Encyclopedia of World Cultures: Middle America and the Caribbean Volume 8

The ten volume Encyclopedia of World Culture lists and describes more than 1500 cultural groups across the globe. Based on the research of thousands of social scientists, it is the authoritative source for historical, social, political, economic, linguistic, religious, and other information on virtually all cultures existing in this century - from the Abelam, Acadians, Ashkenazim, and Azerbaijani to the Zapotec, Zoroastrians, Zulu, and Zuni. The Encyclopedia will be of immense value to students, teachers, researchers, and professionals in anthropology, history, international studies, geography, journalism, political science, education, social service, government, linguistics, museum studies, religious studies, and many related fields. Volume VIII covers the cultures of Central America and the Caribbean, including the Indian groups and the Island groups such as the Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Haitians. Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume VIII MIDDLE AmERiCA 1 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD CULTURES 2 Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume VIII MIDDLE AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 3 ISBN 0816118167 4 Contents 5 Project Staff, Editorial Board 6 Contributors 7 Preface 15 Introduction 20 Maps 34 Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume VIII MIDDLE AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 39 A 41 B 55 C 72 D 136 E 142 F 150 G 151 H 158 I 167 J 174 K 178 L 189 M 195 N 220 O 237 P 245 Q 262 R 265 S 267 T 278 U 337 V 337 W 338 X 343 Y 343 Z 349 Glossary 357 Filmography 363 Index to Filmography 364 Ethnonym Index 365 The Editors 368 Covers the cultures of Canada, Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat), and the United States. The cultures of North America now fall into three general categories: (1) Native Americans, the modern-day descendants of the original inhabitants of North America; (2) folk cultures, such as the Amish; and (3) ethnic groups composed of people who share a common sense of identity on the basis of national origin, race, or religion, such as African Americans A basic reference source to the cultures of the world. Provides descriptions of all the cultures of each region of the world or of a representative sample of cultures for regions where full coverage is impossible, as well as accurate descriptions of cultures of the past Including all the national cultures, such as Danes, Germans and English, as well as regional cultures such as Castilians, Sicilians and Bretons. This resource also covers linguistic minorities such as the Basques, the Sorbs and the various Gypsy populations This reference set lists and describes more than 1,500 global cultures. Based on research of social scientists, it is the source for historical, social, political, economic, linguistic, religious, and other information on virtually every existing culture Features coverage of every Native American culture that exists today in the United States and Canada. In addition, there is full coverage of such diverse groups as Cajuns, African Americans, Amish, Mormons and Latinos.