Brown Bag Lecture with Dr. James Mestaz

Dr. James Mestaz will be discussing: In 1913, General Felipe Bachomo utilized the chaos of the Mexican Revolution to unite 6,000 indigenous Mayo soldiers to reclaim properties usurped by large landowners in Sinaloa, Mexico. Religious ceremonies—formerly conducted on these now usurped lands—using water and raw materials tied Mayo people to both each other and their ecosystems, acting as the basis of their identity. This insurgence went beyond regaining land to grow crops and survive, the existence of indigenous culture was at stake. This project argues that Mayo combatants used their knowledge and connection to nature as not only motivation for the uprising, such knowledge gave them a tactical advantage over their enemies.