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Perceptions of the past within Tz'utujil ontologies and Yucatec hybridities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2016

Patricia A. McAnany  and
Linda A. Brown
Patricia A. McAnany
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, 301 Alumni Building CB 3115, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3115, USA (Email: mcanany@email.unc.edu)
Linda A. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, 2110 G Street, North West, Washington, D.C. 20052, USA
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Abstract

Post-colonial tensions remain fresh among Indigenous communities in Mexico and Guatemala. The survival of local Maya heritage narratives in the face of conflicting belief systems, the increased commodification of antiquities and the decline of traditional ways of life is increasingly difficult. At Santiago Atitlán in the Guatemalan highlands, and at Tahcabo in the state of Yucatán, Mexico, individuals have sought to preserve traditional narratives through ontological constructs and by enacting hybridity. These studies demonstrate how collaborative archaeology and ethnoarchaeology highlight the perspectives of Indigenous communities and contribute towards greater multi-vocality.

Keywords

southern Guatemalaeastern YucatánMayaIndigenous heritagecolonialismontologyhybridity
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 350 , April 2016 , pp. 487 - 503
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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