—__Wietoria Reiter Beickge ~~ The Indian Christ, the Indian King The Historical Substrate of Maya Myth ana Ritual University of Texas Press, AustinPART I. INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER t The Historicity of Myth and the Myth of History Ie is usually taken for granted that myth is the an- tithesis of history, that what is mythical is by defini- tion untrue, and that what is transmitted orally is subject to distortion in a way that what is preserved in writing is not. According to Webster's dictionary, the terms mythical and legendary are both syn- onymous with fictitious. Perhaps because of their association with falsehood, these terms have ac- quired a derogatory connotation when they are used in ordinary speech, Recently, Jan Vansina (1965), a historian, has ques- tioned the assumption that oral traditions are neces- sarily unhistorical. Vansina believes that oral tradi- tions are a source of historical information just like any other source and that distortions of fact can best be discovered by using the comparative approach, that is, by comparing oral traditions with other types of historical evidence such as archaeology, written documents, and linguistics. If an oral tradi- tion is in agreement with, or complements, other sources of evidence, then it is unlikely that history has been distorted through oral transmission. On the other hand, according to Vansina, if ewo types of evidence yield discrepant or conflicting kinds of in formation, then one or both accounts must be dis- torted, But, says Vansina, the comparative method alone does not usually “establish that one source contains more ‘truth’ than another” (1965 138), even written sources can distort events in terms of the conscious or unconscious biases of their au thors: "Each type of historical source not only has its own limitations, but also its own particular way of seeing things—its own particular bias” [1965 141}. For history, according to Vansina, “is always an interpretation” (1965: 183) and “no more than a cal- culation of probabilities” {1965 : 185); therefore, oral tradition may be no less valid a source of historical data than written documents. ‘A persistent bias in oral tradition is what Mircea Hliade (1971: x) calls a “revolt against concrete, his- torical time.” Myths, in particular, ignore the tem- poral provenience of human events in favor of a par- adigmatic interpretation of them. Eliade argues that ‘this rejection of profane, continuous time” is the product of an “archaic mentality” and that “archaic” or primitive societies lack the true sense of history exemplified in the Judaeo-Christian religious tradi- tion (1971:ix. xiii, 38}. However, the concern for paradigmatic regularities in events is not limited to preliterate people; comparative historians like Arnold Toynbee and Oswald Spengler are also more interested in recurrent patterns than in the unique: ness of events, Furthermore, it has been convincing: ly argued by philosophers such as Immanuel Kant (1961) and C. I, Lewis (19291 that all knowledge re- sults from imposing structure on experience, and re- cently Thomas $, Kuhn (1970:2), the historian of science, has even suggested that scientific para- ddigms are also myths From this point of view, myths are theories of his: tory, and mythmakers are historians in much the same sense that Toynbee and Spengler are histo- rians. Although historians may quibble over wheth- er the broad generalizations of these men are prop- erly the concern of history or metahistory (Bullock 1959:292-299], it is unlikely that any historian would accuse them of suffering from an ‘archaic mentality.” Rather, historians might argue that the attempt to discover patterns in the sequence of events is not history but the science of history, whose appropriate academic discipline is anthropol- ogy (Harris 1968: 1; Toynbee 1959: 114—115). ThuszZ ° = z 3 3 5 z Pytod CHAPTERS ; Indian Saints in Highland Chiapas ‘Between 1708 and 1713 there were a series of Indian "religious movements in highland Chiapas, one of which culminated in organized armed rebellion.' In all of these movements the objects of devotion were } Catholic saints. This isa face of considerable impor- tance for understanding the religious motivation of the movements. Only twenty years earlier, the Indi- ans of highland Chiapas had still been worshiping idols with Indian names. In 1687, ior example, the Bishop of Chiapas, Francisco Nuriez de la Vega (1692:131—135], discovered that the inhabitants of the town of Oxchue were worshiping several idols, including one called tkalahau (Black God), and that Indians in many towns were continuing to practice some of their aboriginal customs under the guidance of ritual specialists whom he called nagualistas. The nagualistas played an important role in the life of the people; they were consulted in the naming of newborn children, they prophesied the future, and they treated people who suifered from illnesses caused by witchcraft. Nuiez de la Vega confiscated the idols and urged the parish priests to be more conscientious in indoctrinating their Indian charges (1692: 132, 1353), In spite of Nuviez de la Vega’s vig- orous efforts to stamp out the aboriginal religion, ‘agualism has survived in Indian communities until the present day (Vogt 1969: 369). On the other hand, i is clear that by the end of the first decade of the eighteenth century, the Indians were worshiping Catholic saint images instead of native idols, At least four religious movements took place in highland Chiapas between 1708 and 1713. The Bist three occurred in towns where the Tzotzil language was spoken: Zinacantan, Santa Marta, and Che- alo, The fourth took place in the town of Cancuc, which was situated in the western part of the Tzel: tal-speaking sector of the highlands (see Map 4h [1708-1713] Historians and anthropologists have paid much more attention to the Cancue movement than to the ones which took place in the other three towns, This may be because the movement in Cancue was the only one which was truly a rebellion in a politi- cal as well as a religious sense. Historians have tended to view the other three movements as symp- tomatic of the general unrest of the times rather than as intimately related, both in timing and con- tent, to the Cancue movement {see Klein 1966: Pineda 1888:38~70; Trens 1957:Ch. 9; Ximén 1929~1938:3°257-343). In my opinion, the move- ‘ment in Cancuc cannot be understood in either po- litical or religious cerms without first considering in detail the three movements which preceded it. The Virgin Cult of Zinacantan In 1708, the new Bishop of Chiapas, luan Bauptista Alvarez de Toledo, who had replaced Nuitez de la Vega after his death in 1706, was informed that a Ladino hermit was preaching to Indians from the hollow trunk of an oak tree on the outskirts of Zina- cantan, According to the rumors, the hermit was ex- horting the Indians to recognize an image of the Vir- gin which was giving off rays of light. The hermit claimed that the Virgin had descended from Heaven in order to olfer assistance to the Indians. His preaching attracted large crowds of Zinacantecos and Chamulans, who came bearing offerings of food and incense. ‘The bishop sent Father loseph Monrroy, the parish priest of Chamula, to investigate the matter. Mon- roy discovered that the image in question was aetu- ally a small canvas of St. Joseph which had been placed in a hole in the tree. He also found a small notebook in the tree which contained some verses advocating penitence and the love of God. The priestColonial Kebellsmes ordered the tree te be chopped down and eut into chunks, and he brought the hermu to Chamula in oder co place him under abservation, On the way t0 Chamula they were accompanied by a large group of Indians who insisted on kneeling before the her mit and also asked Monsroy whether church bells should be rung to announce thetr arnival in Chamu la, After three days the hermit was sent to the con: vent of San Francisco in Ciudad Real. He was even. tually released in May 1770, and he returned wo the outskirts of Zinacanton, where he resumed his preaching. The Indians built him a chapel, which they lined with reed mats and decorated elaborately On the altar was a small image of the Virgin to which offerings of candles, chocolate, eggs, tortillas, and other items were macle.- This tume several friars, were sent to investigate. They tried to burn the chapel down, but the Indians resisted. The Indians were calmed with great difficulty, che hut was 6 nally burned, and the hermit was seized again, This ‘ame the hermit was sent to the fesuits in Ciudad Real, who pronounced him to be possessed of the Devil and recommended that he should be exiled to New Spain from where he had come, but he is re ported to have died in Oeozocoautla before he could each the province of his birth [Ximénez 1929- 193123:263~264), ‘Although the hermit was a Ladino rather than an Indian, his message was pitched to an Indian at dience by whom it was enthusiastically received The cult he founded set a precedent which was to be imitated in subsequent yeats by Indian sponsors, The elements of the hermi’s cult which were re peated in 1711 and again in 1712 were: (1! the Vir gin’s descent from Heaven, 12} her promise to help the Indians. (3) the construction of a chapel in her honor, and (2) offerings of incense and food The Virgin Cult of Santa Maria The Virgin appeared for the second time in che fall of 1712," this time to an Indian woman of the town of Santa Marta, One evening un October of chat veat Dominica Lope: went with her husband, Juan Go: ‘mez, to their milpa (cornfield! on the outskists of Santa Marca in order to pick some ent$ of maize to feat, The Indian woman came upon the Vinsin, in human form, seated upon a log. The Virgin asked her if her parents were alive. to which the woman replied that only her father was still living. her mother having recently died ‘Ac fist Juan Gomez did not believe his wile s re port of the miraculous appearance of the Virgin When he went to the place an the miipa where his, wile said that the Virgin had appeared, he saw nothing there. However, lour days later he, t00, saw the Virgin in a clearing about twenty feet from the log where she had previously appeared before his wile ‘The Virgin ordered Juan Gomez to go to the vif cials of his town and ask them to build 2 "house" for her because she would rather live in the town than die among sticks and stones in the woods.”” The alcaldes of the town, upon being iniormed of this request, hurried t the milpa in order to determine whether the appearance of the Virgin was really a miracle or just a hoax. Many of the townspeople went with them. By dhe time they arrived at che ‘mnilpa, the Virgin had disappeared. However, she ap peared again on the following day, the aleaides were informed, and this time they also saw her seated on the same log. The alcaldes wrapped the Virgin in @ cloth and catried her co the town with great pomp and ceremony, which included banners, candles, bu- les, flutes, and fifes, and recitations of the Rosary and litanies." The Virgin was placed on the main altar of the church, where she remained covered with the cloth for three days. When the alcaldes finally removed the cloth, they discovered that she had been re placed by a woaden image." A chapel was buile for the Virgin with the help of people from neighboring towns as well as local townspeople. The alcaldes of Santa Marta appointed an alferez and two mayordomoas to cate for the Vir gin. The man chosen to be alférez was an Indian of Santa Marta named Domingo Lépez. Dominica Lopez and her husband were appointed to serve as mavordomos. The aiférez sang the Mass and or ganized festivals in honor of the Virgin. The «wo mayordomos were responsible for receiving the of ferngs of Indians who eame to worship the Virgin. The oiterings consisted of chickens, flowers, cense, candles, firewood, and silver money. The pil grims came from towns in all parts of the Tsot=il speaking sector of the highlands The chapel was constructed at some distance from the church near the edge of town. It was twelve paces long and four paces wide and was dt vided into two parts. Two images of the Virgin were housed in the smaller part, together with images of the patron saints of the neighboring towns ot San Pablo Chalchihuitan. Santiago Huistan, and Santa ‘Mana Magdalena, One ot the images of the Virgin hhad apparently been made in Zinacantan, The rest ofery which the the chapel was like a corridor or g Indians used for dancing This chapel was the scene of an elaborate testival during the Lenten season the following vear (1712), The celebration attracted Indians from all parts of the province, not just the Tzotzil sector It was at this time that the Spanish authorities apparently first became aware of the new cult. In Totolapa and San Lueas, the attendance of Indians at Mass on Sunday dwindled noticeably. and the parish priest of Totolapa and Preacher General of the Domint can Order, Father Bartholomé Ximenez, became alarmed over the great number of Indians from those towns who were making pilgrimages to Santa Mar ta, Ximénez decided to send a message to Father Joseph Monsroy of Chamula, asking him to invesn gate what was happening in Santa Masta, ‘Monrroy set out for Santa Marta immediately, stopping on his way in San Andres Iztacostoe, where the officials of the town informed him ot the mirac ulous appearance of the Virgin. They asked him for permission to take their pation saint to Santa Marta as the Indians of the other cowns in the area had done, Monrroy refused to grant their request. When he avrived in Santa Marta, Monrvey spoke with Dominica Lépez, whom he found in the chapel standing beside the two images of the Virgin. When. in the course of his interrogation she cold him that the Virgin had first appeared almost six months be fore, he demanded that she explain why she had not informed the parish priest of this occurrence during the intervening period. She retorted that he had not visited Santa Marta during that time. When Mon roy contradicted her, saying that he had at least bbeem in Santa Marta during the festival of Ss. Sebas tian (at the end of January) she gave the excuse that «the officials of the town had prevented her from in forming him during that festival. ‘According to at least one report, the Virgin had instructed the Indians not to inform either the priests or any other Spaniards of this miracle. SI said that she had come from Heaven only to help the Indians and that if they revealed the miracle they ‘Would die. Therefore, the image was kept covered st all times; Dominica Lopez stood nearby to reveal the Virgin's wishes, for the Virgin would speak with, no one else. It eas rumored thatthe Virgin had said {stall those who made a pilgrimage to ive her of SER oul to Heaven, even if they had many 4 _ sins, and that she would give them much maize * beans, and many children. During his visit to Santa Marta, Monrroy was ap indian Saints a Highand Chiapas proached by some Indians who begeed him to say Mass in che new chapel He refused to legitimate the cult this way saving that he could not do so th shut permission from his superior, the Preacher Gen cul, Bartholome Ximenez, Monrroy sent a letter tor Ximenes deseribing what had been going om in Santa Marea and soon received a letter reply order ny him to take the mavordomos of the Virgin from the town. This he could not do ummeshately because othe reistance put up by the indians. The oleate maver ofthe province was asked to help this mat ter, he sent an order to the aleades ot Santa Marea, commanding them to bring Domine Lopes and the image t0 Ciudad Real. This, together with Mon froy's argument that the image could be given freater honor in Ciudad Real, nally persuaded the Indians that they should let the imoge and her spon sons leave the town." “The image was placed in a box and carried ist ro Chamula, accompanied