CHAPTER 12 WOMEN AND GENDER IN MESOAMERICA 453Around the time of the trial in June 1712, María López, a young woman in the
Tzeltal-Mayan town of Cancuc, reported that the Virgin had appeared to her re-
questing that a chapel be built in her honor on the spot where she appeared. Se-
bastián Gómez, an indigenous man from nearby San Pedro Chenalhó, claimed to
have spoken with the Virgin who demanded that a native priesthood replace the
Spanish one. Following her orders, Sebastián Gómez ordained a group of Mayan
men as priests. These men assumed the functions of the ousted Spanish priesthood,
while María López became the mayordoma mayor(the main steward).
María López held the highest place of honor, standing closest to the image of the
Virgin. She was flanked by two native priests who served as her scribes as she conveyed
the Virgin’s messages to the people.
The Spanish felt threatened by this movement, especially in August 1712, when
indigenous people massacred the Spanish population of several highland towns. The
Spaniards counterattacked, and after fierce fighting routed the indigenous rebels.
Foreseeing a total military defeat, the rebels appealed to supernatural forces as a last
resort to stop the colonial forces. They carried four women, reputedly witches, to
the river, invoking female supernatural powers to destroy the enemy. Each woman
represented a natural force: earthquake, lightning, flood, and wind.
What do these native uprisings reveal about gender and women in native com-
munities during colonial times? In a general way, they allow us to assess the im-
portance of women in these communities, at a time when severe population decline
threatened the survival of the group. The deities that appeared to the young in-
digenous women were female, and they probably corresponded to jme’tik,Our
Mother, who in modern Tzotzil-Mayan cosmology represents both the Moon and
Mother Earth and is identified with the Virgin (Rosenbaum 1993). As the Earth,
Our Mother symbolizes fertility, that is, life and renewal of population and crops.
She reportedly appeared at a time of hunger and hopelessness, offering to bless the
Indians with abundant food and children. Dominica López and later María de la
Candelaria (the name that María López assumed when she became a spokesperson
for the Virgin) could be interpreted as symbols of fertility and hope. Furthermore,
the association of this cult with the female Earth is confirmed by the recruitment
of women witches, representing the forces of nature, to destroy the Spaniards. To
this day, Tzotzil-Mayas believe that these forces reside in the Earth. The fact that
women assumed the role of stewards in these movement suggests that they were ac-
tive in the religious organizations of their communities in colonial times (Rosen-
baum 1992).WOMEN IN POSTCOLONIAL
MEXICO (1821–1940S)
Women’s Participation in the Independence Movements
Until recently, scholars have suggested that women’s participation in the struggles for
independence in Mexico and Central America was restricted to a few exceptional
women. However, studies of the broader participation of women in Mexico indicate