The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

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The cultural context of biodiversity conservation
Given the important role of such communal structures, identity, although being linked
to language and ethnicity, is primarily built around the local community and the surrounding
landscape. Most people identify themselves as being from a certain community,
which is defined not as a particular village, but rather as the greater surrounding
social and natural environment of a specific place. In interviews, people would often
trace back the Q'eqchi' to the ancient Maya culture, but when they were asked what it
means to belong to the group in ethnic terms, informants commonly referred to language
rather than to other aspects of cultural identity. Most centrally, the religious
realm is of particular significance in the cultural frame. According to Wilson (1995)
Q'eqchi' identities draw upon many dimensions of culture, but none so strongly as religion,
which has a direct relevance to all aspects of life. Since the Spanish conquest, the
Q'eqchi' have largely converted to Catholicism, although components of the traditional
belief system have been widely retained and form a syncretic combination with catholic
rituals and doctrine. 36
Fig. 4.3 Households with female heads are not uncommon; mother and daughter in Xucaneb 37
36 According to figures cited by Parra Novo (1993), almost 80 percent of the Q'eqchi' population are
catholic. Though syncretism may work in a complex way involving religions, languages and other
cultural elements, it has been defined as »the combination of different forms of beliefs and practices
into new patterns of meaning« (Carrasco 1990: 126). The complex issue of syncretism in Guatemala
is beyond the scope of this work. For this, see Wilson (1995).
37 As elsewhere in Latin America, dress is an important part of traditional life and one of the most
significant signs of ethnicity. In the highlands, each ethnic group identifies with different garments
and weaving patterns. In Alta Verapaz, the tradition is mainly kept alive by women who dedicate
themselves to the skilful manufacture of woven textiles. Their clothing includes a woven blouse
(huipil) and a dark-coloured skirt (corte). However, a process of acculturation towards the adoption of
western style clothing is taking place in urban areas and is being reinforced by the import of used
clothes from the United States. These cast-offs are sold at regional market towns, where a large
number of so-called pacas have been opened in recent years. The term paca is derived from the English
word ›package‹ as the clothes are imported in large bundles.