by great crowds of Indians Indians were an the church an Chamuta all night long seourging themselves and making offerings of cage, chickens, candies, and money to che Virgin.” The image was brought to the convent of Sanco Domingo in Ciudad Real on the followin corted by approximately two thousand Indian men and women. It was placed i the niche usualy vc Cupied by the Virgin ofthe Rosary and all day long ail kinds of people came from the eity in order *0 view the novelty [Ximenez 1929-1931: 3:267). “The next night che image was secretly removed from the church and hidden, When the Indians dis covered that it had disappeared, they dew up a pet tion requesting its return, which they presented to Monroy: Their request was ignored, and Dominica Lopez, her husband, and the man who had served as alferez of the cult were sent tal At the trial of Dominiea Lopez and Juan Gomez, the archéeacon, Juan de Santander, who was Serving as comisartolinvestigator: forthe Ingusition, did his best to discover evidence of idolatry: Again and agin he asked if the Virgin had been consulted by sick people. All the Indian witnesses emphatically denied that the Virgin had been involved in curing illnesses The elecle ear of Chiapas in his order to the officials of Santa Marta, reteted co Dominica Lopes asa ahuahirstla:” Ie seems that the Spanish authonties were trying to discredit the cue by asso: tating it with nagualten In his surnmary of the ev dence agsinst the prisoners Santander claimed that the Virgin had been involved in curing illnesses ven though none of the testimonies. and con58 Coloma! Rebllums Map 4. Cancue Revolt 1712-1713) . i. lao ‘Teese ‘A Patenave i Lojmanise SCR a suttatgNErumbale PROVINCIA C san Andes Nt, Bas? simak BELO) : / setae te ety ZENDALES \; | rN anol cai i frown ne wos 200 tas SS Pr SE | ] San Andie etacones}} EMfnond Sen Marin 1 cvrocunloa MaBila—Clmilng encase Zoe SEE aig ian i sen tacde Said Re ‘ P sraolga il PRIORATO DE cHNAPA i \ san Bartelme i ey : | PROVINCIA DE LOS LLANOS i \ —zZ> Previn eapeal Taatsil town (Teel town {Chol town 2 Zoque town Bounds of episcopal provinces LAS CORONAS Y CHINAMPAS g @cUARDIANIA DE HUITIUPASaag fessiuns obtained during the trial supported this in terpretation of the movement. In fact, the test monies imply just the opposite, When asked what kinds of ceremonies had been performed in honor of the Virgin, Dominica Lopez rephed that che cere monies had heen performed with the sume pomp and rites as were used for the patron saint of che town, Santa Marta.” Ie is clear that, from her point of view. che cult was organized in terms of the same principles as the cult in honor of the patton saint, of which the Spanish authorities approved. The ecre ‘monies that were performed and the religious offices that were exeated for the Virgin cule were the same as those for the patron saint, Visitations of the Virgin are not in conflict with Catholic tradition. For eximple, the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe before 2 Mexican Indian in 1531 was officially recognized by Catholic av thorities as a legitimate miracle, and today the Vir- gin of Guadalupe is the patron saint of Mexico as well as of innumerable towns and villages in Latin, America (see Ahlstrom 1972:51n; Braden 1950: 302-307; Madsen 19572136). The Virgin cult of Santa Marta may well have been based on a hoax, bbue that does not mean that it represented an at tempt to revive ancient, pagan religious customs, This was clearly not the case. Its appeal for the Indi ans lay in the fact that che Virgin had appeared to an Indian, rather than a European, and had oifered to help Indians with their problems, Miracles in Chenalho While the Virgin cult was developing in Santa Marta, another set of miracles, involving two saint images in the church of San Pedro Chenalho, 0c curred, Two days before the festival of St. Sebastian, the image of Ss. Sebastian reportedly sweated twice, and in honor of this miracle the Indians built a chapel for the saint. Next, the image of St. Peter, the titular saint of che town, began to emit rays of light fon successive Sundays. These events frightened the Indians, who thought that the world was coming to sn end as a punishment for their sins, They per formed many penances and supplications im. an ceffore to avert the calamity supposedly presaged by the miracles." When Monsroy eventually received news of what had taken place in Chenalho, he went to the town, denounced the "miracles" as hoaxes, and burned the new chapel {Ximenez 1929-1931 3:37] ‘The mizacles of Chenalho differed from the Virgin cus of Zinacantan and Santa Marta in one signifi laste Saints so Highland Chiapas cant respect: they involved two officially recognized saint images in the church, as the Virgin cules did rot, In my opinion, these miracles represent a ere: ative attempt to establish a locally inspired religious cult which would be acceptable to Spanish eccle siastical authorities, In the case of Chenalho, there was no question as to whether the images were authentic, Although Monrroy burned the chapel which had been built in honor of St. Sebastian, he did not confiscate the images 2s he had done an Zinacantan and Santa Marta. In this sense, che mira cles of San Pedro Chenalho were more successful than the Virgin cules The Virgin Cult of Cancue ‘The Virgin made her next appearance in Chiapas in May 1712 after the image of the Virgin of Santa Marta had been taken to Ciudad Real and while the trial of Dominica Lopez and Juan Gome= was in progress, She appeared before a young Indian woman known as Maria de la Candelaria” in a hamlet on the outskirts of the town of Cancue, which was in the episcopal district known as La Provincia de los Zendales: an Indian gil of chis town called Maria de la Can delaria, thirteen of lourecen yeas old, martied to Scbastién Sinchez, Indian of this rowa, told an Indian ‘woman called Magdalena whois now deceased that on the outskirts ofthe town next to her house the Blessed Virgin had spoken to her, saying that she shoud put Cross with a eandle in that hamlet, and they should fense is, and ateerwards they should build a chapel dnd this havang been divulged to them and believed by them, thar Sebsstan Sanches and the lather of this “Maria, whose name was Agustin Lapez, and Nicolasa Gomez, is wite, placed the Cross in that hamlet, and there they all went to conse i Father Simon Garcia de Lara, the parish priest of Cancuc, learned of this new appearance of the Vir gin on fune 15, 1712 (Ximenez 1929-1931 3:68}: sand receiving notice ofthis the priest, Fray Simon e Lara, parish priest of chis town, eomoved the Cross land eatried i his church, and be had that old ‘woman, Magdalens, (and, her father, Agustin Lope, Whipped, and he preached to chem thae they were i ventions of the Devil thae they should not believe in such appearances, and that Maria de la Candelaria wept and said that the’ hal been whipped for the Vie sin and that was trae that she had spoken ta hes.” Bur the Indians of Cancue did not accept Lara's interpretation of the miracle; as soon as he had de parted, they built a chapel on the spot where the cross had been60 Colonial Rebetlions the officials of this town proclaimed tha: some should clear the ground in the haralet where w would be built and others eatry logs, sta, and wope, and having brought all that dhey const ucted the ehapel and the following day itter the paver the [people ot the} town were an that chapel and sts vieinty prostrate fon the ground when Maria Lupe: ide la Candelaria} tentored the chapel accompanied by the other budian ‘woman Called Magdalena Dia= jnow dead! with a bun: dle covered with sts blouses and puts behind the mat and they announced that Our Lady had been pliced there, that she had appeared to them and then the ‘whole town entered the chapel and worshipped [belore] the mat counting the Kosary and crossing themselves and having proclaimed the miracle inthe towns ot the province, their inbabitanes came to this [own some carrying pine needles, others candles, and ers Alms that they gave to that Indian gual Maria Lope= Still hoping to obtain oifieial sanction for the cult, the Indians of Cancue then sent a delegation com: posed of nine Indian leaders from the wwn to Ciudad Real to request the bishop's permission to maintain the chapel and to have Mass performed in it. They met the bishop in Chamula on St. fohn’s Eve [June 23} and presented their petition, The bishop responded to their request by arresting and imprisoning the entire delegation in the house of the parish priest of Chamula and then sending them ‘on (a jail in Ciudad Real, However, several members managed to escape and returned to Cancue to report ‘on the treatinent they had received. The ewo alcaldes of Cancuc, who had been part of the delegation, were removed from office by the civil authorities in Ciudad Real, who ordered their re- placements to demolish the chapel. But the towns: people resisted. and Lara was forced to flee to Tenan 0 at the beginning of July Te was perhaps at this time that Sebastiin Gomes, an Indian from Chenalho, first appeared in Cancuc. He brought with him an image of St. Peter and a formula for legitumating the Varsan cult, He told the people of Cancue that his name was Sehastian Gomez de la Gloria and that he had gone to Heaven where he had spoken with the Holy Trn.ty, the Vi gin Mary, Jesus Christ, and the Apostle St. Peter ‘who had given him the authority to appoint iterate Indians to serve as priests in all the towns of the province!’ and had advised him that “there was no longer King. tributes, alculde m.avor nor officials of Ciudad Real because they had come to free them from all this, and that there was nv longer Bishop nor priest because all this was now ended, and that they should now enjoy their ancient bert, and that they should have only vicarios Iviears| and p ish priests of their own who would administer all the sacraments." In other words, Gomez's solution to the problem was to renounce the Spanish priests and replace them with an Indian priesthood. ‘This was, in effect, a declaration of war against the colonial regime, and in order to be effective, wt re quired the cooperation of all the Indian towns in the province, To this end, summonses were sent out at the beginning of August to the leaders of the Indian towns in che districts of Las Coronas y Chinampas (Tzotzil, Huitiupa (Tzotzil, Los Llanos {T=eltal and Teotzill, Zendales (Tzeltal, Tzotzil, and Chol), and Zoques.” Ximénez (1929~1931:5:2711 has sum- manized the summons as follows: Jesus, Mary and Joseph Honorable alcatdes of such fad such town—I. the Virgin, who bas descended 10 this sinful world cll you inthe name of Out Lady ot the Rosary and ordet you to come ta this town of Can {euc and to bring with you al the silver of your churches. and the oraments and bell, with all the offers and drums and all the cotradia [religious broth ethood) books and funds because there = a0 longer ‘God, nor King. and thus come at once, because other ‘wise you will be punished if you do not respond to ray Summons snd God's Ciudad Real of Cancue-—The Blessed Virgin Marla dela Cruz” According to several versions of this summons, the Emperor Montezuma was being resuscitated and would help the Indians deteat the Spaniards." The first towns to join the confederation were Si- baca and Bachajon. They were followed by the rest of the towns in the Provincia de los Zendales, with the exception of Los Moyas, Tenango, Guaquite- peque, and Chilon. Many towns in Las Coronas y CChinampas were also among the first to join.” As far as | have been able to determine, none of the Zoque towns or the towns of Los Llanos were involved in the movement at any time; one Zoque town, Sa vyula. apparently did rise up during this period. but 1t never joined forces with the Tzeltal Indians." Se al towns in the Guardiania ot Huitiupa were ever tually captured by the rebels and forced to yoin the movement. as were the recalcitrant Tzeltal towns of Los Moyes, Tenango, Guaquicepegue, and Chilon.* ‘This movement has often been called the Tzeltal Revolt, probably because so many towns in the Provineia de los Zendales were involved an the 7 bellion. However, this name for the movement 18 8 misnomer for several reasons. Fist of all, che name of the district imphes, incorrectly, that all towns where Tzeltal was spoken were located within 152_ fiven the responsibility of assigning pa boundarics. This was by no means the case. A sig: aifieant number of Tzeltal towns belonged to the Provincia de los Llanos (see Trens 1957: 224-227), Second, not all towns in the Provincia de los Zen dales were inhabited by T2cleal speakers. The Chol language was spoken in three of the towns, namely Palenque, Tila, and Tumbala, and Tzotzil was the Tanguage of San Miguel Huistan. These four town: played an active role in the movement. Third, histo: rians have failed to pay sufficient attention to the contribution made by Tzotzil towns ro the move ment, both before and during the rebellion. Zins cantan and Santa Marta provided the models for the Virgin cult of Cancuc, and Chenalho supplied its organizer. Furthermore, the people of Santa Marta and Chenalho were deeply involved in the rebellion, as were those of other Tzotzil towns such as San “Andres Iztacostoc, Santa Maria Magdalena, Santiago Huistan, San Pablo Chalchihuitan, San Miguel Mi tontic, and Santa Catalina Pantelho. Of the thirty ‘wo towns that participated in the revolt," Tzotzil ‘was the language of fifteen, Tzeltal was the language of fourteen, and Chol was spoken in the remaining three. In other words, approximately equal numbers of Tzotzil and Tzcltal towns participated in the so- called Tzeltal Revolt. ‘The participating towns sent their fiscales to Catv uc to be ordained as priests, or vicarios generales (vicars generall. They were chosen for this role not only because, as assistants ta the Spanish parish priests of their towns, they were already familiar with church ritual, but also because they were ust ally literate men and could therefore keep records of she baptisms and marriages they would perform-* During the ordination ceremony, the initiate knelt With a candle in his hand for forty-eight hours while he repeated the Rosary. At the end of that ume Sebastian Gomez de la Gloria brought him before ‘the whole town and sprinkled him with water while ‘hey both said a blessing. The first two men to be ordained as vicarios were Lucas Pérez from Chilon and Gerénimo Saraos from Bachajon, who were a hes to the ‘ASGales OF the towns.