The Canek Rebellion: A Nativistic Movement In Latin America

The Spanish empire conquered Latin America, which led to the indigenous people conforming to the Spanish way of living and its government. When the Spanish came to Latin America, they didn’t care about the indigenous people. The only thought on their minds was to create a new Spain. In that thought, the Spanish forced the indigenous people to conform to them and do what the Spanish told them to do. Some indigenous people grew tired of it and started to revolt. Two rebellions that pursued during the Spanish ruling was the Canek Rebellion, in Yucatán, and the Great Rebellion, in Peru. These rebellions represent a revitalization movement. Within the revitalization movement, both rebellions resemble a nativistic and messianic. In this paper, I …show more content…
When rebellions are a nativistic movement they want to go to their native way of living. The Canek Rebellion is a prime example of this. The Mayans, in Yucatan, were tired of the Spanish government forcing them to live a certain way and taking away their native ways. They wanted to go back to their old heritage way of living. Another aspect of a nativistic movement is it becoming genocidal. Canek is documented saying “kill the pigs” (Class Notes). Pigs were the food of the Spaniards, if all the pigs were killed then ultimately all the Spaniards would be dead too. The indigenous people in the rebellion could kill the Spaniards themselves but though it would be easier to kill their main source of food. They wouldn’t have to kill the Spaniards but watch them die. Canek along with the rest of the Maya people wanted the Spanish gone, even if that meant dead. The Great Rebellion is like the Canek Rebellion, wanted to return to their old way of living. The rebellion quickly turned into a genocide. Indigenous people in Peru who didn’t agree with the rebellion were people who supported the Spanish government and were killed. If you didn’t precipitate in the rebellion you were a traitor and someone who didn’t want to return to its native way of living If you were an indigenous person, you should have been on the side …show more content…
The Canek Rebellion was very much so a messianic movement. The leader of the rebellion, Jacinto Canek, seen himself as a God or a God-like figure. Prior to the rebellion, Canek started to see himself as a messiah or prophet. He would give sermons to the Maya people (Houck). The rebellion boosted his ego, he was getting worshiped by the indigenous people who were involved in the rebellion. Canek made the town church his home. He would say his scars came from Jesus, and that he would help the people with the help of God. The Great Rebellion also was a messianic movement. During the third part of the rebellion, under new leader Tupac Katari, he was seen as a messiah. People worshiped as his feet and greeted him as a messiah. Katari made promises that he can take the indigenous people to the promise land and save them all. He gave them permission to have a genocide toward the indigenous people who didn’t agree with the rebellion. They would be forgiven because he gave them permission. Tupac Katari has stated, “I am sent from God, so that no one has the power to do anything to me, and thus it seems to me that all I say in the work of the Holy Spirt” (Thomson 201). Katari saying this meant that he was establishing himself as God-like. Meaning everything he said was from God himself, God speaking through him. Any and everything he said to