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Indian Rights and Customary Law in Mexico: A Study of the Nahuas in the Sierra de Puebla

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Maria Teresa Sierra
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Abstract

Based on the findings of a research project in a Nahua Indian area of central Mexico, this article focuses on the relationship between customary law and state law in the context of the administration of justice by and toward Indians. By showing how customary and state law interact and conflict in the everyday life of Indian people, it questions the idealized vision of customary law that appears to be taken for granted in the current debate over Indian rights in Mexico and Latin America. Thus a paradox is revealed between the intertwining of law and custom in social praxis and the revival of an ethnic discourse which calls for an autonomous indigenous legal system based on customary law.

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Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , 1995 , pp. 227 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 by The Law and Society Association

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Footnotes

I appreciate the invaluable suggestions Jane Collier made on an earlier draft. I am grateful to Victoria Chenaut, Enrique Hamel, and Bill Maurer for their punctual commentaries and to anonymous reviewers who pointed out important issues. I also acknowledge the Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Anthropology at Stanford University for the stimulating space for discussion and work they offered me during academic year 1993–94, when I wrote this article. This academic term was sponsored by the Fulbright-García Robles Program, CIESAS, and CONACYT (the names of these institutions are given in full immediately before the References).

References

CEMCA: Centro de Investigaciones Mexicano y Centroamericano.Google Scholar
CIESAS: Centro de Investigation y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social.Google Scholar
COLMEX: Colegio de México.Google Scholar
CONACYT: Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología.Google Scholar
FIPI: Frente Independiente de Pueblos Indios.Google Scholar
IIDH: Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos.Google Scholar
III: Instituto Interamericano Indigenista.Google Scholar
INAH: Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia.Google Scholar
INI: Instituto Nacional Indigenista.Google Scholar

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Local Documents

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