The Popol Vuh is an ambitious historical document which traces the creation and mythic history of the Quiché people, a branch of the Mayans in Guatemala. Beginning with the creation myth, the document progresses to the establishment of a civilization. The lines between myth and history blur exponentially as the document progresses toward recorded history. As this is first and foremost a creation account, however, accurate historical portrayal is not the end goal so much as the presentation of cultural identity and the preservation of cultural heritage.
The document itself is a reproduction, generations after the originals were written. When the Spanish colonized in South America, they destroyed the originals along with countless irreplaceable ancient texts of the native peoples. This latest version was subsequently recorded based upon oral tradition among the clergy. A priest -- Father Franzisco Ximenez -- translated those texts into Spanish. Far from preserved accuracy, these texts serve more as a cultural touchstone, a sort of resistance cultivated against the Spanish colonizers, than as historical texts.
