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We report on the top three ethnopharmacological herbs growing among a lowland Guatemalan Q’eqchi’ community’s homegardens. In a gardening culture characterized by pragmatic species distribution and sharing, these few herbaceous species recur in multiple households’ dooryard gardens. Our aim in reporting on the most predominant ethnobotanical herbs gardened in a Maya Q’eqchi’ village’s dooryards is to valorize the capacities of local pharmacological traditions. Thirty-one walking homegarden interviews and participant-observation inform this research with village residents. Té de limón (Cymbopogon winterianus, for cough, fever), Qa’mank/Tres punta (Neurolaena lobata, for diabetes, fever, headache, gastrointestinal ills, evil eye), and Ruda (Ruta chalepensis, for children’s vomiting, weepiness, evil eye) are the prevalent non-woody Q’eqchi’ homegarden herbs here. Regional ethnomedical and extant pharmacology research mutually support the efficacy and continued practicality of these Q’eqchi’ plant uses. Ethnopharmacological research of Maya Q’eqchi’ medicinals documents local knowledge for conservation and calls for their cultural and biomedical respect as prominent, accessible, therapeutic species. Resumen Reportamos sobre las tres principales hierbas etnofarmacológicas cultivadas en los huertos familiares de una comunidad Q'eqchi' guatemalteca de tierras bajas. En una cultura de jardinería caracterizada por la distribución pragmática de especies y el intercambio, algunas especies herbáceas se repiten en los huertos familiares de múltiples hogares. Nuestro objetivo al reportar sobre las hierbas etnobotánicas más predominantes cultivadas en los patios de una aldea Maya Q'eqchi' es el de valorizar las capacidades de las tradiciones farmacológicas. Treinta y una entrevistas en base a “caminatas botánicas” y la observación participante informan esta investigación con los residentes de la aldea. Cymbopogon winterianus (para la tos, fiebre), Neurolaena lobata (para la diabetes, fiebre, dolor de cabeza, enfermedades gastrointestinales, mal de ojo) y Ruta chalepensis (para el vómito, el llanto y el mal de ojo en niños) son las hierbas medicinales predominantes. Las investigaciones regionales etnomédicas y farmacológicas actuales apoyan mutuamente la eficacia y la factibilidad de estas plantas y sus usos entre los Q’eqchi’. La investigación etnofarmacológica de las medicinas Maya Q'eqchi' documenta el conocimiento local como base para la conservación e invita al respeto cultural y biomédico de estas como especies terapéuticas destacadas y accesibles.

Maya Q’eqchi’ villagers of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala fathom local indicators of climate change keenly. In a small-holder, maize-based, horticultural village, ethnographic interviews with village experts in hunting, agricultural production, and animal husbandry, and with non-expert/lay villagers recounted that many local climate- and subsistence-related activities and some traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) correspond to annual cycles or seasons. This research documents the local queues and timing of residents’ practices as a baseline for monitoring subsequent years’ activities and climate-related observations based on our interpretation of emic views, practices, and traditions. Using focus groups, we collected such traditional indicators to design a visual representation of a seasonal calendar, which we present herein. This seasonal calendar is a locally accessible tool to document monthly climate observations, agricultural and home garden activities, hunting, animal raising, and cultural activities during a complete annual cycle. We supplement observational and focus group data with semi-structured interview data about subsequent changes in weather patterns, which villagers identify as resulting from climate change. We suggest that Maya Q’eqchi’ villagers are active in their acknowledgment of climate change and are taking steps to document its effects on locally significant cultural activities, exemplifying Q’eqchi’ cultural capacity to adapt to ecological changes and to promote local resilience and cultural vitality. We demonstrate how seasonal calendars and the methods to create them may contribute to local and global understandings of TEK and climate change and annotate conventional anthropological methods as considerations for creating seasonal calendars in other cultural and ecological communities.

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