State policy makers in Mexico believe that increasing tourism may help stimulate the struggling economy of the Copper Canyon region where the indigenous Rarámuri live, while also preparing them for subsequent integration into the monetized capitalist economy. Yet as the Rarámuri are adapting themselves to the homogenizing forces of the tourism industry, many are also attempting to maintain their distinctive local subsistence economy and culture.

This research examines these contradictions by investigating how Rarámuri handicrafts producers—who are largely female-living in four villages with differential access to tourism markets are responding to tourism in the context of Mexico's 'Master Plan' of tourism development in the state of Chihuahua. The general goals of this dissertation are to determine: (1) how Rarámuri artisanal production is affecting the total net income of households selected for study; (2) if increasing artisanal production is diverting time and labor from the traditional subsistence economy of the Rarámuri and endangering the local environment; and (3) if increasing handicrafts production among women is transforming gender and social relations within the household.

Documenting how Rarámuri handicrafts vendors interact with the tourism marketplace reveals that some households have abandoned their agricultural practices in favor of full-time artisanal production. In other locations economic shifts were less dramatic whereby the traditional subsistence base was enhanced by movements towards mixed production, although increased pressures on natural resources used in basketry have degraded local landscapes. The majority of married women surveyed were found to be in control of the family's finances whereas some younger female vendors have postponed marriage or have decided to not marry at all because of their earning potential. These new findings, among many others discussed in this study, indicate that traditional elements of Rarámuri culture have been transformed or discarded depending on individual or collective preferences, and will be particularly useful to those involved in tourism policy-making, development, and research within and outside of Latin America.