Reece Jon McGee is a professor of Anthropology at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He is the author of numerous works on the Lacandon including Life, Ritual and Religion Among the Lacandon Maya and is also the coauthor of the texts Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History (Rowman and Littlefield), Sacred Realms: Essays in Religious Practices, Beliefs and Culture (Oxford University Press), and Introduction to Cultural Anthropology: An Interactive Approach (National Social Science Press). McGee is also the managing editor for Theory in Social and Cultural Anthropology: An Encyclopedia (Sage Publishing Company).

Watching Lacandon Maya Lives presents a pithy account of the northern Lacandones written from the heart of a scholar who demystifies truths of a hitherto enigmatic people, candidly and unapologetically inserting himself into the narrative. As such, the book should appeal to the general reader and anyone else who is captivated by the Mayans past and present.

• IntroductionChapter One: The Myth of Lacandon Origins. Romantic ImagesArchaeological, Linguistic, and Historical Sources.Sixteenth-Seventeenth Centuries: Chol-LacandonEighteenth Century: Yucatec LacandonLacandon in the Nineteenth CenturyLacandon in the Twentieth CenturyLacandon 1980-2015Chapter Two: Reconstructing the Historical Lacandon: Who Is Lacandon? What Does Traditional Lacandon Mean?Lacandon Life from 1790-1903 Men and Women’s Work Religion Marriage and Household LifeSelling Lacandon Religion Two Case Studies and Concluding Thoughts So, How Can I Write About “the Lacandon”?Chapter 3: Watching Life in a Lacandon CommunityAn Overview of Women, Men, and Work. Women’s WorkMen's WorkFamily ExamplesChan K?in Viejo and his HouseholdKoh III and Koh IV, Summer1985 Child Birth, and Infant MortalityThe Death of NukChapter 4: 1970-2020, Five Decades of Change Government, Oil and Immigration, an OverviewFamily Relations, Work, and Historic Lacandon HorticultureRoads, Bows and Arrows, and TourismAdapting Agricultural to Tourism: Comparing Two Communities Men, tourism, and Agriculture in Nahá. Agriculture and Tourism in Lacanha. Women, Tourism, and Work“Traditional” women Women in households oriented to tourismWidowsChapter 5: Finding an Income in the Lacandon JungleProviding Food and Lodging for VisitorsHousehold-Level Entrepreneurial ActivitiesArchaeology in MensäbäkWorking for CONANPFour Families in MensäbäkEconomic and Cultural ChangesShifting to a Money-Based Economy and Culture ChangeChanging diet and healthChanging household-based reciprocityChanging statusChanging household demographicsGrowing Up in a Changing World: The Cases of K?in and Chan K?in QuintoChapter 6: Decline of Non-Christian ReligionCosmologyRitual Places: Classic Period RuinsCaves and Rock SheltersGod HousesRitual ImplementsTypes of OfferingsEdible OfferingsRitual and AgricultureHealing and Ritual The End of the WorldConclusions: The End of Non-Christian Religion Chapter 7: Changing Healing PracticesLacandon Categories of SicknessCuring Through PrayerTherapeutic IncantationsCuring StringsMedicinal PlantsDecline of Healing RitualsChapter Eight: Forty Years Among the Lacandon: Some Lessons Learned What is Lacandon Culture? What People Say is Different from What They DoMarriage, Fatherhood, and McGee’s Position in the CommunityThe Fire: 6/9/99Glossary References Cited

Reece Jon McGee is a professor of Anthropology at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He is the author of numerous works on the Lacandon including Life, Ritual and Religion Among the Lacandon Maya and is also the coauthor of the texts Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History (Rowman and Littlefield), Sacred Realms: Essays in Religious Practices, Beliefs and Culture (Oxford University Press), and Introduction to Cultural Anthropology: An Interactive Approach (National Social Science Press). McGee is also the managing editor for Theory in Social and Cultural Anthropology: An Encyclopedia (Sage Publishing Company).

Watching Lacandon Maya Lives presents a pithy account of the northern Lacandones written from the heart of a scholar who demystifies truths of a hitherto enigmatic people, candidly and unapologetically inserting himself into the narrative. As such, the book should appeal to the general reader and anyone else who is captivated by the Mayans past and present.

