SALOMÓN NAHMAD

1. SALOMÓN NAHMAD Highlighting his life

2. People have many angles and dimensions from which they can be observed and described. In some persons these dimensions are greatly multiplied. Speaking about Salomón is not easy because his path has covered much ground, from the spheres of anthropology to public office through the dark, as well as the luminous, corridors of politics and international organisms, and a broad range of social clases and cultures of Mexico.

3. To recapitulate, even briefly, Salomón´s life is at the same time a journey within Mexico´s recent history and government policy towards indigenous peoples, the theories and practices of applied anthropology, as well as his own thought system and philosophy of life.

4. His vocation for understanding diversity has its origins in Orizaba, Veracruz, at the Venustiano Carranza elementary school, when, for the first time, he heard his classmates speak Nahuatl, the same language he heard in the market when the people from the outlying villages would come to town to sell their wares. His grandmother, at home, would speak arabic, and at school, his teacher would speak spanish. These were childhood experiences which made him aware of different ways of being and speaking. Understanding this complex reality was one of his first challenges.

5. When he was 22 years old he travelled to Hidalgo to do research in Ciudad Sagún. Sensitive to the problems of the people inhabiting that city, he wrote about the contradictions created by government programs which aspire to foment development but, inadvertently, create conflicts.

6. His work aimed at analyzing, understanding, and explaining these contradictions. Since then he became aware of the fact that between the desire to homogenize the country in one single mexican identity, and the multiple and diverse realities, there is an abyss of incomprehension and authoritarianism, difficult to surpass. For Salomon, explaining and defending diversity became a challenge which would accompany him for the rest of his life.He is a man of passion and commitments.

7. Oaxaca in México In 1963, when he was 27, Oaxaca appeared in the map of his life as a new and important space. He undertook a sociocultural study in the Sierra Norte of the state, near the Cempoatlepetl mountain. He interpreted the people´s sentiments, discovered their history, investigated the ethnology of the people of el rey Cong-Hoy and established a line of research which still continues.

8. Master´sthesis in ethnology This first research project was written up as his master´s thesis in ethnology from the EscuelaNacional de Antropología e Historia, “The Mixes: a socio-cultural study”. From 1968 to 1971 he undertook doctoral studies at the División de EstudiosSuperiores of the National University. While he studied, he continued to work.

9. Teachers and friends The teachers who guided him were Robert Weitlaner, Julio de la Fuente, Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, and Alfonso Caso, an important figure in his training. Among his friends are Guillermo Bonfil, Leonel Durand, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, Thomas Weaver, James Greenberg, and Ted Downing.

10. In his fieldwork and the research he was entrusted with, he become familiar with the suffering and the poverty of various ethnic groups, but also the dignity and courage with which the mayos, tarahumaras, huicholes and, above all, the yaquis confronted civil servants and government representatives, to demand respect for their cultures, contested by colonial and postcolonial attitudes. All this resulted in deep admiration for these cultures and the confirmation that they are clearly alive, as well as their languages and oral history.

11. Ethical and intellectual commitments SalomónNahmad´s tree of intelligence and action grew many branches, fueled by principles and ethical values of social justice and equal rights for all. His readings and mentors are the anthropology classics: Boas, Redfield, and above all, Gamio. Manuel Gamio became an important figure in the young Nahmad´s horizon, not only because of his academic work, but also because of the impact he had on government programs and policies.

12. Instituto Nacional Indigenista Salomón began working as an anthropologist within the public federal administration in different centers of the InstitutoNacionalIndigenista, in the states of Guerrero, Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Jalisco, Nayarit, and Michoacán.

13. Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán Dr. Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán invited Salomón to work with him as assistant director of the InstitutoNacionalIndigenista (INI). After 10 years of working in the institution he was well aware of the issues and problems involved. During the time he had been from the capital, he had the opportunity of getting to know the anthropologists that had been away working in various native mexicanindians regions in the country

14. 1972-1978 It is not surprising that from 1972 to 1978 the INI published a series of anthroplogical works which added new dimensions to the awareness about the ethnic groups of México. Among many publications are those of: Julio de la Fuente, Karen B. Reed, Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, Lourdes Arizpe, Robert Hartman, Nancy Modiano just to mention a few of more than forty authors which were published.

15. Controversial subject The subject which had begun to preoccupy anthropologists in the seventies, and was becoming controversial, was related to policies of the mexican government towards the ethnic groups and the results of integrationist efforts. It was then that the two volumes of “La PolíticaIndigenista de México: Métodos y Resultados” was published by the INI with contributions by Alfonso Caso, Sylvio Zavala, José Miranda, Moisés González Navarro, Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán, and Ricardo Pozas. The critical input from anthropologists opened the way for new approaches in policies regarding ethnic groups.

16. Goverment´spolicies The judicious viewpoint of Salomón the adjunct director of the INI, who in fact was the operative director, stimulated events in indianistpolicies of that time. This, as well as the widespread publication of anthropological works and information about the ethinic groups were important achievments in Salomón´s trajectory.

17. General director of educaciónindigena In 1978 he was named general director of educaciónindígena of the national education department. It is then that new training programs forteachers from different ethnic groups were created and biligual educational centers were fostered, as part of a new approach towards the situation of the different ethinic groups in the country.

18. Letters to Salomón In “Letters to Salomón” a book by Irena Majchrzak, many of these experiences and the great obstacles which the program faced in the beginning are voiced. After four years at the Department of Public Education, Salomón returned to the InstitutoNacionalIndigenista

19. 1982 When, in 1982, he was finally named general director of the INI, towards the beginning of Miguel de la Madrid´s presidency, Salomón heard the president say to the native mexican Indiansthat they would design the development plans for their people.

