The Panajachel Symposium [and Comments and Replies]

This is the report of a "Schriftfest" for Sol Tax. More than 20 former students and colleagues met in Panajachel, Guatemala, to discuss his contributions to their own growth and to that of the discipline. The papers presented focused on studies of North American Indians, Middle American Indians, and "Middle America." Discussion centered on Tax's distinction between the bow and the hoe, i.e., the differences between North American tribal peoples and Middle American peasants. Following this, there was extensive discussion of action anthropology, with special attention to its development over the past 20 years. Problems of values, power, boundaries, generalization, and bureaucracy were among those considered. The conference ended with a brief examination of the future for B.A.s in anthropology. The participants benefited enormously from Tax's presence, and his feedback was invaluable.