This is a "backgrounder" about our project on the Totonac Indians of Mexico. It summarizes the history and rationale of the project and lists proposed videos.

This project is a collaboration between the members of the Garcia family, Albert Wahrhaftig, an anthropologist at Sonoma State University, Deborah Welker, a social worker at the University of Rochester, Thom Marini, cinematographer, and Pacho Lane, a faculty member at the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos.


TOTONACAPAN - A CONCEPT PAPER

Albert L. Wahrhaftig Department of Anthropology, Sonoma State University
Bruce "Pacho" Lane Facultad de Arte Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos

"Totonacapan" is an interactive documentary project which through video, text, archived still images, and an interactive web site, will allow students and other interested scholars and professionals to explore an exceptionally profound body of information about the adaptation of indigenous peoples to the rapidly changing environment of contemporary Mexico.

The project stems from a 30 year long involvement with the Totonac Amerindian community of Huehuetla, Puebla, Mexico, by film maker Bruce "Pacho" Lane and anthropologist Albert L. Wahrhaftig. By detailed depiction of four generations of the family of two Totonac brothers, Juan and Salvador Garcia, the materials produced by the project reveal general features of the changing status of Native Americans in Mexico.

The Garcias and their neighbors represent the different strategiesfrom assimilation to resistance, available to minorities under pressure, . With the involvement of the Garcias, the Totonacs of Huehuetla have become leaders in the movement for indigenous rights and political change in Mexico. Thus our relationship with the community provides a window into the changing conditions of Native Americans throughout the hemisphere.

The basic corpus will be a series of videos complemented by and combinable with a website storing background files (cartographic, still visual, audio, and video), articles, bibliographies, internet links, e-mail to Lane and Wahrhaftig, and connections to members of the Garcia family.

These materials will be especially appropriate for "distance education" development. The web site will constitute a central resource which allows students to conduct their own research and teachers to construct course modules around the available video and supplementary materials.

Materials will be produced in both English and Spanish to facilitate international scholarly communication between North American and Mexican investigators.

Limited pretesting of partial, roughcut videos produced to date indicate that they "read well" not only for persons interested in the social sciences (e.g. anthropology, history, sociology, etc.) and humanities (e.g. Mexican-American studies) as they relate to Mexico, but also to members of the "helping professions." Social workers have expressed that these materials are revelatory of family dynamics and also valuable background for those whose clients are Hispanic immigrants to the United States.

With these "tangibles" to show, we now seek significant funding to complete the project.

Intended Audience and Dissemination

Produced bilingually, Totonacapan will be of interest to several constituencies in the United States, Mexico, and conceivably other nations interested in the adaptation of indigenous minorities.

The videos presume an adult audience but appreciating them should pose no obstacle to students of middle school age and onward. The complexity of associated material (e.g. on website and/or CD ROM) can be adjusted as audiences utilizing them develop.

Our intention is that arrangements for distribution and utilization will be made both in the United States and in Mexico.

Dissemination may be by means of

1. Purchase of videos for classroom and professional training.
2. PBS broadcast, either as stand-alone documentaries or as a telecourse (similar to the widely used "Faces of Culture" series).
3. Internet telecourse utilization.

* (The California State University system with 21 campuses is strongly interested in the expansion of internet-based distance education and has establishedSonoma State University, where Wahrhaftig is a member of the faculty, as one of the bases for the development of this technology. Thus state of the art technical support will be readily available.)

* Additionally, Sonoma State University's Center for Pan Pacific Exchange, which considers the US, Mexico, and Pacific Central and South America to be within its scope of interest, exists to facilitate precisely this form of electronically-based international collaboration.

1. Video or CD ROM integrated with a textbook, sponsored in part, perhaps, by a publisher. (Karl Heider's Seeing Anthropology: Cultural Anthropology Through Film is something of an example of this approach.)

2. Personal consultation with Lane and Wahrhaftig via Totonacapan's web page.

Historical Background: The Researchers and the Researched

The intimate quality of the Totonacapan materials reflect a long relationship between the researchers and the Garcia family and especially an egalitarian mode of research incorporating "the researched" as full participants in the research process.

