In 1967, when Dan Storper was 16, his aunt and uncle invited him to go on a trip with their family to northern Mexico. It was life-changing, to say the least.

“That led to a whole series of things,” he says, Zooming from his New Orleans home. “I worked for the summer at an archaeological excavation outside of Mexico City, fell in love with the handicrafts, decided to major in Latin American studies in college and then t...