The Highland Maya: A Case Study in Economic Anthropology

Overview

This episode explores the complicated "cargo system" of the Mayan Indian populations of Southern Mexico and Northern Guatemala. The cargo system has evolved over time into an amalgamation of ancient Mayan Indian pagan culture and Catholicism present since Spanish involvement in the region in the seventeenth century. The social system involves a series of four levels each man is expected to pass through in his life during which he is obligated to a period of service to his community. At each step he pays his village a certain percentage of his earned income. In return, as a man progresses through each level, he attains a greater degree of responsibility and gains greater prestige in his community.