Maya Caciques in Early National Yucatan

Rajeshwari Dutt

ISBN 10: 0806155787 / ISBN 13: 9780806155784

Published by University Of Oklahoma Press Mär 2017, 2017

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Maya Caciques in Early National Yucatan
• Publisher: University Of Oklahoma Press Mär 2017
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0806155787
• ISBN 13: 9780806155784
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 229W x 152H x 21D millimeters 229 millimeters width by 152 millimeters height by 21 millimeters depth
• Weight: 476 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Andrés Canché became the cacique, or indigenous leader, of Cenotillo, Yucatán, in January 1834. By his retirement in 1864, he had become an expert politician, balancing powerful local alliances with his community's interests as early national Yucatán underwent major political and social shifts. In Maya Caciques in Early National Yucatán, Rajeshwari Dutt uses Canché's story as a compelling microhistory to open a new perspective on the role of the cacique in post-independence Yucatán.

In most of the literature on Yucatán, caciques are seen as remnants of Spanish colonial rule, intermediaries whose importance declined over the early national period. Dutt instead shows that at the individual level, caciques became more politicized and, in some cases, gained power. Rather than focusing on the rebellion and violence that inform most scholarship on post-independence Yucatán, Dutt traces the more quotidian ways in which figures like Canché held onto power. In the process, she presents an alternative perspective on a tumultuous period in Yucatán's history, a view that emphasizes negotiation and alliance-making at the local level.

At the same time, Dutt's exploration of the caciques' life stories reveals a larger narrative about the emergence, evolution, and normalization of particular forms of national political conduct in the decades following independence. Over time, caciques fashioned a new political repertoire, forming strategic local alliances with villagers, priests, Spanish and Creole officials, and other caciques. As state policies made political participation increasingly difficult, Maya caciques turned clientelism, or the use of patronage relationships, into the new modus operandi of local politics.

Dutt's engaging exploration of the life and career of Andrés Canché, and of his fellow Maya caciques, illuminates the realities of politics in Yucatán, revealing that seemingly ordinary political relationships were carefully negotiated by indigenous leaders. Theirs is a story not of failure and decline, but of survival and empowerment.

About the Author

Rajeshwari Dutt is Assistant Professor of History in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mandi, India.