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didn't have tile-roofed houses. They didn't have
anything. They were big, thatch-roofed houses. And
their god was there. Who knows what kind of
hellishness was there. It burnt up. It was set afire so
that [the war] would cool down. [But before] then,
wherever there were pretty girls, [the followers of
St. Rose] just embraced them, just deceived them.
They went off embracing them. They escorted them
to the dance. It didn't matter what kind of person
they were—if they were from San Andres or Magdalenas,
or wherever it was they were able to grab
them. They went to mislead them. They were going
to kill [the people of] their town. The magistrate of
Chamula was given a hundred soldiers. They attacked
with guns.
Now that's what the Chamulans say, then. Hah!
There were lots and lots. Ooh, who knows how
many thousands of the brutes. One group assembled.
The women turned their backs, then. They were
killed by the bullets. They were [trying to] cool the
bullets so they wouldn't fire. Why wouldn't gunpowder
explode? They were fighting. They thought
it was just a game. They were pursued until they
died.
So when the dispute cooled down in Chaklajon,
the houses in Chaklajon, then, burnt up, every one.
The mother devil burnt up. That's the way it was.
Now when she died, yes, sir, it cooled down, it
cooled down. She burnt up. The Bird was more
difficult. The followers of the Bird assembled here
[in San Cristobal]. He was a tall Chamulan. He was
very tall. When those people of long ago assembled
here [they wore] high-peaked hats. But the park was
packed tight with Chamulans, Holy Mary! Ooh, so
many! The St. Rose people were another group.
They uncovered their asses to cool off the bullets
so that the bullets wouldn't fire. Why wouldn't they
fire? They went up their asses. They died.
The War of St. Rose, or the War of the Castes as it is known in
the literature, was fought from 1868 to 1871. A Chamulan
shepherdess, Agustina Gomez Chechev, in the hamlet of Tzajal
Yemel (not Chaklajon as Xun recalls) discovered on 22 December
1867 three bluish black pebbles which she told her mother
had fallen from the sky. She placed them on the house altar and
soon the rumor spread that they were "talking stones." They
were submitted to the local official, Pedro Diaz Cuzcat (Kuskat),
for authentication. He put them in a box for safekeeping but
was awakened during the night by a terrific racket issuing from
the box. From then on he took charge of the cult, installing
Agustina as a saint, "mother of god." On St. Rose Day, 1868,
Cuzcat, dressed in a white robe, accompanied by a dozen
women in embroidered huipils, consecrated their new chapel,
baptized the women and declared them "saints." From the
congregation he selected the literate men present from each of
the towns, baptized them and appointed them as leaders of their
towns subject only to himself. A daily market was initiated in
XUN VASKIS 103
7i te ti srioxe, te jna7tik k'usi kavronetikal 7une, te
k'ak', 7i7och k'ok' yo7 ti sikub 7o 7une, 7a li bu lekil
tzebetike che7e, naka smeyel naka slo71oel yu7un
smey ech'el, chba xchi7in ta 7ak'ot k'uk no 7ox
krixchanoal mi San-antrex mi Malalena bu sta ta
tzakele, yu7un bat slo71obe sjol lik i sjol 7une, ta smil
stek-lumal, 7ak'bat jun syen soltaro li jchamu7
preserente 7une, 7iyak' bala.
7Ora, chal li jchamu7e che7e, ja7 7ep ta j-mek, jii,
jna7tik 7onox jay-mil bruto, jun grtipo stzob sba,
7isvalk'un xchak i 7antzetike che7e, 7ilaj ta bala
yu7un la tzsikubtas pa-ke yo7 mu xt'om 7o li bala, k'u
cha7al mu xt'om, jun sibak chtajin, xa7uk no 7ox
tajimol, net'e ech'el 7une, k'al laj 7une.
7Entonse, k'al sikub i k'ope k'al Chaklajon, 7a ti
naetike che7e, ta Chaklajone che7e, yu7un k'ak'
skotol ta j-mek, k'ak' ti me7 pukuje, 7eso 7es ja7
yech.
Bweno, 76ra 7un, k'al laj 7une, 7eso si 7isikube,
sikub 7ik'ak', 7a li Pajaroe mas vokol, 7a li Pajaroe
che7e, H7 stzob sba H7 toe, jun natil jchamu7, batz'i
nat, nat xchak pixol, ti 7antivo ti k'al stzob sbaik H7
toe, pero tzinil i jchamu7 ta parke Maria Santisima,
jii, toj mas, 7a li Santa-roxa che7e j-vok' 7o.
Bweno, 7isjol xchak ta la ssikubtas bala, mu la
xt'om bala, k'u cha7al mu xt'om, ta xchak 7i7och,
Tzajal Yemel. Every Sunday a magnificent procession of saints,
chiefs, and the faithful culminated in a service of revelation of
the past week's oracles.
The ceremonial centers of the towns of Chamula, Chalchihuitan,
Chenalho, Pantelho, San Andres Larrainzar, Santa
Marta, Magdalenas, Santiago, and Tenejapa were practically
abandoned; their churches deserted, their political officials ignored,
their markets emptied while everyone travelled to Tzajal
Yemel.
Responding to the desperate pleas for a restoration of "order"
from the Ladino merchants of San Cristobal, who discovered
that their shops and market were also abandoned, a military
detachment of 50 men was sent during the night of 2 December
1868 to Tzajal Yemel. The chapel was sacked, and Agustina and
her mother captured and carried off to San Cristobal. After
eluding capture, Cuzcat was identified by a Zinacantec in Ixtapa
and taken to jail in San Cristobal.
Nevertheless, the cult continued to flourish. On Good Friday