Emilia Canché Caamal was born into a Mayan family in Tekit, Yucatán, Mexico, on 28 May 1915 (claimed 1914). At some point, she married Augusto Nahuat Soberanis, with whom she had five children (three daughters and two sons).

In the 1950s, she moved to José María Morelos, Quintana Roo. At the time, there were barely a few Mayan houses, made of guano. She worked as a midwife in the city, for which many local people recognize the service she provided to low-income families by bringing 20 children into the world.

Her mother, Petronila Caamal, apparently died at the age of 115.

At the age of 108, she had 33 grandchildren, 95 great-grandchildren and 61 great-great-grandchildren.