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Research on Globalization and Sustainable Development in the Rukullakta Indigenous Territory, Ecuadorian Amazon July 1-10, 2014. Kichwa carriers traveling between Quito and the Amazon.
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Research on Globalization and Sustainable Development in the Rukullakta Indigenous Territory, Ecuadorian Amazon July 1-10, 2014
Kichwa carriers traveling between Quito and the Amazon Anonymous painting, published in Rucuyaya Alonso y la Historia Social y Economica del Alto Napo, 1850-1950 (Blanca Muratorio, 1991)
Key Periods • Early 1900s– most Amazonian Kichwa worked intermittently for whites, but also spent long periods living in the forest. • 1960s - early 1970s – Ecuadorian government invested in roads and the formation of cattle ranching cooperatives, recruiting settlers from the highlands • Rukullakta cooperative forms (1970-71); substantial grants and loans for cattle • 1980s – cattle projects fail with no new development options. Substantial poverty and suffering. • 1990s – present. Sustainable development. Not as lucrative because small-scale. Often projects designed with romanticized images of indigenous people. • Particularly notion of “community”
Community Cultural Museum, local NGO with funds from FECD (Canada)
Research: Students and I will interview various indigenous leaders and development project participants about: • Their experiences with current projects • How they compare to past projects • Can they imagine a better project? If so, what would that look like?
Compare and Contrast • We will compare and contrast various community-run projects with projects that individuals participate in on their own • For example, “Runa” is a tea company run by a recent North American college graduate. The company purchases tree leaves from the guayusa tree from farmers willing to grow trees that meet their standards. • “Runa” tea now available in Whole Foods and other health food chains
Participatory Action Research • Students will visit a community that has been wanting to increase their involvement in educational tourism for 2-3 days • They have hosted a few student groups already, but typically only for a day • We will participate in some of the activities that the community is planning to do with larger student groups • We will offer our impressions and feedback on what we liked and what they might want to consider changing.
Thank you • To Global Learning for awarding me this fellowship • I look forward to presenting stories and pictures from the trip at next year’s conference