On today’s podcast Jessica hosts Dr. Adolfo Iván Batún-Alpuche (Maya) Professor and Investigator at the Universidad del Oriente, Valladolid, Yucatán, and Dr. Khristin Landry-Montes, Project Facilitator and Affiliated Researcher with InHerit: Indigenous Heritage Passed to Present at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Drs. Batún and Landry-Montes have been working on archaeology outreach in local Maya communities in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. They have been working with local middle school teachers to teach students about cenotes, underground freshwater aquifers, and their cultural, archaeological, and ecological importance. As one of my favorite part of this project, naturally, they are having students conduct oral history interviews with elders in their communities. Dr. Batún also shares about a previous community archaeology project that resulted not only in a community museum and heritage trail, but also reconnecting the community to their beekeeping heritage. In addition to their specific work in the Yucatán, we talk about what it’s like to be indigenous in Mexico and what it means to be “Maya”, still here, but not a stereotype or single entity.
Links
https://arqueologiamexicana.mx/tahcabo (“Tiempo y paisaje en Tahcabo” Adolfo Iván Batún Alpuche, Patricia A. McAnany y Maia Dedrick- Article about Dr. Batún, Dr. McAnany, and Dr. Dedrick’s archaeology work at Tahcabo)
National Geographic Open Explorer Cenote Conservation and History
https://openexplorer.nationalgeographic.com/expedition/cenoteconservationandhistory
February 2019 InHerit newsletter with more updates on and pictures of cenotes projects