The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

The local context
4.2 The Maya-Q'eqchi'
The Q'eqchi' represent the fourth largest of the Mayan groups in Guatemala. 27 Most of
them live as subsistence farmers in rural areas of Alta Verapaz, one of the largest departments
of the Guatemalan highlands. Covering an area of 8,686 km 2 , it is located in
the eastern temperate highlands north of the capital and yields to the north to the
tropical lowlands of the Petén. 28 More than 90 percent of the population (around
750,000) are indigenous and 84 percent live in about 1,700 relatively dispersed villages
scattered throughout the department (Letona 1999: 37). Due to the remoteness of
their settlements, a large number of older people in particular are illiterate and monolingual
speakers of the Q'eqchi' language. 29 Exposure to the formal education system as
well as more frequent interaction with the urban centres and regional markets led to a
process of acculturation towards the predominantly urban ladino culture among
younger people, who are also more likely to speak Spanish. In general, the lowlands
with their more significant communication facilities have been more acculturated than
the less accessible areas in the highlands, where mountain barriers have contributed to
maintaining the isolation of villages.
Fig. 4.2 Village structure in the highlands of Alta Verapaz
27 According to Flores Arenales (1999), the term Q'eqchi' probably derives from the way they were
named by the K'iche' at the time of Spanish conquest in the 16 th century (q'eq = black; achi = man).
Common ethnonyms are Kekchí and K'ekchí. Estimates of their total population vary from 361,000
(Flores Arenales 1999) to 600,000 (Siebers 1994). Archaeological evidence shows that Alta Verapaz,
the Q'eqchi' heartland, was inhabited continuously at least since 300 B.C. until the time of Spanish
conquest (Secaira 1992: 7). Apart from the original homeland, there are at present also minor Q'eqchi'
populations in the adjoining departments of Quiché, Baja Verapaz, Izabal and Petén, as well as in
parts of southern Belize and Mexico.
28 As can be seen from map 4.1, the Q'eqchi' cover the largest area of any Maya group in Guatemala.
Map 4.3 in the Appendix indicates the Q'eqchi' heartland and major settlements in Alta Verapaz.
29 Q'eqchi' is thought to have the largest percentage of monolingual speakers in Guatemala (Kockelman
2003); it belongs to the Quichean branch of the Mayan languages and is closely related to Poqomam
and Poqomchi'. For further details on language particularities, see Aspects in Q'eqchi' Mayan by
DeChicchis (1996).
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