Book

The social and religious life of a Guatemalan village

American Anthropological Association • Menasha, Wisconsin • Published In 1949 • Pages: 150 , 6 photos on 3 end plates

By: Wagley, Charles.

Abstract

This monograph, a companion volume to 1: Wagley, is concerned with a description of the social and religious life of the Mam in Santiago Chimaltenango. The first two chapters stress the social life and include discussions of kinship and the life cycle. The local civil-religious hierarchy is fully dicussed and there is some information on how the local officials fit into the governmental organization of Guatemala (here the reader should beware of Wagley's application of the term mnicipio to Chimaltenango since the town had lost that status in 1935). Major chapters are also devoted to the religious belief system and to a description of the annual ceremonial cycle. The monograph pertains to 1937 when Wagley did his fieldwork. There are a few hints of possible changes in Chimaltenango between the date of field work and date of publication, but these are not dealt with in any systematic way. An appendix of field notes written in 1944 by Juan de Dios Rosales, a researcher with the Carnegie Institution, is included and gives glimpses of daily life as well as what it is like to do field work in this village. Finally, there is an extensive index that is keyed to materials in 1: Wagley in addition to this volume.

HRAF PubDate

2010

Region

Middle America and the Caribbean

Sub Region

Maya Area

Document Type

Book

Evaluation

Creator Type

Ethnologist

Document Rating

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Eleanor Swanson ; Martin Malone ; 1976

Field Date

April-October, 1937

Coverage Date

1900-1944

Coverage Place

Santiago Chimaltenango; Cuchumatanes Highlands; Huehuetenango Department, Guatemala

Notes

Charles W. Wagley

Includes bibliographical references (p. 138)

LCCN

50003246

LCSH

Mam Indians/Indians of Central America--Guatemala/Indians of Central America--Social life and customs/Indians of Central America--Religion/Santiago Chimaltenango (Guatemala)