Representation and Signification of Primates in Maya-Q’eqchi’ Cosmovision and Implications for Their Conservation in Northwestern Guatemala

Abstract

Since 2002, we have studied the representation and signification of primates (A. pigra and A. geoffroyi vellerosus) in Q’eqchi’ Mayan culture and cosmovision in the northwest of the Ancestral Rainforest Landscape of Guatemala, through semi-structured interviews and participation in traditional ceremonies and celebrations. We have identified different spiritual, cultural, and social interaction codes, symbolisms, and practices of pre-Hispanic Mayan origin that synergistically promote and directly benefit primate conservation at the community and regional level. Primates have a sacred value for local people as ancestors and divine mediators and in guiding personal and community life. They also constitute powerful symbols of identity and cultural resistance immersed in Q’eqchi’ Mayan art, lineages, and verbal communication. These key aspects and roles of primates, together with being perceived as good and harmless animals, are implicit cultural values and ethical codes embedded in the Q’eqchi’ Mayan collective unconscious that translate into positive attitudes and actions that strongly limit their hunting and favor habitat conservation. Local people have voluntarily protected and allowed growth of secondary forest remnants for primates to survive in their lands. They also make agricultural decisions by considering which forests are inhabited by primate troops, often deciding to not cut them down. They also plant native fruit trees so primates have more food and remain in their lands. We hope that our participatory conservation experience inspires and motivates other researchers and decision-makers to learn from indigenous peoples’ cosmovision to conserve endangered primates and landscapes from a more holistic, inclusive, and effective perspective in Latin America.