María Uicab was a priestess and

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

leader, born in

Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...

in the 19th century. She flourished during the

Caste War of Yucatán The Caste War of Yucatán or ''ba'atabil kichkelem Yúum'' (1847–1915) began with the revolt of Indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous Maya peoples, Maya people of the Yucatán Peninsula against Hispanic populations, called ''Yucatecos''. Th ...

. She was also known by the nicknames ''Patron Saint'' and ''Queen of

Tulum Tulum (, ) is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city which served as a major port for Coba, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The ruins are situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea. T ...

''. It seems that her original name could have been María Petrona Uicab and that she was married three times, first in 1860. She was influential in the Cruzoob religious movement. A charismatic woman, she had a skill for making her followers obey her. She did this by appealing to their superstitions. In a temple in the city of Tulum, she supposedly interpreted "the voices of three crosses." The crosses stood upon an altar, and Uicab claimed to be able to interpret their commands. After 1875, her name stopped appearing in written sources; it seems that by that time, she had died. Even so, the end of her life is a mystery. One possibility is that she was assassinated by her own followers in the Cruzoob movement; another is that she died of old age.

References

Bibliography

* * *{{cite book , last1=Villalobos González , first1=Martha Herminia , title=El bosque sitiado: asaltos armados, concesiones forestales y estrategias de resistencia durante la Guerra de Castas , date=2006 , publisher=Centro de Investigación y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social , location=Google Books , isbn=9789707017627 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLsmZpkij4IC , language=Spanish People from Yucatán Mexican religious leaders Maya people