Kan Ek'

Kan Ek' (sometimes spelt Canek) was the name or title used by the Itza Maya kings at their island capital Nojpetén upon Lake Petén Itzá in the Petén Department of Guatemala. The full title was Aj Kan Ek' or Ajaw Kan Ek' , and in some studies Kan Ek' is used as the name of the Late Postclassic (c. 1200 to 1697) Petén Itza polity.

The earliest known use of the title comes from a Maya stela at the archaeological site of Yaxchilan and dates to the mid 8th century AD. The name is recorded in inscriptions at widely spaced Maya cities including Seibal, Motul de San José and Chichen Itza. When Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés crossed Petén in the early 16th century, he met with an Itza king identified by the name Kan Ek'. The Itza were not contacted again until the early 17th century when Franciscan friars were initially welcomed by the current Aj Kan Ek' before being expelled. This was followed by several incidents in which attempts to interact with the Itza resulted in the slaughter of the Spanish and their Maya converts, resulting in a long lull before attempts were resumed with a new Kan Ek' in the closing years of the 17th century. These culminated in a bloody battle, after which the last Kan Ek' was captured; he spent the rest of his life under arrest in the colonial capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala.

The two elements in the Kan Ek' name represent surnames taken from the mother's and father's lineage respectively. In Petén during the Postclassic period a person belonged to two lineage groups. The individual's ch'ibal group was determined by their father's lineage and their ts'akab group was determined by their mother's lineage group. Individuals simultaneously inherited their surname and property from the father's lineage group and a surname, titles and religious leanings from the lineage group of their mother. Maya rulers were members of royal lineage groups and the kan element of the king's name was inherited from the royal ts'akab while the Ek' element was derived from the royal ch'ibal '. Due to this, all the Itza kings of Petén bore the name Kan Ek'. Among the Itza, kan ek' meant "serpent star"; it may also have had a secondary meaning of "sky star" (ka'an ek' ).

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