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Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Published in: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research

Symbolism and ritual practices related to hunting in Maya communities from central Quintana Roo, Mexico

Authors: Dídac Santos-Fita, Eduardo J. Naranjo, Erin I.J. Estrada, Ramón Mariaca, Eduardo Bello

Published in: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

Some Mayan peasant-hunters across the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico still carry out a hunting ritual –Loojil Ts’oon, Loj Ts’oon or Carbine Ceremony– in which they renew the divine permission for hunting in order to continue deserving the gift of prey after a period of hunt. Thus they are granted access to game by the gods and the Lords of the Animals, particularly the spirit/evil-wind call. This paper focuses on the acts within the Loojil Ts’oon –which is performed in the X-Pichil community and surrounding area– that make it unique among the hunting rituals performed in other parts of the Peninsula.

Methods

The Loojil Ts’oon hunting ritual was observed and registered in audiovisual format in two different occasions in X-Pichil (Friday 04/29/2011 and Friday 07/29/2011). Afterwards, we delivered digital videodisks (DVD) to hunters and their families and to the j-men (the magic-medic-ritual specialist) who participated in these ceremonies. This delivery produced confidence among participants to talk more openly and in-depth about the Loojil Ts’oon, revealing symbolic, psychological, and material details previously unknown to outsiders. Qualitative information was obtained through the ethnographic method using techniques such as participant observation and guided tours. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to obtain complementary information.

Results and discussion

On one hand, we describe the preparation and cleansing of the “Sip soup”, as well as its parading and distribution –delivery to the spirit/evil-wind Sip– on the streets of the community (highlingting the role of the rooster as a counter-gift). On the other hand, the cleansing of the jaws (of deer: Odocoileus virginianus, Mazama spp.; and peccaries: Tayassuidae) and their return to the Lords of Animals in the hills so that they may give these animals new life.

Conclusions

By performing the Loojil Ts’oon, the act of killing an animal is legitimized. The kill transforms into an exchange to perpetuate life, in which gods and Lords of animals grant the hunter the solicited new game if he has completed his ritual duties and has not broken the prescribed hunting rules. The Loojil Ts’oon does not only represent the continuity and regeneration of animals, that is, fauna as a resource, but also of the whole hunting cycle. The hunter does so to maintain and recreate order and equilibrium in one’s relationship with nature as a whole, with the rest of one’s social group, and with oneself. Thus, hunting transcends the exclusively material dimension of a subsistence activity.
Footnotes
1
Throughout this work the term Maya refers in particular to the ethnolinguistic group of peninsular or Yucatec Maya, that is, the inhabitants in Yucatan Peninsula, southeast Mexico [12].
 
2
In other parts of the world, there are interesting examples from Siberia [24‐26], North America [27, 28], Southeastern Asia [29], and Northwestern Europe [30].
 
3
On the other side, there are other Lords of the Animals across the Amazon Basin, such as the Curupira and the Caipora (Brazil), the Chullachaqui or Shapishico (Peru), the Tanamudak (Shiwilu people; Peru), and the Amasanga (Kichwa people, Ecuador) [23, 48]. In addition, in the Andean region are known the Pachamama, and the Coquena: shepherd and protector of vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna) [49].
 
4
According to Mayan folk tales, from Pre-Hispanic times to date the spirit/evil-wind manifests itself to hunters in the shape of a deer. Usually, this deer is a short adult with great, branched antlers in which a wasp nest (that may attack the hunter) is carried [31, 32, 39, 50]. This contributes to the enormous significance of deer in mythology and magic in Mayan cosmovision, as it is frequently associated with the Lord of animals [41, 50], and carries out this protective role.
 
5
A name given to a mythological being, from the tradition of some Mayan peoples from the Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala. Traditinally, aluxes (or aruxes in Quintana Roo) are generally invisible or have a wind form, but they may also take a physical appearance (dressed in Mayan attire) in order to scare humans or help them. They are associated to natural spots such as forests, caves, rocks, water, and cultivated spaces. It is believed that these mischievous beings are the incarnation of the Pre-Hispanic clay figurines that are abundantly found in crops across the Peninsula [31, 32].
 
6
The term limpia depicts a therapeutic practice of body cleansing with branches and leaves of diverse plant species [35].
 
7
Bunchosia swartziana, Malighiaceae [71]. Among the Maya people, some plants with magic-religious values that are used in ceremonies have onomastic relationship with ancient deities: Sip che’ means “the Sip tree” [71] (see also Villa Rojas [31]).
 
8
Zanthoxylum fagara, Rutaceae [71].
 
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Metadata
Title
Symbolism and ritual practices related to hunting in Maya communities from central Quintana Roo, Mexico
Authors
Dídac Santos-Fita
Eduardo J. Naranjo
Erin I.J. Estrada
Ramón Mariaca
Eduardo Bello
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1746-4269
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-015-0055-x

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