Product Description
For too long, the Gulf Coast of Mexico has been dismissed by scholars as peripheral to the Mesoamerican heartland, but researchers now recognize that much can be learned from this region’s cultures. Peoples of the Gulf Coast—particularly those in Veracruz and Tabasco—share so many historical experiences and cultural features that they can fruitfully be viewed as a regional unit for research and analysis.Native Peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico is the first book to argue that the people of this region constitute a culture area distinct from other parts of Mexico. A pioneering effort by a team of international scholars who summarize hundreds of years of history, this encyclopedic work chronicles the prehistory, ethnohistory, and contemporary issues surrounding the many and varied peoples of the Gulf Coast, bringing together research on cultural groups about which little or only scattered information has been published. The volume includes discussions of the prehispanic period of the Gulf Coast, the ethnohistory of many of the neglected indigenous groups of Veracruz and the Huasteca, the settlement of the American Mediterranean, and the unique geographical and ecological context of the Chontal Maya of Tabasco. It provides descriptions of the Popoluca, Gulf Coast Nahua, Totonac, Tepehua, Sierra Ñähñu (Otomí), and Huastec Maya. Each chapter contains a discussion of each group’s language, subsistence and settlement patterns, social organization, belief systems, and history of acculturation, and also examines contemporary challenges to the future of each native people.As these contributions reveal, Gulf Coast peoples share not only major cultural features but also historical experiences, such as domination by Hispanic elites beginning in the sixteenth century and subjection to forces of change in Mexico. Yet as contemporary people have been affected by factors such as economic development, increased emigration, and the spread of Protestantism, traditional cultures have become rallying points for ethnic identity.Native Peoples of the Gulf Coast of Mexico highlights the significance of the Gulf Coast for anyone interested in the great encuentro between the Old and New Worlds and general processes of culture change. By revealing the degree to which these cultures have converged, it represents a major step toward achieving a broader understanding of the peoples of this region and will be an important reference work on these indigenous populations for years to come." ... Read more

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Designed to build Central American infrastructures, Mexico's Plan Puebla-Panama (PPP) was launched in 2001 but collapsed hopelessly by 2003. A content analysis finds the Washington consensus severely at odds with indigenous cultures, while invoking the broader globalization-localization debate. The book also examines the fate many modern chief executives facing under similar circumstances. ... Read more

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The Conquest of Mexico is a brilliant account of the Spanish conquest of Mexico, written from a new and unfamiliar angle. Gruzinski analyses the process of colonization that took place in native Indian societies over three centuries, focusing on disruptions to the Indian's memory, changes in their perception of reality, the spread of the European idea of the supernatural and the Spanish colonists' introduction of alphabetical script which the Indians had to combine with their own traditional - oral and pictorial - forms of communication. Gruzinski discusses the Indians' often awkward initiation into writing, their assimilation of Spanish culture, and their subsequent reinterpretation of their own past and recovers the changing Indian perceptions of the sacred and their "absorption" of elements from the Christian tradition. The Conquest of Mexico is a major work of cultural history which reconstructs a crucial episode in the European colonization of the New World. It is also an important contribution to the study of the relationship between memory, orality, images and writing in history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An outstanding rethinking of the meaning of conquest
Really outstanding books of history almost inevitably have certain basic common features; in particular, long and patient work on immense amount of often obscure original sources.Therefore favourable reviews often tend to have similar features, in particular praise for the author's immense, or at least uncommon, learning and labour.I dare say that, from the reader's point of view, negative reviews may be more fun, since a book can be bad in infinite ways but good in only one of a few.In this case, I will have to be boring: since this outstanding revisitation of colonial Mexican history is impressively learned, with a strong grasp of basic sources across at least three centuries (and if you think that's easy, just try it); insightful, leaving a clear impression of native spirituality and world-view and of its difference with the Christian and European world of the invaders; and novel.That is the main point.Gruzinski comes to his material with a question nobody before him had asked: how did the natives, heirs of a complex if barbarous civilization and of a very large variety of cultures, react to the presence among them of what was at first, and for considerable time, an alien culture with largely different assumptions and a wholly different world-view?He traces the interaction of Spanish Catholicism and political power with the various local cultures (never failing to make clear that Mexico was not a single culture, but an empire dominating or overshadowing a large number of different tribes) across three centuries, showing that as late as the eighteenth centuries there were broad unassimilated areas - which however tended to fade - and suggesting a subterranean continuity, bubbling up in the unsettled world of pulquerias and colonial slums, between the failures of assimilation in colonial times and the strong anti-clerical currents of post-independence Mexico, which are still a factor in the country today.
Gruzinski's writing is straightforward though not very plain - big words are not avoided and some sentences may take time for the ordinary reader to grasp.But he avoids the bane of the French intellectual - airy generalizations and general pretentiousness: he always has his eye to the object, and is most often accurate, fair, and careful.Some of his views may, I suppose, be challenged: for instance, he treats the enormously widespread problem of alcoholism in the seventeenth century as a by-product of failed assimilation, yet Bernal Diaz del Castillo (one of Cortez's own soldiers, who wrote a memoir at the end of his life) tells us that massive and vicious drunkenness, including details too revolting to mention here, was a feature of pre-Conquest society as he encountered it.Gruzinski, being a pioneer, may have got some things wrong, as pioneers do.But he has given us a completely new and very valuable way to look at an old issue, and done so in a very well-organized, capable and professional way. ... Read more

