A few months ago, I came upon a remarkable article posted on CNNMexico (January 1, 2011). The cultural richness is so striking that I'd like to share it with you.
Back to Basics
Ancient Mesoamerican civilization rests at the heart of the major work of Mexican anthropologist Guillermo Bonfil Batalla—México Profundo: Una civilización negada. In Bonfil Batalla’s words, Mesoamerican civilization is "...one of the few original civilizations that humanity has created throughout all its history."
The anthropologist set out to investigate how Mesoamerican culture survives today not only as an “internally cohesive culture” in the country's numerous indigenous pueblos, but as a "multitude of isolated traits distributed in different ways in [Mexico's] urban populations".
Ancient Mesoamerican civilization rests at the heart of the major work of Mexican anthropologist Guillermo Bonfil Batalla—México Profundo: Una civilización negada. In Bonfil Batalla’s words, Mesoamerican civilization is "...one of the few original civilizations that humanity has created throughout all its history."
The anthropologist set out to investigate how Mesoamerican culture survives today not only as an “internally cohesive culture” in the country's numerous indigenous pueblos, but as a "multitude of isolated traits distributed in different ways in [Mexico's] urban populations".
Poking around on Amazon.com to see if the work is available in English (happily, it is: Mexico profundo: A civilization reclaimed translated by Philip A. Dennis), I came upon this translator's statement on the back cover:
"An ancient agricultural complex provides their [indigenous communities'] food supply, and work is understood as a way of maintaining a harmonious relation with the natural world. Health is related to human conduct, and community service is often part of each individual's life obligation. Time is circular, and humans fulfill their own cycle in relation to other cycles of the universe."
From CNN Mexico
The notion of community service as an obligation sets the stage for the CNNMexico piece. Here's my translation from the Spanish of what happened:
The notion of community service as an obligation sets the stage for the CNNMexico piece. Here's my translation from the Spanish of what happened:
Leandro Hernández was elected Mayor of his municipality [pueblo] without even knowing it. One day when he was Mexico City participating in a course on human development, his cell phone rang.
It was a call came from his pueblo, where the elders were meeting: “Leandro,” they said, “we are meeting in assembly at the pueblo, and all of us have decided that you are the next Mayor.”
It was a call came from his pueblo, where the elders were meeting: “Leandro,” they said, “we are meeting in assembly at the pueblo, and all of us have decided that you are the next Mayor.”
Don Hernández said that the notice came like a bucket of cold water, because he hasn’t lived in Santiago Zacatepec (in Oaxaca’s Mixe region) for 56 years.
“It is a great responsibility,” he commented, especially considering that his plans for 2011 did not include returning to the community that he left when he was only eleven years old.
“It is a great responsibility,” he commented, especially considering that his plans for 2011 did not include returning to the community that he left when he was only eleven years old.
The article goes on to explains that the “System of Uses and Customs” employed in a majority (418) of Oaxaca’s 570 indigenous municipalities allows mayoral elections to proceed in assemblies of the municipalities’ governing officials (elders)—without either the presence or desire of those chosen to serve. Reportedly, the inhabitants of the 418 pueblos fear being chosen, because the mayor serves without pay. At most, the mayor might receive a bonus at year’s end.
This situation is in marked contrast to Oaxaca’s other 150 municipalities, in which mayoral candidates launch formal election campaigns to win the people’s vote. In these pueblos, the mayor receives about 50,000 pesos monthly [about $4,100 USD]—a significant amount of money in rural Mexico.
This situation is in marked contrast to Oaxaca’s other 150 municipalities, in which mayoral candidates launch formal election campaigns to win the people’s vote. In these pueblos, the mayor receives about 50,000 pesos monthly [about $4,100 USD]—a significant amount of money in rural Mexico.
Don Leandro Hernández considered the possibility of refusing, but the elders told him that he was the best they had and, besides, “…serving as Mayor is a form of giving back to the community that which it has given to you.”
To this day, reports Bonfil Batalla, the top priority of indigenous communities remains the protection and preservation of the community. Networks of mutual obligation, like the one that tugged so effectively at Don Leandro Hernández, bind community members together. But here's the cultural kicker:
In response to a reporter’s question, Don Leandro replied: “I felt nervous and worried; I kept thinking about how to reply, but I saw that I had no other choice, so I said ‘yes’.”
Ladder of Communal Responsibility
In traditional communities to this day, children, youths, young people and older adults are presented with tasks of increasing responsibility for protecting, preserving and maintaining the community. Additional responsibility and authority is awarded to those who demonstrate that they are aware not only of what ought to be, but how communal tasks are to be performed, even—perhaps especially—when the community faces new situations. It is this latter quality, of course, that assures the pueblo's ability to adapt to changing conditions as they evolve over time.
