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The Lenca are an Indigenous people from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They historically spoke various dialects of the Lencan languages such as Salvadoran Lenca, Salvadoran Lenca (Potón), and Honduran Lenca, but today are native speakers of Spanish. In Honduras, the Lenca are the largest tribal group, with an estimated population of more than 450,000.
At the beginning of the 16th century, each dialect had its own confederation, each divided into several manors constituted at the same time by several towns. Each town was governed by a main head man who was assisted by four lieutenants who helped him in the tasks of their society. He was succeeded by his first-born or selected by the clan mothers. Wars were not that common during times of peace unless a radical tribal Clan Members tried to over throw the clan mothership. Lencas were multilingual as many other empires and nations were before, speaking languages such as Nawat language, Chorti, Xincan languages, Mangue language etc. Its objective was to expand trade on certain times of the year, the different Lenca lordships made truces. These truces are remembered by the Lencas as the Wankasku (Guancasco) ceremony. The commoner Lencas dedicated themselves mainly to planting cornfields, Roots such as Yuca (Manioke), Potato (Patewa), sweet potato (Kumarewa, Cacao (Kaukau) etc.
Lempira organized a war of resistance that lasted about twelve years and ended with his death in 1537. When the Spaniards arrived, their population, together with that of the Pipil and Poqomam, was 116,000 to 300,000 souls. Other estimates speak that the Lencas themselves numbered 300,000 (1520s) and about 25,000 in 1550. The Lempira resistance and defense of 1537-1538 managed to arm more than 30,000 warriors, indicating a large population, but some mention that the population in 1537 was barely 15,000 souls and it dropped to 8,000 two years later due to diseases brought from the European continent. Mota led the Lenca war defence in the surrounding settlement of Gracias a Dios, in the current department of Lempira and the exterior Coco River in Miskito people territories from the Spaniards; Entepica was chief of Piraera and lord of Cerquín.
While there has been a growing national acceptance of tribal rites and culture in both Honduras and El Salvador, the Lenca continue to struggle in both nations over tribal territorial sovereign rites of custom and usage of the land. In the mid-1990s, tribal leaders formed political groups in order to petition the government over issues of land ownership and tribal rites. Due to the unresolved land issues and constitutional amendments in those countries that favor land ownership by large-scale investors and agro-industrialists, there has been a decreasing amount of land for tribal people. Many Lenca men have had to find employment in neighboring cities.
Many Lenca communities still have their communal territory. They devote the majority of cultivation to commodity crops raised for export to foreign markets. Most Lenca still use traditional agricultural practices on their own crops, as well as the crops for investors.
In the mid-1980s, NGO cooperatives of women artisans were created in order to market their pottery. To increase sales of their works, the cooperatives were encouraged to orient their designs and styles to meet the tastes of urban buyers and to expand their market. In the 21st century, Lenca women are making modern painted pottery (often painted black and white) not based on traditional designs in an effort to appeal to foreign buyers.
Custom Lencan pottery is still made by women in the town of Gracias, Honduras and the surrounding villages, most notably in La Campa. The pieces are usually a dark orange or brick color. Visitors can watch demonstrations of how custom pottery is made.
As with other tribal groups, their practices often incorporate Pre-European custom, and some Lenca communities retain more exclusively tribal customs. Some custom practices are associated with the cultivation and harvest of crops. During different crop seasons, for instance, Lenca men participate in ceremonies where they consume chicha and burn incense.
The evidence for pre-European Lenca has come from research and excavation of several sites in Honduras and El Salvador. It shows that Lenca occupation was characterized by a relatively continuous pattern of growth.
The Comayagua Valley is located at the highland basin linking the Pacific and Caribbean drainage systems of Honduras. The valley provides evidence for a rich setting of cross-cultural relationships and Lenca settlements. According to Boyd Dixon, research in the area has revealed a complex history spanning approximately 2500 years from the early pre-classic period to the Spanish Conquest of 1537. Prehistoric Lenca settlements were typically located along major rivers to afford access to water for drinking and washing and to waterways for transportation. The lowlands were typically fertile areas. The Lenca built relatively few and small monumental public structures, except for military fortifications. Most constructions were made of adobe rather than stone. In his research of the Comayagua Valley region, Dixon finds ample evidence of cross-cultural relationships; many artifacts have been found that show that settlements were linked through ceramics. The production of Usulua Polychrome ceramics has been shown to link Lenca settlements with neighboring chiefdoms during the classic period. The Lenca sites of Yarumela and Los Naranjos in Honduras, and Quelepa in El Salvador, all contain evidence of Usulután-style ceramics.Dixon 1989
Yarumela is an archaeological site in the Comayagua Valley believed to be a primary Lenca center during the middle and late formative periods. The site contained a large primary residential center several times the size of that of its neighboring settlements which were secondary centers in the region. The site was most likely chosen because of its proximity to some of the major floodplains in the valley, whose fertile soil was cultivated for agriculture. The pattern and scale of the late pre-classic settlements suggest the existence of a ranked society. All corners of the basin were located within a half-day walk of Yarumela.
