Vol. 45, No. 4, Fall 2023 9 PRACTICING ANTHROPOLOGY Kristina Baines is a sociocultural anthropologist with an applied medical/environ- mental focus. Her research interests include In- digenous ecologies, health, and heritage in the context of global change, particularly in Belize, New York City, and Los Angeles, in addi- tion to publicly engaged research and dissemination practices. She is Associate Professor of Anthro- pology at the City University of New York, Guttman Community College, Affiliated Faculty at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, and the Director of Anthropology for Cool Anthropology. Rebecca Zarger is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. Her research focuses on environmental knowledge and practice, children and youth, water, climate change, food, and coastal sustainability, primarily in Belize and Florida. She is cur- rently President of the Anthropol- ogy and Environment Society of the American Anthropological Association and has published in Current Anthropology, Ecol- ogy and Society, Landscape and Urban Planning, and Practicing Anthropology. NEGOTIATING HERITAGE THROUGH PRACTICE: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AT THE INTERSECTION OF ETHNOGRAPHY AND ARCHAEOLOGY Kristina Baines and Rebecca Zarger Abstract For Maya communities in southern Belize, environ- mental and cultural heritage is not a static entity but an everyday lived experience. In this paper, we critically examine this living heritage through reflections on a series of collaborative heri- tage projects in Mopan and Q’eqchi’ Maya communities in southern Belize. We col- laborated with community members, community-based organization leaders, and archaeologists to exchange knowledge about land use and land management in the context of supporting and sustaining cultural heritage knowledge and practice. Building on long-term ethno- graphic research in a village with an archaeological site lo- cated on community lands, we designed a series of activities utilizing multiple pathways in support of the maintenance of heritage. We consider how sociocultural anthropolo- gists navigate community/ archaeology collaborations, documenting the successes and challenges of these groups working together and describing points of tension that have yet to be resolved but reflect broader patterns of negotiated heritage in Belize and beyond. Keywords: heritage, commu- nity archaeology, environmen- tal education Co-constructing Heritage L aughter erupted from the circle, prompting the children play- ing nearby to poke their heads around the side of the house to see what we were talking about. Seated in a nebulous circle on overturned 5-gallon buckets, we discussed the names and uses of the local plants to be included in the guide for visitors to the village plant trail. The consensus was a slow and clearly often hilarious process. The plants, and adjacent botanical signs, were meant to highlight and share important aspects of environmental heritage, but figuring out what exactly those were and for whom was challeng- ing. Some community members wanted to highlight cultivated fruits so the community could have access close by, but others thought we should prioritize high- lighting trees that were used for housebuilding and for medicines. Still others thought we should be featuring trees that they had heard that their ancient Maya an- cestors used. The trail was, after all, connecting two areas at the Maya site. As we discussed and deliberated, it was clear from the laughter that everybody thought that some questionable but com- mon English translations should be shared (such as noq’iritimis or Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/practicing-anthropology/article-pdf/45/4/9/3272424/i0888-4552-45-4-9.pdf by SfAA Members user on 27 October 2023