Book
In the eyes of the ancestors: belief and behavior in a Mayan community
Yale University Press • New Haven, Conn. • Published In 1970 • Pages:
By: Nash, June C..
Abstract
This book describes and analyzes changes taking place in the 1950s and 1960s in the Tzeltal community of Amatenango del Valle (Tzo?ontahal). These changes were in the economy, relationships to the Mexican government and the surrounding Ladino population, political leadership, and religion. Villagers were beginning to break the pattern of Ladino entrepreneurship through their own co-operatives (trucking co-op and co-op store). Political leadership, which had traditionally rested on the principle of age grading, had in some cases been given to young persons on grounds of their ability to write and speak Spanish. Literacy was increasing among the young people. Belief in the overall importance of the ancestors for the well-being of the community had given way to strong skepticism. As a result certain ceremonies had been dropped, and the healing practitioners were no longer considered as benevolent religious agents but were through-out suspected of witchcraft.
- HRAF PubDate
- 1995
- Region
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub Region
- Maya Area
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnographer
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Sigrid Khera ; John Beierle
- Field Date
- 1957, 1958, 1965, 1966, 1967 (18 months total)
- Coverage Date
- 1950s-1960s
- Coverage Place
- municipio of Amatenango del Valle, community of Tzo?ontahal, Chiapas, Mexico
- Notes
- [by] June Nash
- Bibliography: p. 355-362. Includes index
- LCCN
- 70081425
- LCSH
- Tzeltal Indians