In Watching Lacandon Maya Lives, the author follows three generations of one Lacandon Maya family. Readers track the subjects' lives as they shift through events such as marriage, parenthood, and religious conversion, all set against a backdrop of increased tourism, road construction, and the murders of two people in the community. This book encompasses both ethnography and a critique of ethnographic writing. At one level, the book is about social, agricultural, technological, and religious changes that have occurred in a Lacandon Maya community in Mexico. At a second level, the book is a critique of those who invented a Utopian picture of a "traditional" Lacandon past that never really existed. For cultural anthropologists, or anyone interested in learning more about this Mayan culture.
R. Jon McGee is currently Professor of Anthropology at Texas State University, where he has taught since 1985. His research has focused generally on anthropological theory, field research methods, and the anthropology of culture and religion. More specifically, he has conducted extensive studies on Maya religion, language, and culture. He leads an annual study abroad program in Canterbury, England. Among the many books he's written or edited are Watching Lacandon Maya Lives (2001) and Life, Ritual and Religion Among the Lacandon Maya (1989). With Richard Warms and James Garber, he authored Sacred Realms: Readings in the Anthropology of Religion, Second Edition (2008) and, with Warms, coauthored Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History, Fifth Edition (2011).
Introduction Chapter One: The Myth of Lacandon Origins. Romantic ImagesArchaeological, Linguistic, and Historical Sources. Sixteenth-Seventeenth Centuries: Chol-LacandonEighteenth Century: Yucatec LacandonLacandon in the Nineteenth Century Lacandon in the Twentieth Century Lacandon 1980-2015 Chapter Two: Reconstructing the Historical Lacandon: Who Is Lacandon? What Does Traditional Lacandon Mean? Lacandon Life from 1790-1903 Men and Women's Work Religion Marriage and Household Life Selling Lacandon Religion Two Case Studies and Concluding Thoughts So, How Can I Write About "the Lacandon"?Chapter 3: Watching Life in a Lacandon Community An Overview of Women, Men, and Work. Women's Work Men's Work Family Examples Chan K?in Viejo and his Household Koh III and Koh IV, Summer1985 Child Birth, and Infant Mortality The Death of Nuk Chapter 4: 1970-2020, Five Decades of Change Government, Oil and Immigration, an Overview Family Relations, Work, and Historic Lacandon Horticulture Roads, Bows and Arrows, and Tourism Adapting Agricultural to Tourism: Comparing Two Communities Men, tourism, and Agriculture in Naha. Agriculture and Tourism in Lacanha. Women, Tourism, and Work "Traditional" women Women in households oriented to tourism Widows Chapter 5: Finding an Income in the Lacandon Jungle Providing Food and Lodging for Visitors Household-Level Entrepreneurial Activities Archaeology in Mensabak Working for CONANP Four Families in Mensabak Economic and Cultural Changes Shifting to a Money-Based Economy and Culture Change Changing diet and health Changing household-based reciprocity Changing status Changing household demographics Growing Up in a Changing World: The Cases of K?in and Chan K?in Quinto Chapter 6: Decline of Non-Christian Religion Cosmology Ritual Places: Classic Period Ruins Caves and Rock Shelters God Houses Ritual Implements Types of Offerings Edible Offerings Ritual and Agriculture Healing and Ritual The End of the World Conclusions: The End of Non-Christian Religion Chapter 7: Changing Healing Practices Lacandon Categories of Sickness Curing Through Prayer Therapeutic Incantations Curing Strings Medicinal Plants Decline of Healing Rituals Chapter Eight: Forty Years Among the Lacandon: Some Lessons Learned What is Lacandon Culture? What People Say is Different from What They Do Marriage, Fatherhood, and McGee's Position in the Community The Fire: 6/9/99 Glossary References Cited