• IntroductionChapter One: The Myth of Lacandon Origins. Romantic ImagesArchaeological, Linguistic, and Historical Sources.Sixteenth-Seventeenth Centuries: Chol-LacandonEighteenth Century: Yucatec LacandonLacandon in the Nineteenth CenturyLacandon in the Twentieth CenturyLacandon 1980-2015Chapter Two: Reconstructing the Historical Lacandon: Who Is Lacandon? What Does Traditional Lacandon Mean?Lacandon Life from 1790-1903 Men and Women’s Work Religion Marriage and Household LifeSelling Lacandon Religion Two Case Studies and Concluding Thoughts So, How Can I Write About “the Lacandon”?Chapter 3: Watching Life in a Lacandon CommunityAn Overview of Women, Men, and Work. Women’s WorkMen's WorkFamily ExamplesChan K?in Viejo and his HouseholdKoh III and Koh IV, Summer1985 Child Birth, and Infant MortalityThe Death of NukChapter 4: 1970-2020, Five Decades of Change Government, Oil and Immigration, an OverviewFamily Relations, Work, and Historic Lacandon HorticultureRoads, Bows and Arrows, and TourismAdapting Agricultural to Tourism: Comparing Two Communities Men, tourism, and Agriculture in Nahá. Agriculture and Tourism in Lacanha. Women, Tourism, and Work“Traditional” women Women in households oriented to tourismWidowsChapter 5: Finding an Income in the Lacandon JungleProviding Food and Lodging for VisitorsHousehold-Level Entrepreneurial ActivitiesArchaeology in MensäbäkWorking for CONANPFour Families in MensäbäkEconomic and Cultural ChangesShifting to a Money-Based Economy and Culture ChangeChanging diet and healthChanging household-based reciprocityChanging statusChanging household demographicsGrowing Up in a Changing World: The Cases of K?in and Chan K?in QuintoChapter 6: Decline of Non-Christian ReligionCosmologyRitual Places: Classic Period RuinsCaves and Rock SheltersGod HousesRitual ImplementsTypes of OfferingsEdible OfferingsRitual and AgricultureHealing and Ritual The End of the WorldConclusions: The End of Non-Christian Religion Chapter 7: Changing Healing PracticesLacandon Categories of SicknessCuring Through PrayerTherapeutic IncantationsCuring StringsMedicinal PlantsDecline of Healing RitualsChapter Eight: Forty Years Among the Lacandon: Some Lessons Learned What is Lacandon Culture? What People Say is Different from What They DoMarriage, Fatherhood, and McGee’s Position in the CommunityThe Fire: 6/9/99Glossary References Cited

Reece Jon McGee is a professor of Anthropology at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He is the author of numerous works on the Lacandon including Life, Ritual and Religion Among the Lacandon Maya and is also the coauthor of the texts Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History (Rowman and Littlefield), Sacred Realms: Essays in Religious Practices, Beliefs and Culture (Oxford University Press), and Introduction to Cultural Anthropology: An Interactive Approach (National Social Science Press). McGee is also the managing editor for Theory in Social and Cultural Anthropology: An Encyclopedia (Sage Publishing Company).

Watching Lacandon Maya Lives presents a pithy account of the northern Lacandones written from the heart of a scholar who demystifies truths of a hitherto enigmatic people, candidly and unapologetically inserting himself into the narrative. As such, the book should appeal to the general reader and anyone else who is captivated by the Mayans past and present.

• IntroductionChapter One: The Myth of Lacandon Origins. Romantic ImagesArchaeological, Linguistic, and Historical Sources.Sixteenth-Seventeenth Centuries: Chol-LacandonEighteenth Century: Yucatec LacandonLacandon in the Nineteenth CenturyLacandon in the Twentieth CenturyLacandon 1980-2015Chapter Two: Reconstructing the Historical Lacandon: Who Is Lacandon? What Does Traditional Lacandon Mean?Lacandon Life from 1790-1903 Men and Women’s Work Religion Marriage and Household LifeSelling Lacandon Religion Two Case Studies and Concluding Thoughts So, How Can I Write About “the Lacandon”?Chapter 3: Watching Life in a Lacandon CommunityAn Overview of Women, Men, and Work. Women’s WorkMen's WorkFamily ExamplesChan K?in Viejo and his HouseholdKoh III and Koh IV, Summer1985 Child Birth, and Infant MortalityThe Death of NukChapter 4: 1970-2020, Five Decades of Change Government, Oil and Immigration, an OverviewFamily Relations, Work, and Historic Lacandon HorticultureRoads, Bows and Arrows, and TourismAdapting Agricultural to Tourism: Comparing Two Communities Men, tourism, and Agriculture in Nahá. Agriculture and Tourism in Lacanha. Women, Tourism, and Work“Traditional” women Women in households oriented to tourismWidowsChapter 5: Finding an Income in the Lacandon JungleProviding Food and Lodging for VisitorsHousehold-Level Entrepreneurial ActivitiesArchaeology in MensäbäkWorking for CONANPFour Families in MensäbäkEconomic and Cultural ChangesShifting to a Money-Based Economy and Culture ChangeChanging diet and healthChanging household-based reciprocityChanging statusChanging household demographicsGrowing Up in a Changing World: The Cases of K?in and Chan K?in QuintoChapter 6: Decline of Non-Christian ReligionCosmologyRitual Places: Classic Period RuinsCaves and Rock SheltersGod HousesRitual ImplementsTypes of OfferingsEdible OfferingsRitual and AgricultureHealing and Ritual The End of the WorldConclusions: The End of Non-Christian Religion Chapter 7: Changing Healing PracticesLacandon Categories of SicknessCuring Through PrayerTherapeutic IncantationsCuring StringsMedicinal PlantsDecline of Healing RitualsChapter Eight: Forty Years Among the Lacandon: Some Lessons Learned What is Lacandon Culture? What People Say is Different from What They DoMarriage, Fatherhood, and McGee’s Position in the CommunityThe Fire: 6/9/99Glossary References Cited