Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2023 -

This exceptional book documents a sacred and transformative pilgrimage undertaken by the Nahua peoples in a rural community of northern Veracruz, Mexico. Alan and Pamela Sandstrom (both, emer., Purdue Univ. Fort Wayne) carried out anthropological field research in this region for more than 40 years and joined five Nahua pilgrimages at the invitation of the community. They contextualize the pilgrimage in relation to Nahua philosophy, myth, religion, and worldview. As they detail the pilgrimage's demanding preparations, the long journey to the sacred mountain summit, and the elaborate offerings presented, they narrate what it reveals about social relations and the connection between the human and spiritual realms in the context of contemporary transformations brought on by out-migration to cities, and by other factors. In sum, they show pilgrimage to be "the ultimate act of respect toward fellow human beings and the forces of the cosmos that sustain life" (p. 280). This accessibly written book contains hundreds of illustrations, mostly color photos that follow the pilgrimage and images of the sacred paper cuttings used in the ritual. The authors also include chants (in Nahuatl and English) recited by ritual specialists during the event and Nahua myths and narratives.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

In the wake of the Mexican Revolution (1910-17) a wave of school teachers were sent into rural, often Indigenous communities throughout Mexico to serve as the vanguard of progress, justice, and enlightenment. This fine volume by Howell (California State Univ., Long Beach) details the fascinating history of that educational movement as it played out in the state of Oaxaca, an impoverished, multiethnic, multilingual human landscape as challenging as any found in Mexico. The author's story encompasses the changing ideological and organizational framework for teacher training and placement from the onset of the federal socialist initiative in the 1920s to the current politically and economically tumultuous period of Mexico's transition to neoliberalism. Focusing on the life and career stories of 15 women, Howell highlights the great obstacles they faced to become teachers and provide education in diverse rural settings and explores the ideals that motivated them. In the process, she shares with readers these women's evaluations of the satisfactions and disappointments they experienced in their own words. This book explores a very important, much neglected topic relevant for any student of rural Mexican society.Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals.