Canek, Jacinto (c. 1731–1761)
Canek, Jacinto (c. 1731–1761)
Jacinto Canek (b. ca. 1731; d. 14 December 1761), a Maya who led an Indian uprising in Yucatán. Born Jacinto Uc de los Santos, this Indian from Campeche led a Maya cultural revitalization movement that ultimately challenged Spanish rule in colonial Yucatán. In 1761 in the village of Cisteíl he proclaimed himself to be King Canek (the legendary name of Maya kings), whose coming had been foretold in Maya prophecy. Thousands of Indians joined his movement, which combined traditional Maya and Christian elements and sought both cultural and political autonomy. The Spanish colonial authorities, using their military might, finally defeated Canek's forces in battle, thus crushing the movement. Canek was captured, tried, and executed by being torn limb-from-limb.
See alsoMaya, The .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
María Teresa Huerta and Patricia Palacios, eds., Rebeliones indígenas de la época colonial (1976).
Nancy M. Farriss, Maya Society Under Colonial Rule: The Collective Enterprise of Survival (1984).
Additional Bibliography
Farriss, Nancy M. Maya Society Under Colonial Rule: The Collective Enterprise of Survival. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992. Updated, corrected edition of 1984 work.
Robert W. Patch