Abstract. − During an insurrection in the community of Totonicapán in 1820 Atanasio Tzul was crowned to be King of the K’iche‘. In this article it is argued that his coronation was not a spontaneous event. In fact, it can be related to a complex of ceremonial dances and oral histories. Through an analysis of ethnohistorical sources from the 16th century it is shown how the heirs of the pre-Hispanic elite developed the idea of an indigenous kingship. These ideas influenced the development of ritual dance dramas re-enacting the Spanish Conquest. Various sources confirm that beside these dances oral traditions about pre-Hispanic history survived well into the 18th century and that there was a belief in a return of the ancestors and the rebirth of the indigenous kingship. This belief, which culminated at the end of the colonial period, outlasted the events in Totonicapán and even today traces of it can be observed. [Guatemala, Maya K’iche’, motif of indigenous kingship, ritual]