Chan Santa Cruz

Chan Santa Cruz  was a late 19th-century indigenous Maya state in the modern-day Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It was also the name of a shrine that served as the center of the Maya Cruzoob religious movement, and of the town that developed around the shrine, now known as Felipe Carrillo Puerto. The town was historically the main center of what is now Quintana Roo, and it acted as the de facto capital for the Maya during the Caste War of Yucatán.

History

Before and during Spanish colonization

Before Spanish colonization, the people in the land that would become the Chan Santa Cruz state were predominantly indigenous Maya. Its northern reaches were likely part of the state of Coba during the Classic Period.

After the Spanish began to occupy nearby areas, the Xiu Maya state in the western half of the Yucatán Peninsula chose to ally with the newly-neighboring Empire. The Itzá state continued to train and educate indigenous Maya leaders in the sanctuaries of the southern province, such as Lake Petén Itzá. General Martín de Ursúa invaded and sacked Nojpetén, the Itzá island capital, on March 13, 1697.

The province of Uaan remained largely unknown to the Spanish, but its provincial capital of Chable (meaning 'anteater') was mentioned several times in the books of Chilam Balam as a cycle seat.

The Spanish conquered the western half of the Itzá state during the 18th century. The most famous of the Spanish campaigns was against the indigenous Kanek (king) and his followers, which ended with the death of the Kanek and his closest followers on December 14, 1761.

Uprising

When the Criollo class declared Yucatecan independence in the mid-19th century and began fighting over control of the resources of their infant state, the Maya leadership saw an opportunity to gain independence. Letters discovered in the 21st century show that they had been planning this action for some time. These letters were written orders sent through an established military chain of command, and were written in the wake of the death of the Batab of Chichimilla, Antonio Manuel Ay, on August 26, 1847 (6 Kaban, 5 Xul). The letters were written at a sanctuary plaza at Saki', the sacred 'white' city of the north that was located near present-day Valladolid. Exactly three days after Ay's death, the eastern Maya, now identified as Uiz'oob (meaning 'loincloths'), rose up in a general revolt which nearly drove the Yucatecos entirely out of Chan Santa Cruz.

This uprising, called La Guerra de las Castas by the Mexicans, reached its high tide in 1848. It resulted in the independence of the old Itzá Maya state that would become Chan Santa Cruz. The former Xiu Maya state remained in the hands of the Yucateco Creoles. The descendants of this short-lived Maya free state and those who live like them are now commonly known as Cruzoob.

Independent Maya state

The State of the Cross was proclaimed in 1849 in Xocén, a south-eastern satellite of modern Valladolid, where the Proclamation of Juan de la Cruz (John of the Cross) was first read to the people. The capital, Noh Kah Balam Nah Chan Santa Cruz, was founded in about 1850 near a sacred cenote, a natural well providing a year-round source of holy water. The talking cross continues to speak at this shrine.

The city was laid out in the pre-Columbian Maya style, with a central square containing the Balam Nah, the 'Patron Saint's House', surrounded by the school to the east, the Pontiff's house to the west, the General's houses to the north, and the storehouses and market to the south.

Mexican occupation did not end resistance by the indigenous Maya, who continued to conduct guerrilla attacks against the Mexicans under the leadership of General Francisco May. In 1935, General May signed a formal peace treaty with the government of Mexico.

Various treaties with Mexico called the "Letters of General May" were signed by the leaders of the indigenous state through the late 1930s and 1940s. Following General May's death, the remaining Maya officials initiated contact with the United States government through the archaeologist and American spy Sylvanus Morley.

Religion

thumb|Chan Santa Cruz Monument in Cozumel

One notable aspect of the Maya free state was the reappearance of Maya religion in a partly syncretic form, sometimes called "The Cult of The Talking Cross". This was likely a continuation of native beliefs that reemerged when the Spanish colonists' civil war released the Maya from the Yucatán Hispanic population's religious repression. The indigenous priests had maintained their ancient religious texts and their spiritual knowledge, as they continue to do today.

