Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2002 No place to die: the poetics of roadside sacred places in Mexico Daniel Raymond Weir Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Weir, Daniel Raymond, "No place to die: the poetics of roadside sacred places in Mexico" (2002). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 310. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/310 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. NO PLACE TO DIE: THE POETICS OF ROADSIDE SACRED PLACES IN MEXICO VOLUME I A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by Daniel Raymond Weir B.A., San Diego State University, 1995 M.A., San Diego State University, 1997 May 2002 Copyright 2002 Daniel Raymond Weir All rights reserved ii To Those who wept, and to María, Virgen de Guadalupe, Madre de Dios, y Reina de México. Petition granted, promise kept. ¡Gracias! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………....……………………………. vi LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………………….…….. ix ABSTRACT…………………………………… CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION………………………………………...………………...…… 1 1.1 Maneuvering Through the Text…………………………………………………...… 2 1.2 The Place of this Work……………………………………….…………………...… 4 1.3 Scale, Scope, and Method………………………………………………………...…. 7 1.4 A Note on Human Geography………………………………..………………….… 10 CHAPTER 2. CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT: MOTION, EMOTION, AND METAPHOR …... 11 CHAPTER 3. NARRATIVE CONTEXT: A ROSE PETAL ON DAD’S CASKET ………… 22 CHAPTER 4. TEXT: ARID, NORTHERN MEXICO………………………..……………….. 26 4.1 Baja California Norte…………………………………………….………………… 27 4.2 Baja California Sur………………………………………………………………… 32 4.3 Sonora……………………………………………………………………………… 38 4.4. Sinaloa………………………………………………………….………………….. 47 4.5 Nayarit………………………………………………………….…………………... 52 4.6 Chihuahua………………………………………………………………………….. 53 4.7 Durango…………………………………………………………………………….. 59 4.8 Zacatecas…………………………………………………………………………… 65 4.9 Coahuila……………………………………………………………………………. 70 4.10 Nuevo León……………………………………………………………………….. 73 4.11 Tamaulipas………………………………………………………………………... 75 4.12 San Luis Potosí…………………………………………………………………… 77 CHAPTER 5. CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT: MODERN LIFE, MEDIEVAL DEATH …….… 80 CHAPTER 6. NARRATIVE CONTEXT: “JUST GET ME THROUGH THIS…” ……….…. 94 CHAPTER 7. TEXT: TEMPERATE, CENTRAL MEXICO…………………..……………... 99 7.1 Jalisco………………………………………………………………..…………….. 99 7.2 Michoacán………………………………………………………………………... 101 7.3 Aguascalientes…………………………………………………………………… 106 7.4 Guanajuato……………………………………………………………………….. 108 7.5 Querétaro………………………………………………………………………… 110 7.6 México…………………………………………………………………………… 114 7.7 Morelos…………………………………………………………………………... 115 7.8 Hidalgo………………………………………………………………………….... 117 7.9 Tlaxcala…………………………………………………………………………... 118 7.10 Puebla…………………………………………………………………………… 120 iv CHAPTER 8. CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT: (MESTIZO CULTURE)x …….……………….. 127 CHAPTER 9. NARRATIVE CONTEXT: “MY SON DIED HERE ON NAVIDAD” …….… 148 CHAPTER 10. TEXT: TROPICAL, SOUTHERN MEXICO.……………………...……….. 153 10.1 Colima………………………………………...………………………………… 154 10.2 Guerrero………………………………………………………………………… 156 10.3 Oaxaca…………………………………………………………………..………. 160 10.4 Chiapas…………………………………………………………..……………… 171 10.5 Veracruz…………………………………………………………..…………….. 184 10.6 Tabasco…………………………………………………………………………. 188 10.7 Campeche…………………………………………………………….…………. 190 10.8 Qunitana Roo……………………………………………………………...……. 192 10.9 Yucatán…………………………………………………………………………. 195 CHAPTER 11. SYMBOLIC/POETIC ATTRIBUTES OF THE TEXT……...……………… 198 11.1 Site and Situation of Artifacts………………………………………….……….. 198 11.2 The Physical Attributes of Artifacts………………………………..…………... 201 11.3 Objects Associated with Roadside Artifacts……………………………………. 205 CHAPTER 12. CONCLUSION: MESTIZO CULTURE, PLACE, POETICS.…..…..……… 212 12.1 Mestizo Culture: The Poetics of Place, in Particular……….………………….... 212 12.2 Mestizo Culture: The Poetics of Place, in General………………………...……. 221 12.3 Mestizo Place……………………………………………………………………. 223 12.4 Mestizo Poetics……………………………………………………………….…. 225 12.5 A Final Note on Experiential Knowledge and Epistemic Humility…………..… 227 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………..……………. 228 VOLUME II APPENDIX A: NORTHERN MEXICO DATA TABLES………………………..…….……. 249 APPENDIX B: CENTRAL MEXICO DATA TABLES………………………….………..…. 381 APPENDIX C: SOUTHERN MEXICO DATA TABLES…………………….…………….... 437 VITA……………………………………………………………………………………...…… 506 v LIST OF TABLES 10.01…………………………………………...