Patta hoiri and Likanantay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land

1. Patta hoiri and Likanantay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land Traditional knowledge and the Millenium Assessment Project in the Salar de Atacama, Chile RIDES Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

2. This presentation • Rides and the SG Assessment in Chile • The Atacameño people • Their approach to nature and ecosystems: traditional knowledge • Integration of TK in our assessment: how, challenges Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

3. Research center based in Santiago, Chile • Our mission is to contribute to sustainable development public policy development and fostering in Chile and the region • Bridge between different actors, topics and experiences (international-national-local) • Main subjects: trade and sustainable development, social responsibility, access to information, public participation, and integrated assessment of public policies • www.rides.cl Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

4. The SG Assessment: Atacama desert • The MA started in Chile on June 2003 (until end of 2004) • Its objective is to: “to contribute to sustainable management of the ecosystems of the Salar de Atacama for human well being and conservation” • We just finished phase one: base line on water, tourism, biodiversity, mining, agriculture, astronomic observation, social • Initial resistance from community to project objectives and scope, impacts on TK line (bad previous experiences with research projects) Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

5. The Atacameños ... • Heirs to an ancient tradition Humans have lived in the Antofagasta region, where the Salar de Atacama lies, for at least eleven thousand years. For over six millennia, the first inhabitants maintained a subsistence lifestyle based on resources provided by the ecosystem, developing strategies to adapt to and make use of the ecological environment, characterised by desert and saline water (“Desert Tradition”). Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

6. ... The Atacameños • A people reshaping their past and present • From disperse settlement system to one town settlement • from a community decision system to an individual decision system • from catholic syncretic beliefs, to appearance of new religions. • but, still, among the poorest of the country. Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

7. ... The Atacameños • Knowledge and use of the desert’s biotic resources Knowledge of names, spatial distinctions, uses and distribution of biodiversity species in the Salar region. • There are special symbolic meaning of hills and valleys Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

8. ... The Atacameños • A traditional community integrated into one nation..... and then another The large-scale transmission and socialisation of traditional knowledge in the Atacameño community and their way of inhabiting the land was affected by colonisation, independence and the creation of the Bolivian and Chilean states. This occurred in many different ways and led to the loss of the Kunza language and other traditions of the zone. Since the inclusion of these indigenous groups within Chilean territory at the close of the 19th century, their identity has been built upon the “us”/”them” dynamic that these communities have developed with the Chilean state. Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

9. ... The Atacameños • A community making the most of political opportunities • Return of democracy and indigenous law define a new scenario • The indigenous communities from Northern Chile are using these “new political opportunities” to uncover new meaning to their ethnic identity in the following ways: • A revaluing of the “mythical past” • Creation of ethnically minded organisations for rights and productivity, shaped by modern structures • Local development project management with an ethnic stance, abandoning the passive role of simply receiving support • Taking up a new position with respect to “the others” • Reclaiming their territory and resources, based on their historical ownership Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

10. The role of traditional knowledge in the community’s past and present... • Traditional knowledge has a role in their human well being today, giving cohesion and containment to a shared mythical past, bestowing them with dignity as people and providing a spiritual connection to the surroundings they live in • Although this knowledge has been significantly depleted or lost, it is still cultivated amongst the elders, who are aware of its existence and validity. Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

11. … TK in the community past and present • ecological knowledge, “what is happening in the ecosystems • technology and knowledge of management practices • symbolic knowledge Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

12. … TK in the community past and present Transmission occur by 2 ways: family and social institutions Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

13. … TK in the community past and present Atacameños appreciation of scientific knowledge The cultural pressure transmitted by the nation through the existence of a precise form of knowledge, adjusted by science to proven and replicable fact, places other traditional sources under doubt, creating tension within the community between the illiterate and literate generations; between vernacular-traditional knowledge rooted in the practical observation of nature, and knowledge from books about things that are not understood but set down as truth. María de los Angeles Villaseca, 2000. Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

14. … TK in the community past and present Challenges for integration • Changes in labor oportunities affects TK negatively • Several experiences: health department, CONAF, Escuela Andina, bicultural educational programs Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

15. What have we done? ... • To accompany the process of rescue • “Knowledge coordinates” • what, very broad, but there is important knowledge for our assessment • where and when, limited by our time and budget for field work (San Pedro and Toconao) • Who, the elders • How, key point of our approach Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

16. ... What have we done? • Ongoing trips to the district • Approach to and conversations with key persons • Educational activities • Meeting with older members of the community. • Participation in religious activities of the community Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

17. What have we learned ... • Knowledge is power... But not every power is the same power • One vision to gather them all? • Living with the enemy • Community logics is no longer predominant. How can we deal with individuals? (transmission and sharing as bennefit to all) Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

18. ... What have we learned What role our assessment could play? • It has helped generate and strengthen the bridges needed for the older generations to bring their experience and knowledge closer to the youngsters. From this perspective, the direct benefits do not only go to the MA, but rather to the community and its process of patrimonial recovery. • A second lesson is that the languages needed to bring the traditional community closer to the this initiative deserve more in-depth study • A third lesson relates to the possibility to reveal and highlight the processes by which traditional knowledge can be incorporated into local decision-making processes. Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

19. Finally The key to reaching all knowledge is to trust in the great “teachers”. The project ‘Human Well Being and Sustainable Management of the Salar de Atacama’, has allowed us to identify some Atacameño “teachers”, and we would like to end with their words: Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile

20. Thank you!!!! Questions, comments are welcome. Beatriz Bustos Bbustos@rides.cl Patta Hoiri and Likan Antay people: rescuing the knowledge of the land, Salar de Atacama, Chile