Maya sacred books

When Friar Jacobo de Testera arrived, leading the first of the Franciscan Missions to the Maya in the second half of the 16th century, he began a Mayan encyclopedia project. He intended to collect the prayers, orations, commentaries, and descriptions of native life as aids to the Spanish overthrow of Maya culture in general and the Maya religion, specifically. Diego de Landa's famous Relación de las cosas de Yucatán contains much of the Spanish explanatory text of this encyclopedia without quoting any of the indigenous texts.

The Maya elders who participated in this project, including Juan Na Chi Kokom, former leader of the Itza' state in eastern Yucatan, were most likely willing volunteers who thought the project was a way to preserve Maya culture and religion. After the project was anathematized by the Roman Church, the former Maya collaborators collected and reconstructed as much as they could. They assembled the materials into a loose collection of texts, which is now known as the Books of Chilam Balam.

Existing copies of portions of these Books of Chilam Balam ('Spokesman of the Patron') present evidence for distinct Xiu and Itza' versions. Usually translated as a collection of historical and mythological texts, this book contains a great deal of information on the ancient Maya Calendar and the priests who maintained it.

Contents of the Books of Chilam Balam include: daily reminders for diviners; natal charts for each day; rituals associated with each day; direction for the selection, training and initiation of Maya calendar priests; a Maya rosary prayer and a divination prayer; details of sacrifices at the sacred well of Chichen Itza and other self-sacrifices; pilgrimage places; the Maya years and cycles; advice to pregnant women; and descriptions of Maya family life.

The Songs of Dzitbalché is a collection of songs, prayers and ritual speeches. This collection includes traditional girls' songs, prayers for seating images, and other traditions.

The Ritual of the Bakabs is usually translated as a collection of medical texts. The first half of the book is comparable to the books of Chilam Balam of Chumayel and Tizimin and contains Maya songs, advice, prayers and ritual speeches. These texts include ones concerning: the Maya Pontiff; the Chiuoh lineage; seers and novice diviners; a midwife's prayer; and a renewal prayer for the divining seeds. The second half of this book is comparable to the second half of the Chilam Balam of Kauá and Maya herbals, and similarly contains mostly herbal or medical remedies for a wide variety of ailments. The A'almaj T'aan is another holy book of the Cruzo'ob Maya. The A'almaj T'aan means " The law " or the " holy commandments " . The A'almaj T'aan contain the messages of the cross also known as Ki'ichkelem Yuum Juan de la Cruz Tata Tres Personas balam tun. This holy book contains historical events ,sermons and also prophecies.

The Maya church

The emergence of Chan Santa Cruz in the 19th century meant that for the first time in centuries, the Maya were in charge of a state that supported their indigenous faith. The Roman Church had consistently refused to ordain native Maya even as priests. Previously, the maestros cantores (village lay assistants), who were sons of Maya priests, often acted as members of their fathers' profession as well.

The Maya church in every Crusero village and town housed the Holy Cross in a sanctuary. Maya churches are easily distinguished from Roman Catholic churches by the presence of a walled inner sanctum, the gloria, inside the Maya church. Chakoob (Angels) are God's active force, who manifest his will on earth and can be petitioned for aid. There are 1, 4, 5, 6, or 7 chakoob, one for each direction addressed in a particular ritual. The directions are color-coded according to their chakoob. East is red, north is white, west is black, south is yellow, sky is blue, earth is green and the center is clear. Feminine spirits including Kiichpam Kolel (Beautiful Grandmother) and U Kolel Cab, (Grandmother Earth or Guadelupe) are autonomous and can be petitioned for good through prayers before their cross or image. Patrilineal ancestors such as the Yumz'iloob (Fathers) are also autonomous and can be similarly petitioned for good or ill through prayers before the appropriate lineage crosses. A family devotional cross is an Ix Ceel (Little Tree). A balam (Jaguar) is a patron of a village, town, region, or state which acts as an agent and protector of the social unit in question. Many balam form additional units: Balamoob (Jaguars), the Twenty Patrons of the days of the 260-day Sacred Round; the four Yearbearers of the 365-day year; the Ahauoob of the 360-day year; and the K'atun. Ik'oob (Spirits) can be petitioned for good or ill, but K'asal Ik'oob (Evil Spirits) are chaotic and must be both exorcized before any ritual can begin and appeased before any ritual can end.

