CENTRE OF IBERO-AMERICAN STUDIES KIAS PAPERS 2008 SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY 20 WHEN MALINCHE DANCES WITH MONTEZUMA: RELIGION, ETHNICITY AND CULTURAL CHANGE IN NEW MEXICO 1 Přemysl Mácha 2 ABSTRACT One of the principal themes in the study of Latin American catholicism is the question of the authenticity versus the syncretism of particular religious traditions. In our opinion, the dichotomy between the authentic and the syncretic is false and does not correspond with the meaning of those traditions as they are lived and experienced. Using as our case study the Matachines dance in New Mexico, we show that the key source of authenticity of a tradition is precisely its syncretism, wherein the creative spirit of the people who maintain the tradition is manifested. KEY WORDS: Hybridity, authenticity, Matachines, ethnicity, New Mexico, Latin America. RESUMEN CUANDO LA MALINCHE BAILA CON MONTEZUMA: RELIGION, ETNICIDAD Y CAMBIO CULTURAL EN NUEVO MEXICO Uno de los temas principales en los estudios del catolicismo latinoamericano es la cuestión de la autenticidad o el sincretismo de las tradiciones estudiadas. En nuestra opinión, la dicotomía entre lo auténtico y lo sincrético es falsa y no corresponde al significado de las tradiciones como son vividas y experimentadas. En el ejemplo de la danza de los matachines en Nuevo México demonstramos que la fuente clave para la autenticidad de la tradicion es precisamente su sincretismo en el que se manifiesta el espíritu creativo de los pueblos que mantienen la danza en sus ciclos ceremoniales. PALABRAS CLAVES: mestizaje, autenticidad, danza de los matachines, etnicidad, Nuevo México, América Latina. INTRODUCTION One of the central themes in the study of Latin American catholicism has been the question of genuineness and syncretism. Taking that as our reference context we have decided to explore the topic from the margins, so to say. First of all, we will use as our case study material gathered in New Mexico, an area which no longer is part of Latin America although – as we will see – it still carries a strong imprint of its common history with regions south of the U.S. – the Mexico border. And second of all, being anthropologists, and political anthropologists at that, we will analyze the question not from the perspective of religious studies but rather from the perspective of identity politics. Specifically, we will argue that the question of what is genuine and what is syncretic in Latin American (or any) religions is not a theological, historical or 1 This paper is one of the outputs of the grant no. 403/06/0301 awarded by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic. It also could not have been written without the kind support of the Fulbright Commission in Prague. 2 PhDr. Přemysl Mácha, Ph.D., Katedra sociální geografie a regionálního rozvoje, Přírodovědecká fakulta, Ostravská univerzita, Chittusiho 10, 710 00 Ostrava, tel.: +420 597 092 348, e-mail: premysl.macha@osu.cz.