* Saraos had the additional function of serving as Maria de la Candelaria's per Sonal secretary, evidently because he could read and ‘Write better than the other vicarsos." Each vicario was considered to be the “son” of the Patyon saint of his town. Thus, for example, the Vicario of Guaquitepeque. Sebastian Gutie telerred to in_a letter as “son of the Si Natividad de Guequ ora de repeque.” Sehastin Gomez de Jodian Saints x Highland Chiapas 61 la Gloria was, of cour patron saint of Chena. In addition to the vicarios, who served as parish priests, there was also an Indian bishop, Francisco de la Torre y Tovilla, a native of Ocosingo. De la Torre ¥ Tovilla sas ordained as bishop in an elaborate cer cemony that lasted for several days: the “son” of St, Peter, the He [ue la Torte y Tovilla said that ehtoe days after the srnval of Scbastiin Gémes dela Gloma, native of Che rath, who was said to have been sent by St. Peter to ‘Cancuc, the witness went to that town at the close of the evening and then passed by the church and from there tothe chapel fam where he went tothe house of a friend to sleep, and from there the next day 2: dawn he returned tothe chapel and having arrived there, they decided to make the following ceremonies Domingo Mendes, vicario of Cancue, went out €0 say Mass, and they placed the wieness on his knees about three lect infront of the altar and vo one side of thee lighted candles and before him was the above-men- tioned Sebastian Gomer dela Gloria who a the time ofthe consecracion ceremony in the Mass seized a can: fle trom the altar and par it on his head and lifted ie three times and rested ie on it [is head] three Uimes and then retarned ito the altar, ad whet the Mass was finished that Sebastian Gamez went out leaving this witness Feeling withthe three candles wntl mid ay, and a that hous that Sebastian Gomes verurned and told the witness to go and break is fase n the hhouse ofa friend, and alter he had eaten he returned ro the above-mentioned chapel where he knelt. and Sebastian Gomes de Ia Glona strived in prayer and sulted out the three candles which were lighted. and fen the witness left che chapel, and that night at end fight Sebastian Gareis summoned him and brought bhim to the chapel swhere that Sebastin Gome> bap hum, pouting water on his head and placing his hhand on and lowering it onto his forehead and from there to his nose saving "inthe name ofthe Father, the Son, and of che Holy Spirit" n his mother tongue [Teowill, and afterward he went out inthe procession with the Foly Sepulchre singing the miserieordia and ‘walking in that procession. and then immediately the Mass occured and alter the sermon the wiiness fasted for three days ‘The new Indian clerics performed the same re ligious duties as the ousted Spanish priests. They celebrated Masses, preached sermons, and admin istered the traditional sacraments, In their sermons they exhorted the populace to believe wholeheart edly in the Virgin and the miracle” "The sacerdocal robes of the expelled Spanish priests were worn by the natives and the holy chalices and crosses from the church were carried forth in great processions. Im short, continuity in symbols and form was heav ily stressed, with the church now headed by the Vi kin Mary instead of God, and with a heaven and a62 Colonial Rebellions priesthood open only to the Indians” (Klein 1966 258)" The Virgin was attended by between eight and thirteen mayordomos at a ume.” There were ap proximately forty mavordomos in all who tok turns, every two months, serving in the chapel Maria de la Candelaria was called mavordoma mayor, the rest of the mavordomos were men of subordinate rank, all of whom were elders." Thus the Indians who were directly responsible for the Virgin were organized along tadinonal colradia lines (Klein 1966:258n; Ximenez 1929-1951:3 284) The dimensions of the chapel were approximately twenty-four leet hy fifteen feet. It was divided into ‘two rooms by a partition made of reed mats, The front part contained the altar with images ol the Vir gin of the Rosary, St, Anthony, and other saints. The ‘mages of the Virgin were draped in Indian blouses. Between the altar and the front wall of the chapel ‘were ranged two rows of seats, on whieh the mavor: domes sat. Maria de la Candelaria occupied the seat nearest the altar, followed by Gerénimo Saraos and Lucas Pérez, the first two Indian vicarios who had been ordained by Sebastian Gomez and who also served as her scribes. They were followed, in turn, by che other mayordomos, who were arranged in de scending rank order behind them, Maria de la Can. delaria went behind the partition whenever she needed co communicate with the Virgin. The Indians renamed Cancue “Ciudad Real,” and the Spanish city of that name became “Jerusalem. An Indian Audiencia was established in Huitiupa, renamed "Guatemala" for that purpose, and an In dian was appointed to serve as its president.” The Spanish King was declared dead, and three Indians were made kings to rule over Cancue, which was also known as “New Spain,” ° The alcalde mavor of Chiapas had died recently and had not yet been 0 placed, the Indians appointed Sebastiin Gomez as, their alcalde mayor. The Spamiards became “Jews tn the minds of the Indians because they had per scouted the Virgin, the mother of Jesus.” The Indi ans also believed that “the road to heaven remained closed to the Spaniards who were Jews" because they would not believe an the Virgin of Cancue (Klean 1966:258), In this way the Bible was rein terpreted in terms of the local ethnic situation. with the Indians cast in the role ot derenders ot Chris and the Virgin and the Spaniards identitied with, Jews and barred from salvation The leaders of many towns were act moved by this ethnocentric reinterpretation of the Gospels and refused w join the canfederation against the Spaniards. Such recalcitrance ehreatened to under mine the movement, whose best chance of success lay in presenting a united Indian front against the Spaniards. The “soldiers of the Virgin" marched rst against several Tzeltal towns which had refused to obey the summons from Cancuc. They began with Tenango, where Nicolas Peres, the ranking fis: cal, had forbidden the removal of church ornaments 0 Cancuc. The rebel troops captured Pérez and took hhim to Cancue, where they executed him, A re calcitrant fiscal in Oxchue met the same fate. Later in their campaign the rebels invaded Los Moyos, car nied its officials off to Cancuc, and forced the rest of the inhabitants of the town to join their eause. As the confederation expanded, the cult leaders in ‘Cancuc became richer and more powerful. Priceless silver church ornaments and money flowed into their chapel in response to their summonses or as booty from the conquered towns. Other sources of income were the marriage and baptismal fees and the alms collected from Indians who came to wor ship the Virgin." Several Indians, perhaps seeing in the cult phenomenon an opportunity to enrich themselves, starced rival cults in ther towns. For example, Magdalena Diaz, the old woman who had helped Maria de la Candelaria establish the Virgin cult in Cancuec, tried to estabhsh a cult of her own in Yaialon at the beginning of August. In order to win supporters, she declared that the Virgin of Yaialon was more authentic than the one in Cancuc. The eaders in Cancue acted quickly to destroy this threat co the unity of their movement. They sent soldiers to Yajalon who arrested Magdalena Diaz and her husband, Gabriel Sanchez, and brought them to Cancue, where they were hanged. An In ddan from Tila who claimed to be Jesus Christ was kewise captured and executed in Caneuc (Ximene= 1929 ~1951 3287). In the meantime, the Spanish author:tes 1 Cu dad Real had learned of the summons which the Jeaders of the cult in Cancuc had sent to all the towns in the province and were beginning to call up a militia to defend the capital. Since the alealde ‘mavor, of provincial governor had not vet been re placed, the two alcaldes ordinarios (justices of the peacei in Ciuslad Real, Fernando de Monge y Men doza and Francisco Astudhillo, had the responsibilty of coordinating these efforts, They ordered Captain Pedro Ordone=, who was stationed in Chilon, (0 re cruit Spanish and Ladino soldiers from Chilon, Yejalon, Tila, Petalsingo, Tumbala, and Ocosingo and bring them with their arms to Ciudad Real. Or doiez wrote to Monge vn August 7 about his to round up weapons and ammunition in tryside.” By August 12 he had assembled a force of thirey men in Chilon, but before he could lead them to Ciudad Real, that town was attacked by five hun dred Indians armed with machetes and clubs 1n taliation for the alcaldes of Chilon having refused to obey the onler to bring the chusch’s ornaments, coffers, and records wo Cancue The Indians sur rounded and wiped out the Spanish troops, includ ing Orddiez, but spared the women and children, They then moved on to Ocosingo, where they mas sacred all the Spanish children and carried the Span ish women off to Cancuc When the captured women arnved in Cancue, they discovered that their lives had been spared be- ceause they were destined to become the wives of In dian men. Those who resisted were whipped into submission, Under the colonial caste system Indian men were denied sexual access to Spanish women, ‘while Spanish men were iree to take Indian women as concubines. Now in Cancuc the tables were tumed, and the Indians became the dominant caste. The captured Spanish women were forced to dress like Indian women, so that they would nat be dit- ferent from them, and they were forbidden to braid their hair, In Cancuc they worked like slaves grind: ing corn and performing other onerous tasks for their Indian masters The August 12 attack on Chilon was the first armed confrontation between Indians and Span: iards. During the first two woeks of the revolt, the rebels encountered no maior resistance from the Spaniards. By August 25, an Indian army of four to five thousand men had reached San Miguel Hiuistan, 8 Tzotzil town within striking distance jsix leagu tf Ciudad Real, and were preparing to attack it. ‘The organization of the Indian army was based on the Spanish model. At the top were three captains general (capitan general): Juan Garcia of Cancuc, Nicolas Vasquez of Bachaion, and Lazaro Ximen ‘of Huitiupa. Below them were the captains, one fom each town. Soldiers of lower rank were called Sergeant (sargentol, corporal |cabol, and soldier {sol dado The indian amy included ints vanks some Mulattocs and Mestizos from Ocosingo and other Captured towns who had offered to join the rebels in feturn for having their lives spared.” The men in this army regarded my regarded themselves as “soldiers of the Virgin." <4 Virgin, fii Soamts on Maghdand Chiapas 63 At about this time the Spaniards in Ciudad Rea! learned thar Pedro Gutierrez de Mier y Theran, the new elealde mavor, was on his way from Tabasco to take command of the situation. A small force of 140 men led by Monge ¥ Mendoza was sent to Huistan to delay the Indians in their advance on Ciudad Rea and thus give the new alcalde mayor time to arzive and call up additional troops (Ximénez 1929-1932 3288-289) Shortly after his arrival in Ciudad Real, Guuérez rushed to Huistan with an army of 350 men consist ing of 200 Whites, Mestizos, Mulattocs, and Ne _groes recruited from the city and 150 Chiapanec In- dans who were allied with the Spaniards (Ximénez 929-1931 3290]. Alchough heavily outnumbered by the Indians, the Spaniards were much better armed. The Indians had among chem only about thirty shotguns which they had taken from the Spanish soldiers they had killed in Chilon. For the most part they fought with pikes, slingshots, and obsidian-tipped arrows. The Spaniards, on the other hand, were short of ammunition and water. Nev- ertheless, the rebels were driven from Huistan on ‘August 26 and retreated to Cancuc, where they en- trenched themselves, The Indians of Zinacantan took advantage of the Spaniards’ preoccupation with driving the rebels from Huistan co stage an uprising of their own a this time. This new development prevented the Spaniards from pursuing the rebels to Cancuc, for the uprising in Zinacantan, only four leagues from Ciudad Real, was as much a threat to that city as the Indian army in Huistan had been. It was Father Joseph Monrroy, the Dominican priest who had suppressed the first chree saint cults, who now saved the day for the Spaniards in Zina cantan, Monrtoy went to Zinacantan and told the rebels there that the "soldiers of the Virgin” had been defeated in Huistan, With this news the Zina cantecos’ resistance collapsed, and they surrendered peacefully. Apparently Monrzoy’s news of the Indi ans’ retreat trom Huistan convinced the recent reb- els in Zinacantan that the tide had finally begun to turn against the Indians. However, this proved not to be the case. Even after peace had been restored in Zinacantan, the Span- lards did nor follow up their victory in Huistan by marching toward Cancuc, Instead, the rebels. con. tinued their harassment of towns which had refused to join their cause, particularly the Tzotzil commu: nities in the Guardiania of Huitiupa, They fist in64 Coloma! Rebeltions vaded Huitiupa and coerced its inhabieants to join, the movement. Then, with these reiniorcements they swooped dawn upon Simoiovel on September 9 and killed its parish priest, Father Juan Campero and many of the townspeople. The invaders, who were mostly Indians from Cancue and Huitiupa were naked except for loinclaths and had painted their bodies with red mud. The town was sacked, and all its food, livestock, and church relies were ccartied off to Cancuc. Most of the survivors fled into the mountains; some of them took refuge in the town of Platanos. And in spite of the fact that Simo. jovel was virtually deserted after this raid, the “sol ders of the Virgin” returned to raid it again at the end of September. During the first part of September, Tunibio de Cosio, the president of the Audiencia of Guatemala, appointed Nicolis de Segovia Parada y Berdugo as military governor of Chiapas, Segovia set off imme: diately for Chiapas, arrived in Ciudad Real about September 28, and began to fortify the city in prepa: ration for an Indian attack. (On October 6, Cosio decided that he should take personal command of the Spanish forces vo put down the rebellion. He set out from Guatemala on October 10 with an army of 800 men, including 100 Mulattoes, and arrived in Ciudad Real on October 28.” On the same day that Cosio began his march to Chiapas, Segovia occupied Huistan with 400 sol ders, 54 Negto slaves, 150 Chiapanec Indians, and 4 Spanish priests. On October 20, Segovia left Huistan for Oxchuc, while Gutiérrez went off to Chenalho with goo men. Gutiérrez fared very badly in Chenalho. The Ind fans had built @ trench across the road outside the town, and they successfully resisted the Spaniards attack. After this defeat Gutiérrez and his men re turned to Ciudad Real. * Segovia, on the ather hand, succeeded in encering Oxchuc with his troops on October 22. They pushed their way into the center of the town and en trenched themselves in the atrium of the church After fierce fighting in which cwenty-five N slaves were active. the Indians gave up and fled into the mountains. The Spaniards burned Oxchuc be fore returning to Ciudad Real Meanwhile Cosio had arrived in Ciudad Real and Jas anxious to hold a council of war with Segovia. The day alter his arrival he sent a letter to Segovia in, Oxchue summoning him to Ciudad Real and sug: gesting that he leave the command of his troops temporarily in the hands of his corporal, Cosio also requested that Segovia bring with him two Domin can priests who were also in Oxchuc, Fathers Juan ‘Anas and Joseph de Parga.” After their meeting in Ciudad Real, Segovia re turned to Oxchue with Cosio. Guueriez stayed be hhind, at the request of the townspeople, to keep corder in the city and take charge of its delense in case it should be attacked while Cosio and Segovia were off trying to subdue Cancue. On November 16, the Spanish army, led by Cosio, lett Oxchue and set tout for Caneue, On the following day they arrived at the town of San Martin Obispo, which they found hhad been fortified by the Indians. On November 18, the Spaniards succeeded in routing the enemy, and after burning the town, they continued their march toward Cancuc, They arnved at the heavily forufied ‘outskirts of Caneue on November 20. The Indians defended thei trenches valiantly, and it was only after fierce fighting, with both sides suffering many casualties, that the Spaniards were able to take Can cuc on November 21." Evidently the Indians had not expected the Span: vards to penetrace their defenses so rapidly, the Span: intds arrived while they were in the midst of a fes tuval, and a bullfight was in progress.”' When they realized that their fortifications, primitive weapons, and grcater numbers would not keep the Spaniards ‘our of their capital, the Indians sought supernatural help. Four Indian women who were reputed 10 be witches were hastily carried to the river in chairs, completely covered with mats to protect them [rom the sun, to invoke magical weapons against the en cemy, Each woman represented a natural foree: earth quake, lightning, flood, and wind. They planned to hhurl lightening at Cosio, whip