This article explores how gestures contributed to the communicative interaction achieved during puppet performances in indigenous communities in the Chiapas Highlands of Mexico. It presents the case of the Petul-Xun hand-glove puppet shows, which were performed from 1954 to 2000 as part of educational campaigns aimed at "modernising" the Tsotsil and Tseltal Mayan population in that region. The study adopts mixed methods to correlate archival documents, photographs, and ethnographic interviews with former puppeteers and witnesses. Drawing on Linguistic Anthropology, the author coined the concept of "gestural participation frameworks" to suggest that Petul-Xun puppeteers adapted their performances to public responses, transforming the messages, and were thus able to enhance communication with the population. The paper uses the ideas of "gestural memory" and "emotional act" to interpret interviews carried out with former participants as they commented on the photos and their own experience, shedding light on the impact that the art is said to have had in the region.