Acknowledgements

The Proyecto Santa Isabel, Nicaragua was funded by a Standard Research Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and a URGS grant from the University of Calgary.  This web page was constructed while on a Resident Fellowship with the Calgary Institute for the Humanities, University of Calgary.

Permission to conduct the research was provided by the Instituto Nicaraguense de la Cultura and the Office of Cultural Patrimony.  Edgar Espinosa, Director of the Museo Nacional, was extremely helpful in all aspects of the project.  Dr. Ramon Valdez and Dr. Jaime Marenco of the Rivas Museum of Anthropology provided great assistance, as well as contacts in the Rivas community and logistical support at their museum. 

Dr. Silvia Salgado (University of Costa Rica) served as a consultant while in the field, and it was her encouragement that prompted me to first consider research in Nicaragua.  Dr. Karen Niemel (SUNY Buffalo) and Jorge Zambrana (UNAN) also provided important assistance in getting the project started.

Sharisse McCafferty and Larry Steinbrenner served as field and lab supervisors throughout the project, while Diana Carvajal, Ulises Chávez, Celise Chilcote, Jolene Debert, Ruth Edelstein, Deepika Fernández, Denise Gibson, Bryanne Hoar, Alyssa Lamb, Jenn Lapp, Angélica López-Forment Villa, Juan Bosco Moroney Ubeda, Marco Ortega, Oscar Pavón, Citlalli Reynoso Ramos and Nora Zambrana assisted with field and lab projects. Many students from the Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (Mexico), the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, and the University of Calgary have worked hard while gaining valuable field experience.

Finally, thanks for the kindness and hard work (and mangos) of the community members of Tolesmaida, and the warm hospitality of Johana and the staff at CIVITE.