The Kejache () (sometimes spelt Kehache, Quejache, Kehach, Kejach or Cehache) were a Maya people in northern Guatemala at the time of Spanish contact in the 17th century. The Kejache territory was located in the Petén Basin in a region that takes in parts of both Guatemala and Mexico. Linguistic evidence indicates that the Kejache shared a common origin with the neighbouring Itzas to their southeast and the Kejache may have occupied the general region since the Classic period (c. AD 250–900). The Kejache were initially contacted by conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1525; they were later in prolonged contact with the Spanish as the latter opened a route southwards towards Lake Petén Itzá.
Territory
The Kejache occupied a region that is now crossed by the border between Guatemala and the Mexican state of Campeche, in an area measuring approximately extending from lakes Silvituk and Moku in Mexico southwards towards Uaxactun in Guatemala. The Kejache held a province that lay between the Itza kingdom centred on the city of Nojpetén and what, after the initial stages of the Spanish conquest, became the Spanish-held Yucatán to the north. The Kejache were bordered immediately to the north by the territory of the Acalan, a Chontal Maya people. The precise geopolitical extent of the Kejache is poorly understood, and no archaeological surveys of the Kejache territory have taken place. The Kejache territory consisted of a region of low hills with wide valleys that form swamplands during the rainy season, the region is also characterised by a number of small lakes, such as Lake Moku, Lake Silvituk and Chan Laguna.
Culture
The Kejache, as described by the Spanish, were poorer than neighbouring Maya peoples, using wood and thatch as building materials and lacking material resources. Kejache weapons consisted of short spears and bows and arrows; apparently they did not use shields, unlike their neighbours. The Kejache cultivated maize, black beans, squash and turkeys. The Kejache traded with the Acalan Maya to their northwest, exchanging cotton clothing for salt.
By the mid-17th century the Kejache were important intermediaries between the Itza and Yucatán. The Putun Acalan subgroup of the Kejache had previously traded directly with the Itza but had been relocated by the Spanish. The remaining Kejache, decimated by disease and subject to the intense attentions of Spanish missionaries, were no longer able to supply the Itza directly and became middlemen instead.
Language and etymology
Kejache was the name by which they identified themselves to others. The Kejache spoke the Yucatec Maya language, and the name kejache is derived from the Yucatec words kej meaning "deer" and ach, which was a suffix that may have indicated the abundance of the animals. The Kejache territory was referred to as Mazatlan in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs; the Spanish conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo interpreted the "land of the Mazatecas" as the "town or lands of deer". The Kejache shared many surnames with the neighbouring Itzas and, despite the later hostility between the two peoples, it is likely that they had a common origin.
History
Although the Kejache seem to have had a common origin with the Itza, possibly as far back as the Late Classic period (c. AD 600–900), the approximate date of their division into separate peoples is unknown. The Kejache separation may have occurred due to either continued Itza migration to Petén during the Postclassic period (c. 900–1697) or because internal warfare caused them to divide. It is possible that the Kejache had occupied their territory since the Classic period and they may have been descendants of the inhabitants of the prominent Maya cities in the region, such as Calakmul and the cities of the Río Bec zone.
The Kejache are likely to have occupied the Petén region of what is now northern Guatemala for a considerable time before being displaced by Itza expansion into the area north and northwest of the Itza kingdom. The Kejache province was frequently at war with the Itza and the two territories were separated by a deserted no-man's land. The Kejache are believed to have lacked a centralised political structure, although their capital was said to be Mazatlan (as referred to in Nahuatl by Aztec merchants). Ten Kejache towns are mentioned in Spanish colonial documents, including Tiac and Yaxuncabil, mentioned by Hernán Cortés.