XIV. Placed-Based Spirituality and Religion in Ethnobiology

The peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) which is ingested for its medicinal qualities have been a conservation concern for peyotists and members of the Native American Church (NAC) since 1976. In 2010, the Natural Resources Conservation Service in the United States identified peyote as a plant of cultural concern due to destruction of habitat in south Texas, the only area within the United States where peyote grows. The country of Mexico has also created a federal regulation which considers peyote a subject of special protection, and justly so as 80 percent of the peyote habitat exists in Mexico. The primary threat to long-term conservation is overharvesting due to increased demands by members of the NAC and improper harvesting techniques of peyote distributors. This presentation includes an examination of the spatial distribution of peyote as it relates to course scale fragmentation of habitat today through digitization of published distribution maps using GIS.

The roles of spiritual agency and ceremonial protocol in mediating human-environment relationships remain underappreciated in many fields of enquiry. In this paper, I present results from community-based ethnographic research conducted in collaboration with the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network in Karen State, Burma. In Karen cosmology, villagers must maintain reciprocal ceremonial obligations to the spiritual owners of the waters, lands, forests, and mountains. I describe several categories of spirits in the Karen world, together with associated ceremonies and protocols, and I argue that it is impossible to understand Karen conservation practices without acknowledging these spiritual relationships and the spirits' agency within these relationships. The paper concludes by discussing how Indigenous Karen villagers are mobilizing spiritual protocols to create the Salween Peace Park, a 5400-sq. km area dedicated to peace, self-determination, conservation, and cultural renewal.

The role of waterlilies (Nymphaea spp.) in Maya iconography and ritual has been explored comprehensively and found to relate symbolically to various divine motifs and universal principles of ancient Mesoamerica.  Among these are included the feathered serpent, a cosmic bird, various sun-gods and cosmogenic time.   Few investigations have explored, however, closely related roles of this iconic plant among civilizations in Central Mexico.  A systematic investigation of floral symbolism among urban centrers of the Toltecs, Mixtecs and Aztecs reveals similar and parallel uses of water lily imagery in the Valley of Mexico and environs.  Analysis of iconographic conventions among historical sites constructed under both Mayan and Central Mexican influences -- such as Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, Cacaxtla and Chichen Itza -- demonstrate that distant cutlures were plainly aware of their shared practices in iconographic and religious expression.  These conclusions identify water lily symbolism as a unifiying feature of Mesoamerican culture and history. 

Animals, plants, and environmental features are important elements given sinister meaning in a set of legends collected by children in La Libertad and Santa Elena, Ecuador.  This paper presents these salient ethnobiological characters and ways that darkness and danger are communicated to and through the children.  Why do we tell our children such scary stories?  Theme and content analysis of the legends reveals the scary, supernatural nature of these tales as well as a set of cultural and environmental dangers.  There may be some evolutionary benefit to scaring our children, especially at a time when they are prone to wandering farther away from the protection of parents.  Scary stories help to provide the thrill of dangerous adventure in entertainment form while embedding warnings to those who deviate from safe places, people, and practices.  These stories warn of very real dangers that supernatural midnight llamas, demon cattle, and death fish represent.

Ayahuasca, a psychoactive decoction brewed from two plants of the northwest Amazon, Psychotria viridis (Ruiz &Paz) and Banisteriopsis caapi (Spruce ex Griseb. C. V. Morton), has traditionally been ingested by indigenous South Americans as a religious sacrament, for divination, and spiritual as well as physical healing. Western interest in ayahuasca has grown in recent years as word of its potential medicinal and psychological benefits has spread, spawning "ayahuasca tourism" as non-native Americans travel to retreats located in previously remote parts of the Amazon. In this paper, I will explore the plant medicine pilgrimages undertaken by ayahausca tourists who believe enlightenment and happiness can be found through participation in ceremonies and the accompanying experiences of faux-poverty and denial of technological comforts. I argue that the act of pilgrimage aids in the anticipation of englightenment, which in turn informs the phenomonology, perceived efficacy, and long-term curation of the psychedelic experience. 

Undoubtedly, the Chilean forestry sector is one of the most successful in the world, however, its exponential development is based on Mapuche ancestral territories. Access to these territories was obtained through titles assigned during the Chilean military dictatorship (1973-1989). As a result, the native forest associated with these lands has been subjected to selective harvests, forest fires, and the introduction of industrial timber plantations (PFI). This has not only caused severe impacts on the environment and the communities that depend on it, but it has also determined the spiritual disconnection between people and nature. Mainly, due to the loss of sacred spaces that have been destroyed, determining the disappearance of the spirits or ngen, protectors of those spaces. Thus, this research discusses the role of Mapuche spirituality in the recuperation processes of lands, sacred spaces and forest ecosystems, and its contribution to climate change mitigation.

Mal ojo is the idea that harm can be inflicted on someone by the gaze of another. According to Maya Q’eqchi’ villagers, mal ojo is passed from pregnant or menstruating women to children, babies, and sometimes domestic animals. Some treatments are shared with other areas in Latin America (i.e., rue), but others appear unique (i.e., cacao, collared peccari). We describe treatments and corresponding pharmacological data when available, and reflect on the social factors potentially affecting the presence and expression of mal ojo. Ultimately, we see mal ojo as an illness concept likely to persist as a component of the Maya Q’eqchi’ traditional knowledge, partly due to its lack of corresponding biomedical classification and treatment, and also because of the high prevalence of social inequality in this area. We see the preservation of ethnopharmacological knowledge related to mal ojo as an important step in local cultural revitalization and continuity.