Eugene Hunn

The Intersections of Biological Diversity and Cultural Diversity: Towards Integration

There is an emerging recognition that the diversity of life comprises both biological and cultural diversity. In the past, however, it has been common to make divisions between nature and culture, arising partly out of a desire to control nature. The range of interconnections between biological and cultural diversity are reflected in the growing variety of environmental sub-disciplines that have emerged. In this article, we present ideas from a number of these sub-disciplines. We investigate four bridges linking both types of diversity (beliefs and worldviews, livelihoods and practices, knowledge bases and languages, and norms and institutions), seek to determine the common drivers of loss that exist, and suggest a novel and integrative path forwards. We recommend that future policy responses should target both biological and cultural diversity in a combined approach to conservation. The degree to which biological diversity is linked to cultural diversity is only beginning to be understood. But it is precisely as our knowledge is advancing that these complex systems are under threat. While conserving nature alongside human cultures presents unique challenges, we suggest that any hope for saving biological diversity is predicated on a concomitant effort to appreciate and protect cultural diversity.

ETHNOBIOLOGY IN FOUR PHASES

ABSTRACT I recognize four phases of ethnobiology: I, II, III, and IV. Ethnobiology I begins well before the formal naming of ethnobiology as a scholarly endeavor at the end of the 19th century. This initial phase has been widely characterized, albeit over simply, as essentially utilitarian. Ethnobiology II was elaborated in the cognitive/linguistic anthropology of the 1960s. Ethnobiology III integrates knowledge with practice, stressing the ecological consequences of knowledge applied to make a living. Ethnobiology IV emphasizes the rights of indigenous peoples to control their traditional knowledge. I elaborate this framework here and consider how these diverse perspectives might be integrated more effectively in the future.

Place-Names, Population Density, and the Magic Number 500

grounds, resulting in the gradual elimination of the trees and thickets which provide natural cover and protection for the deer. This issue has been raised with the central government, and the Department of Game and Wildlife is considering the feasibility of designating the area a regional park. Some uncertainty has also been caused by a claim made by the neighbouring Gomoa on a section of Tuafo companys hunting ground. Even if this claim is upheld, however, it is unlikely to create a situation which would place the festival in jeopardy. Had the Aboakyer remained an exclusive, local affair instead of becoming a major visitor attraction, these kinds of problems might well have signalled its demise.

Impact of Mt. St. Helens ashfall on fruit yield of Mountain Huckleberry,Vaccinium membranaceum, important native American food

Huckleberry plants evaluated at 13 sites in the southern Cascade Mountains of Washington State during August 1980 showed significantly lower fruit yields where subjected to heavy ash deposition following the 18 May 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. High insect pollinator mortality is suspected as the major causal factor. The impact of such effects of volcanic activity on Native American subsistence is discussed.

THE TENEJAPA TZELTAL VERSION OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM

A summary description is presented of the structure and content of the folk zoological classification system of the Tzeltal-speaking Mayan Indians of Tenejapa, highland Chiapas, Mexico. The system is examined in the light of certain general principles of folk biological classification and nomenclature suggested by Berlin and his collaborators. The Tzeltal folk zoological system described is shown to accord with those general principles.

Folk biology: A frontier of cognitive anthropology

Brent Berlin, Dennis E. Breedlove, and Peter H. Raven. Principles of Tzeltal Plant Classification: An Introduction to the Botanical Ethnography of a Mayan‐Speaking People of Highland Chiapas. New York and London: Academic Press, 1974. xxii + 660 pp. Tables, figures, maps, illustrations, appendixes, references, and indexes.

WHERE DO FUNGI FIT? THE FUNGAL DOMAIN IN MIXTEPEC ZAPOTEC

39.50 (cloth).

The Utilitarian Factor in Folk Biological Classification

Abstract We summarize results of two independent ethnobiological field studies in adjacent Zapotec towns in the Sierra de Miahuatlán, Oaxaca, Mexico. San Juan and San Pedro Mixtepec share a common language (with minor lexical variation) and occupy contiguous traditional municipal territories ranging from 1650 m to 3700 m elevation and practice a common subsistence agricultural tradition. In conjunction, our data provide a detailed account of how macro-fungi are classified, named, and used by residents of these two towns. We first consider “where fungi fit” in the local worldview as well as in the broader context of folk systematics, noting their relative neglect in ethnobiological studies to date. We document more than 30 distinct, named folk generic taxa of macro-fungi (known locally as mĕy), analyze the nomenclatural patterns characteristic of this life-form, and argue that it is best construed to be “an unaffiliated life-form” rather than an unaffiliated folk generic taxon or a kingdom on a par with that of plants or of animals. We briefly characterize the ecology and phenology of each recognized folk taxon and detail how 25 species are used as food. We note in particular how local harvesters distinguish confusingly similar toxic from edible species. We compare the Mixtepec Zapotec classification and nomenclature with that of two other Mexican Indigenous societies, the Purépecha of Michoacán, and the Tzeltal Maya of Chiapas, noting many similarities but also some intriguing contrasts.