Behind the Mexican Mountains

by Robert Zingg, Howard Campbell, John Allen Peterson, David Carmichael

Overview

In 1930, anthropologists Robert Zingg and Wendell Bennett spent nine months among the Tarahumara of Chihuahua, Mexico, one of the least acculturated indigenous societies in North America. Their fieldwork resulted in The Tarahumara: An Indian Tribe of Northern Mexico (1935), a classic ethnography still familiar to anthropologists. In addition to this formal work, Zingg also penned a personal, unvarnished travelogue of his sojourn among the Tarahumara. Unpublished in his lifetime, Behind the Mexican Mountains is now available in print for the first time.

This colorful account provides a compelling description of the landscape, people, traditions, language, and archaeology of the Tarahumara region. Abandoning the scientific detachment of the observer, Zingg frankly records his reactions to the people and their customs as he vividly evokes the daily experience of doing fieldwork. In the introduction, Howard Campbell examines Zingg's writing in light of current critiques of anthropology as literature. He makes a strong case that although earlier anthropological writing reveals unacceptable cultural biases, it also demonstrates the ongoing importance and vitality of field research.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292798090
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	12/01/2001
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	335
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

This volume was edited for publication by Howard Campbell, John Peterson, and David Carmichael, who are members of the anthropology faculty at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Table of Contents

• Introduction, by Howard Campbell
• Chapter 1. Railroads, Revolutions, and Schoolteachers
• Chapter 2. Mexicans, Mines, and American Capitalists
• Chapter 3. Personalities Emerge from Wooden Indians
• Chapter 4. Tarahumara Men and Women at Home and at Work
• Chapter 5. Tarahumara Children and Adults at Play
• Chapter 6. Curing, Races, and Death Customs among the Tarahumaras
• Chapter 7. More Drinking Bouts in the Celebrations of "Catholic" Christmas
• Chapter 8. Officials, Government, and Politics among the Tarahumaras
• Chapter 9. Liquor, Guns, and Religion in the Mexican Picture
• Chapter 10. The Mexican Powers: Religious, Civil, and Military
• Chapter 11. Ready-Made Archaeology, Trips, and Talks
• Chapter 12. Ancient and Modern Cave-Dwellers in the Gorges
• Chapter 13. The Catholic Mission
• Chapter 14. Spring, Holy Week, and Archaeology
• Chapter 15. Pagan Ceremonies and Peyote
• Chapter 16. The "Genuine" and "Spurious" Values of Tarahumara Culture
• Chapter 17. The Philistine Spirit of Tarahumara Culture
• Chapter 18. Adiós Tarahumaras and Campfire Stories of Villa
• Chapter 19. Miners, Mennonites, Militarism, and the Spirit of Mexico