Quechua Modern Ingenuity Brooke Elmi Gettysburg College ANTH 223-Indigenous Peoples, the Environment, and the Global Eco

1. Quechua Modern Ingenuity Brooke Elmi Gettysburg College ANTH 223-Indigenous Peoples, the Environment, and the Global Economy Ecological Knowledge and the Quechua Spiritual Connection Typically the Western world looks toward the future for potential solutions to the current environmental crisis and climate change. Through scientific research and technological advancement, theorists and environmental scientists look to construct a new and practical model for sustainable living that can replace the current destructive habits of the industrialized world. Meanwhile the environmental destruction caused by exorbitant consumerism and polluting production practices continue to have a disproportionately large negative effect on the already marginalized indigenous and impoverished peoples of the planet (Dowie 2009:17). In recent years environmental theorists, anthropologists, and other scholars have probed the idea that currently existing indigenous societies have interacted with the land based on systems of ‘socially embedded ecological knowledge’ that have enabled them to live sustainably for thousands of years on the same territory (Heyd 2005: 225). The relationship between the Quechua people and the land has been a concept that has drawn curiosity since the earliest Spanish chroniclers encountered the Inca Civilization. The Quechua’s spiritual connection with the natural world is a remnant of the religious traditions of the Inca and other pre-Colombian groups who worshipped the mountains, the sun, the moon, and earth deities to ensure the success of crops. The complex notion of interdependence between nature and the people is an intriguing aspect of the Quechua culture that has drawn the attention of environmental theorists (Heyd 2005:224). The Quechua traditional agricultural practices like irrigation, terracing, and herding have enabled them to survive in the harsh climate of the Andes Mountains. The agricultural practices are deeply tied to the Quechua religious beliefs and spiritual concept of the human-nature relationship. Thomas Heyd has suggested that the Quechua society can be emulated as a working model of sustainable society based on the traditional ecological knowledge that has allowed them to live in harmony with their surroundings without causing serious detriment or depletion of natural resources. The suggestion that groups have superior manners of integrating human existence with the natural world calls for a level of resistance to the forces of ‘modernization’ and ‘development’ that impose new scientific concepts and methods as beneficial (Heyd 2005:231). Scholar Eduardo Grillo Fernandez suggests that the Quechua’s symbiotic relationship with nature means they consider their own well being to be inextricably tied to the harmony of the natural world, a mentality that has served to evade environmental degradation on a fundamental level (Grillo Fernandez 1998:128). The maintenance of this traditional understanding will depend on how successfully Quechua people can resist the pervasive forces of globalization and commodification. Aside from the extreme difficulty of resisting the forces of globalization, there is the further discussion of whether the model for sustainability in one culture can be effectively utilized by another group. The recent support for the potential benefits of traditional ecological knowledge is a vital realization for the environmental movement that will be central to the formulation of a sustainable future. Moreover, it is a radical divergence from past traditions that scientists and theorists alike have begun to realize the wealth of modern ingenuity embedded in indigenous cultures like the Quechua people. Threats to Survival The struggles of the Quechua people hail back to the colonization of South America by the Spanish conquerors. Like other indigenous groups in Latin America, the legacy of the Spanish conquest continues to influence the Quechua as they continue into the 21st century. The Quechua culture has been traditionally degraded by the Creole and mestizo majority. Development projects imposed on the indigenous groups of the Andes often clash with their lifestyle and values. Threats to the survival of the indigenous communities of the Andes are varied. Once remote and secluded in the Andean highlands, the Quechua have faced discrimination from the Spanish speaking majorities in South America as they are incorporated into the national community. Their location in the Andes Mountains means they face a constant struggle to maintain vital and culturally valued natural resources in the highland territories like water and land. Water is probably the most vital resource in danger for the Quechua people. Political policies have created conflict over the valuable resource. National canal projects in Peru have appropriated water from the highland territories to be redirected to coastal populations causing serious periods of drought in the 1980s (Gelles 2001:212). Other less tangible threats also exist for the Quechua. Most of the Quechua speaking population’s issues arise from the general prejudiced assumptions that they are backward relics of an ancient civilization (Gelles 2001:201). Highland peasant communities have become new centers attracting eco-tourism. Tourism is a contested issue in itself, and it has certainly had an affect on certain Quechua communities that have been transformed into ‘model communities’ of their indigenous heritage to be featured for curious tourists. Members of the communities perform in public displays of craft making and events for the tourist visitors (Zorn 2005:157). While tourism can have a positive effect on the economies of hitherto isolated communities, turning a community into a cultural display