Indigenous Citizens: Local Liberalism in Early National Oaxaca and Yucatán (review)

This book follows the trajectory of local political citizenship among indigenous peoples of the states of Oaxaca and Yucatán during the first half of the nineteenth century. Other topics developed include taxes, draft, and land reform. Together with elections, these were basic concerns of the era—for liberals, conservatives, centralists, and federalists. Out of six chapters, the first two reflect on several forms of liberalism in early national Mexico and their precedents during the era of Spanish constitutional monarchy. In sections three to six, the experiences of Oaxaca and Yucatán between 1824 and 1858 are analyzed. The work relies on the abundant bibliographic work of the last thirty years and on sources belonging to state and national archives.

The work principally argues that Oaxacan indígenas faced the advent of citizen institutions by adapting them to local circumstances, as old liberties were kept even under centralist regimes. In Yucatán, on the other hand, the new rules of interaction between society and government altered traditional ethics and perceptions regarding power, provoking dissidence. Diverging trajectories in the two states are explained by means of specific political cultures inherited from the colonial past and particular economic contexts. A central element in both milieux was autonomy, although it was understood in different ways. In Oaxaca, autonomy signified the expectation of internally controlling labor and independently choosing leaders for the repúblicas de indios. Those values were recognized by local royal officials whose legitimacy rested in this precise awareness, the protection they provided, and their capacity to negotiate government demands among indígenas. On the other hand, the main products of the region—the red dye cochineal and cotton cloth—were products of autonomous labor inside the pueblos de indios, and provided the majority of the income for the non-indigenous population dedicated to their export. In Yucatán, autonomy meant being left alone. For much of the colonial era, indigenous towns were left to run their local affairs independently. These liberties fell into jeopardy when agricultural and cattle haciendas increased their pressure on native land and labor at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

The federal constitution of 1824 left the interior government of the towns to the states. In Oaxaca, as in the rest of the country, the organization of local powers involved following patterns of behavior originating in constitutional monarchy, although with some changes. The most important had to do with segregating non-indigenous municipal organizations from indigenous ones. The first ayuntamientos were established in settlements of at least 3000 souls and were administered by their non-indigenous residents. In smaller villages inhabited by indígenas, colonial repúblicas remained active in defiance of the law. Under a centralist system, only state capitals and towns with at least 8000 residents were permitted to have town councils. In all other places, literate jueces de paz (justices of the peace) were appointed by the government. The centralist intent of disenfranchising indigenous people and taking away their traditional liberties was, nevertheless, subverted by the native population, which exerted pressure to replace illegitimate magistrates.

Separation between indigenous and non-indigenous municipalities was also part of the early federal politicians’ agenda in Yucatán. Unlike their counterparts in Oaxaca, they also looked to limit indigenous participation and autonomy in order to create free land and labor markets. Ayuntamientos were established only in non-indigenous cities and villages. In towns with considerable non-indigenous populations, juntas municipales were elected. Indigenous towns were governed by alcaldes auxiliares appointed by the closest city councils. At the same time, repúblicas were kept for tax purposes. In contrast with their neighbor state, the return to federalism implied for Yucatecan indígenas continuing political circumscription of their old liberties. Small settlements did not enjoy the rule of ayuntamientos, but instead were subject to elected alcaldes and jueces de paz. Due to literacy restrictions, those positions were occupied by non-indigenous people. After...