The Tzʼutujil (Tzutujil, Tzutuhil, Sutujil) are an Indigenous people, one of the 22 Maya ethnic groups that live in Guatemala. Together with the Xinca, Garífunas (Black Caribs) and the Ladinos, they make up the 25 ethnic groups in the country. Approximately 100,000 Tzʼutujil live in the area around Lake Atitlán. Their pre-Columbian capital, near Santiago Atitlán, was Chuitinamit. In pre-Columbian times, the Tzʼutujil nation was a part of the ancient Maya civilization.
The arrival of the Spanish during the sixteenth century lead to the implementation of the cofradía religious system. In the nineteenth century, the nation transitioned to a capitalist economy.
