In this Book

buy this book Buy This Book in Print
summary
Once isolated from the modern world in the heights of the Andean mountains, the indigenous communities of Ecuador now send migrants to New York City as readily as they celebrate festivals whose roots reach back to the pre-Columbian past. Fascinated by this blending of old and new and eager to make a record of traditional customs and rituals before they disappear entirely, photographer-journalist Judy Blankenship spent several years in Cañar, Ecuador, photographing the local people in their daily lives and conducting photography workshops to enable them to preserve their own visions of their culture. In this engaging book, Blankenship combines her sensitively observed photographs with an inviting text to tell the story of the most recent year she and her husband Michael spent living and working among the people of Cañar. Very much a personal account of a community undergoing change, Cañar documents such activities as plantings and harvests, religious processions, a traditional wedding, healing ceremonies, a death and funeral, and a home birth with a native midwife. Along the way, Blankenship describes how she and Michael went from being outsiders only warily accepted in the community to becoming neighbors and even godparents to some of the local children. She also explains how outside forces, from Ecuador’s failing economy to globalization, are disrupting the traditional lifeways of the Cañari as economic migration virtually empties highland communities of young people. Blankenship’s words and photographs create a moving, intimate portrait of a people trying to balance the demands of the twenty-first century with the traditions that have formed their identity for centuries.

Table of Contents

restricted access Download Full Book
  1. Cover
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Frontmatter
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Contents
  2. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. ix-xi
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Introduction
  2. pp. 1-6
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter One: Old Friends
  2. pp. 7-16
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Two: Killa Raymi: Festival of the Moon
  2. pp. 17-25
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Three: A House in Ca
  2. pp. 27-34
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Four: The Day of the Dead
  2. pp. 35-42
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Five: La Limpieza
  2. pp. 43-49
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Six: A Dinner to Honor the Dead, and Us
  2. pp. 51-60
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Seven: The Meeting
  2. pp. 61-67
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Eight: Greeting the New Year
  2. pp. 69-76
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Nine: Life in Ca
  2. pp. 77-84
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Ten: D
  2. pp. 85-90
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Eleven: This Camera Pleases Me
  2. pp. 91-99
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Twelve: The New Economy
  2. pp. 101-108
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Thirteen: A Death in Ca
  2. pp. 109-120
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Fourteen: Carnaval
  2. pp. 121-131
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Fifteen: Betrothal, Ca
  2. pp. 133-140
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Sixteen: Life in Ca
  2. pp. 141-150
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Seventeen: A Wedding
  2. pp. 151-160
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Eighteen: Mama Michi Goes to Canada
  2. pp. 161-167
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Nineteen: The Way Things Work
  2. pp. 169-174
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Twenty: A Birth in Ca
  2. pp. 175-185
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Twenty-One: We Walk the Inca Trail
  2. pp. 187-200
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
  1. Chapter Twenty-Two: Saying Good-bye
  2. pp. 201-209
  3. restricted access
    • Download PDF Download
Back To Top

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.