In 1971, Lane began his first film in Huehuetla. Completed in 1974, "The Tree of Life" deals with the 1500-year old ritual of "Los Voladores" (the flyers). During the filming, Lane became friends with Juan and Salvador Garcia, the captains of the Voladores, and when a child was born to Salvador and his wife, Angela, they asked Lane to be the child's godfather and thus their compadre (co-parent). A second film, "The Tree of Knowledge," which compares the dance of the Huehues, used by Totonacs as a teaching tool for defining their relationships to non-Indian Mexicans, with the nationalistic and assimilationist celebrations of the Mexican public school system, was completed in 1981. As far back as these first films, a quarter century ago, the "subjects" have been included in the production process: though they had never seen a film, Salvador and Juan made perceptive suggestions, planning how some aspects of the ritual should be filmed and repeating portions of it to facilitate filming. Of course, copies have been left with, and seen by them and screened in Huehuetla.

Over the years, as the Garcia family grew and as Huehuetla changed, Lane continued his visits, mostly to follow the fortunes of his Totonac godchildren. Now, after many years of friendship, visiting, and filming, both Lane and Wahrhaftig are regarded as part of the Garcia family.

In the 1980's, the scope of Totonacapan abruptly widened. In 1981, Lane and Wahrhaftig, close friends since they worked together as Peace Corps volunteers in Colombia in 1961, became partners in the Totonacapan enterprise. They returned to Huehuetla during Easter week of 1982 with the intention of making a third film which was to be about Salvador's son, Cruz Garcia, one of the first generation of Totonacs to be educated in the Mexican public school system, and how he, in his adolescence, was contending with familial pressure to remain a Totonac and follow in the footsteps of his father and uncle as opposed to efforts by the Church and school system to persuade Totonacs that they should give up their Indianness and join the Mexican multitude. But this was not to be because Salvador's wife, Angela, together with her sons, Cruz and Erasmo, had fled to the State of Veracruz, in large part to escape Salvador's alcoholic abuses. Ever since, we have tracked the changes that have taken place in the Totonac "homeland".and, simultaneously, the adaptations of Cruz, Erasmo, Juan (a third brother who soon joined them) and now their wives and children in what is for them a new and challenging life within the non-Indian sector of Mexican society.

In the summer of 1982, Cruz Garcia joined us in a retreat at Tecolutla, Veracruz, where together we planned the 16 millimeter footage that was shot that season. Ever since, the Garcias have reviewed the unedited film and video footage that has been shot among them through the 1980's and 1990's (and have even been filmed watching the videos) and now have the first edited films to comment on. In the 1990's we have replaced 16mm. film with broadcast-quality video. This allows much more spontaneous filming in which the camera becomes the equivalent of the ethnographer's field notebook. With this simpler technology, the Garcias can and increasingly do participate in the filming and editing process. Gradually, as discussed below, we hope, we will become less initiators and more facilitators as Totonacs document their own life from their own point of view.


Historical background: Methodology

A fundamental problem in cross-cultural communication is how to limit editorial bias - i.e., to provide information and analysis that is as objective as possible. While there is no easy answer to this problem, our general approach is:

* to offer the audience as "transparent" access to the material as possible, by letting our subjects speak for themselves,

* to reveal our own preconceptions,

* to clearly identify editorial and analytical material as such.

Rather than rely primarily on written ethnographies in which the reader is dependent on the authors selection of data and analysis, we make use of the full range of existing media. Because moving images with synchronous sound is the closest approximation to "being there", we use this as our primary means of presenting material, supplemented and enhanced by written text, still images, sound recordings, etc. to provide information which is not readily presented in "film".

Since we now work with digital video and not 16mm. film as we did in the 1980's, it is now possible for the "subjects" of our filming to have a full voice in every step of the filming process. As mentioned above, the Garcias have copies of our raw video footage. Much of it we have watched and discussed together, and by now, they have received copies of the two videos we edited in 1997, Juan & Isadora and Erasmo & Margarita. We will telephone them for their feedback and incorporate it into the final versions.

With the introduction of low-cost digital video and computer-based editing systems, it is finally possible to bring the entire production process, from shooting through editing to release of a completed videotape crafted to professional standards, into the field. With the persons we are shooting participating fully in the entire process we can open up a whole new opportunity for creating videos which truly combine the insights of "insiders" - the Garcias - and "outsiders" - Wahrhaftig, Welker, and Lane - as the film is made. This is truly revolutionary: We are not aware of any films or videos - or ethnographies produced in this fashion so far.

