While the literature on slave flight in nineteenth-century North America has commonly focused on fugitive slaves escaping to the northern states and Canada through the “Underground Railroad”,... Show moreWhile the literature on slave flight in nineteenth-century North America has commonly focused on fugitive slaves escaping to the northern states and Canada through the “Underground Railroad”, Conditional Freedom aims to provide new insights into the evolving social and political geography of freedom and slavery in nineteenth-century North America, particularly by exploring the development of southern routes of escape from slavery in the US South and the experiences of self-emancipated slaves in the US-Mexican borderlands. First, Conditional Freedom provides a social history of enslaved freedom-seekers. Second, it also provides a political history of the contest between Mexican free soil and the spread of slavery west of the Mississippi river valley between 1803 and 1861. Its main question is: what was the nature of slave flight in the Mexican borderlands, and how and why did Mexico develop into a site of “conditional freedom” for slave refugees from the American South? In order to reconstruct the entangled stories of slave refugees and free soil in the US-Mexico borderlands, this study draws mostly upon municipal, county and state archives, military and judicial records, diplomatic and personal correspondence, newspaper articles, “runaway slave” advertisements, petitions, memoirs and travel accounts. Show less
A series of figurines, known in the archaeological literature as Mazapan-style, was recently discovered at the site of El Palacio, Michoacan, Mexico, in strata radiocarbon dated from the Early... Show moreA series of figurines, known in the archaeological literature as Mazapan-style, was recently discovered at the site of El Palacio, Michoacan, Mexico, in strata radiocarbon dated from the Early Postclassic (a.d. 900–1200/1250). Considered diagnostic markers for Early Postclassic cultural and economic dynamics, these artifacts raise questions regarding the role of this settlement at both regional and interregional scales prior to the rise of the Tarascan state. We study the specimens found at El Palacio through a thorough examination of the archaeological contexts, technological and iconographic characteristics, and compare them to cases fromthe literature. By demonstrating their local production and their association with other artifacts or iconographic traits characteristic of the Early “Postclassic international style,” we bring new elements to the definition of these artifacts and underline the capacity of local elites to connect culturally and economically with other regions ofMesoamerica. Show less
This current dissertation explores several ideas about the construction of the Nahua intellectual tradition in 19th century-Mexico. Initially, the argument of this dissertation focuses on... Show moreThis current dissertation explores several ideas about the construction of the Nahua intellectual tradition in 19th century-Mexico. Initially, the argument of this dissertation focuses on examining the intellectual tradition among Indigenous Peoples in Mesoamerica after the European invasion of the Americas. As a result of the Spanish colonization of Mesoamerica, Indigenous Peoples in the capital of New Spain continued developing their own intellectual tradition by following two possible paths. One group of indigenous intellectuals decided to continue with their intellectual production outside of the Spanish colonial institutions. A second group of indigenous intellectuals opted for continuing with their intellectual labors under the sponsorship of the colonial authorities. In this way the intellectual tradition of the Nahua people continued during the entire colonial period. However, during the first decades of the 19th century, with the issuing of the Constitution of Cadiz and the independence of New Spain, the indigenous intellectual phenomenon within the established institutions in Mexico City changed dramatically, but it did not cease. This dissertation explores the changes that Nahua intellectuals who worked within colonial institutions in Mexico City experienced during the first decades of independent government, and examines how they continued with their indigenous intellectual tradition. Show less
Indigenous peoples' rights have been on the international political agenda for over fifty years. Yet, very limited attention has been given to indigenous women. Among indigenous peoples, women are... Show moreIndigenous peoples' rights have been on the international political agenda for over fifty years. Yet, very limited attention has been given to indigenous women. Among indigenous peoples, women are one of the most vulnerable groups, because they are subject to multiple discrimination: for being a woman, indigenous, and often, because of the stigma of poverty. The absence of attention for women's issues is due to a lack of awareness and knowledge regarding the role women play in society and in the development of communities, and it illustrates the subordinated position women continue to have in society in general. This research wants to contribute to the visibility of indigenous women. Therefore, it provides an overview of some of the challenges indigenous women are still facing, focusing on the case of Mexico. It analyzes the position of indigenous women in Mexican society, to identify some of the fields in which indigenous women's rights are still not guaranteed and therefore require more action. Special attention is given to the position of indigenous women in Mexican health care, political participation, media, and education. Show less
