Abstract

ARGUETA VILLAMAR, Arturo  and  CASTILLEJA GONZALEZ, Aída. The Uauapu Complex in the Life of the P'urhépechas, or Tarascans, of Michoacán. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2012, vol.33, n.131, pp.283-320. ISSN 2448-7554.

Based on records compiled during fieldwork over the past ten years in several P'urhépecha towns, this article presents the elements of what we have come to call the uauapu Complex, a collection of knowledge beliefs, and practices related to the wild bees that inhabit different ecological niches. The recurrence of common elements in the different localities studied suggests fruitful areas for comparisons that reveal the importance place that these social insects occupy in the current life-ways of the P'urhépecha.

Keywords : Uauapu; bees; ceremonies; knowledge; P'urhépecha; Michoacán.