Spirituality, Nature, and the Sacredness of Life Theme Analysis

Respect for the natural world is one of the core principles underlying the traditions in Rigoberta Menchú Tum’s community. Conscious of the fact that they share an environment with animals and plants, Rigoberta and her fellow Indigenous Maya-Quiché people ask the natural world for permission before modifying it in any way, be it through harvesting crops, gathering flowers, or killing an animal on rare occasions (for ceremonial purposes). The respect Rigoberta’s community has for nature is a matter of spiritual belief: the sun functions as a father figure and a God, and the earth and water are considered sacred. In addition, these beliefs determine a moral approach to life, encouraging the villagers to accept everything that nature brings, however imperfect it might be. In this way, the community’s connection to nature affects its social beliefs: it encourages them to shun violence of any kind, unless it is absolutely necessary to ensure survival. With this, the Maya-Quiché traditions that Rigoberta shares encourage a radical commitment to tolerance and equality—not only between humankind and the different elements of natural world, but also among humans themselves.

For the Maya-Quiché community, humans do not exist in a world separate from or superior to animals and plants: rather, all living things must respect each other and coexist peacefully. For Rigoberta’s community, the sun is the heart of the universe and is associated with “the one father,” their God. Connecting with God involves honoring the sun and the life it brings. Before going to work, for example, the men remove their hats to greet the sun. This highlights their connection to God as well as their commitment to respect the nature they use in their work as farm laborers. This respect for nature extends to all aspects of life, including food: since maize, a natural product of the land, is sacred, the preparation of tortillas and tamales is also considered a sacred activity. Similarly, killing animals or even cutting flowers must take place only on rare occasions, as any modification to nature must have a spiritual justification.

Furthermore, all of the ceremonies in Rigoberta’s community involve demonstrating great care and respect for the natural world. A central aspect of Indians’ life is their connection to a nahual, an animal that each person is assigned at birth, according to a predefined calendar. This nahual functions as a protective spirit as well as a child’s concrete connection with nature—not only with the animal kingdom, but with everything that binds it together (the sun, the water, the earth). Given this intimate connection that links human beings to their nahual, killing animals is considered just as violent as killing humans. In turn, killing a human also involves destroying their animal double. Therefore, this intense connection to the earth does not only imply ecological preservation but also peaceful human coexistence. Acts such as murder and theft are considered not only an offense to one’s ancestors, but also to nature itself, since all members of the community are taught to respect other living things and be content with what nature has given them.

In light of this sacred relationship to nature, the ladino landowners’ violence toward the community presents an additional challenge to the Maya-Quiché’s spiritual beliefs, since even violence in self-defense involves violating their own codes of behavior. When the rich landowners’ henchmen come to Rigoberta’s village to destroy their possessions, they break the villagers’ handmade, earthenware pots and kill their dogs. These actions are as shocking to the villagers as if these violent men had taken a human life. Indeed, because of their use in the handling of maize, earthenware pots are central to the community’s customs, as they symbolize the connection human beings must maintain with the natural world. In turn, given the sacredness of dogs—who not only help the villagers in everyday activities but also represent cooperation between the human and animal worlds—killing a dog is a serious offense for the community.

Together, these acts of violence and destruction—as well as the landowners’ threats against people in the community—force the villagers to engage in violent acts themselves as a form of resistance. The community spends a lot of time debating this issue, given that violence against other beings violates their code of treating every life as precious and sacred. However, the group ultimately decides that this extreme measure is necessary for self-defense purposes: without it, the community risks being destroyed. Therefore, although the community’s spiritual and ethical beliefs are centered around the sacredness of every living thing, they accept that the fight for survival justifies extreme measures, such as taking part in violent actions against the enemy. This suggests that it is acceptable for a community to sacrifice some of its principles in order to ensure its own survival, as long as the end goal is the restoration of peace among humans, and between humans and the natural world.