up floods that would inundate the Spaniards, and move mountains that ‘would bury the Spaniards beneath their rubble. Two of the women were natives of Yatalon, the other two ‘came from Tila, The women failed in their attempts to unleash these natural forecs against the Spar ards, when the men who had carried them ¢o the riverside realized that the women did not have the ‘magical powers they had claimed, they recurned to the town, leaving the women to make their way~ back on foot ‘The Spaniards in Ciudad Real celebrated the vie tory in Cancue by organizing a public procession and prayer in honor of a famous image of Our Lady of Charity’ The Virgin of Charicy is still remem bered by the Ladinos of Ciudad Real (now San ‘Cristobal Las Casas} for her role an that contlict [se Appendix C, Texts C-8 and CgCosio failed to capture any of the cule leaders in Caneue. Maria de la Candelaria, her husband, father, and Sebastian Gomez de In Gloria eseaped before Cosio had finished capturing the town, In their haste they left behind all the church ornaments and money collected from the towns which had come under their domination, as well as the most damag. ing evidence of all, the haptismal and marriage books with entries signed by Indian vicarios. The | fugitives hid in the mountains for several months and then made their way to Chenalho, where the Indians had built a chapel for them, However, theit plans to continue the cult in Chenalho were mpped in the bud by the arrival of Father Joseph Monsroy, who had come 10 persuade the Indians of that town to surrender {see below]. The fugitives had to flee | again, after having spent only four days in Chenalho. ‘They went to San Pablo Chalehihuitan, where Se: 1 bastién Gomez de la Gloria was eventually captured Maria de la Candelaria and her two remaining com: anions were rumored to have passed through vari fous localities. but they evaded all eforts of the Sp ards to find them and were never caught.” ‘The rebels had pledged themselves to continue 10 ght in the mountains if their towns were captured, for the Virgin had promised to protect them for five years, and at the end of this time she would lead them to victory against the Spaniards. Cancue, how ever, infuriated the other rebel towns by imme diately accepting the general armistice proclaimed by Cosio, Tenango, Guaquitepeque, Oxehuc, Hui stan, and Tenejapa followed Cancue’s lead soon after. Chilon, Bachajon, Sibaca, Ocosingo, Yaialon, Tumbala, Petalsingo, and Tila continued to resist the Spaniards after the fall of Caneue.” ‘When the Indians of Chilon received Cosio’s order to surrender, they found themselves deeply divided over whether to accept or eiect it. While they were ebating this matter, the town was invaded by In dian soldiers from_Yajslon, Bachaion, Petalsingo. Tila, and Tumbala, The inhabitants of the town fled to the riverside, but many were killed by the invad: 1s, including the woman who had brought the mes ‘sage trom Cosfo; others were captured and tied up with ropes.” With Cancue now well under Spanish contol, Cosio and his troops marched off to Sitala, Chilon, and Yaialon and subalued those towns by Christmas. Pst In the meantime, the alealde mayor of Tabasco, “ Juan Francisco de Medina Cachan, had arrived in Chiapas, atthe request of the Viceroy ot New Spain, 'ghelp put down the rebellion. Cachon occupied the fouisan Soto's tm Hghiansé Chiapas 08 town of Los Moyos at the end of November. On De. cember 16 he occupied Huitiupa. During January 3715 he brought Petalsingo, Tila, and Tumbala un der his control. Bachaion, Ocosingo, and Sibaca were subdued by Cosio’s field marshal, Pedro de Zavaleta, during January, February, and March 1715, In the Tzotzil sector, the towns of Chenalho, San Pablo Chalchihu:tan, San Miguel Mitontic, San An dres Iztacostoc, Santa Marta, Santa Maria Mag: dalena, Santa Catalina Pantelho, and Santiago Hui stan still remained in a state of rebellion. In January 1713 Father loseph Monttoy olfered to undertake the task of subduing these towns. He chose as the headquarters tor his mission the town of Chamula, ‘which had remained loyal to the Spaniards through: out the rebellion and had even donated money, horses, and men to the Spanish cause {At the beginning of February, Monrroy went to San Andres Iztacostoc in order to celebrate a festival which bad been postponed because of the hostilities ‘The inhabitants of San Andres had fought with the Indians of Cancuc, although Ximénez [1929-1931 32318) claims that they had joined the rebels only out of fear and were secretly in sympathy with the Spaniards. Next Monrroy penetrated more deeply into enemy territory, He went alone to Chenalho, San Pablo Chalchihuitan, and neighboring rebel towns and managed to persuade their inhabitants that he came in peace and that they should sur render (Ximénez 1929-19313: 320) (On his way to visit San Pablo Chalchihuitan, Santa Catalina Pantelho, and Santa Marta, Monroy took note of the fact that they were very isolated towns which were naturally protected by the rug gedness of the countryside. He therefore recom: mended to Cosio that the people of San Pablo Chal chihuitan should be moved to Chenalho, those of Santa Catalina Pantelho to San Miguel Mitontic, and those of Santa Matta to Santiago Huistan, where he would be better able to keep an eye on them and to intervene should they cause any further trouble, After discussing Montroy's recommendation with the bishop, Cosio decided to implement it.” ‘Similar decisions were made to consolidate other sebel towns. The Indians of Tenango were moved to Guaguitepeque and Sitala, Son Martin was “re- duced” to Oxchue, fram which it had split off only the year before. And Cancuc was obliterated and its inhabitants moved to other towns” By March 1714, peace had been restored in the province. New Indisin officials had been appornted in all the conqueved towns, The old leaders who had46 Colonial Kebettions participated inthe rebellion and had not escaped che Spaniards were either executed or exiled to Guate mala and other provinees. Cosio and his forces re tured to Guatemala at the end of March, Cachon sade his way back 0 Tabasco shovuly thereafter A few months later, there were rumors of a new Virgin cult at « place called Coila, which lay be tween Ocosingo and Comitan. Apparently, after the fall of Cancve, five Indian captains, Geronimo de Morales, Dicgo Garcia, Jacinto Gomez. Gaspar Vis: «quez, and Lueas Mende, transferred the cult First (0 4 hamlet called E] Plantanat, near Ocosingo, and from there to Coil, where they built a new chapel for an image ofthe Virgin, reported tobe the Virgin of Candelaria, which they said had come from Haven under circumstances very similar to those described by Maria de la Candelaria. There the cap tains tried to regroup their forces to resist the Span. iards, inthe same way that the leaders of the cult in Cancue had mobilized support Jor their move ment—by summoning Indians to Coila to worship the new Virgin. The cult was dominated by Geroni mo de Morales, and Jacinto Gomez served asthe Vir gin's mayordomo." ‘The cult seems to have flourished unl fune 1715 ‘when it came to the attention ofa Spanish mopping: up expedition, led by Juan de Quintanilla Just be fore Quintanilla and his men arrived at Coila, Mo rales ordered the chapel to be torn down. and he fled ‘with his companions to a new site called Xuchila But they were pursued by the Spanianis and forced todisperse into the mountains. Afeer the Virgin had been removed from Coila, she supposedly returned to Heaven because the Indians did not have taith in her. From then on, there were no more reports of Indian Virgin cults, Causes of the Rebellion Ximénez (1929~1931: 5: 2571 believes chat the prin cipal cause of the uprising in Caneuc was the ap- ointment of a new bishop, Alvarez de Toledo, to replace Nufiez de la Vega, who had died in 1706. The new bishop, in contrast to his predecessor, was not satisfied with the income generated by his position as soon as he took office, he introduced new church levies and increased old ones. Even worse, he in sisted on increasing the frequeney of his episcopal tours from once to twice in a three-year period. His first tour, shortly after taking office, was very costly for the Indians in the communities visited during the tour, who had to bear most of its expenses. In a pastoral letter dated August 2, 1712, the bishop an nounced that he would begin a second tour on Au ust ro, less than two vears after the first. Fearin; that a tour at this time might excite the already rest less Indians, Father Joseph Montroy tried 10 dis suade the bishop from following chrough with hi plan, but the bishop refused to listen (Trens 1957 192]. [tis probably no coincidence that a council © war was held in Cancue on the day that Alvavez d Toledo began his second tour (Trens. 1957-191 Even though the bishop decided to suspend his tou ‘on August 11, it was too late, for the Indians wer already mobilized to attack the Spanish garrison i Chilon on che 12th, Ximénez. (1929-1951:3:257) cites as _anothe probable cause of the rebellion the greed of the a. calde mayor, Martin de Vergara ithe predecessor ¢ Guuiersez de Mier y Theran}, who forced the Indian 10 sell all their maize and other agricultural prot ucts to him at low prices and to buy them back fror hhim at three times their original sale price, The 2. caldes ordinarios of Ciudad Real were equally avi ricious.” The Indians suffered also from the roy: maize tibutes, which were fixed and could not b adjusted to the size of the harvest, even during yeat of famine. To make matters worse, maize was sessed at an artificially low price for tribute [Xim« ez 1929-1931: 3:256). One of the reasons Indiar gave for participating in the rebellion was that th Virgin of Cancue promised to free them of the hate tributes which prevented them from enjoying th fruits of their labor." Ximénez mentions also, as @ possible motive f rebellion, the false arrest and subsequent incarccr tion of Indians in the jail in Ciudad Real for lor periods of time, which he says resulted in makir even rich men paupers, One Indian who was abuse in this way was Lucas Pérez, fiscal of Chilon, wE became one of the ordained vicarios in Canet {rg9—1931:3:257-258, 281). According to Xim nnez |1929~19313:2561, belore his arrest, Luc Pérez had been well known among the friars as ‘very good and capable Indian,” Nevertheless, ¢ the eve of the outbreak of the revolt, the bishop he Lucas Pérez exiled from Chilon.” Another Indic vicario, Geronimo Saraos, had been fiscal in Bach jon. Saraes had quarreled with the parish priest his town, Father Juan Gémez, who had banishe him from Bachajon. Saraos was living in exile Caneue when the revitalization movement began: bis light of the mistreatment suffered by both men the hands of the Spanish clergy. it is not surprisit that they should have been active in a moveme‘which promised to sid che land of Spanish bishops and priests Is possible thatthe other fscales who Played important roles in the rebellion had been Similarly abused (the leader ofthe Chamula revo of 1867~1870 was also a fiscal who had been humil: axed by Ladino authorities, see Chapter ol Some Indians took advantage of the rebellion ro get even with Spaniards who had wronged therm. For example, Father Juan Gomez, parish prest of both Bachajon and Guaquitepeque, was murdered by an Indian who had heen cheated hy hin. hust before killing him, che Indian removed Géimez’s hat and said to the priest: "Remember, Father, that when Yyou were patish priest of Guaguitepegue vou aver charged me for 2 cow T bought from you ther, for which you ordered me to pay with this hat, thereby demanding of me more than the just price for that All of the probable causes mentioned by Ximénez are fundamentally eeonomie ones, even those he at tributes to the clergy. It is, however, difficult to interpret the appearance of the fist cult in Zinacan: tan) a8 a feaction against Spanish economie exploi- {ation of Indians because it was the work of a Ladino hermit, not an Indian. On the other hand, che Ladino hermits cult may have appealed to the Ind ans because he promised them divine help at a time ‘when they were experiencing economic hardship. It can be argued that if the need had not been there the hermit would not have attracted Indian diss ples, and Indian leaders like Sebastian Gomez would not have followed his example. In this sense, eco- nomic exploitation may have served as a “cause” of the Virgin cults Nonetheless, in spite of his apparent belief in eco nomic determinism, much of Ximene='s description of the rebellion and of the events which imme diately preceded i is concerned with the Catholic hierarchy’s suppression of religious eults, not with economic exploitation. Ximénez and the Catholic Diests on whose eyewitness testimony he based his account of the movements seem to have regarded all four cults ag rebellions against established Church ~ authority, even though only the last cult actually de veloped into armed conflict In eheir eyes the efforts to suppress the cults were a response to, rather than a cause of, rcbellion. In other words, the fact that Ximénez did not cite clerical suppression of the 4 cult in Zinacantan, Santa Mart, andl Chenalho 38a Possible eause of the Cancue rebellion implies that zimerpreted Indian religious revitalization in gen oval lion in particular, Indien Sain's in Highland Chiapas 67 san expression of revolt against the colonial order. The view that Indian religious revitalization marks the first stage of a rebellion against the au: thority of the dominant Hispanic ethnic group is ‘one that persisted in highland Chiapas inco the nine. teenth century: In 1868, the conservative Ladinos of San Cristobal Las Casas [formerly Ciudad Real) ver bally expressed their fear and belief that the Passion ‘cult of Chamula would develop into ethnic conflict, and they begged the state government to suppress. MSY Their prediction came true, but only after clforts had been made to suppress the cult and arrest its leaders (see Chapter 9} Ladinos have used religious symbols, such as the Virgin of Guadalupe, as rallying points for some of their own rebellions (see Lataye 1976). It would be natural for them ro conclude, on analogy with their own use of saint cults for such purposes, that na: tive religious movements must also be incipient rebellions, In recent years there have been a number of simi- lar Indian religious revitalization movements in highland Chiapas, The Ladino authorities have not tried to suppress them, and, in some cases, the bishop has even supported them. The result has been religious change but not ethnic conflict jsee Chapter 13 for a description and analysis of these modern movements} Ie would appear, then, chat had Monrroy not tried to suppress the cults in Zinacantan, Santa Marta, and Chenalho between 1708 and 1712, there might have been no general Indian uprising in highland Chiapas in 1712. This interpretation is corroborated by the testimonies of several Indian prisoners. For example, one prisoner claimed that the Indians re belled because the Spanish authorities had refused to recognize the appearance of the Virgin in Santa Marta as a miracle: ", .. he had heard it said publicly that because of a miracle that the Virgin performed in the town of Santa Marta, and the Bishop and the alcalde mayor not having wanted to believe it, she appeared in the towa of Cancuc and said co the Indi ans that she had come to liberate them from the twibute and other taxes and that there was no longer King except the Virgin because the Spaniards did not let them enjoy the silver and other things of their land (Other prisoners blamed the outbreak of the revolt on the bishop's refusal to let the Indians build a chapel in honor of the Virgin in Cancuc and his arrest of the delegation se mission to worship the Virgin." believe that the cules of Zinacancan, Santa Mar- to request his per&— Colemal Rebellion