Huichol Territory And The Mexican Nation

The Huichol (Wixarika) people claim a vast expanse of Mexico’s western Sierra Madre and northern highlands as a territory called kiekari, which includes parts of the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Durango, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí. This territory forms the heart of their economic and spiritual lives. But indigenous land struggle is a central fact of Mexican history, and in this fascinating new work Paul Liffman expands our understanding of it. Drawing on contemporary anthropological theory, he explains how Huichols assert their sovereign rights to collectively own the 1,500 square miles they inhabit and to practice rituals across the 35,000 square miles where their access is challenged. Liffman places current access claims in historical perspective, tracing Huichol communities’ long-term efforts to redress the inequitable access to land and other resources that their neighbors and the state have imposed on them. Liffman writes that “the cultural grounds for territorial claims were what the people I wanted to study wanted me to work on.” Based on six years of collaboration with a land-rights organization, interviews, and participant observation in meetings, ceremonies, and extended stays on remote rancherías, Huichol Territory and the Mexican Nation analyzes the sites where people define Huichol territory. The book’s innovative structure echoes Huichols’ own approach to knowledge and examines the nation and state, not just the community. Liffman’s local, regional, and national perspective informs every chapter and expands the toolkit for researchers working with indigenous communities. By describing Huichols’ ceremonially based placemaking to build a theory of “historical territoriality,” he raises provocative questions about what “place” means for native peoples worldwide.

This single volume reference resource offers students, scholars, and general readers alike an in-depth background on Mexico, from the complexity of its pre-Columbian civilizations to its social and political development in the context of Western civilization. How did modern Mexico become a nation of multicultural diversity and rich indigenous traditions? What key roles do Mexico's non-Western, pre-Columbian indigenous heritage and subsequent development as a major center in the Spanish colonial empire play the country's identity today? How is Mexico today both Western and non-Western, part Native American and part European, simultaneously traditional and modern? Modern Mexico is a thematic encyclopedia that broadly covers the nation's history, both ancient and modern; its government, politics, and economics; as well as its culture, religion traditions, philosophy, arts, and social structures. Additional topics include industry, labor, social classes and ethnicity, women, education, language, food, leisure and sport, and popular culture. Sidebars, images, and a Day in the Life feature round out the coverage in this accessible, engaging volume. Readers will come to understand how Mexico and the Mexican people today are the result of the processes of transculturation, globalization, and civilizational contact.

"A beautiful ethnographic work. Schaefer deftly relates mythology, cosmology, family life, and economics within the spiritual practice and mechanics of weaving. There is clearly a preservation ethos underlying Schaefer's work, yet her depiction is not mournful, it is celebratory."--Ethnohistory

Intended to help students explore ethnic identity—one of the most important issues of the 21st century—this concise, one-stop reference presents rigorously researched content on the national groups and ethnicities of North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Combining up-to-date information with extensive historical and cultural background, the encyclopedia covers approximately 150 groups arranged alphabetically. Each engaging entry offers a short introduction detailing names, population estimates, language, and religion. This is followed by a history of the group through the turn of the 19th century, with background on societal organization and culture and expanded information on language and religious beliefs. The last section of each entry discusses the group in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, including information on its present situation. Readers will also learn about demographic trends and major population centers, parallels with other groups, typical ways of life, and relations with neighbors. Major events and notable challenges are documented, as are key figures who played a significant political or cultural role in the group's history. Each entry also provides a list for further reading and research.

The first substantial study of a Mexican Indian society that more than any other has preserved much of its ancient way of life and religion.