Rooting in a Useless Land : Ancient Farmers, Celebrity Chefs, and Environmental Justice in Yucatan

In __Rooting in a Useless Land__, Chelsea Fisher examines the deep histories of environmental-justice conflicts in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. She draws on her innovative archaeological research in Yaxunah, an Indigenous Maya farming community dealing with land dispossession, but with a surprising twist: Yaxunah happens to be entangled with prestigious sustainable-development projects initiated by some of the most famous chefs in the world. Fisher contends that these sustainable-development initiatives inadvertently bolster the useless-land narrative—a colonial belief that Maya forests are empty wastelands—which has been driving Indigenous land dispossession and environmental injustice for centuries. __Rooting in a Useless Land__ explores how archaeology, practiced within communities, can restore history and strengthen relationships built on contested ground. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Rooting in a Useless Land 1. The Celebrity Chef Lands in Yaxunah 2. Murderer of the Woodland 3. Seeds of Permanence 4. Taproot to Fibrous Root 5. Lines in the Forest 6. The Ghost of Chaipa Chi Appendix A. Time Line of Key Events in the History of the Yaxunah Ejido Appendix B. Comparison of Homesites Documented at Tzacauil Notes Bibliography Index