The Caste War of Yucatan

1
The Caste War of Yucatan

• 1847-1901
• Race war Mayans vs. Creoles/Ladinos
• 60,000 dead
• Creoles/Ladinos nearly exterminated
• Mayans established independent state!

Left Dressed to kill?
2
Causes

• Yucatan declares independence from Mexico,
  1840-1848
• Indigenous people given military experience
  during 8 years of war with Mexico
• Promises made to indigenous people to secure
  their support were quickly broken
• Other grievances
• Head tax on Indians
• Fees for sacraments
• Encroaching haciendas during henequen/sisal boom
• Loss of ejidos (legal title to communal lands)

3
Henequen / Sisal Boom

• Some 300 haciendas in Yucatan
• More millionaires in Yucatan than anywhere else
  in Latin America
• Mérida had electric streetlights and trolley cars
  before Mexico City
• Indios left out of the economic boom
• Exploitation of indigenous people actually
  increased
• Creoles overconfident in control

Right an abandoned hacienda, one of hundreds in
rural Yucatan
4
Creole Exodus

• 1847 Three Mayans executed in Valladolid for
  planning revolt
• The execution sparked a massive uprising
• Within months, all white people were massacred or
  driven from the countryside
• By 1848, whites were huddled in walled cities of
  Mérida andCampeche preparing to flee by sea
• But the macehuales miscalculated, and many
  retreated to plant their corn...
• Yucatán rejoined with Mexico, and received fresh
  supplies and troops

5
The Rise of the Cruzob

• In the 1850s, the Creoles regained control of
  approximately half of Yucatán, but were unable to
  take the rest
• The Mayan half was rallied by the cult of a
  talking cross in the town of Chan Santa Cruz.
• The Cruzob, the followers of the talking cross,
  and their state at Chan Santa Cruz dominated
  nearly half of Yucatán for fifty years.
• Chan Santa Cruz was occupied in 1901 by Mexican
  general Ignacio Bravo
• In 1915, General Salvador Alvarado reasserted
  authority of post-rev. gov't, bringing troops but
  also revolutionary reforms to buy peace.

6
The Cult of the Talking Cross Endures
The Holy Cross must be guarded and fed
several times a day. Every householder has a
small domestic cross with a diminutive huipil,
'woman's dress', and a mirror around its neck.
This little female cross was known in
Precolumbian times as Ix Cel, 'Little/female
Tree'. In addition to the village Patron Cross
and the Household crosses, there are special
Lineage Crosses for important lines and four
Guardian Crosses at the entrances to town. The
religion of the people now is quite mixed, with
some devoted exclusively to the indigenous church
and its ritual calendar, while others are
exclusively or partially Roman Catholic or
Protestant. (Villa Rojas 194x) The shrines of
the "Talking crosses" remain a vital part of the
local culture to this day. Indeed, as recently as
2002 the Mexican Government finally lifted the
stigma of witchcraft, to which indigenous priests
had been subject under Mexican Civil and Roman
Church law, recognizing the Church of The Talking
Cross as a legitimate religion. (Plaque on shrine
in Carrillo Puerto de Quitnana Roo)