ta, Chenatho, and Cancue should he viewed as a se ries of experiments in the Indians’ quest for a saint tf their own which would he acceptable wo the Span ish religious authorities. The notion of a Virgin who had come to earth for the express purpose of helping Indians was first inuxluced to the Indians by the Ladino hermit in 1708 and was :neogpenated ante two of the three suceceding Indian cults. At this time also, certain traditions were established which were to be followed in subsequent cults, such as building a chapel in which to house the new and making offerings of food and incense The cult in honor of the Virgin of Santa Marta was similar to the hermit’s cult in Zinacantan, nat only inits ceremonial structure, but also in the weakness of its organization. In neither case were the Indians mobilized to prevent the confiscation of the imaxe and the arrest of the cult leaders, A different and somewhat more successtulap- proach was tried in Chenalho. This time it was wo officially recognized saint images in the church which behaved in miraculous ways. Nevertheless Monrroy was not persuaded of the authenticity of the miracles. He burned the chapel buslt in honor of, St. Sebastian, but he did not confiscate the images as, he had done in Zinacantan and Santa Matta In this, sense the experiment was successful, but the organi ational structue of the ult was still too weak to unite the Indians in effectively insisting on the leg imacy of their miracles. The necessary administra tive organization was finally developed in Cancuc uring the summer of 1712, The strategy of the Cancue movement was clearly stated in the summons sent to all the towns in the province, which I have quoted above. First ofa, the other towns were ordered to strip thetr churches of valuable ormaments and bring them and the stafls of, office of their political officials to Caneuec,** thereby symbolically acknowledging Cancuc’s role a the te ligious center of the region and the Virgin cult asthe dominant cult. Second, the Indians of the other towns were told that they need no longer respect the Spanish King or the ecclesiastical authorities and that the “royal city” or administrative center of the province was no longer Ciudad Real, but Caneve Thus, thwarted in their numerous efforts to find a legitimate place within the Catholic religion for an Indian saint, the leaders of the movement finally de cided to reject Spanish religious and political eontiol ly and form their own stave and religious bu aucraey, AS Herbert $. Klein {1966:253) s0 aptly puts it, “From desiring official recognition, t moved tn the period of six months after its founding to open ‘opposition to che very legitimacy of white Spanish Roman Catholicism.” In this way; what began as a religious cult within the colonial arder developed into: political rebellion against the colonial regime In spite of the militant anti-Spanish tone of the movement, the Indians did not reweet Spanish in stitutions and revert to their aboriginal religion and preconquest political organization, Like the Spanish priests whom they had replaced, the Indian vicarte: eelebraced Masses, preached sermons, and admin sstered the traditional sacraments, imitating, to the best of their knowledge, the tual practices of their Spanish models. Many Indians believed that the sac nts and Masses performed by Indian priests were genuine and accurate." It is clear that what the Indians had rejected was Spanish control of their religious affairs, not the Catholie religion Klein |1966:262~263) has argued that the polit cal organization of the movement represented an ex: pansion of the traditional cofradia system, with the fiscales, renamed vicarios, as the leaders, and he downplays the political role exercised by the cap- taing general. However, there is no evidence that the fiscales were ever part of the cofradia system as such, Rather, they, like the sacristans and choirmas ters, were part of the organization that assisted the parish priest in the care of the church, while the co. fradias were separate organizations run by mavor domes. The distinction between the saint eults \co- fradias) and church organization was maintained in Cancue, The Virgin was served by mayordomos, the fiscales functioned as parish priests under a bishop. The political organization of the rebels closely 1 sembled the Spanish system, with the same men functioning as both military and political leaders (captains general, alealde mayor, and kings)” in the same way that the president of the Audiencia of Guatemala (a political office) was also captain gen: eral (a military position}, and the alealde mayor of Chiapas ia political office! was also lieutenant under the captain general. The political organization of the rebel confederacy consisted of four levels: {1} town cr village jheaded by 2 captain, two alcaldes, and four regieores!, '2) provincial headed by an alealde ‘mayor and several captains general, with its capital at Cancue, renamed Ciudad Real, (3) oudiencia ihvaded by 2 president, with his capital at Huitiupa renamed Guatemslal, and ig} imperial jheaded by kings!. What was innovative about the political ors nication of the movement was che replacement of Spanish officials with Indians in roles of the same i |ion of a mew political system based on the cofradia, Thus, whatever else it may have been, the Caneu revolt of 1712 was not an attempt to revive ancient Maya customs. It was, on the conttaty, an expres sion of discontent with the Spanish monopoly «1 the Catholi gion, The revolt was preceded by sev eral unsuccesstul movements to obtain eeclesiasti cal recognition of Indian saints, The revelt achieved that goal, lor a short time at least, by eteating an Indian priesthood and an Indian stave, both of which were patterned acer Spanish colonial stitutionsThe Indian King i The Quisteil' rebellion of 176 is probably the most controversial Indian uprising in postconguest Yuea- tecan history. It is very poorly documented,’ and the few existing reports of it disagree not only on how at should be interpreted, but also on whether anything deserving of being called an “uprising" or # “re bellion” occurred in Quisteil ac all. Yet it has fired the imagination of many Ladino authors and his torians, who have rezarded it as an attempt to re vive the ancient Maya kingdoms destrayed by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century (Ancona 1878— 1880:2:439-44o; Ecarrea de Bollra 1845; Abrow Gomez 1969) ‘The man who figures prominently in all the histo- nies, legends, and novels that describe this uprising is an Indian named Jacinto Canek, who is alleged to have crowned himself king with the crown and mantle of the patron saint of Quisteil Rios 1936! Canek’s ongins arc not known with certainty. al though historians agree that he was not a native of Quisteil. Ehgio Ancona [1878~1880:2: 438439) and Eduardo Enrique Rios {19361 believe that Canek was barn in the barrio of San Ramon in Campeche and that at an early age he came under the protec ton and tutelage of a Franciscan friar who later took: him to Merida, where in the monastic headquarters, of the order he studied Latin and moral theology Other historians believe that he was born in the barnio of Santiago in Merida and agree that he was educated by Franciscans|Molina Solis 1913°235, Sie mma O'Reilly 1954:2:21]. Both versions of Canek s background portray him as an outsider Apparently Jacinto Canek did not get along very well with the friars in Merida, for he was eventually expelled from the monastery. He worked for a while at various trades in Menda and had become a baker n Quisteil (1761) at the time of the Quisteil uprising (Ancona 1878: 1880 2:43, Sierra O'Reilly 1954221) Ancona (1878~1880:2:439| believes that there were copies of the first edition of Father Diego de Lopez de Cogolludo’s history of the conquest of the Yucatan peninsula in the library of the Franciscan monastery in Merida and has argued that while in the monastery Canek could not have failed to learn the history of the conquest in great detail. This knowledge would have made him aware of the fact that the Maya had once been independent, which would have given him a motive for starting a rebellion Yucatecan historians stress the importance of Canek’s education in looking for a motive for the revolt, However, Canek would not have needed to read Cogolludo’s history in order to know about the conquest. The Books of Chilam Balam, which were undoubtedly in use in Maya communities during the eighteenth century, contained that information Nevertheless, Canek’s Spanish education is fre quently cited as a cause of the revolt. In 1785, for example, a Franciscan priest defended his order's policy of not teaching the Indians Spanish by point ng out that two of the putative leaders of the Quisteil revolt, Canek and Miguel Kaneun [Moreno 1845.88. see below!, had known Spanish and had led the rebellion. There is also disagreement over the origin of Canek’s name. Canek was the name of the last king of the Itza, who had been conquered only sixty-four vears betore the Quisteil revolt [Chapter 2), Most Ladino historians are of the opimion that Jacinto Canek’s real name was Jacinto Uc and that he assumed the surname Canek only aiter he had crowned himself king and taken contol of chemovement in Quisteil (eg, Ancona 1878-1880 2:438). They believe that Canek deliberately gave himself che name of the last Maya king as part of his plan to re-establish an independent Maya king: dom in Yucatan. They claim that he got the ide from Cogolludo's (1842~1845° 1: 1121 discussion of a prophecy made by the Chilam Balam of Mani to the effect that a king of the Itza would return one day and drive the foreigners into the sea, They rea son that by adopting the name af the last Itza king, Jacinto Canek cast himself in the role foretold in the prophecy, thereby legitimating his leadership of the movement in Quisteil. This view is supported by the official report of the rebellion in the municipal records uf Merida However, in a letter to the Vice: roy of New Spain dated January 16, 1762, Toseph Crespo y Honorato, who was governor of the prov: ince of Yucatan at the time, stated that the man in question was a tribute payer under the name of fa into Uc de los Santos Canek, which implies that his use of the name Canck predated the rebellion (Rios 19536} Quisteil in 1762 was a small town in the parish of, Tixcacaltuyu, situated some six leagues from Sotuta {Map 5) (Ecarrea de Bollra 1845: 397; Sierra O'Reilly 1954:2:21). On November 19 the inhabitants of Quistell were holding a conjunta, or meeting, to make plans for celebrating the coming festival in honor of the patron saint of the town, Our Lady of the Conception, The conjunta itself was also usu. ally treated as an occasion for a small festival, and asin the case of other celebrations ofthis sort, many’ of the participants were intoxicated, The meeting ‘was almost over when Jacinto Canek, who happened to be present, made the suggestion that the people use the funds which they had planned to spend for the coming festival to prolong the present celebra: ‘ion for another three days. This proposition was en: ‘thusiastically received by the drunk townspeople (Rios 1936; Sierra O'Reilly 1954:2:29) In the gen eral pandemonium that followed, a Ladino mer chant by the name of Diego Pacheco was murdered, according to one report, because he refused to sell a “THRE Df liquor [Documentos histéricos 1844: 349) On the following morning, Miguel Ruela, a cizcuit briest from Tixcacaltuyu who had arrived in Quis: teil on November 15, went to the church to say the ‘Mass. According to Sierra OReilly (1954:222) and Ancona (1878—1880:2:441—a2), the service was rudely interrupted by a crowal of noisy, drunken In- ans who wanted to kill the priest, but hesitated to The Incion King in Quisteil 71 ddo so in front of the altar In any case, the priest did not finish che Mass but, with the aid of a trustwor thy sacristan, left rapidiy on horseback. As he was mounting his horse, many Indians came up t0 him and begged him to stay with them to perform ser vices for them, saying that he should not be afraid for even though they would not obey their own town officials, they would respect him as a priest. This declaration apparently did not allay the priest’s fears, for he fled to Sotuta, where he spread an exag. gerated account of what had occurred in Quisteil [Ancona 1878—18¥0:2: 402, Casarrubias 1951:89) del Puerto 1846: 100; Molina Solis 1913:256; Sierra OReilly 1954:2:29). When the military commander of Sotuta, Captain Tiburcio Cosgaya, learned of what had supposedly taken place in Quisteil, he immediately sent word af an “uprising” to the governor in Merida and set off, for Quisteil with a small force of fourteen horsemen, and one hundred foot soldiers [Rios 1936; Molina Solis {z913:236] says that there were only ten mounted men}. Cosgaya and the horsemen went ahead of the foot soldiers and arrived in Quisteil late in the evening of November 20. According to Rios (19361 and Sierra O'Reilly {1954:2:22), the Indians had been tipped off by sentries and were the first t0 attack, Cosgaya and a number of his men were killed, and one man, Juan Herrera, was taken prisoner, Governor Crespo explained in his letter to the viceroy that the news of Cosgaya's death and reports that groups of Indians from neighboring commu- nities were joining the rebels in Quisteil convinced him that the uprising was part ofa general conspir, acy against the Spaniards. Wich this explanation he justified his decision to mobilize all the forces in the peninsula under the command of Captain General Cristobal Calderén de la Helguera in Tihosuco. He further ordered the Indians to give up all their fre: arms, which he instructed should be used to arm the mallitia (Rios 19361. Indians who protested that their arms were needed for hunting game were made pris- foners and sent in tight custody to Merida (Sierra OReilly 1954:2-24) CCrespo's letcer was written co justify his handling oof the uprising, and it was obviously to his advan- tage to dramatize the danger presented by the events in Quisteil. A very different appraisal of those events. is given by Pablo Moreno (1843), who claims that Cosgava's men were drunk when they arrived in Quisteil and chat they entered the town slashing atKepellions Galen Map 5. Yucatan in 164 satiny MERIDA Lg costa CAMINO QMendh —slsamal VALLADOUD REAL Umane © BENEFICIOS - ‘ia ao ESTOS Sang Yl scion AS, ‘Toaaliion SIERRA BATA ~S “Sgr Mame eat, Huomhdae Qu? catia eMart "Eloy nnateag OS bobace oo FE * vetitane Olathe fey Tosoesse Tihomco CAMINO sienna “% N " ‘aura BENEAICIOS | Campesie "ALTO oe AMTECH i noLoNcHENCAUICH i! SaHcABCHEN 1! ’ SALAMANCA | ‘CARMEN : I Bee 1h 4h O Provinces fi : + Towner ila Approximate Frontthe multitude, who defended themselves with what they had at hand: stones, sticks, and machetes. One Spanish soldier was so’ intoxicated, says Moreno (184595), that he fell offhis horse at ehe entrance to the town and lay there sleeping through the battle. According to Moreno (1845931, when news dis disgrace had been transmitted to Governor Crespo, and having entered into an agreement with his litem and ocher advisors, they devised the Scheme of deseribing this drunken brawl es a general uprising of all the Indians of this peninsula, in wrder that Crespo might claim the glory of pacifict, and brain, by these means, the cogeinuation of ns govern tent, and that his councillors might assure them rclves by the wisdom of theit advice, in such an aidvous undertaking, of promotions and a brillant fo ture. They communieated thei plan to Caldeson and ‘ther asptant, and contrived the declarations taken ia the towns, concerning the coronation of Cane. and the growth of the rebellion, In other words, Morena construes Crespo's decision to call up the militia both as an attempt to cover up a drunken brawl in which Cosgaya and his men had disgraced themselves and as a means