Indigenous Peoples of Mesoamerica and Central America

Robert Carmack is retired professor of anthropology at the University at Albany–SUNY.

• Chapter 1: The Spaniards Discover Aboriginal Central America Chapter 2: Native Peoples of the Three Major Pre-Hispanic Central American Socio-Cultural Regions Chapter 3: Central American Native Peoples at the Time of Spanish Contact Chapter 4: Mesoamerican Influence on and Ties with Central America’s Native American Peoples Chapter 5: Case Study 1: The K’iche’-Mayan Peoples of GuatemalaChapter 6: Case Study 2: Masaya and the Indigenous Peoples of NicaraguaChapter 7: Case Study 3: Buenos Aires and the Native Peoples of Costa RicaChapter 8: The Lasting Legacy of the Central American Native Peoples

With case studies from Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, Carmack adeptly analyzes how Central American indigenous peoples shaped their social and natural worlds from the long pre-Hispanic era to the present. Taken together, his conclusions demonstrate the myriad ways indigenous people continue to influence their nations.