The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
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Received from Hubert Smith in 1976 (accession 1976-003), 1985 (accession 1985-008), 2013 (accession 2013-015).
Hubert Smith collection, Human Studies Film Archives, Smithsonian Institution
Film footage and edited films of Hubert Smith. Film projectes represented in the collection include
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
The Human Studies Film Archives also holds the American University Field Staff Faces of Change collection.
Outtakes of the edited film documenting a lower middle income American family of three children headed by a divorced woman.
Legacy keywords: Family ; Domestic relations
HSFA 1976.3.1
Full film record shot over a one-year period in the Yucatan Maya village of Chican (Mexico). Footage documents Mayan family life and agricultural practices with a focus on the relationship between traditional religion and the cultivation of corn. Social difficulties which arise from drought, family illness, and a government mandated "collective" orchard that goes against Maya cultural traditions are explored as is the pull of urban life upon a village family. The four-part film series, THE LIVING MAYA, which addresses issues of social change and modernization among the Maya, was produced from this project.
Legacy keywords: Agricultural crops ; Religion ; Health ; Children ; Villages Mexico ; Sign language ; Deafness
HSFA 1985.8.1
Edited film documents a case study of the formal means by which order and internal social cohesion are maintained among the Aymara in the Andes highlands of Bolivia. Featured is Ticona, the General Secretary of the Agricultural League, in his role as the mediator of village conflicts. Several scenarios are described. Emphasis is placed on Ticona's role of promoting shared cultural values, settling disputes, and reaching peaceful conclusions to conflict. Also addressed is the delicate relationship between Ticona and Jilakata, the traditional village leader. Themes explored are the use and abuse of alcohol, the importance of body language, and general strategies used to appease conflicts. Edited film was made from the Bolivia project from the American Unviersity Field Staff Faces of Change Series.
Camera: Neil Reichline
Uncut workprint (75.2.2), camera original outtakes (2013.16) and still photographs (2006.5) from the Bolivia projects, are in the Human Studies Film Archives.
Legacy keywords: Language and culture ; Conflict mediation resolution Aymara Bolivia South America ; Leadership political Aymara Bolivia South America ; Antagonism in group Aymara Bolivia South America ; Relations intercommunity Aymara Bolivia South America ; Values cultural ethical Aymara Bolivia South America ; Alcohol alcoholism Aymara Bolivia South America ; Social control Aymara Bolivia South America ; Social decision making Aymara Bolivia North America ; Social leadership Aymara Bolivia North America ; Social policy Aymara Bolivia South America ; Social interaction Aymara Bolivia North America ; Body posture Aymara Bolivia South America ; History oral, as a method Aymara Bolivia South America ; Culture continuity Aymara Bolivia South America ; Culture ideals Aymara Bolivia South America
HSFA 2013.15.1