CHAPTER 8 NATIVE MESOAMERICANS IN THE MODERN ERA 315political organization, and ritual. In a surprising development, they inserted them-
selves into the ongoing revolutionary struggle in dramatic fashion by spearheading
a series of insurrections against the Somoza regime. The most dramatic uprising
took place in the city of Masaya in 1978, when the National Guard interrupted a fu-
neral sponsored by the Indian community of Monimbó (a “barrio” in the city of
Masaya) in honor of the slain newspaper editor Pedro Joaquín Chamorro. Over two
thousand Monimbó “Indians” attacked the Guard with stones and fireworks, and
during the following weeks barricaded the streets and fended off assaults from the
Guard. The National Guard finally attacked in mass, supported by heavy weapons and
aerial bombing. Monimbó was taken only after intense house-to-house fighting, and
at the cost of hundreds of lives on both sides.
Similar insurrections led by Indians in Diriamba and the Subtiaba community in
León were also crushed after heavy fighting and the loss of numerous civilian lives.
Students of the Nicaraguan revolution agree that these insurrections, especially the
one in Monimbó, were symbolically important for the eventual success of the revo-
lution. What is remarkable is that they were spearheaded by native Mesoamericans
who supposedly did not exist as an identifiable people.
The Sandinista mestizo guerrilla fighters, whose participation in the events of
Monimbó and Subtiaba had been extremely limited, praised the role of the Indians
in the revolutionary struggle. As a result, nativist elements began to be incorporated
into the revolutionary ideology for the first time. The new Ministry of Culture sought
to rediscover the country’s indigenous roots through preservation of archaeological
remains and promotion of native foods and crafts. Mesoamerican dishes made out
of corn, such as tortillas and tamales, were touted as substitutes for wheat products,
and the production of pre-Hispanic-type pottery and filigree gourdwork was en-
couraged by the government. Nevertheless, attempts to recognize the contributions
by native Mesoamericans to Nicaraguan national culture have been modest, and they
pale in comparison with the rich symbolism and lore built up around Sandino and
the heroes and events of the revolution itself. Under the revolutionary government,
Nicaragua remained a profoundly mestizo society, its roots in the ancient Mesoamer-
ican tradition largely unappreciated.DEVELOPMENT AND NATIVE MESOAMERICANS
IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
“Development,” as we use the term, consists of planned change, especially change re-
sulting from economic measures taken by governments and collaborating capital-
ists. As we will see in this section, the developmental approach to modernization has
been widely applied in the region of Mexico and Central America; and as elsewhere
in the world, its costs have been significant. The specific application of the develop-
mental agenda to the Indians of the region is known as “indigenismo” (Indianism).
Indigenismo as applied to the native Mesoamericans was largely a program of as-
similation, of fully integrating them into the economic, political, and cultural life of
national society as “citizens” rather than as “Indians.”