article

Death as a way of life: the increasing resort to homicide in a Maya Indian community

American anthropologist69 • Published In 1967 • Pages: 455-470

By: Nash, June C..

Abstract
In this article Nash reports on her study of 37 homicides between 1938 and 1965 in the town of 'Teklum,' a fictitious name given to the Tzeltal community where she lived in 1964 and 1965. The cases were analyzed on the basis of various components: who was killed, the context, the agency, and motivation. The increasing homicide rate reflected the change of social control systems in the community -- the conflicts arising from competition in new economic enterprises, the rising suspicion of curers' abuse of their supernatural power, and the loss of belief in the guardianship of the spiritual ancestors.
Subjects
Offenses against life
culture
Tzeltal
HRAF PubDate
1995
Region
Middle America and the Caribbean
Sub Region
Maya Area
Document Type
article
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Cheng-ruey Ma
Field Date
1964 and 1965
Coverage Date
not specified
Coverage Place
'Teklum' (probably Amatenango del Valle), Chiapas, Mexico
Notes
[by] June Caprice Nash
Bibliography: p. [470-A]
LCCN
17015424
LCSH
Tzeltal Indians