ABSTRACT
A few years ago I was filming in the Yucatan in Mexico. I was interviewing a group of women in their home. We sat on stones on an earthen floor, the light from an open fire flickering across the baked walls and thatched roof. The women were making tortillas (corn bread) and talking about their lives. This was the way bread had ‘always’ been made they said, as they slapped it from hand to hand before throwing it on to the red hot grill. Outside, the late afternoon faded into evening, and the noises of the night grew in intensity among the trees in which the house was set. It seemed a picture of a ‘truly indigenous’ culture preserving its customs, its clothing, its corn bread and its beliefs.
