Histories and Stories From Chiapas : Border Identities in Southern Mexico

"As a multi-layered history of power and identity in Chiapas, this study is without parallel. It offers a richly textured and well-documented history of how the Mam of Chiapas have constructed their own conceptions of identity and citizenship." --Virginia Garrard-Burnett, author of Protestantism in Guatemala: Living in the New Jerusalem The 1994 Zapatista uprising of Chiapas's Maya peoples against the Mexican government shattered the state myth that indigenous groups have been successfully assimilated into the nation. In this wide-ranging study of identity formation in Chiapas, A?da Hern?ndez delves into the experience of a Maya group, the Mam, to analyze how Chiapas's indigenous peoples have in fact rejected, accepted, or negotiated the official discourse on "being Mexican" and participating in the construction of a Mexican national identity. Hern?ndez traces the complex relations between the Mam and the national government from 1934 to the Zapatista rebellion. She investigates the many policies and modernization projects through which the state has attempted to impose a Mexican identity on the Mam and shows how this Maya group has resisted or accommodated these efforts. In particular, she explores how changing religious affiliation, women's and ecological movements, economic globalization, state policies, and the Zapatista movement have all given rise to various ways of "being Mam" and considers what these indigenous identities may mean for the future of the Mexican nation. The Spanish version of this book won the 1997 Fray Bernardino de Sahag?n national prize for the best social anthropology research in Mexico. Machine Generated Contents Note: Foreword By Renato Rosaldo Ix -- Preface Xiii -- Acknowledgments Xvii -- Introduction I -- First Border Crossing. -- Don Roberto: Working For Change In The Sierra 12 -- 1. The Postrevolutionary National Project -- And The Mexicanization Of The Mam People 18 -- Forced Integration Into The Nation 21 Mam Women And The Myth Of -- Mestizaje 26 Federal And Local Indigenismos 30 From The Finca -- To The Ejido: Economic Integration 33 Presbyterianism And A New Mam -- Identity 42 -- 2. The Modernizing Project: -- Between The Museum And The Diaspora 49 -- The Stabilizing Development 51 Anthropologists In The Sierra: The -- Mam People As Health Problem And As National Heritage 54 Diaspora -- To The Rain Forest '72 -- Second Border Crossing. Pedro: -- Searching For Paradise On Earth 76 -- 3. Mam Jehovah's Witnesses: -- New Religious Identities And Rejection Of The Nation 81 -- In Search Of Paradise 83 Everyday Life At Las Ceibas 87 The --^ Strength Of Utopia And Antinational Discourse 90 Diferent Contexts, -- Different Identities 95 -- 4. From Mestizo Mexico To Multicultural Mexico: -- Indigenismo In The Sierra Madre 100 -- Two Struggling Perspectives 102 From San Cristobal To -- Pdtzcuaro 105 Participative Indigenismo 110 The Cci -- Mam-mochd-cakchiquel 114 -- Third Border Crossing. Don Eugenio: Rescuing Mam Culture 122 -- 5. Mam Dance Groups: -- New Cultural Identities And The Performance Of The Past 129 -- The Mam Supreme Council 130 Mam Dances 133 Memory And -- Performance Ofeveryday Life 137 Dispute In The Construction Of Mam -- Traditions 151 -- Fourth Border Crossing. Doha Luz: Organizing For Women's Rights 156 -- 6. Organic Growers: -- Agro-ecological Catholicism And The Invention Of Traditions 161 -- The Forania De La Sierra: The New Social Ministry 163 Globalization -- And Organicmarkets: Mam Identity And Agro-ecological Discourses 169 -- New Cultural Discourses And The Reinvention Of Mam Utopia 174 --^ Collective Reflection And New Spaces Of Organization 178 Mam Women -- And Gender Demands 181 -- From Pronasol To The Zapatista Uprising 187 -- Salinismo: The Administration's Two-faced Policy 188 Pronasol -- Indigenismo 194 The Impact Of The Zapatista Rebellion On The Life Of -- Mam Peasants 203 Claiming The Power To Name: The Struggle For -- Autonomy 214 The Voices Of Women 219 Again A Two-faced -- Policy: Economicaid And Paramilitarization 224 -- Conclusion 233 -- Notes 243 -- Glossary 257 -- Bibliography 261 -- Index 279. By R. Aída Hernández Castillo ; Translated By Martha Pou ; Foreword By Renato Rosaldo. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [261]-278) And Index. The 1994 Zapatista uprising of Chiapas' Maya peoples against the Mexican government shattered the state myth that indigenous groups have been successfully assimilated into the nation. In this wide-ranging study of identity formation in Chiapas, Aiacute;da Hernaacute;ndez delves into the experience of a Maya group, the Mam, to analyze how Chiapas' indigenous peoples have in fact rejected, accepted, or negotiated the official discourse on "being Mexican" and participating in the construction of a Mexican national identity. Hernaacute;ndez traces the complex relations between the Mam and the national government from 1934 to the Zapatista rebellion. She investigates the many policies and modernization projects through which the state has attempted to impose a Mexican identity on the Mam and shows how this Maya group has resisted or accommodated these efforts. In particular, she explores how changing religious affiliation, women's and ecological movements, economic globalization, state policies, and the Zapatista movement have all given rise to various ways of "being Mam" and considers what these indigenous identities may mean for the future of the Mexican nation. The Spanish version of this book won the 1997 Fray Bernardino de Sahaguacute;n national prize for the best social anthropology research in Mexico The 1994 Zapatista uprising of Chiapas' Maya peoples against the Mexican government shattered the state myth that indigenous groups have been successfully assimilated into the nation. In this wide-ranging study of identity formation in Chiapas, Aída Hernández delves into the experience of a Maya group, the Mam, to analyze how Chiapas' indigenous peoples have in fact rejected, accepted, or negotiated the official discourse on "being Mexican" and participating in the construction of a Mexican national identity. Hernández traces the complex relations between the Mam and the national government from 1934 to the Zapatista rebellion. She investigates the many policies and modernization projects through which the state has attempted to impose a Mexican identity on the Mam and shows how this Maya group has resisted or accommodated these efforts. In particular, she explores how changing religious affiliation, women's and ecological movements, economic globalization, state policies, and the Zapatista movement have all given rise to various ways of "being Mam" and considers what these indigenous identities may mean for the future of the Mexican nation. The Spanish version of this book won the 1997 Fray Bernardino de Sahagún national prize for the best social anthropology research in Mexico