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Being Part of the Land

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Indigenous Geographies in the Yucatan

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Geography ((BRIEFSGEOGRAPHY))

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Abstract

In this chapter, I explore and elucidate the Maya environmental ethos of “being part of the land” and detail what I believe are its most important characteristics and dimensions. While land-use practices constitute the observable dimension of Maya responsibility-based thinking and of being part of the land, spirituality, culture, and identity are equally as important and complementary. These non-material dimensions of the Maya environmental ethos contain the epistemological and moral framework that informs the Maya land-use system as a whole. I also describe how responsibility-based thinking and learning to be part of the land as an integrated land ethos are different from mainstream environmental approaches and strategies that are commonly employed in Western democratic societies like Mexico. Finally, I point out how my research (and different research findings) contributes to furthering reflections, discussions, and debates on Indigenous peoples’ relationships with their environments and how it advances knowledge in the Indigenous geographies and IK research fields.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I learned that the people of Xuilub believe in their own (Maya) form of what can be described as “black magic”. From my understanding, based on interview data, Maya black magic refers to “evil” menes using spells and incantations to cause illness, injury, and even death to their enemies and their close ones.

  2. 2.

    Political ecology is the study of environmental issues and questions as a result of various political, social, and economic factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Miguel Sioui

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  1. Miguel Sioui
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Sioui, M. (2020). Being Part of the Land. In: Indigenous Geographies in the Yucatan. SpringerBriefs in Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60399-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60399-1_6

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-60398-4

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