Incidents of Travel in Chichen Itza
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Incidents of Travel in Chichén Itzá[1] is an ethnographic film (ethnographic documentary). Jeff Himpele and Quetzil E. Castañeda, filmmakers and producers.[2] Production 1995 and 1997. Postproduction release: 1997.[3]
This ethnographic film can be considered as a combination of the documentary film styles that Bill Nichols calls the participatory and the performative modes.[4] While shooting the film, the filmmakers emphasized techniques of cinéma verité as pioneered in anthropological films by Jean Rouch. It has become a classic film text in the anthropology of tourism for its portrayal of the economic, social, cultural and political conflicts surrounding a major international tourism destination based on archaeological heritage. It is also a classic in the anthropology of religion and used as a vivid ethnographic account of New Age spiritualists and their practices.
This ethnographic film was shot entirely on location at the archaeological and tourism site of Chichén Itzá and the nearby Maya Indian community of Pisté, Yucatán, México, during the spring equinox of 1995 and 1997. The film was shot during the equinox event at Chichen Itza and includes interviews and footage with New Age Spiritualists, State archaeology authorities, secular tourists, artisans, venders, local political leaders.
Ethnographic Analysis of the Spring Equinox at Chichen Itza
The equinox event is a state-sponsored tourism ritual and celebration of the Maya. In 1928 after reconstructing the main pyramid of Chichén Itzá, which is called the Castillo (or Castle) and the Pyramid of Kukulcan, archaeologists noticed a peculiar phenomena involving the setting sun and the pyramid. Specifically, the setting sun casts shadow of the northwest corner of the pyramid onto the balustrade of the north staircase. Beginning in 1974 this began to be interpreted as the symbolic descent of K'uk'ulcan. The name of this god is often translated as Feathered Serpent but is a literal rendition in Maya of the Nahuatl name Quetzalcoatl.
Beginning in 1984 the State Government of Yucatán, Mexico, in collaboration with the federal National Institute of Anthropology and History, began to develop a tourist ritual celebration that included traditional Yucatec dance called Jarana, reconstructed pre-columbian dances and music, classical Yucatec guitar trios and an explanation of the equinox phenomenon according to the most prevalent and dominant archaeoastronomical interpretation. Performers included both professionals and student groups ranging in age from children to adult dance and music groups throughout the state. It was a general celebration of Maya and Yucatecan cultures.
Following the first nationally televised vernal equinox in 1984 and the publications of new age maya books such as José Argüelles, The Mayan Factor, this event began to attract various types of new age religious groups, including contemporary Mexican Gnostics, Aztec Revivialists, US New Age Spiritualists, and other fringe sects.
See https://www.flickr.com/photos/der/211080687/in/photostream/
Sources: Quetzil Castaneda, Chapter 6, "Vernal Return and Cosmos: That Serpent on the Balustrade and the New Age Invasion." In the Museum of Maya Culture, 1996.[5]