Maize Politics and Maya Farmers’ Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Yucatán, 1450–1600

Abstract

Historical and political context is essential for evaluating the long-term sustainability of any agroecosystem. Over the past several centuries in Yucatan, Mexico, Maya farmers have practiced milpa (i.e., slash-and-burn) agriculture in ways that are arguably both sustainable and unsustainable depending on whether political leaders created institutional support for farmers to implement a full range of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). To investigate this relationship between political authority and TEK, I trace changes in maize tribute collection before and after contact between Spaniards and Maya. I argue that late pre-contact milpa agriculture was sustainable in part because political leaders supported institutions that allowed farmers to integrate a wider range of TEK. Colonial authorities, however, dismantled these institutions and thereby undermined the sustainability of milpa agriculture. Confronting these lasting Colonial legacies is a critical part of a larger interdisciplinary effort to expand sustainability discourse and promote environmentally just food systems.