Abstract

MUNOZ MORAN, Oscar. Places from 'The Past': Mountain and Town in Purépecha History. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2009, vol.30, n.119, pp.159-190. ISSN 2448-7554.

Mountain and town are two of the cultural settings in which the Purépecha people carry out most of their social practices. A significant percentage of those practices are related to their history, which is signified through this spatial duality. 'The Past' -remote time- though not lived directly by the people, is the first defining factor of their indigenous territory. It was in 'The Past' that they abandoned their mountain habitat to settle in a more orderly fashion in towns created by the colonial system. This essay presents an overview of the ways in which one particular Purépecha town, Sevina, interprets the events that took place during that distant time and relates them to its present territory.

Keywords : ethnography; history; Purépechas; historical time and territory.

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