The core of these videos is an exploration of how the Garcias and their neighbors are adapting to the modern world. Our methods are consistent with the ethnographic fact that neither the Totonac community nor the Garcias are subjects buffeted by acculturative forces. Rather, they are active, intelligent, thoughtful, and articulate human beings who are making conscious, intelligent choices just as we are. Further, our videos acknowledge the influence that we, as god parents and exotic role models, have had on the adaptive strategies of the Garcias (and, perhaps, on recent developments in their home community of Huehuetla) -and equally, how much influence they have had on us. Rather than maintaining "ethnographic invisibility", we are, and must be seen to be, part of the action. Consequently, as we film, conversations frequently happen across the camera, and the camera even gets passed around. Sometimes we will be shooting "them", and sometimes "they" will be shooting us. Since we need to comment analytically on the material, some sequences will be between us (Albert, Deborah, & Pacho) - perhaps in a hotel room, or over a meal, or back in the US. Similarly, some sequences will be between the Garcias - i.e., they can comment on us, and edit their own footage, as part of the project. We're all "us", finally,,,

Lastly, accelerating developments in electronic storage technology - CDs, Zip drives, DVDs, etc. - offer for the first time the possibility of making not just edited, finished films available, but all the footage, stills, research notes and texts, so that interested researchers and students can not only access this material but can re-work it for themselves, creating, say, their own videotapes on differing aspects of the original material.


Particulars of the Project

Objective: Creation of a corpus of visual and written material to form a participatory and on-going ethnography of the Garcia family as representative of the larger Totonac community and, at a greater level of abstraction, the dynamics of indigenous ethnicity in Mexico.

Theme: As each of the self-confident and optimistic Garcias says in his or her own way, "poco a poco" - "little by little we are moving ahead." Our films focus especially on the sources of their strength and idealism.

Stage 1 (completed)
* Distribution of three videodocumentaries filmed in Huehuetla

o "The Tree of Life" - 29 minutes - 1976 (re-edited 1992 & 2005) - on the ritual of the Voladores (flyers)

o "The Tree of Knowledge" - 26 minutes - 1981 (re-edited 2005) - The Totonac Huehues ritual contrasted with the ceremonialism of the public school system as two ways of learning.(

"Democracia Indigena" - 37 minutes - 1991 (re-edited 2005) - on the Teologia India movement and the OIT through the lens of a municipal election in Huehuetla.
Although not identified as such, the main characters of the two films are members of the Garcia family. Cruz Garcia narrates "Democracia Indigena")


Stage 2 (completed in whole or in part)

* Three videotapes (out of a proposed 10 to 15) in completed rough cut versions:

o "Introduction" (3 minutes) to be used as an introduction and general establishment of context at the head of each videotape.

o "Totonac Transformations: Juan and Isadora" (16 minutes) depicting a young Totonac man, his common-law wife, and her 12-year old daughter in their attempts to create a blended family and use the resources of their extended family to build a stable life on the meager wages available to rural agricultural workers.

o "Totonac Transformations: Erasmo and Margarita (±30 minutes). The youngest of the Garcias believes he is "capable of anything" and wants to "go ahead as far as he can" within Mexican society. He and his school teacher bride discuss their courtship and their expectations and plans for the future in an unusually intimate and detailed depiction of the details of mate-selection.

o "Video Guide to the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge" (25 minutes) Professor Albert Wahrhaftig uses a cultural anthropologist's perspective to explore the layered meanings of the events depicted in these two films about Totonac and Mexican ritual.

o "Totonac Transformations: Cruz and Trinidad" (±30 minutes) Cruz, the oldest Garcia brother but still only in his mid thirties is effectively the "elder" not only for his own immediate extended family (self, wife, mother, and four children) but of the broader extended family comprised of his household and those of his brothers, Juan and Erasmo. The film also explores the processes through which Cruz gradually gained acceptance within the small town where he resides and the future he envisions for hischildren.

* Illustrated article on recent culture change in Huehuetla, Puebla:
o Albert L. Wahrhaftig and Bruce Lane. "Totonac Cultural Revitalization: An Alternative to the Zapatistas"

Stage 3

Once the films mentioned above are in distribution, Lane will move to the Vera Cruz/Puebla region to shoot and edit as described abov additional videotapes to fill in gaps and round out the corpus.

