From the Lacandon point of view: proposal for a new approach to Lacandon ontology

Abstract

Despite the small number of its members and the profound changes that have affected their culture, the Lacandones, who reside in the jungles of Chiapas State (Mexico), have been the subject of a large body of research since the early 1900s. However, the anthropology dealing with this ethnic group has been focused on the study of culture, thus giving little importance to the jungle environment in which they live. The foregoing would not constitute a deficiency on the part of anthropologists if the Lacandon people conceived the said environment in naturalistic terms. However, they regard the jungle as a cultural and social space of interaction, where the categories of ‘self’ and ‘otherness’ are defined. Therefore, this article seeks to reflect on how the “ontological turn” could inspire a new way of reading ethnographic data to address the ontological jach winik (living people – in the Lakantun language) categories.