Comcaac Collaborative Ethnohistory: The Importance of Objects, Places, Routes and Leaders.

Summary

In collaboration with Comcaac community members of Sonora, Mexico, oral accounts are combined with archival documents and with archaeological survey. For the colonial period in Sonora, historians and anthropologists have mostly relied upon archival documents written by representatives of the Spanish empire, in addition to information from historical archaeology. The Comcaac knowledge immersed in oral traditions balances some of the inherent biases in the Spanish documentary record, and sheds light on aspects of their history where the documents are mute. Initially we describe Comcaac historical accounts about the "Cazoopin" (Spaniards) that mention first encounters with Spanish sailing ships and their opportunistic adoption of Spanish material culture. We then discuss the relevance of place and routes among the different historical narratives. To finalize with a discussion on how, both Comcaac oral accounts and the documentary record, provide ample descriptions of leaders. It is argued that the importance of Comcaac masculine war leaders is a cultural practice similar in some respects to Spanish and Western emphases on prominent individuals. Through collaboration multiple spatial and temporal configurations documented in our research provide unique insights into the role of subject/object-place relationships and practice in cultural continuity, tradition, and cultural transformation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21108