PRECIOUS MANGROVE: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE

Abstract

The Seri indigenous people of Mexico have been living in the desert along the Sea of Cortés for thousands of years. Their territory includes the northern most mixed mangrove estuary in Mexico. After reviewing previous literature about the Seri and the estuary, I developed a set of questions and visited their villages for interviews and a field trip. The interview topics included how their family groups are defined, what the name was of the group that used to live near the estuary, the status of who is allowed to perform songs and explain traditions, and what environmental changes they have seen at the estuary. Theories about the connection between oral history, oral tradition, and historical events, provided a framework to examine what they told me. To provide another view of this estuary, I created a Normalized Data Vegetation Index using satellite imagery from the years 2000 to 2018 that provides information about the mangrove vegetation. Instead of only being research subjects, the communities in which anthropologists engage can be considered partners. Since some of the Seri are trained paraecologists, this vegetation index will be presented to them to help in their environmental observations.