In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Preface I began research in Santiago Momostenango, Guatemala, in January 1974. From January through May, I conducted a survey of agricultural practices sponsored by the Agency for International Development and directed by Dr. Robert M. Carmack. During this time I developed basic fluency in Spanish, began to study the Quiché language, and observed Holy Week for the first time. In October 1975 I returned to conduct dissertation research, this time supported by Bob Carmack’s Quichean Civilization Project, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I returned to Albany to participate in a conference in late January 1976, and so missed the great earthquake of February. After conducting aid-related work in the Guatemalan highlands with Bob Carmack in March, I returned to Momos to complete my dissertation research, from April through August. During my research in Momostenango , I witnessed Holy Week in 1974 and 1976, Christmas in 1975 and Santiago’s fiesta in 1976. Without Bob Carmack’s inspiration and guidance there would have been no beginning to this project. My research agenda, an attempt to identify continuities with the Popol Vuh in Quichean expressive culture, especially in the cults of Jesucristo and the saints, was his suggestion. It is my fervent hope that this book will finally live up to his high expectations of me and of my project. I did not find it easy to work in Momostenango. I suffered from periodic bouts of profound depression and culture shock during the first few months of my work. During this difficult time Gustavo Lang, Santiago Guix, Valentı́n Cuyuch, and Andrés Xiloj showed kindness and hospitality to me as a student of their friend Roberto Carmack. Anacleto Rojas introduced me to the saints in their cold and quiet house, and also to his family. He allowed me the great privilege of shar- ing a visit with the souls in the cemetery, and showed me the mysteries and beauty of the calvario. He and his eldest son, Fermı́n, offered me friendship. Their invitations to the family homestead in Pa T’uraz strengthened and nourished my spirit when I most needed human contact . Julian Ak’abal, a very bright and cosmopolitan Momostecan with a profound interest in Maya traditions, had worked with a linguist during the previous year. He became my principal language teacher and part-time research assistant. His expertise and advice were invaluable. At length I found an identity as an ethnographer and was ready to pursue my work. Then I discovered that the leaders of the cofradı́as would not cooperate with my research project. My fantasy of being invited to observe and record esoteric ceremonies was simply not going to happen. Nevertheless , as my self-understanding and understanding of Momos improved , my work began to bear fruit. There were pasados who had devoted years of their lives to the cofradı́as and sacred dances who were willing to talk about their experiences and share their perceptions and understandings with me. There were also raconteurs willing to tell me their stories about the beginnings of everything, the founding of the town, and the origins of the saints. After a long internal debate I have finally convinced myself that my original plan of crediting the contributors to the present work as the authors of their texts is not appropriate. Given the reluctance of the leaders of the cofradı́as to help with my project, and the comments of at least one principal contributor that the neighbors were gossiping about him and perhaps working sorcery against him because he was helping me, it is clear that within the community there were, and presumably still are, strongly mixed feelings about sharing knowledge of the traditions with outsiders. I believe that those who worked with me behaved honorably by my standards and theirs. They were not compensated for the information they shared, which they often said they believed should be given to one who sought it. They gave me permission to tape-record and to publish their words, and I pledged to them that I would accurately report and preserve a record of what they told me. I did not, however, ask permission to credit them as the sources. At the time, my main reason for making the recordings was to compensate for my lack of fluency in Quiché; I did not realize that eventually I would wish to publish translations of long passages. From their willingness to share what they considered to be appropriate portions of...

Share