for Crespo 10 achieve renown as the man who suppressed an In dian “rebellion.” Ancona and Molina Solis have also used this “drunken riot” thesis to diseredit the gow ernor’s policy as an overreaction for purely political motives (Rios 1936) Moreno’s comment on Canek’s coronation is of some interest for our problem because it suggests that an event that has served as a theme for Ladino histories, novels. and legends may be nothing more than a fabrication of Crespo and his advisers, This point is discussed further in Chapter 12, ‘The official report of the Quisteil rebellion which can be found in the municipal records of Merida report of which Crespo was one of the cosizn ers, makes the following assertions about Canek's {they precipitated che sash intrepidity of proclaiming 3} Jong with the name of Canek, eo worship hin and oli ‘= insense to the devil in dhe idols which thersipon they ‘ranged inthe Holy Church of that eown favoring hem with the sacred vessels and priestly Ves for their sacrifices, the most excetable [deed th ‘og comimitd was the sclera sbumina ving the name of wie ta the Image of Most Holy Mary, Our Lady stripping her of her crown and mun {0 serve as adornment for his pretended grande, pe Suaded chat having faithful to him the rest ofthe towns ofthis Province he sould achieve the evil pur ham Kare on Qutsesd 7 pose of renouncing emtrely the obedience to the King Sur Lord whom Cod guards’ elie ss bres 19 thet Crespo gives a more detailed account of the corna tion ieself in hus letter to the viceroy: “and that he crowned himself in that town of Cistéel with the Crown and Mantle of Our Lady of the Cone Patroness of that town, callin age: Re Jacinto Uc Canek, Chichan Morezuma, Which in translation means King Jacinto Ue Canek Little Montezuma: that various towns of the con= federation gave him obedience with the end of re: turning to their ancient liberty" (Rios 1936) Eduardo Enrigue Rios and Martin del Puerto have wwied to describe the events which culminated in Canek’s coronation, According to Rios, after the Indians of Quisteil had agreed to prolong their drunken celebration for another three davs, lacinto preached to the assembled crowd in the 'y Of the church. Del Puerto (2855: 100— 101), Jesuit priest who assisted in the chapel uf the jail in Merida in which the captured Indians were kept, gives an account of what Canek supposedly told the Indians on this occasion, which he claims is based on the last coniession of one of the executed leaders, Canek is reported to have spoken of his travels throughout Yucatan and of the many in justices he had seen which convinced him of the need for the Maya to free themselves from Spanish subjugation. He criticized the priests for their ne slect of Indian villages and for their unpriestly be- havior which set a bad example for the Indians to whom they were supposed to be giving a Christian education. He spoke of the tyranny of the Spaniards, of the never-ending forced labor which was sanc: tioned by frightening punishments, of the heavy tax and tribute burden which had been imposed on the Indians, and of floggings and jailings. He next told the Indians that the only remedy for their misery was to throw off their yoke of servi tude, and he urged them to participate in an armed rebellion to that end, He said that he had chosen Quisteil as the headquarters of the rebellion because it had been founded after the conquest and had therefore never been conquered. He suggested that they begin by taking Yaxcaba by surprise and follow that with the capture of the capital city, Merida. He told them that he had trained fifteen expert witches, who would use their art to enter the forttess, kill th guards, and open the gates to che Indian soldiers. At this point, in order to convince his audience of his himself in his lan74 Colonial Rebettions ability to fulfill his promises, he apparently per formed a trick wich invisible writing. Once the for tress had fallen, he said, the Spanish governor would be summoned to hecome a vassal of the nevly elect ed king. If the governor refused co obey the sum mons. then the Indians would have to resort 0 arms. He threatened to enlist the help of thousands of Englishmen in resolving the issue, claiming that they would swarm ¢o che Indian army like the thou- sands of ants he supposedly released at th:s moment to illustrate his point. And he ended by saying that even though “many of you will die in bate, you should not fear eternal death, for by anointing you with this oil that | have, and saying at the moment of unction: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, ... you will find the doors of paradise open’ (del Puerto 1845 102 In this speech Jacinto Canek mentioned, probably for the frst time, che concept of an Indian king, and his coronation is supposed to have taken place soon after. According to an Indian captured while carry Ing messages to various rowns in the peninsula, and brought to Merida on November 23, the coronation occurred right after the murder of Diego Pacheco on November 19 (Moreno 1845:S2—83}. However, the same Indian also reported that the man who was crowned king was an Indian cacique from Tabi named Francisco Uex, who had been renamed Mon: tezuma. The coronation was carried out with the crown of the patron saint of the town. The prisoner also announced that the Indian king had appointed his son Santiago to lead an Indian army of 1,200 to 1.500 men who were gathered in Quisteil (Moreno 1845 :82—83}, In fact, it was not until December 3, after Jacinto Canek had been captured, that the Spaniards learned or decided that the Indian king ‘was not Francisco Uex as they had first though, but Jacinto Canek Moreno 1845 =87). By that time Fran. cisco Uex was already dead {Moreno 1846 :87] and ‘could not be interrogated and forced co confess his Whatever doubts the Spanish authorities. may have had about the veracity of this testimony were dispelled two days later, when Juan Herrera, the Spanish soldier who had been captured by the Indi ans at the time of Cosgaya’s defeat, arrived in Mert da after escaping from Quisteil. Herrera claimed to have been brought before che Indian king and forced to kiss the “royal and not very clean’ soles of his, feet, after which he was sentenced to death and given two hundred lashes [Morena 184583; Rios 1936) The Indian captive also supposedly contessed that the revolt had been planned for more than a year and that all the towns of the peninsula had been invited 1 join, Only Yaxcaba, Tihosuco, Oxkutzcab, Ticul Calkini, and Heeelehakan had declined the invita tion, The captive mentioned Ichmul, Tinum, Ek. pede, Tiholop, Tixualahtun, and Tixmeuae as towns that had allied themselves with Quisteil [Moreno 184583; Map 5 In the meantime, various forces of Spaniards had set out for Quisteil to quell the rebellion, Colone! Manuel Rejon led 4oo men from Valladolid; Colonel Estanislao del Pucrto led soe men from Yaxeaba and Soruta; and 600 men from the Sierra {puuc hills} ‘were led by a number of officers, among them Cap. tain Pedro de Lazarraya, The garrison in Valladolid was reinforced by 160 men from Tizimin, and 150 ‘men began marching north from Campeche (Mo- reno 184582). Sisentun, Izamal, and Merida also troops (Rios 19361. And Captain A. Guerra of Tihosuco responded to news of Cosgaya’s death by leading a group of armed men to Quisteil (Docu: mentos historicos 1844: 349) The Indians were likewise preparing for war. Word reached Merida on November 23 that the following message to the town of Mani had been intercepted “Well, you may come without any fear, for we await you with open arms, have no misgivings, because Wwe are many and the arms of the Spaniards are now powerless against us: bring your armed people, for with us is he who can do evervthing” Documentos historicos 1844:3501. The governor reacted to this news by issuing an edict forbidding all merchants to sell powder or lead to any Indians on pain of death and threatening severe punishment to any tone who tried to leave the city (Documentos histori 05 1844: 350] ‘Uncertain news from the front and the reports of Herrera and the Indian prisoner caused panic among the Spanish residents of Merida. Governor Crespo ‘mentioned in his letter to the viceroy a widely cir culated rumor of a conspiracy co attack the city on Christmas Eve (Rios 1936; see also Documentos his tGricos 1844: 350). The Spanish residents were also terrified by the possibility that the Indians who lived inside the city would rise up against chem. It ‘was rumored that the semaneros, who were Indians forced to work without pay for Spaniards in Merida, Intended ro set the city on fre from within and chop the Spaniards into pieces with axes and machetes a8 they ran from their homes. Peshaps the source of this rumor was the report of a semanero caught putting ground glass in his master’s bread (Documentos hhistoricos 1844-350, Molina Solis 1913/2539), In this atmosphere of fear and suspicion i is not sur prising that a fiscal fram Uman was arrested for hav ing declared that the prophet Chilam Balam had foretold the destruction of the Spaniards Documen: tos historicos 1844: 353). Five gallows were set up as a warning to the Indians, one in the main plaza and the others in smaller plazas on the outskirts of the city (Dacumentos histéricos 1844:350), (On the morning of November 26, 500 Spanish sol: diets marched toward Quisteil, and by early after. noon they were poised for attack. The central p of the town had heen fortified with ovo rows of uuenches, in which about 1,s00 Indians were sta tioned prepared for battle. The Indians resisted the Spaniards tenaciously, and the two sides engaged in hand-to-hand fighting. The Spaniards were stronger and eventually won the battle. The Spaniards lost 30 ‘or 4o men and reported more than 600 Indian dead (Moreno 1845:84; Rios 1936). Most of the remaining Indians fled into the sur rounding forest. They were pursued by the Span- iards, and many of them were captured. The Span- iards also set the houses of the town afire, and Francisco Uex, the “new Montezuma,” and some ther leaders who had barricaded themselves in one tf the houses instead of fleeing into the woods, all perished in the flames {Moreno 1845:84!, Crespo Claimed that there were “eight rebel leaders called Priests or Prophets, who with their Idols" died in ‘hat fre (Rios 1936) Canek and about 300 Indians, who had succeeded in eluding the Spaniards in the woods, supposedly regrouped at the hacienda of Hunvulehac (Rios 1936). After fighting a number of skirmishes with the Spaniards on the following morning, the Indians left Huntulchac; the hacienda was burned on No- vember 28. Caldesdin and his men finally captured Jacinto Canek and 125 of hus followers in the area of, Sibac. Canek supposedly had the mantle of the s ‘with him, It was then that the Spantards learned for the first time that Francisco Uex, whom they’ had burned to death in Quisteil, was not the Indian king bat had probably held the lower rank of governor [Moreno 1845:85~87), News of the victory in Quisteil did not reduce the level of anxiety in Merida because reports. from Other parts of the peninsula implied that the re Dellion was widespread. The inhabitants of Tiholop, for example, led by their scribe, actively resisted :he Spaniards after the fall of Quisteil, and an Indian sg The tndhan King i Qu tator was going trom town to town in the Tizumin area exhorting them co support the revolt. Even wathout Canek, the fighting continued. Another ab leged ringleader of the conspiracy, Miguel Kancun, a cacique of Lerma, neat Campeche, was not arrested tunul December 9 {Moreno 1845 84-881 (On the night of November jo, a rumor swept M rida to the effect that the Indians of the barrio of Santiago had risen in revolt and were marching on the center of the city, Panic-stricken Spaniards rushed to the central placa, and Menda reached the height of its anxiety andl fear. Order was not restored until the governor took it upon himself to make personal inspection of the barrio and, finding peaceful and almost deserted, tried to calm the pop- ulace. But the tension continued unabated through ‘out the night [Documentos historices 1844: 352) Jacinto Canek arived in Merida on December 7 riding a horse and wearing a mock erown of deerskin placed on his head by his Spanish escorts. His trial ‘began the next day, and even under corture he appar- ently refused to give any information about the ex: tent and the organization of the revolt [Documentos historicos 18447353} Canck was executed on De ccember 14. Before he was finally put out of his mis: ery with a blow to his head, he had to suffer the ag ony of having his limbs broken and his flesh torn off with pincers while he was still alive. Then his body was burned and che ashes thrown to the wind. Eight other leaders were hanged; then their bodies were taken down from the gallows and quartered. and the temains were publicly displayed in their towns. The rest of the prisoners gor off lightly with public log sings and the loss of their right ears [Documentos historicos 1844: 354; Rios 19361 In order to forestall future revolts, the Spaniards passed laws denying Indians the right to own guns of any kind on pain of death. Only the so-called indios hadaleos, or “tame Indians,” were exempted from those laws, The rest of the Indians were given fifteen days to hand in their firearms, The Indians were also forbidden co play their traditional musical instru- ments or participate in public celebrations of any kind (Documentos historicos 1844354), And an order was issued on July 15, 1762, t0 level Quisteil and to obliterate all traces of it from the face of the earth [Molina Solis 1913:243; Peon 1901:27). The town was never rebuilt, and its exact location is to day unknown, According t the municipal records of the city of Merida, on December 17, 1761, the Spanish authorities declared that henceforth November 267% Colonial Rebeltions would be set aside as a day of thanks memoration of the victory in Quisteil, and that every year on this day chere would be a procession, Mass, vespers, and sermon ia the cathedral in Me’ rida in honor of the occasion (On January 16, 1762, about a month after Canek’s execution, Governor Crespo tried to iustily his handling of the Quisteil rebellion in a letter to the Viceroy of New Spain, much of which has either been quoted verbatim (in translation! oF paraphrased in the foregoing pages. However the viceroy, instead of congratulating the governor for having nipped the rebellion in the bud and for treating its leaders in a ‘way that would inspite fear and submission among the Indians, intumated that he disapproved of Cres po’s handling of the matter and expressed the opin ton that fear was not an adequate means of presery ing peace among, people like the Maya. The viceroy argued that the barbaric demonstration the governor had ordered made wich the bodies of the executed leaders of the rebellion would not have the antici pated elfect of terrifying the Indians into peaceful obedience toward the Spaniards, but would cause them to abandon their towns and fields and move into the woods, where they would plot even more rebellions [Rios 1936) Pablo Moreno (1845) interpreted che Quisteil re bellion in the same way. He believed that there would have been no rebellion if Cosgaya’s men had not gone berserk and tried to massacre the Indians of Quisteal. It was only natural. he argued that the ln dians should uy to defend themselves against this unprovoked assault and subsequent Spanish ettorts at reprisal, What bad begun as a diunken riot had ‘mushroomed into a general Indian resistance move ‘ment only because the Spanish authorities had mis hhandled the affair in its carly stages. It was theretore pointless to look for evidence of a conspiracy, be cause there had been none, and efforts to find a mo: tive for the rebellion were sheer speculation The plausibility of the official version, however, rested