Lakam Tun

Lakam Tun was a Lakandon Ch’ol settlement on an island in Lake Miramar, surrounded by the forests of eastern Chiapas. The lake and its island formed a defensible centre in a region of rivers and dense vegetation. Its name was also applied by the Spanish to the people and the forest region they inhabited, although the name covered several related communities.

Spanish forces took Lakam Tun in 1586. Its inhabitants withdrew deeper into the forest, where they established another centre, Sak Balam, and resisted colonial rule for more than a century. In 1695 a further Spanish campaign reached Sak Balam. The long resistance of the Lakandon Ch’ol made the forest one of the last parts of Chiapas to come under Spanish control.