Life in a Guatemalan Indian Village
By Benjamin D. Paul
Benjamin Paul, who later became the head of Stanford University's cultural anthropology department, describes the customs of the Maya of San Pedro la Laguna. Although many things have changed since the article was written in 1950, it still provides a deep and very human understanding of the people of this Tz'utujil Maya town.
The Maya Bonesetter as Sacred Specialist
By Benjamin D. Paul
San Pedro la Laguna is famous throughout Guatemala for its curanderos de huesos, Maya bonesetters. This short article, written in 1976, describes the process of becoming a curandero.
Careers of Midwives in a Mayan Community
By Lois Paul
In 1978 anthropologist Lois Paul, Benjamin Paul's wife, published this article about midwives in San Pedro la Laguna. One of the midwives in this article, Juana, is the subject of Barbara Rogoff's award winning 2011 book Developing Destinies: A Mayan Midwife and Town.
The Operation of a Death Squad in San Pedro La Laguna
By Benjamin D. Paul & William Demarest
In the conflict between the Guatemala military and guerrilla fighters, the worst violence in Guatemala occurred between 1980 and 1985. It manifested in different ways in different Maya towns. This article describes how it happened in San Pedro la Laguna.
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