The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

Local expressions of indigenous knowledge
5.2.1 The indigenous worldview
The documentation to understand social and natural configurations as representations of a characteristic
and indivisible contemporary socio-cultural universe in a natural space is an inquiry into an entire social
world. (Seeland 2000: 6)
The starting point of the endeavour to clarify the implicit semioticised configurations
of the cultural landscape is the indigenous worldview. Despite ubiquitous attention to
the religious realm, the Mayan worldview has not yet been seriously considered in the
formulation of theories about indigenous spirituality. In recent writings, the worldview
of the Mayan population, which is deeply rooted in pre-Colonial religious concepts,
has been described as cosmovision. 35 Carrasco has approached the term as »the ways in
which Mesoamericans combined their cosmological notions relating to time and space into a structured
and systematic worldview« (1990: xix). From a historical point of view, he discusses
different characteristics of the cosmovision, which include a strong sense of parallelism
between the celestial, supernatural forces of the cosmos (macrocosmos) and the
biological, human patterns of life on earth (microcosmos). He has further undertaken
to document that pre-Columbian traditions continued to play a vital role in the postcolonial
communities of Guatemala. Although indigenous and European traditions
mingled into a series of new cultural combinations, the Mayan worldview persisted.
Throughout his study, Carrasco emphasises that religion is both a matter of the social
and material world within which humans dwell. One of the most important points he
underlines is that in Mesoamerican religions, time and space are inseparable realities.
Concerning the worldview of the present day Q'eqchi', anthropologists have undertaken
to study the interconnections between the physical and the spiritual world, between
the microcosm and the macrocosm and thereby explored an all embracing equilibrium
model of the universe in which agricultural practices are embedded. In doing
so, Hatse and De Ceuster (2001a) have undertaken to document that the cosmovision
has to be seen as the principal base upon which the traditional subsistence economy is
practised by Q'eqchi' peasants. Despite their participation in the ceremonial life of the
Christian Church, they have ingeniously adapted their cosmovision to incorporate external
elements and firmly remain committed to the traditional worldview, which is
constantly being redefined and reconstructed to deal with changes in the social and
physical environment. The authors distinguish four main principles of the cosmovision:
integrity, structure of time, equilibrium and the notion that all life forms share
material and spiritual features. These are reflected not only in agricultural practices but
also in other cultural realms such as language, rituals, myths, tales, prayers, music,
dreams and other activities of daily life. 36
35 Carrasco 1990; Parra Novo 1993; Lima Soto 1995; Cabarrús 1998; López Austin 2001; Gómez &
Pacay Caal 2003.
36 In spite of differences in patterns of symbolism and forms of cosmic conceptualisation, Villa
Rojas (1988: 118ff.) refers to similarities among different Mayan groups in the western highlands, the
Yucatec Mayans or the Lacandon Indians of Chiapas in Mexico.
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