Pierre Beaucage
The McGILL DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY 鈥� VISITING SPEAKERS SERIES听
(with the Centre for Indigenous Conservation and Development Alternatives [CICADA] and the Centre for Society, Technology and Development [STANDD])听
听
present听
听
PIERRE BEAUCAGE听
Professeur 茅m茅rite, D茅partement d'anthropologie, Universit茅 de Montr茅al听
听
"The Opossum and the Coyote, Thirty Years Later: From farmers鈥� co-op to territorial defence in the northeastern Sierra de Puebla (Mexico)"听
听
Friday, January 15, 12:30-2:00pm, Peterson Hall, Room 116, 3460 rue McTavish听
听
Abstract:听
After conducting studies in social anthropology among the (Maseual) Nahuat and Totonac of Eastern Mexico in the early seventies, from the eighties on, I tried to understand the peasant-indigenous movement which had sprung up in the area in the mid-seventies. For me, it was the start of a long-term term, in-depth study in Cuetzalan, an important Maseual-speaking municipality. I studied, and to some extent participated with, the main organization (Tosepan Titataniske) as it evolved from an economic association to an environmental-political-cultural one, as well as a local cultural group, the Taller de Tradici贸n Oral Totamachilis. In recent years, with the arrival of mining companies in the Upper Sierra and hydroelectric projects in the lower area, the movement broadened, embracing both upland and lowland indigenous farmers, Maseual as well as Totonac. Their attitude towards the State and their flexible strategy of alliances have been crucial all along听