on the existence of a conspiracy and a motave for the rebellion. Evidence of a conspiracy was ob: tained from the forced confession of an Indian pns. coner. The reassertion of Indian sovereignty an the peninsula supplied che motive Although the Indians had legends and books that described their ancient kingdoms, some of which have survived into the present jsee Chapters 2 and tal, Ladino historians such as Ancona have still found it necessary to argue that it must have been ‘Cogolludo’s history of Yucatan that inspired Jacinto Canek to try to re-establish an Indian kingdom in the peninsula. And it made the official version of the rebellion even more plausible in Ladino eyes af the Indian leader had not received the name Canek as ‘one of his surnames at birth, but had adopted it on the occasion of his coronation in order to legitimate his status as an Indian king. One can only wonder what kind of history o legend would have been the result if Spanish troops had not succeeded in captur- ing Jacinto Canek. Would Canek’s educational back ground have been attributed to Franeisco Uex" For to the Spaniards the Quistetl rebellion made sense only as an attempt to recapture what had been lost im the first “rebellion” an the sixteenth centaryCHAPTER? The Indian King in Totonicapan (1820) During the first ewo decades of the nineteenth cen: tury, Spain experienced internal political troubles that had a profound effect on the Spanish coloniesin the New World. In 1808, Napoleon threw French troops into Spain and forced King Ferdinand VIL to abdicate his throne, which was given to Napo: leon’s brother Joseph. The Spaniards responded with, national revolution, as a result of which Joseph Bonaparte was forced to withdraw from Madrid though he remained in control of most of the coun- try until 1814. During the years that the deposed King Ferdinand was in exile, the small pare of Spain that remained independent was ruled by a Regency [Carr 1966:79-80I, ‘The Regency was dominated by liberals who had been heavily influenced by the French Revolution. With no monarch to impede them, they convened a parliament in Cadiz to draw up a consticution for Spain (Lovett 1965 :415~a90l. One of the first acts of this constitucional convention was to abolish t Royal Tributes by decree on May 26, 1810 |Puga y Acal 1913:79~8a}, The constitution itself was pro mulgated almost two years later on March 19, 1812 ‘Two articles of the Constitution of 1812 are of par ticular interest for this study: Article 18 stated that anyone born in a Spanish possession who was not of African ancestry was a Spanish citizen and entitled toall the benefits of citizenship; Article 439 stipt lated that all Spanish citizens were to be taxed ac cording to their means, without any exception [Constitucion politica de la monarquia espaiola h12:7, 93) ‘These articles had far-reaching implications for the welfare of Indians in the Spanish colonics. By aking indians subject tothe same exes jaccorlins - '@wealth) as other Spanish citizens. Article 339 im y, Plicitly outlawed the colonial wibute system. Arti cle 18 was the charter for a soctal revolution; af it could be implemented, the colonial order in which the Spaniard was master and the Indian servant would be destroyed! ‘The parliament of Cadiz decreed that copies of the constitution should be sent to all the towns in the empire, The political officials of each town were in structed to call the inhabitants together for a public reading of the constitution. A day of celebration was declared, during which church bells would be rung, artillery fired, and a thanksgiving Mass performed The constitution was to be read in a loud voice, just before the Oftertory (Decree of March 18, 1812, inde Alba 1912:2-$1, In addition to these public readings of the const: tution in Spanish, the articles which applied to the Indians were translated into some native languages so that chey could be informed of their rights di rectly. Only one translation, written in the T=ot Janguage, is known, Robert M. Laughlin 1975 2) re fers 0 it as the Proclama del duque infantado press dente. The Tzotzil proclamation is dated August 7 1819, in Cadiz and is written in couplets. It besuns by ordering the Indians, in the name of the King of Spain, co beware of the lies of Napoleon: I You already know “That five sears ago, There came from another, ‘A diierent land ‘An evil man, ‘A treacherous killer. Napoleon is his name, Hie has acted Like decerv He has pretended eo he our neighbor ‘Our helper, And he invaded ou country Likea horned seipent8 Colunial Rebellions He has worn the decerwer’s mask (On his lace \Proclame .. 18121 The proclamation recounts the plight of Spain, the chicanery of the French, the assistance of the English, and events Ieading up to the Constitution of #812. It explains that the country was temporarily being ruled by a Regeney in Cadiz There tn the ety Of Cad Have assembled che notables “The Lords The sages And they hi A goo, Powerful assembly © prepared Now ae assembled the nobles Sent to Caio By all the citi ‘There ate in our land. ‘They ate just creating ews (Good deeds for us H Thus has spoken now ‘Our great assembly Seaced in Cal Wieh the auchovity Of Our Land i The King in exile Hi Publicized by another Second assembly Regency Ts ts name i It should do no more i ‘Than prepare at once As much good lepistation j ‘And amelionative words [As] might issue from the mesting ‘Of our sages. i [Proclama ...813:7, 15,16) Next the proclamation mentions the ewo articles in the constitution that most concemned the Indi 4ans—first, the abolition of social and political dis Unctions between Indians and Spaniards Now there is no one Who has thought to say : That we ate not Spaniards, As for us, Indians | Were our names, A “Those of us who were born On the other side of the eeean Now Christian Spanianls Are ou names, Heloved ss, Because onby one 1s os earth, ‘Only one tu faih, (Only one is our nation Only one s our law ‘Only one is Our Lord King Only one is our assembly seated at its head Inthe middle of our nation Spain Is its name TProclams...1812:16=27 and, second, the equalization of taxes tor Spanish Beloved sons ‘Open the pupils of your eyes! [Now vour tute 1s 00 Oniy equally we wall pay A small contribution, Donation ists name Because our work has not yer ended, And because inthis way we obey the fourth commandment Of Our Lod God. [Proclama ... 1812/1818) After justifying the continuation of the ecclesiast: cal donations, the proclamation discusses the pro- mutlgation of the constitution Therefore ac the beginning of che year 1812] You witnessed a great eclebration For proclairaing the document The laws of our nation. Constitution Ts its name All the kindnes, Goodness You discover, "You enioy in the world Allis writen In the buok of the Constitution And in the hearts of the Christin Spaniards assembled Who have been sitting here near us (Proclama... 1842 The Constitution of 1812 was publicized in the Guatemalan capital on September 24, 112 Salazar 1928. 160l and in Mexico City six days later ide Alba 191234) Other cities in Mexico, such as Tlaxcala Toluca, and Guadalajara, followed suit dunng the months that followed de Alba 1912 soff)Map 6. Highland Guatemala in 1820. aa Gasp Chal Chana Huctetensnee ge Tchmumle sin acucoct aoe/$u Anes Nel Sincaaaleg” OS tue veeatenange @ Skea Reena Ferdinand VII was restored to the Spanish throne in the spring of 1814, after having agreed to uphold the Constitution of 1813. However, on May 4, 1814 he repealed the constitution, thereby reinstan Royal Tributes and depriving the Indians 0 newly granted rights (Carr 1966:118; Lovett 1965 829-8531], For the next six years Ferdinand VII displayed all the despotic excesses that the Constitution of 1812 was intended co curb (Lovett 19658331. Finally, in January 1820, a major in the Spanish army named Ralael de Riego led a revolution against the King Which had as its object the reinstatement of the Constitution of 1812, The army supported the Movement, and on March 9, 1820, the King gave in _ tnd accepted the constitution {Carr 1966; 128—"29, Puga y Acal 1913: 179-183). The Indi) Kine in Tocomeapon # Navona etl Odin: sSacaplas Gunemala Cay te News of the reinstatement of the Constitution of 1812 reached the New World ac the beginning of May 1820. Campeche was apparently the first city in Mexico to publicize it for the second time; the cele bration took place on May $ [Puga y Acal 1913-169). The news reached Guatemala City on May 5, but the president of the Audiencia of Guatemala was unwilling to believe it and did not publicize the con stitution until July 9 (Salazar 1928: 204I The promulgation, repeal, and reinstatement of the Constitution of 1812 caused great unrest among the Indians of Mexico and Guatemala, The situation was exacerbated in highland Guatemala by the un: willingness of Spanish officials in the colony to ac Knowledge the reinstatement of the constitution in 1420. Their obstinacy was the prineipal cause of the so-called Totonicapan Revolt."80 Colom Rebellions The name Totonicapan refers co thwe polit cal units: (1) the town of San Miguel Totonica pan, which served as the capital of ,21 the District partido! of Totonicapan, comprising seven indian towns (pueblos), including the capital, and wo Ladino villages (aldeas) (3) the Province alcaldia ‘mayor! of Totonicapan, composed of the Districts ‘of Totonicapan and Huchuctenango. The aleulie ‘mayor (governor! of the Province of Totonicapan in 1830 was a Spaniard named Manuel José de Lara who resided in San Miguel. The other six Indian towns in the District of Toronicapan were San Cristobal, San Andres Xeeul, San Francisco el Alto, Santiago Momostenango, Santa Maria Chiquimula, and San Gaspar Chajul [see Map 6). The Ladino vil lages were San Luis Saleaja and San Carlos Stia. The total population of the district was approximately thirty thousand inhabitants, of which the majority were Quiche Indians (Contreras 1951 33 Some of the Indians of the District of Totonicapan had apparently been informed of the Consticution of 1812, perhaps by means of a Quiche version of the Tzotzil proclamation discussed above.’ For them, the most immediate and dramatic implementation of the constitution had been the elimination of the Royal Tributes jt is unlikely that the social and po: litical revolution implied in the ather provisions of the constitution could have heen achieved in the short space of the two years the constitution was in effect). But suddenly, after Ferdinand VII repealed the constitution, the local Indian authorities began trying to collect the tributes again, However, not all of the Indian community leaders were eager to reinstate the collection of the Royal Tributes. Atanasio Tzul, one of the leaders of the Totonicapan Revolt of 1320, had been an alcalde in Totonicapan in 1816, at which time he is known to hhave been reluctant to collect the Royal Tributes, limiting himself to the collection of community and ecclesiastical taxes.” And even as late as 1820, sev eral towns in the province were still n arrears for the tributes imposed during the years after 181. The rebellion against paying the Royal Tributes began in January 1820 in Chiquimula, when the town officials took the unprecedented step of re turning the tributes they had collected to the towns: people, saying that it was the alealde mayor's duty to collect them." One month later, on February 2c. the Indians of Chiquimula rioted against thelr par ish priest, José Patricio Villatoro, because he had tried to collect the tbutes irom them without au ‘thorization.* Villatoro was ealled to Guatemala City for questioning, another priest was sent to replace him, and Manuel José de Lara was ordered to inter rupt his provincial tour (visita, which he had init ated on February 16, and proceed at once to Chi guimula in order co calm the disturbance. Lara was apparently unsuccessful in convincing the Indians of Chiguimula that they should pay the tuibutes, less than a month later, on the fourth Fr: dav in Lent (March 17), crowd of two hundred Indi ans from Chiquimula appeared in the district eapital in search of a document from Guatemala City that they claimed had abolished the tributes.” It proba bly a coineidence that their request was made only eight days after Ferdinand Vil had reinstated the Constitution of 1812, news of the King’s change of heart could not have reached Guatemala so quickly and official word did nor reach Central America un til the beginning of May [Salazar 1928: 204! Lara was not present in San Miguel that day: he ‘was stil on his provincial tour, having left his liew tenant, Ambrosio Collado, in charge. Collado was also absent when the Indians of Chiguimula, gether with more than two hundred Indians of San Miguel, descended on his house shortly aiter noon He had gone to Saleaia that day but was expected to return shorty. Frustrated in their mission, the Indians began to make insulting remarks abour Collado and threat: ened to burn down his house. Collado returned about two o'clock to mect a hostile erowd of Indians 1n front of his house, demanding the document con: cerning the tributes that they insisted had come from Guatemala City. Collado replied that the only communication he had received from the capital concerned che contribution for supporting the par ish priest in Chiquimula, and he asked the scribe of San Miguel to read it to them, This did not satis fy the Indians. Lucas Aguilar became angry and shouted that the seribe was stupid and did not know how to read and began to hit him, Other Indians joined in, attacking the test of the Indian officials of San Miguel as well. They seized the second al: calde’s staif of office and imprisoned him and the ther officials for an hour in a room in Collado's— house. After the officals were freed, they ran off to their homes to hide so that they would not be killed The crowd of hostile Indians eventually left Colla do's house and congregated at the house of Lucas Aguilar, where they held a meeting until evening. 