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Victoria Bricker shows that "history" sometimes rests on mythological foundations and that "myth" can contain valid historical information. Her book, which is a highly original critique of postconquest historiography about the Maya, challenges major assumptions about the relationship between myth and history implicit in structuralist interpretations. The focus of the book is ethnic conflict, a theme that pervades Maya folklore and is also well documented historically. The book begins with the Spanish conquest of the Maya. In chapters on the postconquest history of the Maya, five ethnic conflicts are treated in depth: the Cancuc revolt of 1712, the Quisteil uprising of 1761, the Totonicapan r...
From the ancient traditions of the Lacandón Maya comes an Indigenous model for a sustainable future Having lived for centuries isolated within Mexico’s largest remaining tropical rainforest, the Indigenous Lacandón Maya now live at the nexus of two worlds—ancient and modern. While previous research has focused on documenting Lacandón oral traditions and religious practices in order to preserve them, this book tells the story of how Lacandón families have adapted to the contemporary world while applying their ancestral knowledge to create an ecologically sustainable future. Drawing on his 49 years of studying and learning from the Lacandón Maya, James Nations discusses how in the mid...
Presents a firsthand account of life among the Lacandon Indians of Nahá in southern Mexico which is a community whose genealogy has been obscured by the absence of a written traditon, and may be traced back linguistically and culturally to the great Maya civilization.
Physical Anthropology is the ninth volume in the Handbook of Middle American Indians, published in cooperation with the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University under the general editorship of Robert Wauchope (1909–1979). The volume editor is T. Dale Stewart (1901–1997), senior physical anthropologist of the United States National Museum, Smithsonian Institution, former director of its Museum of Natural History, and a past president of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. The articles in this volume, together with illustrations, tabular data, bibliographies, and index, constitute an invaluable reference work on the human biology of Middle America and its r...
Zinacantan, Chamula, and Chenalhó are neighboring Mayan communities situated in highland Chiapas, Mexico, near the city of San Cristóbal Las Casas. The inhabitants of the three communities speak dialects of the Tzotzil language. Five religious fiestas, celebrated by these communities in honor of their saints, provide the data for Victoria Bricker's comparative study of ritual humor. In Chenalhó and Chamula performances of ritual humor are concentrated in the five-day period of a single fiesta, while in Zanacantan similar performances are distributed over threee fiestas. In these fiesta settings, performers in distinctive costumes make obscene and sacreligious remarks in the context of rel...
This groundbreaking volume explores the capacity of Indigenous psychologies to counter the effects of longstanding colonization on traditional cultures and habitats. It chronicles the editor’s extensive research in the Lacandon Rainforest in southern Mexico, illustrating respectful methodologies and authentic friendship—a decolonized approach by a committed scholar—and the concerted efforts of community members to preserve their history and heritage. Descriptions of collaborations among children, parents, students, and elders demonstrate the continued passing on of indigenous knowledge, culture, art, and spirituality. This richly layered narrative models cultural resilience and resista...
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