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Masks of Mexico is a state-by-state guide for collectors and general folk art enthusiasts to learn about the types of masked dances still carried out in Mexico's Indian and mestizo communities today.Close to one-hundred color photos of authenticated masks from the collection of the Museum of International Folk\Art are presented, including finely carved pieces from the 19th century to simple face coverings made in the past ten years.The masked ceremonies are brought to life with documentary photos showing masqueraders acting out their roles. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An attractive and valuable new reference on Mexican masks.
The author assigned herself the task of publishing a representative sample of masks from the many Mexican states with strong traditions of mask use, drawing from the previously underdisplayed collections of the Museum ofInternational Folk Art, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The book brings togethera number of interesting photographs of masked dancers, to augment theexcellent mask photos. Some of these have appeared in other books onMexican masking, accessible or inaccessible, others are fresh and new, tothe reviewer at least.

In terms of the actual masks, a number of theseare rather old, attractive or uncommon, rarely seen or described in booksor exhibits; some others are not so old or rare, but nevertheless veryinteresting. A minority of others are familiar from other standardreference works, and add little to this volume. Their inclusion followsfrom the goal to present the broad spectrum of Mexican masking.

On theother hand, there appear to be virtually no decorative masks among allthose illustrated, which is a credit to the excellent scholarship of theauthor. Indeed, she has taken great care to identify the carvers, thetowns, the estimated age, and the indigenous traditions of each mask, tothe extent that this could be documented. The estimated ages are refreshingin their modesty, in contrast to the florid attribution of great age to anydemonstrable wear, that one so commonly encounters in books aboutmasks.

In the end, a book about Mexican dance masks must rise or fall onthe strength of the material and the quality of the photographs; from thisperspective the book is a must buy for any Mexican mask collector oraficionado. ... Read more

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This is a vital, worthwhile book that fills an important need and is very much in phase with current anthropological thinking. . . . This anthology will be particularly rewarding to readers interested in traditional indigenous communities and the insight gleaned from a detailed consideration of cloth and clothing." --American Anthropologist"The essays in this book are informative and a pleasure to read. Collectively they make the reader want to journey to Mesoamerica and the Andes to view in person the cloth and clothing of the indigenous communities." --Latin American Anthropology ReviewIn this volume, anthropologists, art historians, fiber artists, and technologists come together to explore the meanings, uses, and fabrication of textiles in Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia from Precolumbian times to the present. Originally published in 1991 by Garland Publishing, the book grew out of a 1987 symposium held in conjunction with the exhibit "Costume as Communication: Ethnographic Costumes and Textiles from Middle America and the Central Andes of South America" at the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University. ... Read more

Product Description
The Zapotec people of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec insouthern Mexico have defied stereotypes of poor, downtrodden, andexploited Mexican Indians by creating one of the most dynamicindigenous political and cultural movements in Latin America.

Intensely proud of their history and culture, the Isthmus Zapotecscontrol many local political offices, run much of the local commerce,and enjoy a lively cultural movement. To a larger degree than iscommon in Mexico, Zapotec women enjoy equality with men andhomosexuality is tolerated and accepted. The Zapotecs have formed aradical indigenous political movement--Coalicion Obrera CampesinaEstudiantil del Istmo (COCEI)--whose victory in the 1981 municipalelections in Juchitan, Oaxaca, over the seemingly invincibleRevolutionalry Institutional Party (PRI) marked the first time theleftist opposition had controlled a Mexican city since the Revolution.

