Balun-canan

by Rosario Castellanos

In the remote towns and haciendas of the high country of Chiapas, the 1910-1917 Mexican Revolution had little impact until the reforming governmetn of L©Łzaro C©Łrdenas during the 1930s began pressing for Indian rights and education. A 7-year-old girl watches as the old order -- where a few powerful land-owning families and their male heirs could dominate a region politically and even sexually -- breaks down.