In recent years the Nayari (Cora) people of northwestern Mexico have experienced violence at the hands of drug producers and traffickers. Although a drug economy may seem potentially lucrative to such peasants, spreading violence tied to this trade threatens to destroy their community. This book argues that the source of the problem lies not solely in drug trafficking but also in the breakdown of traditional political authority.

By studying the history of religious practices that legitimate such authority, Philip Coyle shows that a contradiction exists between ceremonially based...

In recent years the Nayari (Cora) people of northwestern Mexico have experienced violence at the hands of drug producers and traffickers. Although a drug economy may seem potentially lucrative to such peasants, spreading violence tied to this trade threatens to destroy their community.
This book argues that the source of the problem lies not solely in drug trafficking but also in the breakdown of traditional political authority. By studying the history of religious practices that legitimate such authority, Philip Coyle shows that a contradiction exists between ceremonially based...