This book is about their history--both past and present--and how it isremembered, drawn upon, and created by contemporary Zapotecintellectuals and politicians and used as a weapon to organize theZapotec people and to wrest control of their community from PRI. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Political tenacity of an indigenous population
Book Review:ZAPOTECRENAISSANCE,
By Howard Campbell
University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, NM 1994

The Isthmus of Tehuantepec often appears out of sync with the rest of Mexico.Its fiercely independent nature, the place of women, its own attitudes of gender and sexuality with an intense distrust of outsiders, set it apart from the rest of the country.For this reason, historians and anthropologists have swarmed to that area.In the process, a plethora of books and articles have been written about the Isthmus, especially the City of Juchitán.

For the casual reader and would-be tourist, finding the right book about the Isthmus presents a dilemma.The vast majority of resources about the area are historical or anthropological treatises.Most of these are written in a highly academic style.This technical writing doesn't fail to attract other historians and anthropologists.But it may turn off the average reader.Wading through the sometimes highly technical, academic writing can be a chore.Therefore, non-anthropologists and non-historians may be unlikely to read such books.

Howard Campbell's "Zapotec Renaissance" is a welcome relief from the above.While rich in annotations with a long bibliography, this textbook can hold the interest of the casual reader.Although it too has a strong academic flavor, "ZapotecRenaissance" is more likely to hold one's attention for being more reader friendly than most.

The author is fascinated with COCEI, a purely local Socialist movement of the late 20th century.Against all odds, COCEI (Worker, Farmer, Student Coalition of the Isthmus), came to power in the City of Juchitán in 1981.This Isthmus city then became the first jurisdiction in all of Mexico with a leftist government since the Revolution (1910-1921).

Campbell traces the Zapotecs back to the earliest known migrations of these people in the 14th century.He relates well how historical events of long ago affect and even lead up to the eventual emergence of COCEI as a political force.He maintains that "COCEI's ethnic politics is . . . the effort of marginal groups within Juchitán to wrest power from local elites through claims to ethnic authenticity.COCEI's politicized cultural revival . . . is a rethinking of the ethnic past and a creation of new cultural forms and meanings in the present situation of conflict and change."(Page xix)Campbell goes into much detail over "the ethnic past."This includes a retelling of the conquest in the Isthmus, the savage brutality of the Spaniards' rule, the war for independence, the French intervention, the revolution, and 20th century politics.The author singles out for special treatment a number of individuals who emerged as leaders via their personification of Zapotec values. The work climaxes with the coming to power of the COCEI in Juchitán following bitter struggles to overcome the long-time ruling party that held Mexico in its grip since 1929.But the story doesn't end here, as COCEI had to struggle mightily just to stay in power, not to mention its bringing about a host of needed reforms.

Zapotec Renaissance is a masterful tale of the prodigious tenacity of an indigenous populous coming to power following centuries of unbridled exploitation.

Bruce Stores has lived in Mexico since 1995, currently residing in the city of Oaxaca.He is author of the historical fiction book, "THE ISTHMUS: Stories from Mexico's Past, 1495 to 1995", iUniverse 2009.
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Product Description
David Yetman’s first foray into Mexico occurred in 1961, where he developed a lifelong fascination of and appreciation for the countryside and the people who lived in it. In southern Sonora, the author explored the environs surrounding the town of Alamos, located in a tropical deciduous forest. Thirty years after that first journey, and after the author’s continued explorations of Mexico, Yetman launched a mini-expedition of sorts back to Alamos, searching for the Guarijíos, a reclusive people in a reclusive land, thought to be extinct until 1930.

Yetman takes the reader on an engaging journey into Guarijío territory, incorporating interviews and his own observations into the story he unveils about their history, their struggle for land during the latter decades of the twentieth century, and the ways in which they live. A strong undercurrent of natural history infuses the writing as the author skillfully weaves his own interest in ethnobotany into the shared interests of his hosts, developing a picture of their lifeways through their uses of plants that might otherwise go unnoticed and also through the natural environment in which they have survived for generations. The Guarijíos of the Sierra Madre is an enduring work that seeks to understand human relationships to land and to larger dominant societies, that are examined through the eyes of a people who have maintained their cultural identity in the face of immense change. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Aztec Pantheon Explained
If you're into pre-Columbian and Mexican history this is an excellent choice to add to your collection. Written by Alfonso Caso, who directed the findings at Monte Alban and was the former director of archeology in theNational Museum of Mexico, the man knows his history. The Aztecs and alltheir rituals , including the Gods and calendar are explained in easy toread language. The text is not overburdensome with highly specialiazedjargon but is eloquent and to the point. This book is an easy read. Theillustrations are worth the price of the book alone. They are by MiguelCovarrubias, one of Mexico's finest illustrators at the time, and he does afantastic job depicting the colorful Aztec world. An essential book foranyone intersted in exploring the Aztecs. ... Read more

