Infanticide Among the Tarahumara of the Mexican Sierra Madre

Abstract

It is axiomatic to anthropology that human behavior must be understood within the context of the culture in which it occurs. For example, the extreme fear of lightning among the Tarahumara, noted as early as the 17th century (Gonzalez Rodriguez 1982: 178, 196) and today expressed in their baptismal ceremonies (Mull 1985), at first glance seems irrational—a “primitive” fear. It becomes more understandable, however, once it is realized that (a) lightning bolts are common in the region, causing considerable destruction and death, and (b) lightning, like certain other celestial phenomena such as a haze-covered sun, is interpreted by the Tarahumara as a sign of serious cosmic disruption. So too the existence of culturally-sanctioned infanticide may seem incomprehensible unless we understand the internal and external constraints at work to produce it.