Tenabo is bordered to the north with the municipality of Hecelchakán, to the south and the west by Campeche, and to the east with Hopelchén.
The name Tenabo means “place where measurement is by palms”. The origin of the name is from the Mayan words: te, “place” y nab, “palms”. Therefore, it is translated as “place of the palms,” as the end of the second word indicates this. Another translation claims Tahnab to mean in- the-naab, or white flowers.
The main pueblo is the village of Tenabo, which has existed since pre-Columbian times with the name Tnab and pertains to the Cacicazgo of Acanul. After the conquest, in 1549, it was allocated to the trust of Juan García de Llanas; it was then that the name changed to Tenabe. Later, in 1588, Tenabo was visited by Friar Alonso Poce.
With the abolition of trusts in the Yucatan in 1786, Tenabo was under the leadership of María Josefa García. After Mexican independence, and at the end of the last century, the municipality of Tenabo included part of Hecelchakán; then the pueblo of Tenabo had a population of 1,410, while the municipality had a population of 2,215. The village of Tenabo is situated in the western part of the hills parallel to the Gulf of Mexico. It is 60 km from Campeche by highway, on a short road that ends in Merida. It is the smallest municipality in Campeche, with and area of almost 882 sq km. The same as in neighboring municipalities, the main products are beans, corn, wood, and fruits.
Tenabo, the same as other populations of the Camino Real, also has a calendar of both secular and religious festivals, in which the religious devotion and general happiness of its inhabitants is celebrated. The most important of the year is celebrated at the beginning of May in honor of the Great Power of God.
The saint is honored through masses and rosary prayers, starting on Friday with the lowering of the religious idol that is worshipped during the ceremony and the novenario, or prayer gathering.
On Wednesday, there is the traditional vaquería, or couple’s dance, where celebrant groups from Calkiní, Halachó, Chocholá and the city of Merida come together to show their skills in this old fashioned dance which originated with the Spanish conquest, where the Spanish evangelization and indoctrination also imposed music. The Spanish brought sounds of romantic origin, including “De Ciego,” special songs they sang and sold to the blind people of the streets of Spain. They also brought the “Seguidilla,” a song and popular dance with rhythm similar to the bolero with animated movement, which began and ended with a chorus.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the Andalusian dances started to arrive, such as the fandangos (variety of the seguidilla that is accompanied by a guitar and castanets), originally of the 6 x 8 rhythm and now of 6 x 4. These new dances blended with those of pre-Columbian origin and brought about the surge of the vaquerías and events that bring together all ranchers to celebrate the cattle market and the annual counting of ranch animals. Before, the female ranchers would amiably attend to the other guests and in the end, danced to old Mayan songs influences by the music of Spain.
Today, it is common to observe the majority of the towns of the Camino Real dancing their own vaquerías that are developed for the activities of the principal religious festivities in the halls of the municipal palace on wooden platforms.
Thursday, following the day when the vaquería is celebrated in main plaza of Tenabo, there is the first running of the bulls, which continue throughout the festival, as do the popular dances.
During the novenario, the guild of Women, Children, Bakers, Farmers, the Legion of Mary, Yum Kaax, and others participate; at the end of the novena, the patrons of each group organize a celebration where the military band of the municipality plays and they share regional snacks and horchata, a sweet cinnamon and rice milk drink.
Traditionally, cultural and artesian expositions exhibit typical products of the state, including places such as Bécal and Champotón. Also there is the contest of the Chinese paper balloons, where small candles adorn the outside and a wick in the part below is lit to elevate the balloon; the winner is the balloon that rises the highest without burning or bursting. Similarly, there is a parade in which many banners bordered by hand by the artisans of the place and adorned with palm leaves and the image of the Great Power of God in the center are displayed, showing the quality, difficulty, and delicacy of the creation.
The festival ends with the “Domingo de Batalla” , or Sunday of Battle, named because it is the day when the town throws serpents and a special artifact known as “batalla”, or battle, amidst celebrations of music and a fireworks display. Before the end of the festival at midnight, there is a march around the outside of the park.
Each year, the composers of Tenabo work hard to prepare a special theme for the festival, which is selected to be played during the festivities.
From August 6th to the 15th, the Novenario in honor of the Virgen de la Asunción, the patron saint of the town, is celebrated. On the first day, the idol is taken down from her altar to start the masses, rosaries, slow religious marches, and finally morning parades.