Wahrhaftig and Welker will spend field seasons both years in Mexico and otherwise will provide feedback from the U.S. Feedback from both countries will be obtained showings for local audiences and in classrooms. Concurrently, all three investigators will develop supporting material in written, audio, and pictorial (still images) form.

Stage 4:

Once we will have completed a corpus of material sufficient for a full semester course examining in depth and in bredth cultural currents in contemporary Mexico. The following year will be spent rounding out, packaging, presenting, and distributing the material as a course which can be made available as a self-guided web-based distance learning course, as a regular classroom curriculum, with the entire course material available through the website or in other forms based on selecting and rearranging the materials.

(This is probably not the end of the project As Napoleon said when asked how he won battles, "On s'engage y puis on voit!" )

Schematic Overview of the Totonacapan Series

1. Series introduction (3') at head of each tape. Rough cut complete.

2. The Tree of Life. (29'). Complete and in distribution. Theme: The power of ritual

3. The Tree of Knowledge (26'). Complete and in distribution. Theme: Ceremony as a form of intercultural dialogue

4. Video Guide to the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge (25'). Rough cut complete; distribution by December 1998. (±20').

5. Totonac Transformations: Angela's Story (±20') Theme: The resolution of familial dysfunctionality. Victim of an alcoholic and abusive husband and imprisoned, too, by her inability to speak Spanish, Angela in midlife found a way to escape her situation and create new sources of support in Spanish-speaking Vera Cruz.

6. Totonac Transformations: Salvador's Story (±20') To be filmed. Theme: The sociopsychological price of leadership. Captain of the ritual of the Voladores and later an initiator of the Totonac's political organization, Salvador remains among the Totonac Indian society in the mountains of Huehuetla. Having lost one family to his alcoholism he has succeeded in rebuilding his life with a new wife and children.

7. Totonac Transformations: Cruz and Trinidad (30') Filmed; distribution by December 1998. Theme: The progression to headship of an extended family and associated responsibilities. Having migrated to the state of Veracruz, Cruz, the oldest Garcia brother though still only in his mid thirties is effectively the "elder" not only for his own immediate extended family (self, wife, mother, and four children) but of the broader extended family comprised of his household and those of his brothers, Juan and Erasmo. The film also explores the processes through which Cruz gradually gained acceptance within the small town where he resides and the future he envisions for his children.

8. Totonac Transformations: Juan and Isadora (17') . Distribution by December 1998. Theme: The dynamics of a blended family. Having migrated to the state of Veracruz, Juan, the middle of the three Garcia brothers, his common-law wife, and her 12-year old daughter struggle to create a blended family and use the resources of their extended family to build a stable life on the meager wages available to rural agricultural workers.

9. Totonac Transformations: Erasmo and Margarita (25'). Distribution by December 1998. Theme: Socioeconomic mobility. The youngest of the Garcias believes he is "capable of anything" and wants to "go ahead as far as he can" within Mexican society. He and his school teacher bride discuss their courtship and their expectations and plans for the future in an unusually intimate and detailed depiction of the details of mate-selection.

10. Totonac Transformations: Jesus, the good father. (±25 ') To be filmed. Theme: The importance of a patrón, a mentor who "breaks trail" as members of an indigenous group establish themselves within national society. A compadre (co-father) to Cruz, father-in-law to Erasmo, and almost-father-in-law to Juan, Jesus is a male nurse in a federal hospital during the work week and the leader of a Spiritualist congregation evenings and weekends. A charismatic and well connected man, he is a significant mentor for the Garcias.

11. Totonac Transformations: The Twelve Days of Christmas. (±25 ') Partially filmed. Theme: The continuity and vitality of traditional indigenous culture. Complex and beautiful activities unite the pueblo of Huehuetla during the Christmas season and dramatize its fundamental values.

12. Totonac Transformations: "Independent" Means "Independent" (±25') Partially filmed. Theme: The revitalization of traditional Totonac culture. Founded in 1988, the Independent Totonac Organization (OIT) has been an instrument through which Totonacs have escaped exploitation by non-Indians and gained political control of the municipality of Huehuetla, a center from which this social movement is spreading.

13. Totonac Transformations: Teologia India (±25') To be filmed Theme: Indian Catholicism and the potential for positive influence by the Church. Teologia India is a pan-American offshoot of Liberation theology. Priests committed to these principals have allowed and encouraged the expression and reformulation of Totonac sacred thought and dance.

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