Guiding the Deceased Among the mén dizhdea of Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

This text describes the ritual of guiding the deceased (jkonaz ñi kialbini) of the mén dizhdea, or Zapotecs of southern Oaxaca. This practice includes a speech along offerings of miniature artifacts. This route was based on a horizontal (collaborative) methodology and a situated approach, that helped document community members' experiences with the miniature artifacts carried by the deceased, including the notions of memory, lived territory and embodiment. This approach enables understanding the funerary ritual as a path that prepares the deceased, as an interface, moving from one layer of territory to another. One of the most important findings was that the places they refer to in the jkonaz ñi kialbini are places in the Zapotec territory. By discursively traversing these places, memory is forged and miniaturization is maintained. The interpretive framework of the anthropology of memory makes it possible to relate the notion of guide to the complex enunciator, highlighting their ability to accompany the deceased, prepare them, and activate their memory. This reflective process makes this study unique, since it exposes the affective polyvocality of the guide. These adaptations reveal which key actions of the ritual have been forgotten.