Pech
Encyclopedia
The Pech are an indigenous people
in northeastern Honduras
, whose population, as of early 2005, had been reduced to 3,800. The Pech language is a member of the Chibchan family of languages, and, although it is still spoken by older people, it is in danger of extinction in the relatively near future.
The region where the Pech live was originally densely forested, principally with the pitch-pine (Spanish ocote), as well as with mahogany & other tree-species. However, the forest has been heavily logged in all but one Pech location. Pech traditional religion included ceremonies to the spirit of the mountains, the spiritual owners of animals, and to the mermaid who cares for the fish. The Pech have traditionally hunted rainforest animals, such as peccaries, monkeys, and so on. However, near most of their villages these animals are now extinct or near extinction due to habitat-loss and over hunting. In addition, the government has sponsored the moving of thousands of Honduran Spanish-speakers into the Pech area as part of its agrarian reform program, activity which is almost certain to lead to further erosion of Pech language & culture. Their language and people are in the most danger of becoming extinct.
Prior to about 1980, the Pech were known as Payas.
, their near neighbors, or they may have been influenced by Maya. In archaeological reckoning, the Pech formed a number of chiefdoms, some of which left archaeological remains of some sophistication, and certainly by the time of the Spanish exploration of the region in the early sixteenth century, the coastal regions were dominated by substantial chiefdoms. Spanish records of the mid-sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries refer to an paramount chief
dom called Taguzgalpa
which dominated the region. Spanish attempts to conquer it in the sixteenth century were unsuccessful.
The Pech suffered heavily from the emergence of the Miskito in the seventeenth century and their alliance with outsider, especially British traders and with the runaway slaves who made up the "Mosquitos zambos". The aggressive raids of the Miskitu were in large manner responsible for the gradual withdrawal of the Pech into the mountains regions and away from the coast.
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
in northeastern Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, whose population, as of early 2005, had been reduced to 3,800. The Pech language is a member of the Chibchan family of languages, and, although it is still spoken by older people, it is in danger of extinction in the relatively near future.
The region where the Pech live was originally densely forested, principally with the pitch-pine (Spanish ocote), as well as with mahogany & other tree-species. However, the forest has been heavily logged in all but one Pech location. Pech traditional religion included ceremonies to the spirit of the mountains, the spiritual owners of animals, and to the mermaid who cares for the fish. The Pech have traditionally hunted rainforest animals, such as peccaries, monkeys, and so on. However, near most of their villages these animals are now extinct or near extinction due to habitat-loss and over hunting. In addition, the government has sponsored the moving of thousands of Honduran Spanish-speakers into the Pech area as part of its agrarian reform program, activity which is almost certain to lead to further erosion of Pech language & culture. Their language and people are in the most danger of becoming extinct.
Prior to about 1980, the Pech were known as Payas.
History
Social complexity began among the Pech or probable Pech speakers as long ago as 300 CE. The earlier Pech cultures may have developed independently of the MayaMaya peoples
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...
, their near neighbors, or they may have been influenced by Maya. In archaeological reckoning, the Pech formed a number of chiefdoms, some of which left archaeological remains of some sophistication, and certainly by the time of the Spanish exploration of the region in the early sixteenth century, the coastal regions were dominated by substantial chiefdoms. Spanish records of the mid-sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries refer to an paramount chief
Paramount chief
A paramount chief is the highest-level traditional chief or political leader in a regional or local polity or country typically administered politically with a chief-based system. This definition is used occasionally in anthropological and archaeological theory to refer to the rulers of multiple...
dom called Taguzgalpa
Taguzgalpa
Taguzgalpa is a region or district located in northeastern Honduras, known historically through Spanish sources, and heir to a longer and richer archaeological tradition. It was usually called a "Province" in Spanish sources, and its internal social organization is unclear...
which dominated the region. Spanish attempts to conquer it in the sixteenth century were unsuccessful.
The Pech suffered heavily from the emergence of the Miskito in the seventeenth century and their alliance with outsider, especially British traders and with the runaway slaves who made up the "Mosquitos zambos". The aggressive raids of the Miskitu were in large manner responsible for the gradual withdrawal of the Pech into the mountains regions and away from the coast.