Andres Canche became the cacique, or indigenous leader, of
Cenotillo, Yucatan, 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 Yucatan underwent
major political and social shifts. In Maya Caciques in Early
National Yucatan, Rajeshwari Dutt uses Canche's story as a
compelling microhistory to open a new perspective on the role of
the cacique in post-independence Yucatan. In most of the literature
on Yucatan, 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 Yucatan, Dutt traces the more
quotidian ways in which figures like Canche held onto power. In the
process, she presents an alternative perspective on a tumultuous
period in Yucatan'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 Andres Canche, and of his fellow Maya caciques, illuminates the
realities of politics in Yucatan, 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.
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