá |edition=3rd |isbn=0-7735-2741-9 |oclc=58051691 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=05wSqQiu52MC}} * {{cite book|last=Schirmer|first=Jennifer|title=The Guatemalan Military Project: A Violence Called Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jpH2SpzKr-sC|year=1988|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=0-8122-3325-5}} {{Refend}}

==External links== {{Wikivoyage}} *[http://www.taterenner.com/guat06b.htm Richard Renner's 2006 photos from Nebaj] *[http://www.nebaj.com Nebaj.com]

[[Category:Municipalities of the Quiché Department]]