[2] As time went by, the Kʼicheʼ warriors realized that the aj Kʼubʼul life was very different from the one they were used to have under the ruling of their king, as they simple worked on their land and crops and then enjoyed their families without having to worry about being invaded or called to fight in a war.

Therefore, they went back to their place of origin, Tujalj (Sacapulas and Canillá), but only to pick up their families and went on to settle a new community where they were once stationed to keep an eye on the aj K'ub'ul.

In the 18th century, however, then archbishop of Guatemala, doctor Pedro Cortés y Larraz, made some notes on the place while he was traveling his parish between 1768 and made a stop at San Andrés Sahcabahá (San Andrés Sajcabajá): "There is a ranch called Caniliá and even though there is a valley of about half hour, but the land is too dry and there is a maize of very deep ravines on both sides of the path; afterwards one crosses the Cacux river, who has a strong current from South to North".

The "ranch" indication means that in those days there was still not a definitive human settlement, while the deep ravines come from the fact that Canillá is located in the Sierra de Chuacús mountains.

The municipality was suppressed, however, by an executive action of president Jorge Ubico on 26 August 1936 and went back to San Andrés Sajcabajá as a human settlement.

Years later, yet another executive action, this time of president Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán, on 13 November 1951, reestablished the municipality under the same circumstances it was on 26 August 1936, when it was merged into San Andrés Sajcabajá.

The main roads connecting Canillá to San Andrés Sajcabajá and Santa Cruz del Quiché, or Zacualpa and Joyabaj are unpaved and can be precarious in the rainy season; they suffer from erosion, potholes and landslides.