El trabajo de Cecilia Noriega-Bozovich está vinculado de manera muy directa con la sociedad peruana, a la cual convierte al mismo tiempo en su tema principal. Esta mirada encaja en lo que pudiera... Show moreEl trabajo de Cecilia Noriega-Bozovich está vinculado de manera muy directa con la sociedad peruana, a la cual convierte al mismo tiempo en su tema principal. Esta mirada encaja en lo que pudiera ser una ‘escuela latinoamericana’, donde la producción artística va acompañada de un registro o comentario social o político a lo largo del siglo XX. De tal forma, en esta obra los fetiches del poder, en particular vistos desde una óptica mexicana, forman parte de una dinámica regional que adquiere expresiones similares. Existe una intimidad cultural compartida, una identidad que se nutre de la experiencia común del colonialismo español, la formación de nuevos estados nacionales inspirados por el imperialismo del siglo XIX, las revoluciones sociales, y hoy en día la transición a la “democracia” y la “modernidad” neoliberal. En esa línea, el análisis que aquí se presenta ensaya relaciones y paralelos entre ciertas creaciones de Noriega-Bozovich y referentes culturales de México, para de esa manera sugerir la productividad de miradas en paralelo sobre el arte surgido de un contexto latinoamericano compartido. Show less
Ceramic Technology and “Cultural Borders”. The Example of Ceramic Decoration Techniques of two Postclassic Sites from the Malpaís of Zacapu (Mexico): Palacio and Malpaís Prieto Technical behaviors... Show moreCeramic Technology and “Cultural Borders”. The Example of Ceramic Decoration Techniques of two Postclassic Sites from the Malpaís of Zacapu (Mexico): Palacio and Malpaís Prieto Technical behaviors within the ceramic operating sequences may reflect sociocultural identities. Investigation of techniques, gestures, and know-how helps us to estimate whether the changes observed from one period to the other are endogenous (cultural evolution of the local traditions) or related to population changes. At the Malpaís of Zacapu, we use Postclassic ceramics to assess the possible arrival of a group of migrants in the thirteenth century. We aim to understand whether there is technological continuity between the Palacio (AD 900‑1200) and the Milpillas (AD 1200‑1450) phases. This study focuses on one aspect of the operating sequence: the decoration. The technological analysis discussed here highlights differences in the ceramic production between these two phases. These data support information from ethnohistoric sources that a new group of people arrived in the region during the thirteenth century. Show less
The existence of communities and peoples develops over time, in a diachronic line of heritage and cultural memory as well as in a synchronous coexistence with the cosmos, marked by a cyclically... Show moreThe existence of communities and peoples develops over time, in a diachronic line of heritage and cultural memory as well as in a synchronous coexistence with the cosmos, marked by a cyclically returning rituals. Under the pressure of “clock time” (“time is money”) these organic “other times” of identity are eroding rapidly. In these respects, modernity has come to be characterised by a deep, dramatic and often violent conflict between traditional values of societies that have their own cultures and the processes of colonisation, urbanisation and and industrialisation, which usually presented as “progress”. This volume brings together complementary reflections of archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, sociologists and social activists on this issue. Central to their work is the perception and representation of time, its different symbolic aspects and its social impact. Espousing a comparatist methodology, the case studies focus on Mexico and Guatemala and on southern Italy. Show less
This thesis analyses the process in which Guatemalan migrants transit through Mexico towards the United States, emphasizing the role played by the financial, human and social capital, and taking... Show moreThis thesis analyses the process in which Guatemalan migrants transit through Mexico towards the United States, emphasizing the role played by the financial, human and social capital, and taking into account the differences in gender and ethnicity. The specific objectives are i) to examine the social demographic profiles and trends of the migrants; ii) to estimate their numeric dimension; iii) to explore the impact of the policy of migration control applied by the Mexican government; iv) to estimate the effect of the vulnerability and poverty levels with respect to the probability of overcoming the transit stage; v) to know who are more exposed to face risks and under what circumstances; vi) to investigate human rights violations and violence experienced by migrants; vii) to analyze the differences in the possession and use of the financial, human and social capital that depend on gender and ethnicity. A methodological triangulation was performed, using quantitative data from the microdata obtained in the Encuesta sobre Migración en Frontera Guatemala-México (EMIF Sur) and the American Community Survey (ACS), among others; as well as qualitative data from interviewed migrants who passed through Mexico. Show less
