Different forms to take care of the Maiz Mother

Wixaritari's agriculture practices in the milpas-maize field of San Andres Cohamiata, Jalisco (1960-2019)

Abstract

This article analyzes the practices of feeding the cornfield and applying chemical supplements that most Wixaritari from San Andrés Cohamiata (sanandreseños or tateikietari) have to take care of corn as their divinized ancestor Tatei Niwetsika (Our Mother Corn). Turning to the contributions of ontological anthropology and the discussion about modernity in indigenous cosmologies, I support my arguments with participant observation and interviews carried out in the wixarika community of San Andrés Cohamiata (Jalisco) during six months between 2018 and 2019. My collaborators were wixaritari farmers, civic-religious authorities or teachers; men and women of different ages. Through these sources, I propose that wixaritari simultaneously carry out cosmological and agro-modern practices to maintain their corn cultivation and to give care to Mother Niwetsika who cares them during each agro-ceremonial cycle. These practices develop changes in the way the wixaritari identify the Niwetsika’s existence –or ontology– as an actor or as an object. This work seeks to contribute towards the contemporary analysis of cosmologies in indigenous communities and the ways in which modern practices are appropriated by them to dynamize their links with non-human actors.