…………………………………….………… 154 A4.1 Baja California Norte……………………………………………………….…………… 250 A4.2 Baja California Sur………………………………………………….…………………… 258 A4.3 Sonora…………………………………………………………………………………… 266 A4.4 Sinaloa……………………………….…………………………………………...……… 297 A4.5 Nayarit…………………………………………….………………………….………….. 313 A4.6 Chihuahua……………...………………………………………………………...……… 319 A4.7 Durango…………………….…………………………………………………….……… 330 A4.8 Zacatecas………………………………………………………………………………… 340 A4.9 Coahuila…………………………………………………………………………….…… 355 A4.10 Nuevo León…………………………………………………………………………….. 362 A4.11 Tamaulipas………………………………………………………………..……………. 366 A4.12 San Luis Potosí…………………………….…………………………………...………. 376 B7.1 Jalisco…………………………………………………………………….……………… 382 B7.2 Michoacán…………………………………………………………………..…………… 388 B7.3 Aguascalientes………………….…………………………………………………….….. 398 B7.4 Guanajuato……………………………………………………………………...……….. 400 B7.5 Querétaro………………….……………………………………………………….…….. 404 B7.6 México………………………………….…………………………...…………………… 410 B7.7 Morelos……………………………………………….………………………..………… 414 B7.8 Hidalgo………………………………………………………………………….……….. 419 B7.9 Tlaxcala………………………………………………………………………………….. 423 B7.10 Puebla……………………………………………………………………………...…… 427 C10.1 Colima…………………………………………………………………….……………. 438 C10.2 Guerrero……………………………………………………………...………………… 441 vi C10.3 Oaxaca………………….………………………………………………………….…… 450 C10.4 Chiapas………………………………………………………………...……………….. 465 C10.5 Veracruz…………………………………………………………………………..……. 478 C10.6 Tabasco……………………………………………………….………………………… 496 C10.7 Campeche……………………………………………………………………….……… 500 C10.8 Qunitana Roo…………………….……………………………………………………….503 C10.9 Yucatán……………………………………….………………………………...………. 505 vii LIST OF FIGURES 1.1: Sixteenth century wayside “nichos” in Mexico……………………...……….…………..… 1 1.2: Map of survey transects, including transect numbers…….…………………………………. 4 1.3: Distribution of roadside sites, and site clusters, discussed in this text….……………..……. 9 4.01: State Location Map of Mexico……….……………………………..……………………. 26 4.1.1: Map of Baja California (Norte), survey routes and places…….……………..………….. 28 4.1.2: Nichos showing regional style and change over time….………………………………… 28 4.1.3: BN84, multiple crosses…….…………………………………..………………………… 30 4.1.4: ‘Special’ roadside crosses….………………………………………..…………………… 30 4.2.1: Map of Baja California Sur, survey routes and places……….…………...……………… 32 4.2.2: “Nicho-Shrines” as enduring sacred places and artistic expression….………………….. 33 4.2.3: Religious and secular monuments……………………………………………………….. 35 4.2.4: Site BS83, a grandiose memorial in a remote location…………...……………………… 36 4.2.5: Two views of BS107, a cross and 14 broken pillars……….…………………………….. 37 4.2.6: Two views of BS108, an elaborate nicho complex……………………………………… 37 4.3.1: Map of Sonora, survey routes and places…………………...…………………………… 39 4.3.2: A cross/monument 13 and 15 years after the man’s death………………………………. 40 4.3.3: Sites with poems of word and action………………………………….…………………. 41 4.3.4: Site SN508, where a mother, her six children, and others died in a bus wreck……….…. 43 4.3.5: Shrine to the popular ‘saint’ Juan Soldado…………………………...………………….. 45 4.3.6: Shrines to Jésus Malverde, a Mexican ‘Robin Hood’……………………..…………….. 46 4.3.7: SN627, a shrine complex at a ‘miraculous’ spring………………………...…………….. 47 4.4.1: Map of Sinaloa, survey routes and places…………………………...…………………… 48 4.4.2: Examples of diverse crosses in Sinaloa………………………………………………….. 49 4.4.3: Three Sinaloan nichos……………………...…………………………………………….. 50 viii 4.4.4: A religious shrine and two views of a death shrine in Sinaloa…………..………………. 51 4.5.1: Map of Nayarit, survey routes and places…………………..……………………………. 52 4.5.2: A cross in memory of a 31-year-old woman………………..…………………………… 53 4.6.1: Map of Chihuahua, survey routes and places…………………….……………………… 54 4.6.2: CH322, a true grotto……………………………………….…………………………….. 54 4.6.3: Various expressive, or poetic, attributes of nichos…………….………………………… 56 4.7.1: Map of Durango, survey routes and places………….…………………………………… 59 4.7.2: Death memorials that create an “unruly” reality…………………………………………. 60 4.7.3: Roadside crosses, examples of variation, materials and scale…………...………………. 61 4.7.4: A variety of nichos in Durango………………………………...………………………… 63 4.8.1: Map of Zacatecas, survey routes and places………………..……………………………. 65 4.8.2: Memorials commemorating multiple deaths…………….………………………………. 65 4.8.3: Cross/monuments featuring four joined arcs…………………………………………….. 67 4.8.4: Handmade nichos………………………………………..……………………………….. 67 4.8.5: Sacred Heart monuments………………………………………...………………………. 68 4.8.6: ZT51, a grandiose cross……………………………..……………………………………