Situated in the northern part of the state of Campeche, it has an area of 1,967 square km. Its principal agricultural products are henequén, corn, beans, bananas, oranges, and mangos. The principal localities of the municipality are Dzitbalché, a very important agricultural town; Bécal, a pueblo where they decorate their famous sombreros of jípi; and Nunkiní, where they make other gear. Also, there are small pueblos such as Tepakán, Bacabchén, Sahcabchén and Concepción that have numerous ranches.
The etymology of the name is from the Mayan cal (throat), and kin (sun). According to Calkini’s history, after the destruction of Mayapán, one of the nine Canul brothers, Tzab-Canul, founded the city of Calkini with a regional ceiba tree in 1443. When Francisco de Montejo arrived to dominate the Canules, he took power from the Mayan leader Nabatun Canché Canul, causing a series of attacks and outrage to the indigenous community.
Today, the most important festivals of Calinki are those that take place in the main municipality. In May, San Isidro Labrador is celebrated. For this festivity, the plaza is cleaned and the people parade the idol through the main streets of town, beforehand offering a mass in his honor. In other nearby pueblos, the people traditionally prepare fine atole, a hot corn drink adorned with honey, then invite “men” (the name of an indigenous witch), who, with a gourd place in his arms, offers food to all the solar gods such as San Isidro, asking them to let the Rain God Chac cry so that his tears fall to the dry earth, listening to the Christian prayers of the women: “Our Father who art in Heaven…” As you can see, the offering has become a fascinating combination of pre-Columbian and Christian customs.
Similarly, in October Cristo de la Misericordia is celebrated, and in December the Virgen de la Concepción is celebrated in the neighborhood of the same name; both celebrations include novenarios, or small prayer-gatherings, which different guilds host throughout the nine days. At the conclusion of the religious mass, the faithful go to someone’s house to celebrate.
In Bécal , where the territory of Campeche and the Camino Real ends, from May 21 to 31 there is the festival in honor of the Virgen de Nuestra Señora de la Natividad , where ten guilds participate, succeeding Don José Tun, who is known for planning a big festival. On September 8th, the patron saint of the pueblo is celebrated, and there is a mass in her honor.
At the end of April or the beginning of May is the Feria de Flor de Jipi , where there is a display of artesian products decorated with this jipi material, typical of this region. There are also folkloric dances and regional antojitos, or snacks, for sale.
In Tepakán , on July 23, 24, and 25, there is the festival of San Antonio, San Bartolomé, and La Virgen del Pilar , respectively. In this ceremony, Spanish influence is clearly observed, especially in the part of the song that says: “Bless us of Castilla, León and Aragón...”referring to the Spanish cities, lyrics that have survived generation after generation, across hand-written documentation, so that in all the towns there is no book with edited religious chants.
The town of Nunkiní is divided into five neighborhoods: San Román, San Isidro, El Gato Negro, San Francisco and San Martín. The economy is based in textiles, gear, jipi, vegetable and fruit crops; coral birds complement the family income.
The town is characterized by its unique manner of preserving and celebrating its popular and religious festivals; such as the one in honor of its patron saint, San Diego de Alcalá . This festival is celebrated November 3rd to December 1st; during which there is a novenario, or prayer gathering. About 30 guilds participate, each organizing a different day, praying in the mornings to “San Dieguito” , as the inhabitants affectionately call their patron saint. Later, there is a mass in his honor. The guilds decorate the church and prepare for the festival that happens after the sermon in the house where the entire town gathers to start the parade.
The most important date of all these festivities is November 13th, the day of San Diego de Alcalá on the religious calendar. For this occasion, the idol is taken down from its altar and carried in a parade around the outskirts of the main plaza. This celebration fuses old indigenous beliefs with those acquired from Spanish culture. The faithful raise a new saint to its altar, and then all meet in the park to burn the Dzul ‘ kak (Caballero de Fuego) (Man of Fire) , whose origin come from a Mayan a place that existed to the north of Nunkiní, called Chan Kah, where even today you can observe vestiges of houses that tangibly show its existence.
