Known particularly for his works on the conquest and the early colonial period of Mexican history (In the Footsteps of Cortés; The Century After Cortés), Fernando Benítez in this work examines the Mexican Indian population as a whole. It is a disorganized book on a variety of features of native life, including some summary history, an account of the author’s visit to the Tarahumara, material on ancient Mixtec and Zapotec civilizations, and a series of recorded conversations with modern Indians. A second volume will treat native hallucinatory drugs.
What gives this miscellany its unity is the frank spirit of indigenismo that characterizes Benítez’ point of view. Suppression and neglect of Indian peoples receive repeated comment and denunciation in the historical sections, and the Indian of the twentieth century is understood essentially as the victim of systematic coercion and deceit. Whites and mestizos, usurpers of land, and callous or indifferent political authorities are the villains here, and ample evidence is provided from Benítez’ personal experience to demonstrate that classic forms of exploitation continue to the present. Words of praise, also based upon the author’s experience, are addressed to the agents of the Instituto Nacional Indigenista and the Secretaría de Educación. These make up a “pequeño ejército del bosque” engaged in educating, protecting, and bringing their anthropological training to the support of the indigenous peoples.
The short personal narratives by Indians, which make up an important portion of the book, exemplify the themes of grinding poverty, political subordination, and helplessness. The whole is a personal and unscientific but very humane and persuasive treatment. The illustrations are principally of modern Indian life in different parts of the Republic.