20. Excited about the possibility for equity this posed, he began to name indígenas as directors of the regional centers. As director of the INI he collaborated with mixtecsenator, HeladioRamírez in writing up legislation which would give a fairer treatment to indians. The Secretary of State was not pleased with this.

21. Thedarkside of politics It was then that Salomón encountered the dark side of politics. Some governors complained about the INI´s new policies and caused a change of attitude towards the Director of the Institute on behalf of public officers, including the Secretary of State. Notwithstanding the President´s campaign promises, for some, including De la Madrid himself, Salomón´s activities were view as threatening to traditional mexican politics, and upsetting long-established interests related to the native mexicanindian communities.

22. Persecuted and jailed In the history of México, on many occasions, intellectuals have been persecuted, jailed, and have had to leave the country. This was Salomóns fate when he confronted the indigenista policy of Miguel de la Madrid presidency.

23. He challengedthepresident From his position as a public official he challenged the President to follow thorugh on his agreements with the ethnic groups. This was interpreted as lack of respect and he was accused of “not fulfilling his duties” and attacked publicly. The press, financed by the government, used the racist tactics customary when wanting to stigmatize someone by resorting to nationalism and accusing him of being a foreigner.

24. Reactionaryattitudesexposed This exposed the racism behind reactionary attitudes, specifically antisemitism. In synthesis, authoritarian political power does not allow criticism nor questioning the President´s policies and actions.

25. Theeyes of theanthropologist What it is important to highlight from these years in which he worked within the government, is that behind the public servant lay the eyes of the anthropoligist, the social scientist, the humanist desirous of social change. Just as his life as a civil servant was intense, so has been his academic life. He has taught at the National University, at the EscuelaNacional de Antropología e Historia, at the Universidad Iberoamericana, and the Universidad Benito Juarez in Oaxaca.

26. 1997-1998 Among the course related to applied social anthropology that he has taught are “The creation of the nation and state in relation to different ethnic groups”; “Legislation and human rights”, among others. In 1997-1998, he imparts the “Cátedrapatrimonial del ConsejoNacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), in the anthropology department of the Autonomous University of the Estado de México, offered to faculty of that department. He has also taught at Texas Tech and the University of Arizona, in the United States.

27. Hisrelationshipwith Oaxaca As I mention before, his relationship with Oaxaca has a long history; it was in this state that he began his career as an anthropologist, and where he carried out his first field work, and his undergraduate thesis. Later, as the director of the INI, he was instrumental in gaining recognition for the ethnic groups of Oaxaca, and their intellectuals.

28. CIESAS IN OAXACA He returned to Oaxaca in 1987 to establish a state unit of the Centro de Investigaciones y EstudiosSuperiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS).Because of his background it could be said that he was destined to reside in Oaxaca. Salomón says that the “ CIESAS in Oaxaca did not come into being through theoretical anthropology but because of political and indigenous anthropology”.

29. Thecreation of research centers… For the new task of creating CIESAS in Oaxaca, he consider important to work with the different ethnic groups that had already their own trained ethno linguists. He also was eager to include mixtec, mazatec, zapotec, chinantec and mixeintelectuals in the creation of centers of study and research about their cultures and languages.

30. Computers and data I remember when the CIESAS unit of Oaxaca began to function in 1988, he was eager for the researchers to become proficient in the use of computers and the creation of data bases As always, some complained and claimed that computers “were the invention of yankee imperialism” in order to exert control over everything.

31. Salomón´spatience and humor With patience and humor, Salomón convinced the collegue that it was only a tool. Those who resisted the introduction of this technology, in time became experts in using it. As a workplace companion it is important to highlight his unpretentious and generous nature.

32. Sistema de Información Geográfica His fascination with new technological tools led Salomón to work on the Sistema de InformaciónGeográficaand, from CIESAS Oaxaca, create for the Web a page with profiles of the ethnic groups of México.

33. Hisresearch During his life, he has done fieldwork and research with various ethnic groups in México, among them: Tzetzales, Chochos, Chinantecos, Mixes, Tlapanecos, Nahuas, Huicholes, Coras and Mayas, and produced more than thirty books.

34. Scietificassociations He belongs to more than a dozen scientific and professional associations. From 1962 until 2010 he has participated in fifty international congresses and has published more than sixty articles, besides chapters of many books. But it is not only due to the quantity but to the quality of his work that he has gained international recognition

35. Ley de pueblos y comunidades indígenas de Oaxaca He was an advisor on indian affairs for the government of Oaxaca in 1992 and participated actively on the proposed Ley de pueblos y comunidadesindígenas de Oaxaca, which was aproved by the state congress in 1998, and is one of the most advanced legislation in the country.

36. COMMITTMENT Thinking about SalomónNahmad is thinking about a man committed to his time, to service and justice. Committed to his time because he was able to participate in the construction of a Mexico in which pueblos indios would be treated justly. From within the InstitutoNacionalIndigenista he helped understand and solve the problems of the boarding schools for children from native mexicanindian communities.

37. World Bank His research on poverty led him to discover different dimensions to this problem with which he confronted World Bank officers to take into account cultural and historical aspects of the native mexicanindian pueblos. From whatever position he has been in he has always been an advocate for those who have less and has fought against discrimination and racism, helping to write up laws which include the human rights of the pueblosindiosof Mexico.

38. It is impossible to sum up Salomóns life´s work in a few minutes. I have attempted a synthesis but I am aware that many important aspects have not been covered.

39. Salomón Nahmad´srecognition The recognition SalomónNahmad is receiving today, the Malinowsky Prize, for his trajectory, is well deserved not only for his contributions to applied anthropology and the legislative changes and the ethics in public service he has fostered, but also for the quality of his nature, in the best sense of that word, his respect and compassion for others.