ETHNOLOGY 899

of proletarians: it becomes proletarian an- thropology.

Ma Ngombe: Guerreros y Ganaderoa en Palenque. Nina S . de Friedemann and Richard Cross. Bogota: Carlos Valencia Editores, 1979. 228 pp. n.p. (cloth).

Richard Price The Johns Hopkins University

This handsomely designed book is a feast for both eye and mind. A verbal and photographic homage to the people of Palenque, descendants of Colombia’s most famous rebel slave group, it provides the most comprehensive picture ever produced of daily life and history in an Afro- Hispanic maroon community. The books dedi- cation “to the maroon heroes of yesterday who struggled for their liberty, and to their descen- dants of today who carry on the struggle, proud to be Black” does not betoken a naive roman- ticism. De Friedemann- who has been conduct- ing research in Palenque over a five-year period - offers candid and telling discussion of her preconceptions about the community (based in part on readings of earlier accounts), her initial awkward attempts at gaining entry, and her growing and solidary relationships with its people. And her analysis of social and cultural change over a period of several cen- turies- rather than dwelling on wooden “sur- vivals” -stresses creativity, dynamism, vitality. and the ability to adapt. In short, the author and photographer have presented us with a panoramic, affectionate, but honest portrait of past and present in a remarkable Afro-Colom- bian community.

Following the introductory chapter on the fieldwork itself, de Friedemann presents three chapters on Palenque’s real and imagined past, including an historiographical analysis of the myths constructed by academic historians to serve the ends of Cartagena’s light-skinned rul- ing class. However, the heart of the text is formed by the three ethnographic chapters, loosely organized around the themes of cattle (and other economic activities), San Basilio (and religious life more generally), and rivalry and combat (two principles which structure much of social organization).

In spite of the introduction, during the past

decade of electricity (and therefore television, refrigerators, etc.). piped-in water, and other indicators of modernization, economic life in Palenque remains focused on cattle raising, as it has apparently, for centuries. In words and in photos that almost allow one’s nose to be tickled by the clouds of dust from the cattle’s hooves. the cultural importance to Palenqueros of ma ngombe (the KiKoongo-derived local word for cattle) is spelled out.

The chapter on rivalry and combat is in many ways the most provocative of the book, permit- ting discussion of the key social divisions in Palenque (e.g.. between the “upper” and “lower” geographical units of the town, and be- tween one cuagro [age set] and another), as well as analysis of less formal cultural institutions - from interpersonal “style” (an analysis par- ticularly rich when focusing on ritualized verbal combat between groups of women) to festive cuisine. Bellicose traditions dating back to the days of constant training for guerrilla warfare have evolved and been adapted to changing cir- cumstance, but ritualized combat remains cen- tral to the community’s cultural identity. To- day, at the entrance to the road leading into Palenque stands a multicolored billboard pro- claiming “Palenque, cradle of world cham- pions,” framed by larger than life depictions of local boxing heroes: Antonio “Kid Pambek” Cervantes, Junior Welterweight champ of the world, and Ricardo Cardona, world champion in the Super Bantamweight class. Boxing with gloves in a roped-off ring is a 20th-century in- novation, but de Friedemann persuasively argues that the modem Palenque champions are following in the footsteps of generations of Afro-Colombian warriors who, having devel- oped a unique system of rival age-sets, embracing women as well as men, kept in condition to struggle, and eventually to win their freedom.

It is a pleasure to review an ethnographic- photographic book in which the wishes of the people being depicted seem to have been fully respected, and from the pages of which they emerge with so much strength and dignity. The photographs are consistently sensitive and infor- mative-a delight to pore over. I t is true that the ethnographic analysis is often more sketchy than one might wish (but then the photos out- weigh the text in a ratio of at least 3:l). Yet perhaps that is all the more reason to look for- ward to the future publications of the Colom- bian anthropologists and linguists working in de Friedemann’s research team on studies of Afro- Colombian life in the Atlantic littoral.