Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This presentation examines Indigenous Maseual cosmo-ecological frameworks concerning the existence of primordial evil or harmful action (amo kwali), as well as the practices of defense or abjuration enacted through good or appropriate action (kwali) lonked to Nixikol, the devil in the land.

Paper long abstract

This presentation examines Indigenous Maseual cosmo-ecological frameworks concerning the existence of primordial evil or harmful action (amo kwali), alongside practices of defense or abjuration enacted through good, proper, or appropriate action (kwali). These principles extend beyond interpersonal relations to encompass interactions with animals, landscape spirits, and other non-human entities. Central to these relational configurations is Nixikol, or “the Devil”—not as an equivalent of the Christian malevolent deity, but as an inescapable potential stakeholder, and at times even a partner, in any significant endeavor, given its intrinsic association with the land itself. Rather than constituting a simple moral or symbolic opposition, the dynamic relationship between kwali and amo kwali actions and values articulates a broad relational ontology in which all forms of interaction—human and non-human, visible and invisible—carry the potential for unintended harm, even when undertaken with the best intentions and successful outcomes. Drawing on these foundational cosmological principles, the presentation explores contemporary Maseual models of causation through which environmental, political, and economic crises are understood as directed forms of harm emerging from complex configurations of agency. It demonstrates how these ontological assumptions shape present-day local practices, ethical orientations, and interpretations of social and environmental change, grounding collective responses in a cosmology where responsibility, action, and the maintenance of relational balance remain central.