Books published by University of New Mexico Press

The essays collected here address symbolic political speech associated with the bodies (and body parts) of martyred heroes in Latin America. The authors examine the processes through which these bodies are selected as political vessels, the forms in which they are venerated and memorialised, and the ways they are invested with meaning.

Sylvanus G. Morley was the most influential Mayan archaeologist of his generation and perhaps the greatest American spy of WWI. Harris and Sadler document for the first time Morley's dual career as a scholar and a spy. Working for the Office of Naval Intelligence, he proved an invaluable source of information about German and anti-American activity in Mexico and Central America.

Grounded in archival research and cultural and economic approaches, this new book situates Navajo weavers within the economic history of the Southwest and debunks the romantic stereotypes of weavers and traders that have dominated the literature.

The life of the black religious servant Ursula de Jesús (1604-1666) has remained one of the best-kept historical secrets of the New World. This English language translation of the diary she began in 1650 allows us to hear the voice of the former slave turned spiritualist.Born into slavery in Lima, Peru, Ursula entered a convent at the age of thirteen to serve a nun, and spent the next twenty-eight years as one of hundreds of slaves whose exhausting daily work afforded little time to contemplate religious matters. After surviving a potentially fatal accident, she chose a spiritual path, though remained a slave until one of the nuns purchased her freedom. Ursula began to see visions and communicate more frequently with God. Dead souls eager to diminish their stay in Purgatory approached her, and it was then that she assumed the role of intercessor on their behalf.Ursula's diary conveys the innuendos of convent life, but above all it offers a direct experience of baroque Catholic spirituality from the perspective of a woman of color. Nancy E. van Deusen selected approximately fifty pages from Ursula's diary to appear here as Ursula wrote them, in Spanish. Van Deusen's introduction situates Ursula's text within the milieu of medieval and early modern female spirituality, addresses the complexities of racial inequality, and explores the power of the written word.ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORSNancy E. van Deusen is professor of history at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.Lyman L. Johnson is professor of history at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. He is also the general editor for UNM Press's Dialogos series.ACCLAIM"This book is fascinating...a valuable asset to colonial Latin American Literature."-- Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies"This book offers fascinating insight into the Roman Catholic Church's role in the 17th-century slave trade and its harsh views of race and gender. As for de Jesús, she comes across as a woman of great wisdom and deep spirit who never turned bitter but who embraced the power of a greater humanity through an unshakeable faith. Her story should be read and savored."-- New York Resident"[The Souls of Purgatory] is a significant contribution to scholarship, and the editor has managed to make Ursula accessible to a wide and no doubt appreciative readership."-- Sixteenth Century Journal"Van Deusen's work has brought to light a fascinating historical character whose autobiographical writings impact upon many different areas of academic research."-- H-Net Reviews

This study argues that the collapse of Classic Maya civilization was driven by drought. Between A.D. 800 and 1000, unrelenting drought killed millions of Maya people with famine and thirst and initiated a cascade of internal collapses that destroyed their civilization.

One hundred documents written by Dine men, women, and children are collected in this book. Discovered during Iverson's research for the book, these letters, speeches, and petitions, almost all previously unpublished, provide a uniquely moving portrait of the Dine during an era in which they were fighting to defend their lands and build the Navajo Nation.

Offers a glimpse of a living American Indian religious tradition. This book includes descriptions of the selection and training of a medicine person, medicine plant uses, and ceremonies. Includes descriptions of the selection and training of a medicine person, medicine plant uses, and ceremonies of American Indians.

In his latest study of the Navajo language, Professor Robert W. Young tackles the obstacle that Navajo appears to be a verb-centered language in which all the verbs are ""irregular"".

Explores the ethical, legal, and intellectual issues related to excavating, selling, collecting, and owning cultural artefacts. Contributors, representing archaeology, law, museum administration, art history, and philosophy, suggest how the numerous interested groups can co-operate to resolve cultural heritage, ownership, and repatriation issues and improve the protection of cultural property.

"e;This collection of Hal Rothman's wide-ranging, brash, and brilliant essays on Las Vegas offers up a treasury of insights on the follies and possibilities of the New West. Confident, passionate, learned and, yes, wise, Rothman is simply one of the most important voices writing on the region today. He is also a hell of a lot of fun to read."e; - Virginia Scharff, professor of history and Director, Center for the Southwest, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and Women of the West chair at the Institute for the Study of the American West, Autry National Center, Los Angeles"e;Hal Rothman has been enlightening me, irritating me, surprising me, and making me laugh for twenty years. Reading his columns reminds me why. He has long been one of the brashest, loudest, smartest, and most original voices in the West. Not even ALS could quiet him. These columns aren't the same as talking to him, but they come close."e; - Richard White, Margaret Byrne Professor of American History, Stanford University"e;Hal Rothman is both the greatest Western historian of his generation and an H. L. Mencken in cowboy boots. Here is a magnificent collection of his opinion, wit, and wisdom."e; - Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums and Buda's Wagon

Modern Navajo tribal government originated in 1923 solely to approve oil leases. This book tracks the major changes brought to the Navajo people in the six decades following the discovery and exploitation of oil and gas on tribal lands.

The verb is the most important and the most complex part of Navajo grammar. For the first time, students and scholars interested in the Navajo language have a book that presents the verb system in a step-by-step and thorough fashion. By providing easy-to-follow descriptions with abundant examples, this book unravels the complexity of Navajo and reveals its expressiveness.

Walters' novel is a thriller centred on Smithsonian researchers persecuted by Native American ghosts. Human ears, strung like beads on a cord; scalps with hair and ears still intact; infant bones in a medicine bundle; corpses, whole, in a cardboard box. These artefacts in an obscure corner of the Smithsonian cause Indian ghosts to haunt, torment, and murder researchers.