Awards

• Commended for Oregon Book Awards (Nonfiction) 2006

Overview

Once isolated from the modern world in the heights of the Andean mountains, the indigenous communities of Ecuador now send migrants to New York City as readily as they celebrate festivals whose roots reach back to the pre-Columbian past. Fascinated by this blending of old and new and eager to make a record of traditional customs and rituals before they disappear entirely, photographer-journalist Judy Blankenship spent several years in Canar, Ecuador, photographing the local people in their daily lives and conducting photography workshops to enable them to preserve their own visions of their culture. In this engaging book, Blankenship combines her sensitively observed photographs with an inviting text to tell the story of the most recent year she and her husband Michael spent living and working among the people of Canar. Very much a personal account of a community undergoing change, Canar documents such activities as plantings and harvests, religious processions, a traditional wedding, healing ceremonies, a death and funeral, and a home birth with a native midwife. Along the way, Blankenship describes how she and Michael went from being outsiders only warily accepted in the community to becoming neighbors and even godparents to some of the local children. She also explains how outside forces, from Ecuador's failing economy to globalization, are disrupting the traditional lifeways of the Canari as economic migration virtually empties highland communities of young people. Blankenship's words and photographs create a moving, intimate portrait of a people trying to balance the demands of the twenty-first century with the traditions that have formed their identity for centuries.

Full Product Details

Author:   Judy Blankenship
Publisher:   University of Texas Press
Imprint:   University of Texas Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.313kg
ISBN:  

9780292706392

ISBN 10:   0292706391
Pages:   223
Publication Date:   01 April 2005
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Replaced By:   9780292754188
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1. Old Friends Chapter 2. Killa Raymi: Festival of the Moon Chapter 3. A House in Canar Chapter 4. The Day of the Dead Chapter 5. La Limpieza Chapter 6. A Dinner to Honor the Dead, and Us Chapter 7. The Meeting Chapter 8. Greeting the New Year Chapter 9. Life in Canar at Three Months Chapter 10. Dia de San Antonio Chapter 11. This Camera Pleases Me Chapter 12. The New Economy Chapter 13. A Death in Canar Chapter 14. Carnaval Chapter 15. Betrothal, Canari Style Chapter 16. Life in Canar at Six Months Chapter 17. A Wedding Chapter 18. Mama Michi Goes to Canada Chapter 19. The Way Things Work Chapter 20. A Birth in Canar Chapter 21. We Walk the Inca Trail Chapter 22. Saying Good-bye

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Author Information

Judy Blankenship is an independent journalist, photographer, and editor based in Portland, Oregon.

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