The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

Local expressions of indigenous knowledge
good harvest and the protection from the guardian spirit of the hills and the valleys, as
one of the elders of San Benito explained. If not performed, the growth of the crops
will be threatened and the harvest diminished. In the words of another informant, »the
tzuul taq'a is like a God who provides water so that the crops may grow, like a couple, man and
woman at once. Before planting, harvesting or cutting timber we ask for permission by praying to the
tzuul taq'a« (field notes, 2003). All of nature, including the land, forest, plants, animals
and springs, is considered the property of the tzuul taq'a. In other field conversations,
farmers expressed their belief that the tzuul taq'a resides in mountain caves, providing
water, crop and soil fertility. They explained that any action that threatens the beings
owned by the tzuul taq'a is prohibited and even punished. Interventions such as planting,
harvesting, hunting, fishing or gathering forest products may be followed by negative
consequences if not conducted ›in the right way‹, which implies the need to ask
permission of the deities. These have, according to Wilson (1990), two main functions
in rituals: to give license and to participate in the renewal of fertility. As they provide
human health and crop fertility, the Q'eqchi' create a reciprocal relationship with the
tzuul taq'a through sacrificial offerings. As mentioned, sacrifice is a major element in
the cosmovision. It is done in order to »renew the cosmos« (Carrasco 1990: 153). The
ceremonial rejuvenation of time, human life, agriculture and the gods is done by symbolically
retracing the cosmic image of the centre and the four quarters. In this way it
is believed that sacrifice establishes and maintains the relationship of balance between
humans and the local landscape. Or as Wilson (1995: 88) formulates it, it symbolically
»inscribes« the land tenure of the community and individual households onto the
landscape. According to Wilson, the tzuul taq'a ties together various cultural domains
encompassing human and agricultural fertility, gender, health care and ethnicity. In his
view, it is a recurring symbol that disappears and emerges reinvented in each strategic
context and should be seen as a fluid and continually redefined figure, rather than a
legacy of an ancient past. By referring to its dualistic nature, he further explains:
The mountain spirit is both male and female, mother and father, good and evil, deity and demon,
spirit and matter. S/He unifies the earth and the sky, controlling events on land, as well as the
movements of the celestial deities. His/her character is authoritarian and open to manipulation.
S/He is both kind and vicious, but always unpredictable and capricious. The Tzuultaq'a figure envelopes
all ethnicities, being a Mayan and a Ladino. Yet these dualities always appeal to a greater
whole, as twin aspects of a unitary vision of the sacred (1990: 3f.).
In the rural communities, the ›mountain cult‹ is highly localised. The tzuul taq'a who
resides in mountains located near the villages are individually named and believed to
be the true owners of the landscape. Although the Catholic concept of God may have
determined aspects of institutional and ritual life, it is not essential to the everyday life
of the people. This is governed, as Wilson writes, by the tzuul taq'a who are perceived
as »god's sentinels here on earth, guarding the fruits of creation from human abuse«
(1995: 68). For Siebers (1996), the idea of the tzuul taq'a is related both to the central
mountains in the Q'eqchi' heartland and to the more general idea of the natural envi-
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