KCET Trending Nature – Ixoq Arte: Learning About Maya Ancestry Through Plant-Medicine
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When I was growing up, my Guatemalan grandmother, Mamamanda, always knew how to make me feel better, whether it was with peppermint and cinnamon tea for menstrual cramps or chamomile tea for stomach aches. This transfer of generational knowledge is what inspires me to keep these traditions alive with Ixoq Arte, a line of natural personal care products I started in 2016.
On a sunny June day, my kitchen smells of the lavender, rosemary and eucalyptus I use to make my own plant-based items, such as a mosquito repellent and a grounding spray that promotes calming energy in aromatherapy. As we navigate a pandemic, I find emotional balance in creating herbal, holistic healthcare products for our physical and emotional well-being based on the traditional knowledge of my Maya ancestry.
The month of June always reminds me of the month when my consciousness shifted. In 2016, my mind, body and soul connected with other like-minded people at an herbal retreat hosted by California Womxn of Color Herbal Symposium near the Bay Area. This retreat included guided meditations by Black womxn elders connecting us to the fire within ourselves, encouraging us to enjoy the present moment and to break away from the intensity of urban life. The retreat encouraged me to start creating my own herbal medicine and natural products to connect with ancestral ways.
I started Ixoq Arte to tackle the intergenerational trauma of colonization on my Maya ancestors and to address its impact on every generation since. I am intentionally reconnecting with plant-based medicines and ancestral ways of taking care of ourselves amidst colonial violence. Ixoq means womxn in K’iche,’ one of the languages of the Maya people in Guatemala. I want to honor my Maya matriarchal lineage and its traditional systems of care for the village, the community, the home and the body. Plant-based remedies preserve us more than processed, toxic products by healing the root of the wound. The Maya people have relied on herbs such as eucalyptus, peppermint, chamomile and tobacco to treat spiritual ailments and connect with the ancestral world. These traditions are sacred and as part of the Central American Maya diaspora I want to learn and recuperate ancestral knowledge. I became passionate about making natural body care products not only to address the contaminants of pharmaceuticals, but also to connet with my ancestry.
