Cultural Anthropology

Beverly Newbold Chinas book, La Zandunga: Of fieldwork and friendship in southern Mexico, is a personal reflection combined with research results concerning the Isthmus Zapotec culture in 1966. Intrigued by beautiful pictures and a tantalizing description of Zapotec culture, Chinas decided to do her first fieldwork here among the Zapotec. Her primary interest was gender. More specifically, Zapotec women were the focal point because of their perceived strength and independence. Chinas mentions the fact that she …

…tend to property and manage crops, while extended families reunite only occasionally for festivals or to assist in labor intensive work (such as planting and harvesting of crops). Many migrating natives acculturate to the norms and values of their new environments and gradually put aside traditional ways. Although members of younger migrant generations may wish to learn and practice their traditional heritage, this is difficult to do while living on the threshold of two worlds.