CHAPTER 7 MESOAMERICANS IN THE NEOCOLONIAL ERA 273The Tzul rebellion, like others from this time period in Central America, was in-
spired in part by the past Mesoamerican cultural world, despite denials by some
scholars and even by Atanasio Tzul himself in testimony to Spanish magistrates (under
the circumstances, it is understandable that he would deny trying to organize a coun-
tergovernment to the royal colonial regime!). The rebellion suggests that the idea
of restoring the old K’iche’ Mayan kingdom was very much alive among the Indians
of the western highlands 300 years after the Spanish invasion, as proven by the wide-
spread acceptance of Atanasio Tzul as “King” by Indians from other communities.
Furthermore, subsequent to independence these same Indians continued to strug-
gle to establish their own native “King.” Even though Atanasio Tzul did not seem to
express in his persona all the characteristics typical of the prophet-leaders of inde-
pendence movements in Mexico, his royal Mayan ancestry was still revered and must
have been a source of enormous legitimacy. And, despite the many Spanish elements
that found their way into Tzul’s coronation ceremony, we can be certain that most
of the deeper meanings associated with the processions, crowning, and ritual lan-
guage employed in Totonicapán were profoundly K’iche’ Mayan, and hence part of
the Mesoamerican legacy.MESOAMERICAN INDIANS UNDER
CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERAL RULE
The profound changes described earlier for Mexico and Central America during
the century following the independence movements and collapse of Spanish rule
resulted in major transformations in the social life and cultures of the remnant
Mesoamerican peoples. The question arises as to just how, in fact, the Mesoamerican
Indians were affected by the turbulent conditions of the postindependence (neo-
colonial) period. As we shall now see, the situation of the Indians under creole rule
remained highly oppressive and became progressively worse as liberal policies were
periodically implemented.Creating Ethnonational Identities
The postindependence struggles between individual power-seeking creole caudillos,
each supported by Indian and mestizo dependents, became political “schools” for the
mestizos and, to a lesser extent, the Indians. The mestizos especially took advantage
of the unusually chaotic conditions after independence to become acquainted with
regional power, and to achieve their first positions of political leadership. Eventu-
ally, caudillosfrom the mestizo sector would achieve power at the national level, no-
tably in the cases of Benito Juárez and Porfirio Díaz in Mexico, and Rafael Carrera
in Guatemala.
In his classic book Sons of the Shaking Earth(1959), the anthropologist Eric Wolf
points out that relative gains in power by mestizos after independence, as compared
with the Indians, were correlated with the contrasting cultural systems that guided
the two ethnic groups in their struggle for survival. The mestizo culture placed stress
on entrepreneurial skills, and also the drive for power and self-improvement. The