10 the meantime, Collado was warned that the Indians planned to return to his house at night and assasst“sing the tributes and pocketed the money nate him because they did not want Ladinos tw live in their town. Collada decided to tlee with his fara ily to the town of San Cristobal, about two leazues away The next confrontation over the payment of tbs tutes occurred about ten days later in Santo Domingo Saeapulas in the District nf Huchuetenango, Lara visited the town on March 28 and artempted to col leet the tributes, which were overdue. The Indians ‘of Sacapulas requested permission to send a delegs tuon to Guatemala City to find out whether the trib utes did, in fact, have to he paid; they menuoned that some cowns were claiming that the tributes had been abolished and that Chiquimula had gotten away with not paying them. Lara agreed co suspend the collection and let them send a delegation to Guatemala City, but one indian apparently misun: derstood his reply and began to use abusive language aunst him. When Lara seized him and tried te punish him, the man’s family and other Indians came to his aid, and more people came to see what was happening. Lara, afraid that he would be harmed, pulled a kaite out of his boot in order to defend himself, This action enraged che Indians fut ther, and Lara had to flee for his life to Huchuete: rnango, Four hundred soldiers were called in fom Chiantla and Huehuecenango to quell the riot, and. eight Indians were arrested. Because of Lara's poor judgment, what began as a simple misunderstanding, developed into a full-fledged riot (On the afternoon of April 2, there was another commotion in the plaza of San Miguel Totonicapan, Jed by Lucas Aguilar, Dionicio Sapon, and Antonio) Batz. The cause of the excitement was the reading of a paper, dated April 1812, in which the officials of the coftadia of the Blessed Sacrament thanked Fer inand Vil for abolishing the Royal Tributes." This seems to have been the first time that many Indians, hhad heard of the Constitution of 1812. There is some evidence that the Indians who had been aif cials of the town government in 1812 had notin formed the community of the constitution and the abolition of the tributes, but had continued collect The off sials of Chiquimula in 1820 alleged that the tributes, collected in 1817 and 1818 had not been turned over to the Spanish authorities." Small wonder that the {ndians of that town were unwilling to let sheir own officials collect the tribute! The decision to publ: ‘ize che Constitution of 1812 suddenly in 1820 may have been a move to deflect the wrath of the com: __unity from its local officials, who had enriched The nian King i Totorieapan 82 themselves at its expense, to the Spanish authori ties, who were accused of refusing to accept the fact that the tributes had been abolished During the rest of April the Indians of Chiquimu: la sent emissaries to other towns in dhe highlands, Urging them not to pay their wibutes or co return them if they had already been collected. * They in excepted one delegation ol Indian officials on their way te deliver the uibutes and convinced them that the tributes had been abolished and that they should return to their town, In the middle of Apsil a delegation of tour Indians from San Miguel Totonicapan was sent to Guatems |i City to find out from the colonial viicials the twuth about the status of the Royal Tributes. They were informed that the tributes had not becn abo shed and that they were required to pay them. The Indians of Totonicapan were not satisfied with this reply and sent another delegation, which included Atanasio Tzul, the former alcalde of San Miguel who had refused co collect tributes in 1816, to the capital with a letter to the president of the Audien cia, Carlos de Urrutia y Montoya, The letter was in: tercepted by Urrutia's secretary, josé Ramon Zelaya, who reiterated that the mibutes were still in effect, A third delegation elicited the same response, but the Indians remained unconvinced." In the meantime, the Spanish authorities began to take steps to deal with the unrest in the District of Totonicapan. Prudencio de Cozar, the man who had preceded Lara as alcalde mayar of the Province of Totonicapan, was called ovt of retirement and com missioned to “pacify” the towns of Chiguimula and San Miguel. Cocar decided that the best cousse of action would be to use peaceful measures to try to persuade the Indians to pay their tributes.” In ‘March or April he summoned Lucas Aguilar, Atana sio T2ul, and Juan Monstoy to Quezaltenango in order to reason with them about the payment of tributes, They refused to come, saying that if Cozar wanted to talk with them, he would have to come to San Miguel. In spite of chis rebuff, Cozar continued to take a cautious approach to the problem.” By the end of the first. week of May, news of the reinstatement of the Constitution of 1812 had reached Guatemala (Salazar 1928:204). Although Urrutia y Montoya refused co publicize the constitu tuon unt the heginning of uly, the news must have filtered into the countryside betore then and was probably largely responsible for the Indians’ per sistence in trying to verify it Finally, on July 5 or 6, a cour from Guatemala82 Colonial Rebellion: City arrived in San Miguel Totonicapan bearing the “papers of the Constitution.” He was met on the outslairts of town by Lucas Aguilar, Atanasio T2ul and several other Indians, who greeted him with fireworks and escorted him joytully to the plaza where he was served chocolate and paid fifty pesos for his services." Lara did noc want the Indians 0 publicize the consticution,” but they ignored him Invitations were sent out to officials in ather towns, of the district to come to San Miguel on July 9 co listen to a reading of the "new Constitution’ The officials of the town of San Francisco el Alto and the nobles of this town should come to this [town] of [San Miguel] Totonicapan on the ninth d Of this [month] to hear the new Constitution which ‘our King and Lord has granted 10 us, thae it will be publicized here with much affection and love, and without further debate. They should invite those of Momostenango to attend with the nobles and off cials here." July 9 was also the day that the constitution was officially recognized in Guatemala City (Salazar 19281204). The Indians of San Miguel Totonica pan carefully observed the constitutional conven tion's instructions for publicizing the document the church bells were rung. a celebratory Mass was performed, and there were fireworks and bullfighes in honor of the occasion. The constitution was read aloud in four chapels and in the town hall. A pro- cession was led by Atanasio Tzul, mounted on horseback and dressed as a Spaniard in a military dress coat, velveteen trousers, tricorn hat, boots, and medallion, with a small sword in his belt and a vane in his hand.” He had borrowed the dress coat from a Spaniard named Valentin Alvarado on the pretext that he needed it as a costume for a Dance of the Conquest! * During the next few days, several Indian officials. who had refused to support the movement against the collection of tributes were dispossessed of their staifs of office and replaced by other Indians more sympathetic to the cause, and threats were made on the life of the alcalde mayor, who was forced to flee to Quezaltenango on July 21." Vindicated in their efforts 10 prove that they did not have to pay the tributes, the indians were no longer willing to reco nize the authority of the officials who had refused co implement laws approved by the King of Spain, There were rumors that on the evening of the fo: lowing day, July 12, Atanasio Tzul crowned himself king with the crown of Se. Joseph, borrowed from, the church, and placed the crown of St, Cecilia on the head of his wife, Felipa Soe. From then on, Tau was supposedly referred to as King and Lucas Agui- lar as President. During the coronation ceremony which supposedly took place in Tut's house, Tul is said to have sat on a throne surmounted by the canopy of the Blessed Sacrament, which had heen borrowed from the cofradtia of which he was a men ber. A picture of King Ferdinand Vl hung overa sim: iar canopied dais in the town hall, where Tzul sat when dealing with political matters. The walls of the town hall were adorned with curtains.” When- ever Toul appeared in public, he was dressed as Spaniard, and he was honored by music in the streets when he moved between the town hall and his house. At night, Indians from Chigquimula, Mo: ‘mostenango, San Andres Xecul, San Cristobal, and San Francisco el Alto, armed with elub houses of Tzul and Aguilar (On July 15, Lucas Aguilar summoned the incum: bent and past officials of San Francisco el Alto to San Miguel to question them about che tributes they had collected. Aguilar upbraided chem for having deliv ered the tributes to the provincial governor, point. ing out chat they had been abolished twelve years before. He ordered them to return the tributes im mediately and threatened to remove from office any official who did not obey him, One oficial from San Francisco el Alto was beaten up by a group of Indians fon his way home from this meeting, they thrcat ened to kill him if he did nor give up the tributes, so he distributed 150 pesos among them.” In San An res Xecul, che Indians attacked cheir officials and forced them to return the wibutes they had collected" ‘The money which paid for the delegations sent 10 Guatemala City co investigate the legality of the tributes had been borrowed from the cofradia of the Blessed Sacrament, of which Tzul and Aguilar were members, and had to be repaid, Careful records were kepr of these expenses: Totonicapan [uly 8, 1520. (On this date we made our memorandum and report of vohat we spent on the dispute of the tributes and cor tunities and they were forty-three pesos and a small amount without the imervention of any aid atl all this was the mones of the coiradia of the Blessed Sac rament making already one year that this was with the addition of eighty-six pesos. Not counting the days lose, we swear that we are those whe witnessed. and im ‘he year tha, Lucas Aguilar, was alcale of the Blessed Sacrament, and fuan Monrroy elealde of the aut together withthe rest ofthe botheredFurthermore, we the memorialists of the Blessed Sacrament replaced sixteen pesos inorder 1 help with the exemptions from the tributes and communities this has been seth witesses wha were those nobles forafsomie time there 3 someone whi tested ‘we place vs here for having released the new Const tution and we donor sign because we do not kn During July Aguilar began to tax the Indians in the District of Totonicapan in order to recover the ‘money spent in “releasing the Constitution "* For some reason, the Spanish officials continued to believe that the Indians had to pay the Royal Trib: utes, in spite of the fact that Article 339 of the Con: stitution prohibited taxation based on anything but ‘wealth.* The unsubstantiated rumor of T2ul’s coro nation was regarded as further “proof” that the Indi ans had rebelled against the King of Spain, and Cozar, finally persuaded that his peacctul measures were fot having the desired efiect, decided to use force to restore the colonial order (On August 3, Cozar invaded San Miguel Totonica pan, leaving a rearguard of forty or fifty soldiers at the crossroads of San Miguel, San Cristobal, and San Francisco el Alo ra protect him in case of retreat. In the town, the soldiers met one lone armed Indian, whom they promptly killed. Even though they met no armed resistance in San Miguel, they never theless proceeded to whip the Indians, sack their hhomes, and force them to flee into the mountains In the meantime, the Spanish soldiers at the crossroads were attacked by some four hundxed Indi ans from San Francisco and San Cristobal, armed with machetes, stones, clubs, and a few Bzearms, All the Spaniards were wounded in the battle, and, greatly outnumbered, they’fled from the Indians un Ul reinforcements arrived from San Miguel to help them. Many Indians were arrested that day, ineluc: ing Lucas Aguilar and Atanasio Tzul.” ‘The following year all of Guatemala rose up in open revolt against Spain (Salazar 1938:255~ 260). It then became impractical "to blame anyone for sedition against the Spanish government” (Con tyeras 195152), At least some of the participants in| the Totonicapan “rebellion,” including Aguilar and ‘Toul, were freed as the result of an amnesty signed in 1822 (Contreras 195152] J. Daniel Contreras (1951261 believes that the Totonicapan Revolt was not a caste war in which the Indians were pitted against Ladinos, but rather &8 expression of the genctal feeling of rebellion Against the colonial regime that existed in all Span: The Indian King m Toronicapan 8 ash possessions in the New World at chat time, feeling which was shared by Creoles as well as Indi ans, and which culminated in political emancipa tion from Spain, The ming of the Totonicapan up: rising in 1820, only one year before the general uprising against Spain, supports this interpretation, In Contretas's view, the Guatemalan war of indepen dence against Spain was not exclusively a “revolu: vuon of Creoles.” Rather, he argues, Croules were the majority ofthe ditectors, but im order terealize their goals they needed a popular expression tf prolonged discontent without which no revolution ‘ould succeed. And in this expression Wwe will neces: Sauily find the arisan and the sall adesman. the frist and the former, in short the dark and mixed lasses and, naturally che Indian conglomerates, those ‘who even though separate trom the principal roups o! Creoles and Mestizos, ate not tor chat reason of less importance for the complete study of our history fbuve all # comes ta light asthe rebelhon 0! the Quiches of Totonieapan in 1820 shows, chat they also bad desired a change in ee political lie of the cole 9st) In ocher words, Contreras views the Toronicapan Revolt of 1830, which occurred the year before the Guatemalan war of independence against Spain be gan, as part of the larger revolt of the colonies against che mother country: , having been an ex pressed declaration of Independence by an Indian conglomerate at the same time that our best Creole {gentlemen ought for that cause” {1951:7}. Nevertheless, the immediate cause of the Totoni ccapan Revolt, as Contreras (195151 freely admits, ‘was the repeal and subsequent reinstatement of the Royal Tributes, legislation that affected only the In dians. Furthermore, the Indians identified as their enemy, not che King of Spain and his ministers, but local officials, in Totonicapan and Guatemala City some of whom were Indians, who they believed ha tailed to carry out the laws of the King of Spain in order to enrich themselves. Contreras is probably correct in saying that the Totonicapan uprising was not a caste war in the usual sense (at east not in its ‘early stages), but there is no evidence that he Indi ans of Toconicapan were campaigning for indepen: dence from Spain in 1830. Furthermore, the Indians tn that district continued to express their dissaris faction with local Guatemalan rule even after inde pendence: in 1823 they were“... rioting against the Ladinos and sending ambassadors to Chiapas to ne: gotiate with the Mexican commission for the annex ation of their Jands to the Aztec republic” [Contreras 1951: 515214 Golan Rebedlions Contreras’s argument would be plausible a! there were unequivocal evidence that Tzul had been crowned king, for an Indian king. by definvcion would challenge the sovereignty of the King of Spain, However, none of the Indians who testified about the coronation actually saw it, their reports ‘were based entirely on hearsay." T=ul and those of his associates who might have been present a¢ coronation emphatically denied that it had ever taken place.” Other Indians claimed thot his utle was not King but Governor, the title hele by Buena: ventura Pacheco before Tzul took it away from him.” Nevertheless, Contreras interprets Tzul’s role an the dispute as that of an Indian king Contieras’s interpretation is based on his personal assessment of Indian mentality and cultural mem: ory. He mentions a letter that an Indian of Momos. tenango named Antonio Zicax sent vo T2ul on July 1820, in which Tzul "is given the treatment of jptain General and Governor.” Aecouling to Con: tiers 195145], these titles “are equivalent an the Indian mentality 10 the Sovereign.” Contreras {1951:32, 48} also maintains that the conspirators of Totonicapan were trying to recreate the ancient Quiche Kingdom of their ancestors, even though “it does not say anywhere, in any part of the proceed ings of the trial which followed the rebellion, that he [Taul} believed or was considered a descendant ot she ancient Quiche kings" (1951° 37! ‘The fact that Taul dressed as a Spaniard 1s not evi dence that he had hecome king, Arcicle 18 of che constitution gave Indians the same rights of citizen ship as Spaniards, which meant that caste distine tions in dress no longer had tw be observed. T2ul was well within his rights, as defined by the constite tuon, when he put horse. Contreras’s Indian-king interpretation glosses cover the fact that the Indians had a legitimate griev ance against their local officials and the colonial au thorities and wrongly implies that they were rebel ling against the King of Spain. The Indians bore no grudge against the King, they spoke well of him in all their verbal testimonies and written communi cations, They did not remove che picture of Ferdi nand Vif from the town hall in San Miguel after 's putative coronation.~' The real villains in th dispute were the Guatemalan authorities, who re fused to accord the Indians the righes ratified by the King of Spain, and the local Indian officials who collected the tutes legally in order to ennich themselves. ‘op Spanish clothes and rode a