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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY PUBLICATION NO. 13 



the lack of good land routes, and vessels plied the 

 coast, from Veracruz to Panuco. 



A third aspect also is significant — that is, the 

 profound difference in environment between most 

 of Totonacapan and the homeland of the conquer- 

 ors and settlers. Natural surroundings were not 

 propitious for the transplanting of many ele- 

 ments of Spanish material culture — such as agri- 

 cultural practices, house types, and so on. These 

 took root more readily in the cooler lands of the 

 high plateau. 



In summary, it may be said that the natural 

 surroundings — absence of exploitable mineral 

 wealth, difficulty of communications, and sharp 

 contrast in environment between the area and 

 Spain — all contributed to the relative isolation of 

 Totonacapan and, by the same token, retarded 

 acculturation. 



LOCAL COLONIAL HISTORY 



Little is known of local history during the colo- 

 nial regime, with the exception of the changes in 

 social, political, and economic life which have been 

 discussed above. A great wealth of documents in 

 the Archivo General de la Nacion (Kamo de 

 tierras) attests endless boundary disputes between 

 various native communities ; but these wranglings 

 cast light principally on land ownership and on 

 social and political life. However, they do indi- 

 cate that during the colonial era there was little 

 variation within that part of Totonacapan which 

 was firmly under Spanish control. We remain in 

 the dark with respect to the rest of Totonacapan — 

 that is, the groups which had been able, to a 

 greater or lesser degree, to avoid Spanish rule. 



INDEPENDENCE 



During three centuries of Spanish rule, cultural 

 change in Totonacapan was, on the whole, slow 

 and gradual. But this lethargy was rudely inter- 

 rupted by the outbreak of the War for Independ- 

 ence. In the course of the succeeding century, the 

 legal position of the Indian was transformed ; co- 

 lonial political organization destroyed; social 

 structure profoundly altered; and acculturation 

 accelerated. 



Totonacapan — meaning, now, the zone which, 

 at the beginning of the nineteenth century, still 

 was Totonac in culture and in speech — was sub- 



jected to new external pressures. During the nine- 

 teenth century, the struggle for land ownership 

 was more prominent than at any time since the 

 sixteenth century, and the seizure of Indian lands 

 reached extraordinary proportions, until the Revo- 

 lution of 1910 and the new agrarian laws reestab- 

 lished the rights of the natives. Subsequently, in 

 isolated cases, such as that of Palma Sola, the 

 Totonac were despoiled of their lands, but large- 

 scale land depredation was essentially a nineteenth 

 century phenomenon. 



To this situation, Totonac response was substan- 

 tially the same as it had been 300 years before: 

 urban zones were abandoned and people sought 

 refuge in the more isolated spots — again, with a 

 scattering of population. Nevertheless, a new re- 

 action stands out in sharp relief — namely, the 

 active resistance of a number of important centers 

 and a series of armed rebellions in Totonacapan. 

 Moreover, such national events as Independence, 

 Reform, French intervention, and civil wars, 

 touched Totonacapan and resulted in active Toto- 

 nac participation. 



During the late nineteenth century, exploitation 

 of the rich oil deposits of coastal Totonacapan was 

 begun. A local railroad was built to connect Poza 

 Rica, the main petroleum base, with Tuxpan, on 

 the coast; inland, it was extended to the Palma 

 Sola area. Oil depots were established ; new roads 

 were opened — and the superficial aspects of coastal 

 Totonacapan began to change. 



Some of the principal aspects and consequences 

 of the above developments will be mentioned 

 briefly below. 



INSURGENT MOVEMENT IN TOTONACAPAN 



In October of 1811, the war for national Inde- 

 pendence had begun in Veracruz — in Teocelo, Jico, 

 Coatepec, Ixhuacan, and Ayahualulco (Lerdo de 

 Tejada 2: 76) — and the rebels dominated a wide 

 zone in the vicinity of Jalapa and Perote. This 

 initial impulse soon was extended to Totonacapan 

 and, among other places, Naolinco, Misantla, 

 Papantla, and Coxquihui (Lerdo de Tejada 2: 

 77-83; Rivera 1 : 345) rapidly were converted into 

 centers of insurgent movement. Perhaps because 

 of topographical character, perhaps because of 

 native support, the same areas which served the 

 Totonac as refuge spots became also the supply 



