Cacao in Eastern Guatemala––a sacred tree with ecological significance

Abstract

Since at least 600 BC, cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) has occupied a place of cultural importance in Mesoamerica. In many Maya groups its importance as a ritual food plant is second only to maize (Zea mays L.). The Ch'orti' Maya and their culturally non-indigenous Ladino neighbours in Eastern Guatemala continue to use cacao for culinary and ceremonial purposes. Of particular importance are cacao uses in Ch'orti' rain ceremonies, which are strongly connected to local environmental knowledge. The protection of cacao as a sacred tree may help to limit slash-and-burn maize agriculture to sustainable levels.

Figs as a Global Spiritual and Material Resource for Humans

“…The Tacana of the Bolivian Amazon believe that malevolent spirits, which can steal your soul, dwell in canopy trees such as figs and walking by these trees or cutting them down may cause illnesses (Bourdy et al 2000). In eastern Guatemala, the Ch'orti' believe that angels prefer to reside in the amate tree -an unidentified species of fig (Kufer et al 2006). In Australia F. brachypoda was so important to the early summer diet of the Walpiri people that it was regarded as sacred (Anon 2006).…”

Food Globalization and Local Diversity

“…Another form of frothed beverage is the family of foamed Mesoamerican maize and cacao beverages (McNeil 2006) that includes pozol (maize soaked and cooked with calcium carbonate and mixed with cacao and sugar), pinol (thoroughly toasted maize, cacao, and spices; known as pinole in Mexico) (Popenoe 1919), and chilate (boiled ground maize and untoasted cacao) (Kufer, Grube, and Heinrich 2006), all from Guatemala. These and a number of similar drinks are prepared in southern Mexico (Chapa Benavides 2003), including tascalate (toasted maize, cacao, and sugar) and achiote (Bixa orellana) in Chiapas and pozol (cacao and toasted maize) in Tabasco (Javier Quero 2000) and adjacent areas, as well as chorote (fermented maize and cacao) (Castillo-Morales, Wacher-Rodarte, and Hernández-Sánchez 2005).…”

Resilience of dry tropical rangelands : How native palms and trees mediate the effects of seasonal droughts

“…This recognition of the positive effects of trees on cattle rangelands in Latin America may not be arbitrary. Trees have been present in neotropical landscapes for centuries, some of them figuring as sacred in the cosmology of antique pre-Columbian cultures and with diverse uses (Kufer et al 2006;Knowlton & Vail 2010). Recognizing and merging the traditional indigenous knowledge of trees with the existing ecological theory developed in natural and productive systems could facilitate the transition to agroecological practices.…”