328
of different Mexican interlocutors. In the late 1990s, the state-driven neoliberal conservation management programs that proliferated at the time in Mexico found in
Tiburón Island their “golden goose.” Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana)
had been introduced to the island in 1975 as part of a repopulation program in
Sonora. The growing numbers of the ram population in the following decades set
the stage for a local NGO which in 1996 proposed the establishment of a sport
trophy- hunting program among the Comcaac. The claims of success made by those
associated with this program after it was implemented were largely based on the
revenues that the Comcaac received for the hunting and extraction activities on the
island, as well as their involvement in the management of the species (Renteria
2009, 2015).
The changes brought up during the twentieth century drastically changed
Comcaac governance. The need to negotiate resources with Mexican villages and
governmental institutions force the emergence of new figures of authority among
the Comcaac—a governor, an elder’s council, and ejido (communal land property)
managers. These new figures, albeit crucial in their relation to Mexican state authority remain internally fragile and incohesive. While an interconnection between the
different governance levels (local, regional, national, and international) is crucial
for successful environmental stewardship and sustainable development, the
Comcaac prefer to achieve self-management and independence.
The relation between the Comcaac and the Mexican mestizos has always been
tense—intensely violent at times. The quotidian experiences of racism and the troubling history of genocide that mark their encounter are never minimized by this
indigenous community. In this context, the Zapatista movement that erupted in
1994 in Southern Mexico to challenge the narratives and structures of a modern,
neoliberal Mexico, a country that had symbolically erased and systematically
oppressed its indigenous societies, empowered many of these groups to take a more
defiant stance against processes that continue the colonial approach. The Comcaac
were not the exception. Building on the singular territorial isolation that characterized their ejido (in comparison to many other indigenous communities in Mexico)
paired with a strong sense of independence in their natural resources set the ground
for a Comcaac nationalist narrative that portrayed them as an independent nation
within Mexico—to a certain extent reproducing perceived logics of the reservation
system in the USA. A “Comcaac Nation” flag and a national anthem—an ancient
song of resistance dating back to the colonial encounter—became ubiquitous symbols of independence. More importantly, an armed youth, organized as a Comcaac
Traditional Guard, organized to defend their territory and resources, a strategy that
produced new clashes with the Mexican government and the mestizo communities
that surround their territories but effectively empowering this indigenous community in terms of environmental governance.
In recent years the Comcaac have been threatened by drug trafficking related
problems and different external initiatives that seek to conduct “development”
activities in their territory: illegal mining; wildlife poaching; illegal fishing in their
exclusive fishing zone; the establishments of a desalination plant along the Infiernillo
Channel, among others. These threats pushed several young community members to
N. Martínez-Tagüeña and R. F. Rentería-Valencia
of different Mexican interlocutors. In the late 1990s, the state-driven neoliberal conservation management programs that proliferated at the time in Mexico found in
Tiburón Island their “golden goose.” Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis mexicana)
had been introduced to the island in 1975 as part of a repopulation program in
Sonora. The growing numbers of the ram population in the following decades set
the stage for a local NGO which in 1996 proposed the establishment of a sport
trophy- hunting program among the Comcaac. The claims of success made by those
associated with this program after it was implemented were largely based on the
revenues that the Comcaac received for the hunting and extraction activities on the
island, as well as their involvement in the management of the species (Renteria
2009, 2015).
The changes brought up during the twentieth century drastically changed
Comcaac governance. The need to negotiate resources with Mexican villages and
governmental institutions force the emergence of new figures of authority among
the Comcaac—a governor, an elder’s council, and ejido (communal land property)
managers. These new figures, albeit crucial in their relation to Mexican state authority remain internally fragile and incohesive. While an interconnection between the
different governance levels (local, regional, national, and international) is crucial
for successful environmental stewardship and sustainable development, the
Comcaac prefer to achieve self-management and independence.
The relation between the Comcaac and the Mexican mestizos has always been
tense—intensely violent at times. The quotidian experiences of racism and the troubling history of genocide that mark their encounter are never minimized by this
indigenous community. In this context, the Zapatista movement that erupted in
1994 in Southern Mexico to challenge the narratives and structures of a modern,
neoliberal Mexico, a country that had symbolically erased and systematically
oppressed its indigenous societies, empowered many of these groups to take a more
defiant stance against processes that continue the colonial approach. The Comcaac
were not the exception. Building on the singular territorial isolation that characterized their ejido (in comparison to many other indigenous communities in Mexico)
paired with a strong sense of independence in their natural resources set the ground
for a Comcaac nationalist narrative that portrayed them as an independent nation
within Mexico—to a certain extent reproducing perceived logics of the reservation
system in the USA. A “Comcaac Nation” flag and a national anthem—an ancient
song of resistance dating back to the colonial encounter—became ubiquitous symbols of independence. More importantly, an armed youth, organized as a Comcaac
Traditional Guard, organized to defend their territory and resources, a strategy that
produced new clashes with the Mexican government and the mestizo communities
that surround their territories but effectively empowering this indigenous community in terms of environmental governance.
In recent years the Comcaac have been threatened by drug trafficking related
problems and different external initiatives that seek to conduct “development”
activities in their territory: illegal mining; wildlife poaching; illegal fishing in their
exclusive fishing zone; the establishments of a desalination plant along the Infiernillo
Channel, among others. These threats pushed several young community members to
N. Martínez-Tagüeña and R. F. Rentería-Valencia