272 UNIT 2 COLONIAL MESOAMERICA
Box 7.2 The Atanasio Tzul RebellionAs with so many other native uprisings in Guatemala of the time, the immediate cause of the Tzul
uprising was the refusal of the K’iche’ Mayan Indians of San Miguel Totonicapán to pay tributes.
Already in 1816 the community’s Indian alcalde, Atanasio Tzul, had refused to collect the pre-
scribed tributes for the Crown, and in subsequent years as governor he had personally traveled
to the colonial capital (Santiago de Guatemala) in order to obtain official papers exonerating
the Indians from further payments. Atanasio was considered to be a cacique in Totonicapán, a
status that gave him particularly strong legitimacy among the Indians of that community. Fur-
thermore, he was the head of a large and powerful clan located just to the northwest of the town
center, and he was a direct descendant of royal officials who in aboriginal times had been sent
from the capital of the K’iche’ empire to rule over the Totonicapán province.
By 1820, the Indians of the greater Totonicapán area had rebelled against further payment
of tributes. Atanasio Tzul became the focal point of the resistance, assisted by Lucas Aguilar, a
Totonicapán Indian of commoner status. Leaders from surrounding Indian communities such as
San Francisco El Alto, Chiquimula, and Momostenango coordinated efforts with Tzul to do away
with the tribute payments, and if necessary to cast aside the regional Spanish officials. On July
5, Tzul and his followers drove out the leading regional Spanish official (alcalde mayor),threat-
ened and then deposed the local native authorities, and took charge of regional government. In
an elaborate ceremony celebrated with processions, dancing, and music, Atanasio Tzul was
crowned “King of the K’iche’” under a feathered canopy, and Aguilar was named “President.”
Tzul’s crown was taken from Saint Joseph’s statue, and he also donned Spanish pants, shoes,
and sword. His wife Felipa was named Queen and given the crown of Saint Cecilia. Messages sent
to Tzul from Indians in the surrounding towns clearly indicate that Atanasio’s crowning was taken
seriously by thousands of K’iche’ Mayan Indians, who began to address him with such honorary
titles as “Our Lord” and “Your Grace.”
Atanasio Tzul’s reign as king of the K’iches was short-lived. The Spaniards organized an
army of over 1,000 men made up of soldiers from Spanish towns in the highlands, and they
marched on Totonicapán almost exactly one month after Tzul’s crowning. The town was taken
without opposition, although rebels from surrounding communities attacked the Spanish sol-
diers with slings, stones, and machetes from positions in the mountains above the road leading
into Totonicapán. The Spanish soldiers looted many homes in Totonicapán, and dozens of Indi-
ans were whipped and threatened. Tzul, Aguilar, and other native leaders were carried off as
prisoners to Quetzaltenango, where they were tried for sedition. Although found guilty, Tzul and
the other K’iche’ leaders were pardoned seven months later.understood, too, what some modern-day scholars tend to overlook: The Indians had
never lost the desire to be free of colonial rule and thus had persisted as a partially
digested Indian “nation,” not strictly autonomous but nevertheless culturally distinct
from the Spanish, creole, and mestizo peoples who dominated them. Too often, Con-
treras observes, Indian rebellions are seen as “caste wars,” racial vendettas, rather
than the liberation movements that they were. Contreras concludes:... it is not possible to deny the similarity in goals between the creole and Indian groups:
a change in the political, economic, and social regime. Therefore, if one wants to obtain
the complete picture of the total historical development of our political emancipation
(Central American Independence), one cannot forget the Indian rebellions (p.69).