Volcán Tacaná. In 2003 the Federal Government declared the area a Biosphere Reserve
Chiapas State is home not only to exuberant tropical rainforests forests but also to lesser-known volcanoes, such as Chichonal and Tacaná. The Volcán Tacaná Protected Area is located in southeastern Chiapas, between the Guatemalan and Mexican border and covers 6,378 ha.
The research entitled \”Ethnoarcheological and Ecological Project of Volcán Tacaná\” is being conducted by the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH). The project is lead by ethnoarcheologists Elías Rodríguez Vázquez and Pascual Tinoco Quesnel, both are faculty at the institution.
The project intends to research the man-nature relationship from ancient times until present. The volcano, as a social entity, has a significant religious meaning for the men and women who inhabit its slopes. For example, the curandero people (also called the chimanes) see it as \”a great church of the ancestors\” because for them, Tacaná is a great terrestrial-biological temple where mythological creatures, like Kman and Piowachuwe-custodians of the flora and fauna-live. Each and every part of this sacred mountain should be respected and reverenced from the piedmont to the peak.
All along and at different heights of the volcano, we can find \”sacred places\” that are difficult to access, in an attempt to prevent predation by others who lack the same level of reverence. The sacred places are located in relation to levels at different thermic altitudes. They begin at 1300 m above sea level (m asl) where vegetation is tropical and sacred trees called \”matasano\” (Casimiroa edulis) grow. One ritual practiced by the people is hanging umbilical cords of newborns from the trees\’ sacred branches. From 1500 to 2000 m asl, we find montane mesophyll forest, and it is here where \”ocote crosses\” are planted, which are splinters of ocote pines that are cut and carved into human-like forms, to represent families, that will be \”planted\” at headwaters in order to ask for health from the \”mountain\’s spirit.\” Close to 4100 m, Tacaná\’s peak, the crosses of beginning medicine men are also \”planted.\” From what we have observed, there are sacred places throughout the volcano.
The ethnoarcheological and ecological project will research and document the historical, cultural, and ecological knowledge that exists in the entire region. They will also find and register diverse archeological sites (buildings, paintings, petrogylphs, rocks, etc) and ritual sites that are still being used by religious specialists. Tacaná is a bi-national volcano in between Guatemala and Mexico with the maya-mam ethnic group still occupying its slopes that maintains its traditions and culture towards the mountains.
The volcano is a great pile of information regarding the medicinal plants and animals used by the medicine men (chimanes) in traditional medicine. Because of this, the rescuing all of this biological and cultural richness is that much more important, it is the mam culture\’s contribution to the world. Because the Volcán Tacaná is located at a southern latitude (15º N) with the highest annual rainfall in the country, it possess many natural springs that feed important rivers like the Cahuacán and the Coatán. The region is very humid, with high forests and associated species, like the quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), a bird that was sacred to both the Aztecs and the Mayan. Other threatened species include the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), the horned guan (Oreophasis derbianus) and the crested eagle (Morphnus guianensis). Inventories of the biological and cultural richness are urgently needed since problems like the forest fires of January 2005 that lasted 30 days threaten their survival. Other problems also exist, like illegal logging, agriculture on steep slopes, and unaware climbers who burn the offerings to the volcano at its peak.
For more information and to help the project, contact : tacana2003@hotmail.com or call: 04455-12940634. Source: Archeologist: Elías Rodríguez Vázquez
Large areas on Tacaná\’s slopes are affected by soil erosion from agricultural and forestry activities.
Traditional veneration rituals at Volcán Tacaná by the mayas \”mam\”, every day they are more threatened by insensitive climbers and by vandals.
Years ago, and even recently, the forests of Volcán Tacaná\’s slopes have been affected by fires.
Chimanes Lake at 3.800 m above sea level, in Volcán Tacaná
Mound visited by chimanes, currently under study by archeologists with ENAH
Guatamala\’s Sierra Madre mountain chain seen from Volcán Tacaná
ParksWatch-Mexico: June 2005
Translated by Amanda Zidek-Vanega