Far from the mainstream of society, the pastoral community of Chillihuani in the high Peruvian Andes rears children who are well-adjusted, creative, and curious. They exhibit superior social and cognitive skills and maintain an attitude of respect for all life as they progress smoothly from childhood to adulthood without a troubled adolescence. What makes such child-rearing success even more remarkable is that "childhood" is not recognized as a distinct phase of life. Instead, children ass...

"In the remoteness of their mountain retreat, the herders of Chillihuani, Peru, recognize that respect for others is the central and most significant element of all thought and action," observes Inge Bolin. "Without respect, no society, no civilization, can flourish for long. Without respect, humanity is doomed and so is the earth, sustainer of all life."In this beautifully written ethnography, Bolin describes the rituals of respect that maintain harmonious relations among people, ...

Legacies of Space and Intangible Heritage is an interdisciplinary exploration of the intersections between the study and management of physical sites and the reproduction of intangible cultural legacies. The volume provides nine case studies that explore different ways in which place is mediated by social, political, and ecological processes that have deep historical roots and that continue to affect the politics of heritage management.Spaces of human habitation are both h...

This second edition of Catherine J. Allen's distinctive ethnography of the Quechua-speaking people of the Andes brings their story into the present. She has added an extensive afterword based on her visits to Sonqo in 1995 and 2000 and has updated and revised parts of the original text. The book focuses on the very real problem of cultural continuity in a changing world, and Allen finds that the hold life has in 2002 is not the same as it was in 1985.

This book presents a very short introduction to the Aztecs using interpretive tools from religious studies and anthropology to uncover the paradox of Aztec life; on the one hand a people highly skilled in sculpture, astronomy, city planning, poetry and philosophic rhetoric while on the other hand a people profoundly committed to cosmic regeneration through the thrust of the ceremonial knife and warfare.

Capoeira is simultaneously a dance, a fight, and a game. Created by the Africans brought to Brazil as slaves beginning in 1500, capoeira was forbidden by law but survived underground. When open practice was allowed in the 1930s it soon became very popular. Capoeira came to America around 1975, and has become widely recognized by dancers and martial artists. The author discusses capoeira's evolution from Brazilian street play into a way of life. The philosophy of capoeira, and the practical...

The Aztec Empire did not recoil from the face of an impending doom, they struggled faithfully. Destined to emerge from their humble beginnings, it grew into a highly-complex devoted civilization refusing to live at the mercy of more neighboring powerful rulers. Their powerful pocheca combed the valley for luxury items while markets dotted their lands.Inside you will find...✓ Introduction✓ How the Aztecs Are Portrayed and How Their History Survives

The Ayahuasca Reader: Encounters with the Amazon’s Sacred Vine, is a panorama of texts translated from nearly a dozen languages on the ayahuasca experience. These include indigenous mythic narratives, testimonies, and religious hymns, as well as stories related by Western travelers, scientists, and writers who have had contact with ayahuasca in different contexts.In addition to contributions from Wade Davis, Dennis McKenna, Gerardo Reichel-Dolmotoff and Richard Spruce, the...

Patrisia Gonzales addresses "Red Medicine" as a system of healing that includes birthing practices, dreaming, and purification rites to re-establish personal and social equilibrium. The book explores Indigenous medicine across North America, with a special emphasis on how Indigenous knowledge has endured and persisted among peoples with a legacy to Mexico. Gonzales combines her lived experience in Red Medicine as an herbalist and traditional birth attendant with in-depth research ...

Doña Julieta's mother Regina was said to be the coriander (traditional native doctor) who taught the legendary Maria Sabina of Huatla de Jiménez, Oaxaca, Mexico. Deeper into the mountains far from the the village of Huatla, lived Doña Julieta's family. It is into this hidden Mazatec world Camila Martinez is adopted. She shares stories of her traveling in and out of this magical realm over twenty years as an adventurous young woman studying ethnobotany and developing her apprenticeship with...

Agustin and Paloma, tireless promoters of applied and practical spiritual ecology decide to accept in their newly formed group "Don Uriel" a small group of enthusiastic but naive seekers of truth that asked to join them in their efforts towards the awakening of their sacred land. In order to provide them with an adequate instruction and with a much needed spiritual strengthening, they decided to put this young group into contact with some sacred places located on the northern riviera of La...

Drawing on anthropologist Ana Mariella Bacigalupo's fifteen years of field research, Shamans of the Foye Tree: Gender, Power, and Healing among Chilean Mapuche is the first study to follow shamans' gender identities and performance in a variety of ritual, social, sexual, and political contexts.To Mapuche shamans, or machi, the foye tree is of special importance, not only for its medicinal qualities but also because of its hermaphroditic flowers, which ref...