Other features found in the area are at the sites of Los Naranjos and Chalchuapa in El Salvador, each dominated by a single constructed earthen mound. Many other sites appear to share site-planning principles and structural forms with these examples, having large, open, flat plazas, leveled by manual grading, and dominated by a massive two- to three-tiered pyramidal earthwork mound.McFarlane 2007
: 1. Pipil people, 2. Lenca people, 3. Cacaopera people, 4. Xinca people, 5. Maya peoples Ch'orti' people, 6. Maya peoples Poqomam people, 7. Mangue language.]]
Quelepa is a major site in eastern El Salvador. Its pottery shows strong similarities to ceramics found in central western El Salvador and the Maya highlands. Archaeologists speculate that Quelepa was settled by Lenca speakers from Honduras. Population pressure may have prompted their migrations to new territory.Healy 1984 Another site is Tenampua, a city located in the valley of Comayagua of the Classic period, the city was protected by a series of walls still visible today. Various vases managed to be rescued from the site and taken to national museums.
Since the late 20th century, scholars have focused on researching and exploring settlement patterns of the Lenca in order to better understand the chronology of settlement during the pre-Columbian era.Black 1995; Sheets 1984
Stops include La Campa, where traditional Lenca pottery is handcrafted by a cooperative; the archaeological sites of Los Naranjos and Yarumela; the town of Gracias, and other towns with Lenca heritage. La Ruta Lenca was designed to attract tourism to Lenca communities and to encourage preservation of remaining indigenous cultural practices by increasing the economic return for artisans and providing new markets. The project has had some successes.McFarlane and Stockett 2007 Lonely Planet 2007
Berta Cáceres was an important leader of the Lenca and founder of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). Cáceres strongly protested the development of the DESA Agua Zarca Hydro Project and dam on the Gualcarque River in Honduras. Cáceres won the 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize for her work with the Lenca and her leadership in environmental movements. She was discovered murdered at her home on 3 March 2016.Nuwer 2016;Bosshard 2016 Rick Kearns, "Murdered While She Slept: Shocking Death of Berta Cáceres, Indigenous Leader and Activist", Indian Country Media, 3 March 2016; accessed 8 July 2017
In a news report published on June 21, a former soldier of Honduras’ Inter-Institutional Security Force (known as Fusina) alleged that Cáceres’ name, along with the names of other environmentalists in Honduras, had appeared on a military hit list.Rick Kearns, "Bertha Cáceres Among Those on Honduran Military Hit List", Indian Country Today, 27 June 2016; accessed 8 July 2017 A few weeks after her murder, major international investors—the Netherlands Development Finance Co. (FMO) and FinnFund—announced that they would suspend funding for the Agua Zarca project. Rick Kearns, "A Win in Honor of Berta Carceres? Investors Pull Funding from Controversial Project", Indian Country Media, 6 July 2017; accessed 8 July 2017 On July 8, Secretary of Security Julian Pacheco said that the government had failed to provide adequate protection for Cáceres, who had received death threats previously.
Lesbia Yaneth was another Lenca activist who opposed the Aurora hydroelectric project which was planned in the municipality of San José, La Paz. This project was very important to the government; "the vice-president of the National Congress, Gladys Aurora Lopez," was reported as having "direct ties" to it. Rick Kearns, "Another Activist Killed in Honduras, Ties to Slain Bertha Cáceres", Indian Country Today, 14 July 2016; 8 July 2017 Yaneth's body was found on 7 July 2016; she had been murdered the previous day in the Matamulas sector of Marcala. Police initially claimed that Yaneth was killed during the robbery of her professional bike. Because she was active in COPINH, however, fellow members and supporters believe that she was assassinated because of her political work. United Nations and European Union officials protested her death. Three suspects were arrested within a week of the Yaneth murder.
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