The dissertation reviews the problems inherent in the interpretation and protection of Mexico__s indigenous cultural heritage. In this context it pays special attention to (a) the relationships... Show moreThe dissertation reviews the problems inherent in the interpretation and protection of Mexico__s indigenous cultural heritage. In this context it pays special attention to (a) the relationships between ceremonial architecture and the ritual landscape or sacred space in the Mesoamerican worldview, (b) the colonial transformation of these relationships and symbolic meanings, and (c) the possibilities for adequate restoration in a way that may also lead to more local historical consciousness and economic benefit. The dissertation focuses on the cultural region of Oaxaca in Southern Mexico and discusses (1) the restoration of a chapel in the Zapotec town Macuilxochitl, (2) the meanings and associations of basic geometric forms and proportions in Mesoamerican architecture and art, (3) the Lienzo of Otla, an early-colonial painting in native style that recently has come to light, and (4) a set of present-day construction and developmental activities, known as the Project: Cultura Mixteca, ruta que siguieron los dominicos. Show less
interventions in village life. Doing all this work for the community has also schooled them in the use and meaning of Sa‟vi. For those who do not know how to read and write, the process starts with... Show moreinterventions in village life. Doing all this work for the community has also schooled them in the use and meaning of Sa‟vi. For those who do not know how to read and write, the process starts with the office of Mayor de Vara del Ayuntamiento. For those who do, with that of Síndico Municipal. In these offices they start speaking the Sa’vi, when delivering messages to the citizens. If one does not have the necessary experience or knowledge of this special way of oral expression, one asks the immediate superior in the same line of duty to help out and teach it. If that is not sufficient, one goes to a trusted experienced and respected elder in the community to learn from him the usages, times and places of this discourse. The apprenticeship commences with short messages, e.g. thanks for an invitation.The central question of this study is: How are the ideas and values of a culture, specifically of the culture of Ñuu Savi (the Mixtec people in Southern Mexico), transmitted and perpetuated? This prompts exploration of a specific genre of oral literature, the Sa’vi or “ceremonial discourse”, which plays a prominent part in the construction of community and cultural memory. Although this genre is obviously important for many studies of Mesoamerica, it has so far received little attention. Consequently our first task was an adequate representative documentation, both of the texts and of their contexts, with their linguistic and anthropological dimensions. With the help of many local people a corpus of discourses (“parangones”) from Yutsa To‟on (Apoala), situated in the Mixtec Highlands in the Mexican State of Oaxaca, was taped, transcribed, translated and commented upon. An important aspect of this research is the historical dimension, because from the same region a number of precolonial pictorial manuscripts has been preserved, in which Yutsa To‟on also appears prominently. As these manuscripts must also have functioned as a basis for public discourses and performances within a ceremonial context, the question arises whether there is a relation and continuity between the pictographic scenes in those codices and the Sa’vi of today, in composition, style, contents and social function. The ceremonial language is employed in solemn acts of family or community life – such as baptism, compadrazgo, asking the hand of a woman, traditional weddings, the receiving and honouring of municipal authorities, thanksgiving for the harvest to Mother Earth, healing ceremonies, mayordomías etc. In all of these events the discourse invites reflection through counselling and exhorting respect and mutual support among the individuals, searching for solutions to problems by making explicit or implicit references to the ancestors and their norms of conduct and living together. The Sa’vi is also the language in which to address the gods, and to refer to different sacred symbols, such as the Tukukua, Itakutsa, staff of office, mat and throne (el Yuhuitayu analyzed by Kevin Terraciano and Angeles Romero), the Rosary, and the authorities themselves (Tade’e), as those who carry the responsibility for the well-being of the people. Thus the discourses fulfill several objectives at the same time, expressing normative and explicatory ideas about nature, religion, history, politics, morality etc., and exposing the knowledge of earlier generations and different segments of society. The Sa’vi is interactive: on the one hand it may be an opening discourse or a responding one , on the other there is always the relation between the canonical message and the specific moment in which it is pronounced (cf. RAPPAPORT 1999). Susana Cumming y Tsuyoshi Ono stress that discourse and context generate and limit each other (van DIJK 2001:174). As a specialized speech genre Sa’vi is the reserved domain and competence of a the group of elders known as Tanisa’nu, who have accumulated social prestige and moral authority because of their community services, i.e. by passing through the hierarchy of social, communitarian municipal and ecclesiastic offices (cargos), which has provided them with a detailed knowledge of customs and prestige because of their positiveFrom the familial and personal environment we move on to the social and political life of the town, focusing on the discourses pronounced at the occasion of the change of municipal authorities and discussing the meaning of the symbols used and referred to in this context, e.g. the bush of flowers (Chapter V). We pay attention to the complex social organisation, which is connected to the worldview, rooted in the precolonial period but remodelled later under Catholic influence. This aspect of syncretism is even more present in the religious festivities with their corresponding mayordomías (Chapter VI). All these activities imply also the participation of family members, compadres, authorities, neighbours and other helpers, which has to be solicited and for which thanks is given for by a Tanisa’nu with adequuate