The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

178
The cultural context of biodiversity conservation
Seeing unity in diversity is characteristic of Maya cultural logic in a number of domains. Such unity is
conceptually associated with balance and harmony both within physical and metaphysical worlds. Indeed,
continued human existence is predicated on the maintenance of cyclic cosmic balance, a balance
that both affects and reflects earthly conditions. Humans act to maintain cosmic harmony through
ritualised reciprocity (1999: 480).
Bound to the principle of equilibrium is the idea of reciprocity, which has long been
recognised as fundamental to indigenous cultures throughout the world. Carrasco
(1990) has clearly described this principle in the Mesoamerican context. In the Mayan
world, the relationship between humans and the entire universe is characterised by interdependence.
Life is a sacred gift from the deities that humans are responsible to
nurture. This nurturance forms an essential part of the mutual relationship. Humans
and gods are bound to each other by mutual care and nurturance; the gods create humans,
who are therefore in their debt. Ongoing human existence depends on the generous
gifts of life, which the gods continue to dispense through children, germination,
rain, sunshine or the supply of animals. But the gods are also dependent on humans to
care, nurture, acknowledge and renew their powers. With regard to the nature of humans'
relationship with the non-human world, Wilson (1995) argues that the traditional
production system of the Q'eqchi' is largely based on this ideology of reciprocal
exchange. Participation in the reciprocal process of planting and harvesting is an archetypical
feature of membership. Through this symbolic relationship of reciprocity,
they establish what is essentially a social relation with the elements of the inhabited
landscape that includes responsibilities and obligations of nurturance. The most obvious
example of this familial affinity is the term Madre Tierra. Like many other indigenous
groups throughout Latin America, the Q'eqchi' refer to Mother Earth as the one
who gives life and provides the essentials for human subsistence:
Nuestra madre Tierra (loq' laj na' ch'och) nos nutre, nos protege, nos acuna y nos perdona. Cada
vez que la atacamos nos perdona, así como todas las madres tambíen perdonan a sus hijos. Pero no
olvidemos que la soberbia y la codicia de estos, sus hijos inconsecuentes, la hieren, causándole cada vez
que la atacamos heridas profundas y sangrientas que paso a paso van convirtiéndola en desierto
(Queiros et al. 2000: 28). 41
Finally, the fourth essential principle distinguished by Hatse and De Ceuster (2001a)
implies the notion that all is material and spiritual. The belief that all life forms, including
human beings, land, plants and animals, forests, mountains and rivers, houses and
food share material and spiritual features, includes the view that all elements are seen
to be the visible expression of cosmic principles. That everything is saturated with
spiritual significance points to an animistic perception of the world. As a mode of
identification, animism endows natural beings with human dispositions and social at-
41 »Our mother Earth (loq' laj na' ch'och) nourishes, protects, fosters and forgives us. Every time we
offend her, she forgives us, just as all mothers forgive their children. But we should not forget that
the haughtiness and the greed of her inconsistent children do hurt her, causing profound and bloody
wounds every time we attack her that gradually will convert her into desert« (translation by the author).