Assumption of increasingly important cargos (charges, responsibilities) carries significant prestige for the entire extended family.
In traditional communities to this day, children, youths, young people and older adults are presented with tasks of increasing responsibility for protecting, preserving and maintaining the community. Additional responsibility and authority is awarded to those who demonstrate that they are aware not only of what ought to be, but how communal tasks are to be performed, even—perhaps especially—when the community faces new situations. It is this latter quality, of course, that assures the pueblo's ability to adapt to changing conditions as they evolve over time.
Assumption of increasingly important cargos (charges, responsibilities) carries significant prestige for the entire extended family.
Born in Santiago Zacatepec in 1944, Leandro Hernández left the pueblo at age 11. Originally he planned to study for the priesthood, but he later changed his vocation and married. He and his wife have two adult children, both professionals. Since 1977 he has worked for the state government in the office of Social Communication, first for the ruling PRI [Party of the Institutional Revolution], then for the State of Oaxaca, and finally in the Congress.
Founder of the Organization of Mixe Race that awards scholarships to support university education for young people from Oaxaca’s Mixe region, Don Leandro says that he has never forgotten his origins. As he explains, “There was a lack of resources to help young people continue their studies, so I arranged these things for my people, but now I will have to raise my support.”
Founder of the Organization of Mixe Race that awards scholarships to support university education for young people from Oaxaca’s Mixe region, Don Leandro says that he has never forgotten his origins. As he explains, “There was a lack of resources to help young people continue their studies, so I arranged these things for my people, but now I will have to raise my support.”
Don Leandro's acknowledgment that "now I will have to raise my support" signals his acceptance of the added obligation to accept the cargo awarded to him by the pueblo's elders to serve as Mayor and thus to contribute to preserving and maintaining the community.
"This past December 31, with suitcase in hand Don Hernández caught the bus to Santiago Zacatepec with its 3,200 Mixe-speaking inhabitants, nestled in the foothills of Cempoaltépetl—at 11,122 feet one of Oaxaca’s three highest mountains. On the morning of January 1, he received the Bastón de Mando [ceremonial mace] from Leovigildo Santos García, Zacatepec's outgoing mayor.
"Nearly two feet long, the Bastón de Mando symbolizes the authority of Oaxaca’s indigenous pueblos. On the day Don Leandro Hernández assumed its possession, the top part of the bastón was adorned with red, green and white ribbons—the colors of the Mexican flag. After the ceremony, the bastón was returned to its special place at City Hall. The mayor carries it only on special occasions—to town meetings, for example, or to resolve a local conflict.”
Bird Jaguar IV, ahaw or lord of Yaxchilan (752-768 A.D.) passes el Bastón de Mando to his son, Sky God Jaguar (769-780 A.D.)
Bastón de Mando
The Bastón de Mando is a very powerful and ancient Mesoamerican symbol (see photo above). Some bastónes resemble an ear of the corn that was the bedrock of Mesoamerican civilization. The surplus of maís (corn) enabled development of a non-laboring ruling class.
The Bastón de Mando is a very powerful and ancient Mesoamerican symbol (see photo above). Some bastónes resemble an ear of the corn that was the bedrock of Mesoamerican civilization. The surplus of maís (corn) enabled development of a non-laboring ruling class.
It was the ruling class that constructed the city-states throughout Mesoamerica (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, etc.) and developed the cultural practices that gave birth to Mesoamerican civilization. The well-known Mexican dicho (saying) expresses it best:
"Sin maís, no hay país” (Without corn, there is no country).
The CNN Mexico article concludes:
“Don Leandro Hernández’s original 2011 New Year Resolution was to practice yoga and care for his body, but he must now leave that resolution behind, because from January 1, 2011, his principle goal is to consider how to govern wisely the Mixe pueblo of Zacatepec.”
Conclusion—More or Less
Let me end this post by recalling Bonfil Batalla’s investigative goal—to discover
Let me end this post by recalling Bonfil Batalla’s investigative goal—to discover
“…how Mesoamerican culture survives today not only as an 'internally cohesive culture' in the country's numerous indigenous pueblos, but as a 'multitude of isolated traits' distributed in different ways in [Mexico's] urban populations."This account of the response of an educated, urbanized, sophisticated indigenous man summoned by his pueblo's elders to assume a traditional obligation provides powerful testimony to the ongoing strength of Mesoamerican cultural traits in modern-day Mexico.
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