UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE UNDER THE EYES OF GOD: THE HUICHOLS AND THE MEXICAN STATE, 1810-1910 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By MICHELE M. STEPHENS Norman, Oklahoma 2011 UNDER THE EYES OF GOD: THE HUICHOLS AND THE MEXICAN STATE, 1810-1910 A DISSERTATION APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY ___________________________ Dr. Terry Rugeley, Chair _________________________ Dr. Sterling Evans _________________________ Dr. James Cane-Carrasco _________________________ Dr. Karl Offen _________________________ Dr. José Juan Colín © Copyright by MICHELE M. STEPHENS 2011 All Rights Reserved. For Tim, for always giving me the strength to soar. Acknowledgements This dissertation has been a work nurtured by many individuals and thus I am indebted to a number of people who aided me throughout graduate school and the dissertation process. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Terry Rugeley, without whom I would never have dreamed of this project. Had it not been for the Ethnohistory of Mexico and Central America seminar in 2006, I may have never heard of the Huichols. Besides being the best advisor a graduate student could ever hope for, Dr. Rugeley is also an excellent mentor. He gives freely of his time, including bringing myself and other students to Mexico City in order to ensure that we knew how to navigate the Archivo General de la Nación. While on my research trip in Guadalajara, which kept me away from home for nine months, Dr. Rugeley offered me sage wisdom to help combat homesickness and the stress of foreign research. I thoroughly enjoyed the trips to archaeological ruins throughout the country, which sharpened my understanding of Mexican culture. I also would like to extend a special thanks to Margarita Peraza- iv Rugeley, who never minded me tagging along on what were supposed to be her summer vacations. Her kind spirit and helpful suggestions greatly improved my Spanish and my knowledge of Mexican culture. Abrazotes para Uds. My graduate studies and dissertation were much more fruitful because of the guidance of my committee. Jim Cane-Carrasco helped me think about Mexico within the larger context of Latin America and always lent an ear when I felt frustrated by school or life in general. Sterling Evans proved to be a fierce advocate on my behalf from the very moment he joined the faculty at OU, and provided key criticisms that helped strengthen my project. Karl Offen forced me to think about the geographical constructs of Mexico that have been critical to my understanding of western Mexico and the region as a whole. And José Juan Colín provided a boost in my spirits with his thoughtful comments on my dissertation. I am truly grateful to have worked with such a supportive committee. v Special and heartfelt thanks go to Cathy Kelly and Rich Hamerla, whom I respect tremendously as mentors and dear friends. For the first two years that I studied American history, Cathy challenged me to think critically about my work, to own my knowledge, and to be confident in my abilities. Rich has proven to be a supportive friend, yet he always encouraged me to think outside the box. I finished my graduate education in part because of their unwavering belief in me in the first difficult years. When I was no longer her student, I could always count on Cathy for professional advice. What I learned from Cathy and Rich was how to navigate the academic world and their advice has never led me astray. Thanks are also in order to several faculty and staff members at the University of Oklahoma. My first advisor at OU, Dr. Josh Piker, is a wonderful professor and confidant who supported my transition to Latin American history. He has been a strong advocate for my work. Professor Paul Gilje challenged me in seminars, helped me become a better vi writer and historian, and has always been a font of wise advice. Dr. Rob Griswold supported my decision to switch fields and has always been an advocate for my work. The "Office Ladies" were so kind from the minute I arrived in Norman as a bewildered transplant from Los Angeles. They never seemed to mind my incessant questions and my frequent presence in the office. Without the generous financial assistance of the Dean Williams and the Graduate College and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, I would not have been able to complete my project. Finally, special thanks to Cliff Hudson and Mr. and Mrs. Wayne and Anne Hodges Morgan for providing funding opportunities to graduate students in the History Department. Their generosity helped me realize my goals and complete my research. I would like to extend my gratitude to the staffs of various archives in both