Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Things We Carry: Pilgrim Identity And Material Culture Along Spain’S Camino De Santiago, Isabelle Moore

Senior Theses and Projects

In recent decades, the mediaeval Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route has enjoyed a significant resurgence in popularity. Despite the route’s Christian heritage as “the way of St. James,” todays Camino-walkers present an impressive range of spiritual, physical, and personal motivations for undergoing the route. This modern twist on an ancient tradition has sparked an academic discussion surrounding what constitutes a “pilgrim” versus a “tourist,” including the ways in which people of different motivating identities experience heritage. I investigated this dichotomy by walking the Camino Frances and conducting ethnographic fieldwork from St. Jean Pied de Port, France to Santiago, Spain. In …