by Geneen Marie Haugen . The second cougar-kill I’ve encountered in three days smells fresh: a sweetish, iron-tinged musk. The ribcage is red-stained and bare of meat; the neck has a tremendous bite mark. The deer is only partially covered with leaf litter and brush. I had not been expecting a carcass when I set off

by Dawn Wink and Susan J. Tweit Of all the arts and sciences made by man, none equals a language, for only a language in its living entirety can describe a unique and irreplaceable world. I saw this once, in the forest in southern Mexico, when a butterfly settled beside me. The color of it

by James D. Nations . Chiapas, Mexico, 2015 . . I spent the morning learning the names of dozens of dragonflies and skippers, the translucent-winged insects that flit along the edges of the crystalline-blue lakes where the Lacandón Maya live in the rainforest of southeastern Mexico. Chan K’in José Valenzuela, my 80-year-old Lacandón friend, has been

by David Stringer . . Endangered Languages and Biocultural Diversity Conservation Just over twenty years ago, many linguists were shocked into a new sense of urgency when Michael Krauss wrote his classic short article on the status of the world’s languages, in which he lamented that linguistics was about to “go down in history as the

by David Harmon . . Not long ago, Luisa Maffi shared an email with me. It was from a writer, well-traveled and worldly, with a background in both anthropology and biology. He had spent considerable time in Mexico walking the countryside, thinking in the open air, trying to unlock aspects of his experience that were eluding

by Beñat Garaio Mendizabal This magazine, and this “People’s Issue” in particular, are the loudspeakers and meeting point for those of us who believe that there is an alternative in this world, another way to understand our lives. We resist thinking that we will live and die on the same errant planet, a planet that

by Jordan Engel “More indigenous territory has been claimed by maps than by guns. This assertion has its corollary: more indigenous territory can be defended and reclaimed by maps than by guns.” — Bernard Nietschmann, geographer Throughout time and across cultures, the thing that is often most important to a people is land. While global industrial society’s

by Cristina Muru As main players in the academic debate, the Sciences and the Humanities have started a dialogue only in recent years. Until a few decades ago, the science, technology, engineering, and medicine sectors (STEM) and the humanities, arts, and social sciences sectors (HASS) largely ignored one another, having traditionally followed different aims and

by Bob Weeden I often think about this marvelous planet, both the place we call home and the world beyond our personal experience. I think in words and pictures. The words are about a wrong turn we made somewhere, unknowingly and with good intentions but bad consequences. The consequences to people are crowding, inequality, unfairness, despair,

Text by Dely Roy Nalo and Thomas Dick | Photos by Cristina Panicali and Sarah Doyle, with contributions by Ham Maurice Joel, Augustin Leasley, and Len Jacob Tafau Traditional: Habits and ways built over the years that are flexible and change in relation to new circumstances and situations Entertainment: An opportunity for the people to express