Mexico and the United States, who never failed to answer my many questions. Special thanks to Gaby at the Archivo Histórico de Jalisco, who patiently waited for me to find the right words in Spanish to express my vii thoughts. I appreciated the opportunity to work in the Department of Anthropology Archives at the Museum of Natural History in New York and the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Library at the University of Texas, Austin. And finally, Bruno Calgaro Sandi was a wonderful friend, traveling partner, and guide to all things west Mexico. His background in archaeology helped me contextualize the first chapter of the dissertation. Many colleagues at the University of Oklahoma, both past and present, made graduate school a convivial place to study and grow as a scholar, and as a person. To Emily Wardrop, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude. I will never forget our first road trip to Tahlequah, and the Christmas Eve blizzard stuck in Sallisaw. You helped me become a better historian and human being, and I thank you for that. Thank you Patrick Bottiger and David Beyreis for reading my work over the years. Dave and Matt Pearce also put my mind at ease by watching my dogs occasionally while I traveled. To Mandy Taylor- Montoya, thanks for always challenging me to think viii beyond the obvious. Abby Wightman forced me to consider the anthropological perspective, even when that frequently torpedoed my conclusions and made me rethink my observations on indigenous behaviors. I miss all of our conversations, from the intellectual and political, to debates about our favorite Presidents. Thank you to my family, who always believed in me even if some of them did not understand my willingness to stay in school for so long. My mom, Mary, and my sisters have been constant cheerleaders, always willing to listen when I needed someone to lean on. I appreciate this quality in my dad as well. To Uncle Tom, all I can offer is deep gratitude. I could not have dreamed of marrying into such a wonderful family, and the Stephens clan has always been supportive of me. My husband Tim has put up with quite a lot in my young academic career and for that I owe a lifetime of thanks. He has just the personality that I needed to get me through stressful situations, and though he never read a word that I wrote, he never doubted for one second that I could ix finish my PhD. Thank you for being my partner in this exciting journey and I cannot wait to see what the next years bring. x Table of Contents Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents xi List of Illustrations xii Introduction The Huichols: Studying a People without History 1 Chapter One- Mexico and the Huichol Sierra: History Intertwined 13 Chapter Two- From the Chichimecas to 52 niños con barbas : Ancient West Mexico and Colonial Nueva Galicia Chapter Three- "Huichols in the Early 113 Republic, 1810-1840" Chapter Four- "Land, Lozada, and the 171 Wars of the Worlds" Chapter Five- "Díaz, Deslindadoras , and 232 Divisions: The Huichols in The Porfirian Era" Chapter Six- "The World Comes for the 289 Huichols: Ethnographic Encounters with Europe" Conclusion- "The Huichols in the 330 Twentieth Century: Studying a People with History" Bibliography 357 Appendix 1- Huichol/Spanish Glossary 375 xi List of Illustrations Map 1.1 Approximate locations of indigenous 98 groups around the time of the conquest Map 2.1 Rivers and Huichol and Cora towns 133 xii Introduction "The Huichols: Studying a People Without History" "Son indios muy encerrados en sus costumbres y creencias religiosas, y extremadamente reservados..." 1 The scenery is breathtaking. Clouds draped the mountains, seemingly touching the ground, bathing everything in a fine mist. Alongside the highway, the land fell away into an alien landscape of twisted yuccas as I traveled along the very western edge of the Huasteca. Small farms dotted the landscape, and occasionally one could see smoke from a field fire drifting up into and melting with the clouds. Cows and horses grazed pasturelands and farmers worked at their minute plots of land. Every once in a while, I passed through a tiny pueblo, replete with its zócalo and church. 2 As I neared Wirikuta, doubling back toward the west from where I had come, the landscape changed yet again. The mountains that had once been in the distance now loomed large and the rain 1 Carlos Basauri, La población indígena de México , 3 vols., vol. 3 (México, DF: Secretaría de Educación Pública, 1940), 67. 2 A zócalo is a central square found in most Mexican towns. 1 disappeared in the dry, dusty desert. The car climbed higher into the mountains, and the one-lane gravel road weaved precariously through the canyons.