Carnival is celebrated in Tenabo just as in other parts of the state. In the first four days, there is the coronation of the baby kings, the students, of INSEN and AMA and at last, the prestigious Queen of Carnival of Tenabo. On Saturday is the Carnival Band which starts the vaquería with groups of celebrants invited from other places in the Camino Real, almost 300 dancers, who all dance the Cabeza de Cochino. These visitors are received with enthusiasm. After this is the dancing contest, which always has the theme of “The Yucatan Airs”. This ends with the piece of “Chinito Koy Koy”, where the contest judges the best dancers for the difficulty of performing these dances.
On Sunday and Monday there is the contest of costumes and groups, ending with a popular dance in the main park. To bring the celebration to a close, Tuesday morning starts with a contest of tricycles, and the afternoon brings the customary “pintadera” where the traditional “bull mats” make their appearance. The carnestolendas festival arrives and ends with the Gala Dance, where the participants are rewarded for their performance in the different events.
One particular tradition is that the participating groups during the carnival travel from house to house offering their performances for free; the hosts recognize their talent and grace them with food, beverages, or even sometimes money that they will share at the end of the carnival or use to pay for the dance.
<Tinún comes from the Mayan words Ti, “place of” and Nun, “person who does not speak their own language well”, meaning oddly “The place where they don’t speak their own language”. Its population is just shy of 900 inhabitants. The women of this place are renowned for elaborate fruit conserves in syrup and in liquor from regional fruits such as nances, prunes, mango, marañón and others.
La Virgen de la Purísima Concepción, the patron of the town, is worshiped one week after the end of Semana Santa, or Holy Week. The festival lasts for last three days and starts in late April with the traditional vaquería, where groups of celebrants from diverse places along the Camino Real come together. These participants enjoy the occasion to show off their traditional suits and show their skill in the art of dancing the customary dances.
Saturday and Sunday are characterized by the celebration of the running of the bulls in the afternoon, specifically for which the town had the arduous job of constructing and preparing the bull ring; similarly, there are popular dances at night in the main esplanade. During these days, official masses and rosary prayers honor the patron saint.
September 29th is dedicated to commemorate San Miguel Arcángel. The inhabitants of Tinún show gratitude for the good crops by offering food made of corn— corn bread, panuchos, tamales, etc.
For this celebration, the people present the dance of the Cabeza de Cochino, in which the girls of the town perform the dance to the rhythm of the music of the Charanga of Calkiní.
The religious activities conclude with the procession of the idol of the saint, which is paraded through the main streets of town with canticles, adorned with candles. Kankí is a small pueblo with another Mayan name, meaning “yellowish henequén”. The main festival is celebrated from January 25th to February 2nd to honor the Virgen de la Candelaria. Traditionally there are activities every year in the house of Don Luciano Chan Uc, starting with the novenario, in which each “nochera” prepares sweets for after the novena.
December 11th starts the festivals in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe with the novenario, followed the next day with the vaquería, which starts with singing to the Virgin in the mornings. At noon, there is a special mass, ending with a parade of the idol through town.
Kankí es una población pequeña que en lengua maya significa “henequén amarillento”. La principal festividad entre sus habitantes es la que se celebra del 25 de enero al 2 de febrero para honrar a la Virgen de la Candelaria. Por tradición las actividades se llevan a cabo todos los años en casa de Don Luciano Chan Uc, iniciando con el novenario, en donde cada “nochera” prepara dulces después de la novena.
On the last day, there is a parade in which the idol is respectfully paraded around the park, ending in the house of Don Luciano to enjoy tacos of sheep, turkey or cochinita (suckling pig) that are prepared by the hosts for all the assistants.
This pueblo, just as all the others of the Camino Real of Mexico, celebrates the Virgen de Guadalupe as the patron saint of Mexicans. On November 31st, December 1st and 2nd, children from the town walk from house to house at night, carrying a gas lamp and a rattle that they shake when they announce their arrival with the phrase: “You have something for us.”
The people in the houses receive them amicably and invite them to come in, where the children say prayers and recite chants for Guadalupe specific to the occasion. At the end of the visit, the hosts offer food and sweets to their visitors, and sometimes even money.
In the communities of Emiliano Zapata and Xcumcheí the Presbyterian, religion dominates, though it is not common to hold grand festivities in honor of the patron saints. However, in the first pueblo, they customarily celebrated June 1st as the anniversary of the temple “El Espíritu Santo” . During these festivities, the faithful donate fresh pork and beef to share in delicious banquets held in the house of the Old Governors. These small populations practice Catholicism, and regularly assist the festivals that are held in neighboring communities.
