RAIN and DROUGHT Climate and its representations in Mexico

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1 15 th Conference of the Society for Human Ecology Climate and Culture RAIN and DROUGHT Climate and its representations in Mexico Esther KATZ Annamária LAMMEL Marina GOLOUBINOFF 4-7/10/2007

2 The climate of Mexico Trade-winds from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans Cold continental North winds stopped by the Neovolcanic Axis Mountainous land (Sierra Madre occidental, oriental & del Sur) except on coastal plains, Tehuantepec Isthmus and Yucatan peninsula > temperature and rain variations

3 Sierra Madre occidental Cold winds Sierra Madre oriental Trade-winds Trade-winds Neovolcanic Axis Tehuantepec Isthmus Sierra Madre del Sur Yucatan peninsula

4 Seasons Alternation : dry/rainy season Duration of rainy season (4 to 6 months) varies according to local climate : Subhumid : april-october Semi-dry : june-september In the highlands : dry season : Nov.-Jan. : cold (frost), Feb.-Apr. : warm Some rain in January (period of weather forecast for the year) dog days (canícula) (temporary decrease of the rains) at the end of July

5 Saison Rainy sèche season

6 Dry season

7 Importance of the rain Codex Borgia Tlaloc: Aztec Rain God

8 The Mesoamerican cultural area: sedentary corn cultivators

9 The area of study: The MESOAMERICAN CULTURAL AREA Uto-Aztec (huichol) Maya (Huastec) Totonac Purhepecha Uto-Aztec (nahua) Mixe- Otomanguean Zoque Maya Mesoamerican linguistic families Approximative limits of Mesoamerica Uto-Aztec (pipil)

10 The Mesoamerican cultural area Indian groups of different linguistic families Constant circulation of ideas, techniques, goods through the whole cultural area! unity and diversity in the perceptions of climate Spanish colonisation!biological and cultural mixing! integration of rituals and representations from the hispanic culture Cultural continuity in nature representations

11 Rain and agriculture Importance of rain for subsistance agriculture Corn cycle // rainy season cycle Alliance of dry season heat and first rains humidity : propicious for sowing corn // human reproduction

12 Rain and agriculture : Tlaloc and corn Codex Borgia

13 The rain cycle according to Mexican Indians Clouds are created in the womb of the mountain, are pushed by the wind to the top, then fall into rain

14 Inside of the mountain: the earth womb Representation of a mountain, Codex Nuttall (Mixtec)

15 Food symbolism Heat + humidity // earth womb Earth oven, earth oven meat and corn, tamal, meat broth

16 Meteorological phenomena (Mixtec) Dry phenomena Dry wind Dry lightning Dry storm (devil/wind)! All associated to rain! All come from the womb of the mountain Rain phenomena Rain Rainwind Rain lightning Rainstorm (feathered serpent) Hail Dew Frost/snow Chahuistle Rainbow (serpent)

17 Weather forecast Attempt of a control on weather Importance of rain forecast, especially arrival of rainy season Observation of nature (short term) : animals Planets and stars Natural phenomena (clouds, wind, dew, earthquakes) Symbolical systems (long term) : 12 days (cabañuelas) Animal symbolism

18 Rain rituals Attempt to control meteorological phenomena Rituals executed by : a community Individuals ritual specialist (rain-maker, priest) Places Sacred (church, temple, sanctuary) Liminal (caves, springs, top of mountains) Time Before the rainy season (apr-may, St Mark, St Cross) Beginning of rainy season (may-july, St Isidore-St James) After the rainy season (sept-nov, All Saints)

19 Rogations pour la pluie RainRogations sanctuary on the pour top of la a pluie mountain

20 Rain rituals : Volador Practised by Totonacs, Huastecs, Otomis A flight to secure the balance of the universe and the coming of the rain Cf. Lammel.

21 Graniceros (hailers) : rain-makers stroken by the lightning (Neovolcanic axis) (even close to large cities) Other areas : rain-makers with nahual of lightning, feathered serpent, whirlwind La Malinche

22 Offerings for the rain Copal incense Sacrified animals Beverages Cocoa drink (blood) Pulque (agave beer : water, blood, milk, semen) Codex Borgia : Agave (century plant) and pulque

23 La fête des morts : fin des récoltes, fin des pluies All Saints : End of the rainy season, End of the harvest, Offerings to the dead, Thanks for the rain

24 Conclusion Rain and drought are a symbolic axis in daily practises such as agriculture and cooking, as well as in the representation of reproduction, vital processes, fertility and abundance. Continuity and constant evolution of practises, knowledge and representations Climate change : now a discussion topic among Mexican farmers > interpreted within their symbolic framework.

25 Conclusion Scientists and other stakeholders in the present debates on climate have rarely taken into account the folk knowledge, and even less its symbolical aspects, often interpreted as beliefs or superstitions. Yet the knowledge is not separate from the expression of the global cosmovision of a society. In a world where climatic risks and disasters are being worsened by human impact on nature, lessons may be drawn from farmers knowledge and world view.

26 Conclusion Urgency to collect data on traditional knowledge In Mexico : migration to US: risks of loss of knowledge on nature Post Office in the Mixtec Highlands : queuing to receive money from relatives working in the US

27 References Lammel, A., Goloubinoff, M., Katz, E. (eds), In press, Aires y lluvias Antropología del clima en México, México, CIESAS/Universidad Iberoamericana/CEMCA/IRD Broda, J., Iwaniszewski, S. & A. Montero (eds), 2001, La Montaña en el paisaje ritual. México, UNAM/CONACULTA-INAH/UAP. Albores B. & J. Broda (eds), 1997, Graniceros. Cosmovisión y meteorología indígenas de Mésoamérica. Zinacantepec (E de México), Colegio Mexiquense/México, UNAM. Goloubinoff, M., Katz, E., Lammel, A. (eds), Antropología del clima en el mundo hispanoamericano, Quito. Abya-Yala. 2 T. Many articles on rain rituals and prehispanic gods E. Katz (IRD/MNHN/CDS-UnB), katz@mnhn.fr A. Lammel (Univ. Paris-VIII), lammel@free.fr M. Goloubinoff, mgoloubinoff@yahoo.fr