Pech people

The name "Pech" derives from the Pech-language ethnonym Pech, the name that refers only to themselves. For the Pech to refer to other groups, the term "Pech-Hakua" will be used, meaning "other people". == History ==

Pre-colonial period Social complexity began among the Pech or probable Pech speakers as long ago as 300 CE. The earlier Pech cultures may have been developed independently of the Maya, their near neighbours, or they may have been influenced by the Maya, a hypothesis that has been corroborated to some extent by the discovery of Mayan loan-words in the Pech language. Before the colonial period in the sixteenth century, the Pech people migrated from the south to inhabit a large territory close to the border of Nicaragua. Following, in 1713, the son of Bartolomé de Escoto, a Spanish coloniser, was titled as the "governor and conqueror of the Paya" and was earning a salary of "one hundred pesos." After contact and spread of Spanish presence, the Pech people were forced to retreat and live under control of the Spanish colonists, like many other Indigenous groups. Upon arrival, the Spanish colonists recognised the Pech people as 'Xicaque' which remains to still be in use today. == Culture ==

According to historians, Martynas Snarskis and Mary W. Helms, pre-European settlement, the Pech people did not possess "key cultural attributes as highly stratified societies, political organisation at the state level, intensive agricultural cultivation techniques, metallurgy, or large urban centres." Agriculture/economy The Pech people have always made a living by fishing and shifting agriculture. This is due to the lack of plant-supplied protein and nutrients in the diets of root croppers. The Pech people acquired the balance of their diet from the practice of hunting and fishing. In order to hunt, the Pech people utilise the 'cerbatana' (a type of blowgun), bow and arrow, and traps. Today the main economic activities conducted by the Pech people include tree clearing, gold panning, breeding domestic animals and extracting fragrant resin from liquidambar for perfumes, incense and adhesives. This collection of ceramic pieces were later uncovered to be the craftsmanship of Honduran Indigenous peoples, the Pech. This is because "taia" represents a Pech place name for the lands they previously occupied in contrast to the lands that were occupied by other, non-Pech people, which is referred to as "maia". The Pech people consider to own land once they are able to live on land outside the realm of others. Cosmogony Cosmogony is a centrepiece in the Pech belief system as it presents the way they believe the universe is structured and created. Much of Pech cosmogony is based on dualities. For instance, the father God, named Patako-ko, is divided into two separate parts, one celestial and the other terrestrial and is in a constant struggle to vanish the celestial part. For the Pech people, the universe takes on the form of a sphere and has four beams supporting its structure. Within this universe, the subterranean world is inhabited by ferocious animals and ants, the earth is the level where humans live and the sky is divided into seven levels where abysses, lakes and the eternal fire of the sun exist. Religion Most Pech people today identify as Catholic and have only retained a small amount of myths and oral stories from their traditional religions. 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. == Geography ==

It is believed that the Pech people migrated in a northward direction from the area currently known as Colombia at some point in the past. The earliest Pech presence can also be found in the writing of Martyr. Usually, rivers act as the indicator for the borders of Pech territory, such as the Aguán River, which borders with the Jicaque people, and the Cuyamel River, territory of Cabo de Gracias a Dios. Pech people tend to live in mountainous areas full on forestation. == Conflict with Miskito people ==

Territorial conflict over the control of the land and its resources was competed against neighbouring Indigenous Honduras groups. Growing land displacements, dispositions and a lack of territorial formalisation is a prominent daily challenge of Indigenous peoples in Honduras. For the Pech people, this challenge stems from a history of conflict with neighbouring Indigenous group, the Miskito People. The aggressive raids of the Miskito were in large manner responsible for the gradual withdrawal of the Pech into the mountainous regions and away from the coast. Beginning from the middle of the 17th century, it has been documented that the Miskito dominated the coastal Pech people and were forced to take rescue along the Patuca, Sicre, Platano, Twas, Paulaya and Sico rivers as well as in the Olancho valley. The Pech suffered heavily from the emergence of the Miskito in the 17th century and their alliance with outsiders, especially British traders, and with the runaway slaves who made up the "Mosquitos zambos". == Legal protection ==

The Pech people are considered to be one of the nine ethnic groups recognised by the Honduran state, the others including Tawkahka, Tolupan, Lenca, Maya chorti, Graifuna, Isleños de Habla Inglesa and Nahua. These groups were the only Indigenous groups named by the census, allowing the Pech people to be recognised both by legal and non-legal bodies. The Federation of Pech Tribes of Honduras unites 12 Pech tribes and aims to protect their ancestral lands. The Pech people are among the Indigenous groups recognised under the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention of 1989 (No. 169), which was ratified by the Honduran government in 1995. In the 19th century, Spanish missionary, Father Manuel del Jesus Subirana, recognised the significant relationship between the Pech and the land and helped the Pech people acquire title to land ownership in 1862. Furthermore, some Pech communities situated in the Olancho valley, joined the Unión de Campesinos (UNC) in an effort to reclaim their land territory. == Current issues ==

During the dictatorship of General Tiburcio Carias Andino between 1933 and 1948, the process of 'Mayanisaton', as coined by Euraque, constructed a national identity that ignored the lived realities of Indigenous groups of Honduras. Investments from Central American Banks, Harvard, Pennsylvania State and Tulane contributed to this process by funding restoration projects, including the restoration of arachnological sites in Copan. Later, in the 1970s, this was projected as a priority by the Ministry of Tourism. The Pech people continue to fight the impacts of this and tourism today. == References ==