THE CHICLEROS AND THE CHICLE INDUSTRY OF QUINTANA ROOS
Mar 05 '02
The Bottom Line A little something to consider the next time you pick up a pack of gum at the store.
Chiclets, chewing gum, it's not something we put a lot of thought into. Like most consumer items, it's just there at the store counter when we need it. Like a lot of other products nowadays it is made from artificial ingredients, but that was not always the case.
At one time the main component in chewing gum was chicle, a natural by product of the chicle plant or tree. One of the main sources of this tree was on the Caribbean side of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in the territory of Quintana Roos. During the 1920's and 1930's there was a literal "chicle boom" in this region as American and other large companies literally invaded this region to harvest chicle to meet an ever growing consumer demand for chewing gum.
Quintana Roos at the time was a very different place then it is today. Now it is Mexico's "Mayan Riviera" one of the premier resort destinations in the world. All the amenities and infrastructure for thousands of sun seekers are present. Modern highways, airports and expansive resorts line the coast inter spaced with the picturesque little coastal towns and villages.
In 1920 Quintana Roos was literally the untamed frontier. It wasn't even a state but only a territory of Mexico. Spanish was a second language for the mainly Mayan population who resided here. Schools and other Government institutions were few and far between, and the Mayans were for the most part an agrarian society. A peace treaty between the Mayans and the Mexican Government was not signed until 1935, theoretically ending Mayan resistance to the invaders which had commenced with the arrival of the Spanish to the region in the 1500's.
Into this wild and untamed region came the foreign companies seeking chicle. Work camps and villages complete with small houses, and stores were established to house the workers who would harvest the crop. Small narrow gauge railways were laid down to move the chicle from the interior to towns on the coast where it could be shipped to overseas factories.
Men were needed to harvest the chicle, and it was hard work in not the best of conditions. Isolated camps with few luxuries, long days of backbreaking labour, and to many a very inhospitable land and climate, meant that it was not the best career option open. This meant that the workers or "chicleros" as they became known were an interesting sort to say the least.
As can be expected, some of them were Mayans, who had traditionally harvested chicle for their own needs. Motivated by economic reasons and a change from farming in the traditional sense, they joined the chicleros. In addition some Mayan women were also brought in to help run the camps as cooks and cleaners.
The main source of chicleros though was basically the unemployed and dregs from other parts of Mexico. Some who were running from the law, their pasts, something, and needed to lose themselves in the wilds of the Yucatan. Men looking for adventure and perhaps riches and just those, who needed a job, any job. Like the gold rushes of earlier times, they flocked to Quintana Roos and the chicle camps.
With such a grouping and the isolation and boredom of the camps there was of course problems. Drinking gambling fighting and the occasional killing were not uncommon. Added to this the cultural clashes between the Mayans and those from elsewhere.
Eventually the chicle boom ended. Advances in cheaper synthetic ingredients were one factor. Another was that between 1934 and 1940 the Mexican Government nationalized the majority of foreign owned business. The chicleros left to seek work elsewhere. The camps and railways were abandoned and reclaimed by the jungle. It would be almost four decades before a new industry brought prosperity to the region, tourism.
It is still possible to get a glimpse of what the life of a chiclero was like. Just off Highway 307 between Cancun and Playa del Carmen just south of Puerto Morelos is the Jardin Botanico, the botanical gardens. Here among the 150 acres of assorted plants local to the region, is a small recreation of a chiclero camp.
To the immediate west of Puerto Morelos can be found the overgrown remains of the narrow gauge railway used to bring the crop to the coast. Farther inland is one of the chiclero villages. Most of the small buildings lay abandoned and overgrown. However, several Mayan families have moved in and settled, or actually resettled as it is their land, here. Both of these can be seen as part of the Goyo's Custom Jungle Adventure Tours available from Puerto Morelos (www.goyosjungle.com).
Recently there have been plans made by some local entrepreneurs to reestablish the chicle industry in the area on a small scale. Setting up a cottage industry to provide a natural alternative to synthetic gum is viable business. Perhaps someday in the future the chicleros will once again be active in the jungles of Quintana Roos.
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