Where the River Ends Contested Indigeneity in the Mexican Colorado Delta

"A vivid portrait of the double-bind that traps growing numbers of native people who are denied ancestral rights and legitimacy by outsiders' criteria for ethnic difference. In stories laced with humor and insight, this highly readable ethnography shows how identity coalesces in unexpected places as Cucapa cope with narcotrafficking, celebrate women's leadership in contrast to Mexican machismo, and cultivate expert vocabularies of indigenous swear words." - Beth A. Conklin, Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University "Shaylih Muehlmann's richly peopled, intimate ethnography explores matters of identity and recognition, structure and agency, resistance and complicity as they emerge through the events, predicaments, and dilemmas of daily life. The characters at the center of her account are neither victims nor heroes, but reflective and often flawed subjects, engaged in struggles over resources, meanings, and the pragmatic business of survival. Where the River Ends leads us into their world. It is a lively read. Highly recommended." - Tania Murray Li, author of The Will to Improve: Governmentality, Development, and the Practice of Politics