Worship

The Cruzoob movement has two great annual festivals, both descended from the two annual festivals of the pre-Columbian Maya. U K'in Crus (The Day of The Cross) is the ancient Maya New (365-day) Year Festival and U K'in Kolel (The Feast of Our Grandmother, Guadelupe), is the ancient Maya New (360-day) Year Festival.

The Crusoob also celebrate a Mass and Novenas, which always include offerings of corn tortillas and often feature tamales, meat, fruit, atole, pepper, chocolate, a dessert, and an alcoholic beverage.

The Holy Cross

Holy Crosses are physical crosses that must be guarded and fed several times a day according to Cruzoob tradition. Every householder has a small domestic cross clothed in a diminutive huipil (woman's dress) and with a mirror hung around its neck. This little female cross was known in Pre-Columbian times as Ix Cel (Little or Female Tree). The holy cross is known by the maya as La Santísima or Ki'ichkelem Yuum. Ki'ichkelem Yuum Juan de la Cruz ,according to the legend he was a Maya warrior of xocen who became the interpreter of the messages of Yuum k'uj(God) to the Maya macehual during the Caste war . Another legend says that Ki'ichkelem Yuum Juan is the messenger of God who came down from heaven to deliver the messages of Yuum K'uj to the Maya Macehual . Menifestated in form of a cross by the grace of God . Other names Ki'ichkelem Yuum Juan de la Cruz Tata Tres Personas, Juan de la cruz Balam tun ,Juan de la cruz Puc.

In addition to the village patron cross and the household crosses, there are special lineage crosses for important lines, four guardian crosses at the entrances to town, and other crosses that guard sinkholes and wells. The Maya Cruzoob religion in the 21st century is quite mixed in practice: some followers devoted exclusively to the indigenous church and its ritual calendar, while other followers are exclusively or partially Roman Catholic, Protestant or Evangelical.

The shrines of the "talking crosses" remain a vital part of local culture in former lands of Chan Santa Cruz in the 21st century. As recently as 2002, the Mexican government finally lifted the stigma of witchcraft that indigenous priests had been subject to under Mexican civil and Roman church law. They recognized the Church of the Talking Cross as a legitimate religion, and installed a plaque on a shrine in Carrillo Puerto.

National records

The Maya free state formally declared independence in the "Proclamation of Juan de la Cruz" (El Proclamo in Spanish). Appended to the Proclamation are the former state's constitution and by-laws. In addition to military service requirements — as the constitution was written in time of war — and support for the indigenous church, equal and fair treatment was promised to Maya people (and those of any race) who consented to the sovereignty of the new state.

International treaties and correspondence

Chan Santa Cruz made treaties and corresponded with several other recognized and partially-recognized governments. These include treaties with: the Yucateco state, sometimes sponsored by the British government in Honduras; the United Kingdom; Mexico; and Guatemala. Chan Santa Cruz officials also corresponded with members of the United States government in Washington.

Officials

Most Maya Cruzoob religious officials were — and are — unpaid, or are paid by donations from wealthy or devout members of the community. These officials are typically among the oldest and most impoverished of the community, having distributed most of their personal property to finance associated community festivals.

Religious officials include or have included:

Ahau Kan or Ah Z'ab Kan (Lord Wisdom or He Rattle Snake), the Supreme Pontiff of the Maya church, now known as Nohoch Tata (Great Father).
Ek (Star), one of eight Archbishops in the Maya church, now a disused role.
Cho'op (Macaw), one of twenty Provincials or Bishops in the Maya Church, now a disused role. Only the Province of Uaan now survives, and therefore the Cho'opil Uaan is now the Supreme Pontiff of the Maya church and is known as the Nohoch Tata.
Ik (Spirit), an exorcista or blessing.