The Domestication of Souls

Following the distinction between horizontal and vertical shamanism originally proposed by Stephen Hugh-Jones, this article examines the concept of nagualism in different Mesoamerican indigenous societies and the role that animal domestication has played in these conceptions. Through a comparative study of indigenous societies like the Nahua, Huave, and Tzotzil Maya, different relationships between the human and animal worlds are analyzed in order to show the changes in ontological frameworks that took place during the colonial period, through the introduction of extensive livestock farming. As a protective institution, post-colonial nagualism developed in indigenous societies that have domesticated animals because farmers see their relationship with their flocks similarly to the connection between themselves and their protecting spirits.

“Elder Brother Tobacco”: Traditional Nicotiana Snuff Use among the Contemporary Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya of Highland Chiapas, Mexico

Ethnographic study of traditional tobacco (Nicotiana) use among the Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya of Highland Chiapas, Mexico

“Elder Brother Tobacco”: Traditional Nicotiana Snuff Use among the Contemporary Tzeltal and Tzotzil Maya of Highland Chiapas, Mexico - PREPRINT

In Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya communities throughout the highlands of Chiapas in southeastern Mexico, a potent oral snuff composed of fresh tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) and slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) is used in a wide range of therapeutic, ritual, and protective contexts. The use of this tobacco snuff—referred to in Tzotzil Maya as “angel” (anjel), “elder brother” (bankilal), “great old man” (muk’ta mol), or simply “tobacco” (moy)—appears to date back to the Classic Maya, and represents continuity in Mayan tobacco culture spanning more than a thousand years. Despite the central importance of this plant in highland Maya medicine and ritual, its use has not previously been documented in any systematic manner. Accordingly, this chapter seeks to present a comprehensive overview of traditional highland Maya tobacco culture among the contemporary Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya of highland Chiapas, exploring the cultural significance in this quintessentially Amerindian plant in the domains of ethnomedicine, ritual, folklore, and mythology.

Religion, Autonomy, and the Priority of Place in Mexico’s Maya Highlands

The irruption of Mexico’s highland Maya on the world stage with the 1994 New Year’s Day uprising by the Zapatista Army of National Liberation generated a torrent of publications. Relatively neglected in this literature is the deconstruction of costumbre (ancestral Maya tradition) by Maya youth dislocated by Mexico’s early-1980s economic collapse. In one exemplary Tzotzil Maya pueblo, the acquisition of biblical literacy and the cognitive skills it entails in Catholic Church–sponsored courses oriented to liberation theology propelled a generational religious revolt. The ensuing reclamation of ancestral territory from ladino ranchers upended colonial relations, enabling indigenous peasants in this and other highland Maya communities to institute autonomous modes of production. Driven by a dialectic of religious ritual and agricultural labor, this assertion of Maya agency attests to the salience of religion and the priority of place as indispensable resources for indigenous socioeconomic autonomy confronting neoliberal assault. La irrupción en el escenario mundial de los maya del altiplano mexicano con el levantamiento de Año Nuevo 1994 por el Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional generó un torrente de publicaciones. Relativamente ignorada en esta literatura es la deconstrucción de costumbre (tradición maya ancestral) por la juventud maya desplazada por el colapso económico a principios de los ochenta en México. En un pueblo tzotzil maya ejemplar, la adquisición de cultura bíblica y las aptitudes cognitivas que implica en los cursos auspiciados por la Iglesia Católica Romana orientados a la teología de la liberación impulsó una rebelión religiosa generacional. La consiguiente recuperación de territorio ancestral de hacendados ladinos turbó las relaciones coloniales, permitiendo a los campesinos indígenas en esta y otras comunidades maya del altiplano establecer modos de producción autónomos. Motivado por una dialéctica de ritual religioso y trabajo agrícola, esta reivindicación de agencia maya confirma la relevancia de la religión y la primacía del lugar como recursos indispensables para una autonomía socioeconómica indígena al enfrentar la arremetida neoliberal.