Product Description

Pre-Hispanic notions of heat and cold continue to shape native Mexican ideas about health and illness in humans and food plants.In The Hot and the Cold, Jacques Chevalier and Andrés Sánchez Bain examine indigenous worldview and myth, and challenge the prevailing notion that hot-cold reasoning in Latin America is a product of the Hippocratic humoral doctrine brought by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century.

Based on extensive field work in southern Veracruz, this innovative study details folk tales and stories of illness from indigenous people, and provides explanations that emphasize the close connections between healing practices, milpa cultivation, and corn mythology.These close connections reveal that human health and the life cycle of the corn plant are governed by the same principles founded on native concepts of the hot and the cold.Notions of what is frío and what is caliente pervade the ways in which the Nahuas and Zoque-Popolucas of the Sierra de Santa Marta think about their relationship with the land and all entities that surround them, including fellow humans, plants, animals, and spirits.By revealing the connections between ethnomedicine, agriculture, and mythology, Chevalier and Sánchez help clarify puzzling aspects of Mesoamerican religion and symbolic thought, and lead the way towards better understanding of indigenous worldview in the modern world.

Customer Reviews (2)

explanation for many practices
This book, for the first 6 chapters, is an excellent source of information on Popoluca and southern Veracruz Nahuatl speakers--linguistics, native medicine and health, and beliefs.The hot-cold system is clearly distinguished by the authors from the European humoral system. Even without the anti-humoral framework for the book, the ethnographic information is quite valuable. In these native beliefs are the explanation for numerous cultural practices: 1) why menstruating/pregnant/port-partem women go into seclusion, 2) why they are dangerous to (new)crops, why a mourning period, 3)why abstinence from sex for ritual/ball/hunting preparation, 4) why sweat baths for birth and for healing, 5) why use of virgins and young boys in rituals and 6)why there are prohibitions on the use of names of the dead.
The end of the book--a detailed analysis of the Homshuk story--I found to be laborious, and a bad ending to what had been an excellent read.
I found it interesting that no mention was made of Jill Furst's very similar book (The Natural History of the Soul in Ancient Mexico)which is much better suited for undergraduate students to read.I have used that book several times and augment it with material from The Hot and the Cold.The Natural History of the Soul in Ancient Mexico

excellent source of material on humeral medicine in Mexico
This book had my attention from the first pages in the introduction.Chevalier and Sanchez-Bain did an excellent job discussing and deciphering the ancient humeral medicine beliefs connected with food and people in ancient Mexican belief--specifically the Nahuas.Corn and other foods take on a whole new meaning in this account.We learn what is considered hot and cold (according to temperature) and how some foods are beneficial to our bodies and generate heat or cold, while others generate excessive amounts of either temperature and can actually damage our own levels of warmth of coolness when consumed.The book covers everything from cultivation and the important processes that must be carried out in insuring that the farmer raises a good crop, to the use of food as medicine in ritual, to the history of creation according to Popoluca belief.Check out this book!Not only is it well-written but very engaging! ... Read more

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This study reopens the debate about the size of Mexico's native population before the Spanish conquest and the scale and rate of its decline thereafter. ... Read more

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Product Description
This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Spanish Publications, Inc. on September 18, 1997. The length of the article is 491 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: ¿Sueños gitanos? (el diálogo y el movimiento armado en México para los derechos de los indígenas mexicanos)(TT: Gypsy dreams?) (TA: the dialogue and the armed movement in Mexico for the rights of the Mexican indigenous people)
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 18, 1997
Publisher: Spanish Publications, Inc.
Volume: v4Issue: n239Page: p6(1)

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This digital document is an article from Proceso, published by CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V. on February 16, 1997. The length of the article is 1167 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: El verdadero redentor. (Ernesto Zedillo, presidente de México y su política hacia los indígenas)(TT: The true redeemer) (TA: Ernesto Zedillo, president of Mexico and his policy toward indigenous people)
Author: Tomás Gerardo Allaz
Publication: Proceso (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 16, 1997
Publisher: CISA Comunicacion e Informacion, S.A. de C.V.
Issue: n1059Page: p46(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale ... Read more