phrases. Obviously the Sa’vi is also used during ceremonies that clearly have a precolonial background, such as the celebration of the Days of the Dead. The abovementioned social contexts, with their corresponding symbolisms, are, indeed, also present in the Mixtec codices. With a deeper understanding of the form, function and contents, we may achieve a more adequate reading of the pictorial scenes and propose new interpretations of specific elements. In Chapter VII the following important examples are analysed: - the staff of office as symbol of power, - the throne and the mat as signs of the unity of the community and civil authority recognising the seated couple as Tade’e, “father and mother of the people”, - the flint knife as symbol of justice, - the processions of protagonists as an expression of social organisation, comparable with the contemporary authorities lined up with their staffs, - the symbolism of the four directions that is manifest in the so-called Venus Staff, corresponding to the contemporary wooden frame known as Tukukua, - the bush of flowers (Itakutsa) as part of the public recognition of power, - the Sacred Bundle as a container of abstract force and luck, - elements of the sacred landscape of Apoala itself, which appear in the codices, - the symbolic meaning and ritual use of maize, epitome of the Mesoamerican cosmos. Each of the chapters of this dissertation moves us to reflect on the use of the language: this analysis makes us understand its grammatical richness, but the focus on ceremonial speech is especially significant as it makes us aware of the persistence and continued transmission of cultural memory and philosophy among our peoples. Observing that this is the very language which our ancestors used to express their thoughts in the different codices they painted before the Spanish conquest, we not only discover that through the surviving manifestations of this special language, Sa’vi, we understand better several important passages of those ancient books, but also the continuity of that ancient thought and worldview in our present-day perspectives and identity. On the other hand, this language is dwindling: the new generations generally do not know and do not want to speak the common Mixtec language, much less the Sa’vi. Among the causes we may point to poverty (exploitation), discrimination, migration, alienating education with its modernisation „Western‟ style, the mass media, acculturation to „Western‟ thought, the lack of transmission and teaching of our own language and otherfactors that together provoke the displacement and extermination of the Mesoamerican languages, and in fact endanger the languages of all indigenous peoples of the planet. In this context we may understand the lack of consciousness and even apathy among the cultural descendants, which contributes to the further erosion of forms of knowledge, meanings, historical and philosophical values still existent in indigenous communities. To confront this problem, the challenge is that those of us who are conscious of our culture take an active approach, creating more reflection and understanding of this matter and of our cultural heritage. It is with that aim in mind that this dissertation was written. Show less
"Grounding the Past" addresses archaeological field praxis and its role in the political present of Santiago Tilantongo and Santiago Apoala, two communities in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca,... Show more"Grounding the Past" addresses archaeological field praxis and its role in the political present of Santiago Tilantongo and Santiago Apoala, two communities in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Efforts to involve local stakeholder communities in archaeology have become an important issue worldwide. In this study, Alexander Geurds argues that projects of participatory archaeology, many of which go under the heading of ‘community archaeology’, cannot dispense with reflexive analysis of field praxis, if they are to avoid idealized and thus untenable narratives of harmonious local collaboration. Past and present archaeological praxis often carries negative connotations in the Mixteca Alta, because archaeological projects have failed to recognize conflicting interests and issues of representation of local and non-local parties. Geurds reviews the constitutive elements of their partnerships, such as official meetings, public presentations and conferences, where the involved local and non-local parties produce conflicting agendas by creating and transforming power relations. He identifies and analyzes the attendant influences on participatory elements through the application of qualitative techniques derived from ethnography and social geography. The first part of the book follows an approach consistent with consistent with the regional archaeological tradition focused on materialist analysis of surface artefacts. Information derived from surface surveying and mapping receives special emphasis. The second part explores alternative means for embedding the production of historical knowledge into local perceptions of landscape and monuments. For this purpose, oral history and in particular knowledge of local placenames is focused on. Show less
Conversion to Islam has been taking place in the conflict-ridden Mexican state of Chiapas for about ten years. Islam was introduced to the local indigenous population by members of the... Show moreConversion to Islam has been taking place in the conflict-ridden Mexican state of Chiapas for about ten years. Islam was introduced to the local indigenous population by members of the transnational Murabitun movement who founded a commune in the town of San Cristóbal de las Casas, governed by its own rules and protected strictly against outsiders. Show less