There is a legend that describes the origin of this festivity. The townspeople tell of the time when people started to get sick from an unexplained virus that caused fevers, aches, and eruptions throughout the body. The people treated the virus in vain, searching for all the possible ways to contain the epidemic without success; all that remained was their hope, their religious faith, and their devotion to San Diego de Alcalá, to whom they promised in exchange to return health to the town, that they would burn an effigy (Dzul) every six months.
Today, before the burning, this effigy is paraded through the entire town with the purpose of collecting funds so that the next year new attire can be bought for the effigy: a new sombrero, bright red scarf in the collar, white shirt, pants, and black boots. In scores, many explosives are set off to burn the effigy. When the time comes, the townspeople look on the figure of the effigy that has been paraded among all the people. In an act of devotion and rejoicing, they thank San Dieguito for the miracles of every day.
San Diego de Alcalá is also worshiped in April with an organized running of the bulls and the traditional vaquería, or couple’s dance, where groups of celebrants come, as do the nearby populations, to the municipality of Calkiní and other of the state of Yucatan, such as Halachó and Maxcanú, concluding the activities on Sunday with the burning of the “man of fire”.
Among other religious festivities is February 2nd, when there is a parade for the Virgen de la Candelaria . All the candles of the offering are carried by the faithful across the neighborhood of San Francisco to have a mass in her honor.
From the 15th to the 20th of May, the festival of “San Isidro Labrador” is celebrated, where the faithful bring offerings from their crops to the Catholic temple. There, they recite a blessing for the agricultural season.
During the entire month of July, “Corpus Christi” (Santísimo Sacramento) , is celebrated by holding masses and on the last day, they set out four tables full of fruit and foods in the corner of the church, representing the four seasons of the year. The priest blesses the food to share amongst all the people present there, ending this event.
On July 23, 24, and 25, there is the festival of “the 40 hours of agony of Jesus” when devotees visit the church to receive the blood and the body of Christ; during the three days, they keep the candles lit and display the Santísimo. They make collections to donate to the church and they share food with the entire town.
In the month of May, there is a festival in honor of the Virgen de la Concepción . During the entire month, the townspeople help the church, dedicating canticles to the images and offering bunches of flowers. Similarly, during July, the idol of the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (The Sacred Heart of Jesus) is worshipped.
Of the secular festivities, the most representative in Nunkiní is Carnival, due in part that the celebrants disguise themselves in a unique manner: with henequen they fabricate suits, so that all their body is covered, and to cover the face they put on a jacket of henequen fiber and a deer leather hood that falls on their backs. The traditional belt has a series of bells that together make a loud, unique sound, and to identify the members of each group, members wear colored belts on their heads.
The tradition to dress up as “bears” originates from the epoch of hunters, when the laborers grew tired of the exploitation of the bosses and the yoke by which they were subjugated, apprehended the patrons and threw them into the jail of the President. It is fabled that, so that they would not be identified, they covered their faces in this way, proceeding to kill them by cutting off their heads. From this moment, year after year they are still accustomed to costuming themselves in this way, some to scare the people and others to disguise themselves without being recognized.
The church of San Luis Obispo was built in 1548 under the supervision of Frair Luis de Villalpando, who had moved to Calkiní from Conkal, Yucatan. The faithful made the temple in the honor of San Luis Obispo.
Before the Conquistadors, there was in its place a simple chapel of the indigenous, which Friar Antonio de Ciudad Real in 1588 described it as “an eye-catching chapel and shelter”. Although excavations have not been done in this area, it is believed to be constructed over Mayan archeological vestiges, just as the majority of the churches here.
This work took more than two centuries to be complete as we see it today; but on August 29, 1561, the Presbyterian Agustín Ponce celebrated the first mass inside, and now this date is considered its formal opening. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until September 13, 1776, when Friar Martín de Vera concluded the works with one of the most beautiful convents of southeastern Mexico.
