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of kings and contexts: ethnohistorical interpretations of Miskito political structure and function
Author(s) -
HELMS MARY W.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1986.13.3.02a00070
Subject(s) - writ , monarchy , kingdom , politics , sociology , history , function (biology) , anthropology , law , political science , paleontology , evolutionary biology , biology
Recent articles dealing with the Miskito “kings” and Miskito “kingdom” of eastern Nicaragua are reassessed and their conclusions reconsidered. Using the same data, the existence of a Miskito “kingdom” is questioned and the nature of the “kingship” and of the roles filled by Miskito kings and other regional leaders is reinterpreted. The influence both of the English and of traditional councils of elders is emphasized, and the kings' activities seen as those of traditional Big Men writ large.