can have the effect of perpetuating stereotypes and prejudice against the Quechua people. Many of the challenges the Quechua face indicated are the result of misconstrued and judgmental stereotypes, and the effect of turning indigenous communities into tourist attractions can be counteractive to the goals of breaking down cultural prejudice and ideas of ‘otherness’. From the website “GloboTreks” Background Information Settled in the Andes Mountains, the Quechua people are descendants of pre-Colombian groups who inhabited the land for thousands of years. There are many indigenous Quechua and Aymara people living in the highlands who speak both Quechua and Spanish. The Inca are perhaps the most recognizable of the Quechua ancestors, for the architectural relics of their great civilization that still attract thousands of visitors to the Andean territory. The Quechua people continue to occupy the Andean highlands. They live at elevations over 10,000 feet above sea level in parts of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia (Gelles 2001:205). In order to survive in the Andes, it is necessary to conserve, share, and efficiently regulate the use of certain vital resources such as water, sunlight, and food. It makes sense then, that the core values and spiritual beliefs of the Quechua people are ones that reinforce how they manage the land in order to survive. The values such as reciprocity, transformation, and collectivity are ones that enable the people to share, manage, and efficiently use the natural terrain and its resources. Most Quechua speaking people live in peasant farming communities. The Quechua speaking indigenous groups rely on domesticated plants like maize and potatoes and herd animals like alpacas and llamas. Their agriculture practices are enabled by a system of irrigation and terracing in order to create hospitable microclimates for plant cultivation on the mountainous terrain (Gelles 2001: 209). Irrigation is a communally managed resource that enables the Quechua to effectively distribute a scarce resource. Tied to the agricultural practices are the religious practices that worship, represent, or are meant to harness the natural elements through means of offerings and veneration. The Quechua tradition worships Pachamama, the earth mother, and considers the geographic formations like the mountains and rivers to be inhabited by the spiritual ancestors of their people, but their spiritual beliefs are also affected by Catholic tradition brought over by the Spanish colonists (Valladolid Rivera 1998: 51). Following the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the Quechua speaking populations of the Andes declined by nearly three-quarters (Gelles 2001:205). Much of the vast terraced land has been abandoned, but recent infrastructure programs have linked the isolated highland communities to larger cities (Gelles 2001:208). “…the very notion of progress must be difficult to conceive by the communities whose members never remember having experienced any improvement in the conditions of their lives, but rather, prolonged stasis with periods of regression” (Llosa 1983: 36). References Cited Apffel-Marglin, Frédérique 1998 Knowledge and Life Revisited. In The Spirit of Regeneration: Andean Culture Confronting Western Notions of Development. Frédérique Apffel-Marglin, ed. Pp.1-50. London: Zed Books Dowie, Mark 2009 Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict Between Global Conservation and Native Peoples. Cambridge: The MIT Press Gelles, Paul H. 2001 The Quechua of the Peruvian Andes. In Endangered Peoples of Latin America: Struggles to Survive and Thrive. Susan C. Stonich, ed. Pp. 205-217. Westport: Greenwood Press. GloboTreks Traditional Quechua Women-Cuzco Peru. Weekly Snapshot by Norbert. http://www.globotreks.com/weekly-snapshot/weekly-snapshot-traditional-quechua-women/ (accessed May 4, 2011) Grillo Fernandez, Eduardo 1998 Development or Cultural Affirmation in the Andes? In The Spirit of Regeneration: Andean Culture Confronting Western Notions of Development. Frédérique Apffel-Marglin, ed. Pp. 124-145. London: Zed Books Heyd, Thomas 2005 Sustainability, Culture and Ethics: Models from Latin America. Ethics Place and Environment 8(2): 223-234 Valladolid Rivera, Julio 1998 Andean Peasant Agriculture: Nurturing a Diversity of Life in the Chacra. In The Spirit of Regeneration: Andean Culture Confronting Western Notions of Development. Frédérique Apffel-Marglin, ed. Pp. 51-88. London: Zed Books Vargas, Llosa 1983 Inquest in the Andes. New York Times Magazine. July 31: 36. Wikiversity Quechua Woman. (Public Domain) Jpg. http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/File:QuechuaWoman.jpg (accessed May 4, 2011) Zorn, Elayne 2005 From Political Prison to Tourist Village: Tourism, Gender, Indigeneity, and the State on Taquile Island, Peru. In Natives Making Nation: Gender, Indigeneity and the State in the Andes. Andrew Canessa, ed. Pp. 156-180. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press PRATEC PRATEC (Proyecto Andino de Tecnologias Campesinas/Andean Project of Peasant Technologies) is a Non-Governmental Organization that works with Andean and Amazonian cultures to promote and protect indigenous or peasant technology and resist development projects. The members of PRATEC believe that development has failed at effectively, practically, or humanely facilitating Andean peasant life (Apffel-Marglin 1998:3). The organization defends the superiority of peasant indigenous agricultural practices over the imposition of ‘Western’ technologies through expository and persuasive writing about Andean cultures and collective action. Their efforts encompass various causes including climate change, education, land rights, and political policy. For further information visit the website: http://www.pratecnet.org/ From the website ‘Wikiversity’