This article examines the creation of an Indian ideal within Indigenismo in the years 1920–40. While scholars argue that Indigenismo described a degenerate Indian ‘other’, this article shows that it often represented the Indian as a model for revolutionary politics and culture. This is evident first in Indigenista celebrations of Indian cultures during the 1920s, and in their valorisation of Indians as rational political actors with modern sensibilities during the 1930s. In validating this ‘modern’ Indian, Indigenistas created a limited framework for legitimate ‘Indian politics’ which took place within the national culture. However, they also labelled Indians who challenged revolutionary programs as ‘primitive’ and ‘pre-political’.