Traditional use and management of wildlife by nahuas from Santa Catarina, Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico
This research characterized the traditional knowledge on the use and management of wildlife in the Nahuatl community of Santa Catarina, Morelos, Mexico. A qualitative methodology was used, applying ethnozoological research techniques such as semi-structured interviews (n = 55), ethnographic observation, and guided tours with local experts. In addition, the Cultural Importance Index (IIC) was calculated for each species used. A total of 41 species from different phyla were recorded, which are part of the tangible and intangible cultural manifestations of the Nahuas. Eleven categories of use are reported, of which nutritional (n = 57.5 %), forecast (n = 25 %), medicinal (n = 22.5 %) and legends (n = 12.5 %) recorded the higher percentage of species. The wild animals with the highest IIC were the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus; 16.8), the field rabbit (Sylvilagus cunicularius; 13.6), the huilota (Zenaida macroura; 10.9), the rattlesnake (Crotalus culminatus; 12.8) and the winged ant (gynes and males of Atta mexicana; 10.8). Obtaining wildlife resources is done through individual or group gathering and hunting with firearms and traditional weapons in forest areas and agroecosystems within their territory. Wild fauna is a renewable natural resource that has a socio-cultural importance for the Nahua inhabitants because it is part of their subsistence strategies and cosmology: it provides them with raw materials for material needs, but also has symbolic representations associated with animals in traditional medicine, the practice of hunting and in the narratives of oral tradition.
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Digital revista |
| Language: | spa |
| Published: |
Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Sede Bogotá - Facultad de Ciencias - Instituto de Ciencias Naturales
2022
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| Online Access: | https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/cal/article/view/92451 |
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