Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• García del Valle, Yasminda
• Ruan-Soto, Felipe
• Guerrero-Martínez, Fernando
• Reyes-Escutia, Felipe

Titel

Local Knowledge and Cultural Significance of Primates (Ateles geoffroyi and Alouatta pigra) Among Lacandon Maya from Chiapas, Mexico

Ist Teil von

• Neotropical Ethnoprimatology, p.49-68

Ort / Verlag

Cham: Springer International Publishing

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• This chapter is an overview of the relationship between Lacandon Mayan people from Naha and Metzabok and the two species of non-human primates found in their territory (spider monkey/Ateles geoffroyi and howler monkey/Alouatta pigra). We reviewed and interpreted evidences from the presence of these species in pre-Hispanic art in the Mayan area to ethnographic data referring to people’s ethnoecological knowledge and an analysis of the local cultural significance of these species. The Lacandon rainforest is located on the east/northeast region of the state of Chiapas in Mexico. Across the whole Mayan area, discourses about the origin of monkeys as divine punishment are present; however, monkeys are conceived as pre-human beings. In the studied communities, Alouatta pigra and Ateles geoffroyi obtained the 9th and 12th places, respectively, in the cultural significance valuation of 35 taxa of recognized mammals. Currently, Lacandons from Naha and Metzabok consider this two species of non-human primates to be important because of their direct use in three cultural significance categories: edible, medicinal, and pet. The relationship between Lacandons and monkeys has distinctive features; each species has a profound relationship to the origin of people and their beliefs. Finally, not many years ago, these primate species were considered a valuable food resource. Non-human primates are still present in narrative, and they are significant because of the benefits they provide while living in contrast to the uses they can be given when they are hunted. Undoubtedly, this promises hope for the preservation of monkeys in the Lacandon rainforest.