My current research interests include long-term human-environment relationality, epistemological pluralism, and decolonization of the Anthropocene. I have worked on Amazonian biocultural landscapes, Indigenous politics and leadership, mobility, and youthhood. Address: Indigenous Studies Unioninkatu 40, P.O. Box 24 00014 University of Helsinki - Finland
This article discusses relational land-based education in the Brazilian Amazon and the idea of in... more This article discusses relational land-based education in the Brazilian Amazon and the idea of intra-dependency. The data produced with the Apurinã presents the intra-relational spaces of knowing created between different beings, human and other-than-human, which contrast with the notion of individual learners. Apurinã co-existence in learning also sheds light on the emotional dimension of Amazonian relational epistemology, while its inclusion of human–environment relations can contribute to taking seriously the practice of care toward other-than-human beings.
The relationship between Indigenous learning systems and sustainability pedagogies has not been s... more The relationship between Indigenous learning systems and sustainability pedagogies has not been sufficiently elaborated despite the recognition of Indigenous peoples as stewards of the world's biological, cultural and linguistic diversity. Indigenous pedagogies are intergenerational, relational, and land-based. This special section addresses intergenerational efforts to regenerate local biocultural knowledge in settings that extend beyond the classroom and proposes that educators support these processes by cultivating relational learning through new sensory, perceptive, and affective capacities throughout life. [Indigenous pedagogies, sustainability, intergenerational knowledge, more-than-human futures, biocultural regeneration, hope]
We examine the Indigenous uses, oral histories, and knowledge of native Guadua bamboo species in ... more We examine the Indigenous uses, oral histories, and knowledge of native Guadua bamboo species in southwestern Amazonia. Two Guadua species form dense stands in which individual plants die en masse at regular intervals of about 28 years. Scholars suggested that pre-colonial earth builders took advantage of these die-off events as a natural aid in removing the forest to construct geometric earthworks. Our results show that Guadua species have a significant position in Indigenous socio-cosmologies, land use, and as a protector of diverse resources. Indigenous ontological understandings cannot be separated from discussions of the abundance and geographical distribution of Guadua as a critical controlling factor in the vegetation structure and function of southwestern Amazonian rain forests. Furthermore, oral histories point to the connection between land management and bamboo, as well as bamboo and the use of fire, conforming to the suggestion of opening ceremonial spaces in bamboo patches in pre-colonial earthwork societies.
Situating Sustainability: A Handbook of Contexts and Concepts, 2021
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) refers to a body of knowledge, practices, and ideas transm... more Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) refers to a body of knowledge, practices, and ideas transmitted and (re)generated orally and non-verbally in diverse forms from generation to generation. It is constantly changing and being updated. TEK is rich among several communities, but we will situate our cases in the Amazonian and Arctic Indigenous contexts. We will also discuss the limits of TEK in sustainability science, which include its truth-value and legitimacy. As it originates from different traditions, experiences, and language structures, it is challenging to systematize. Recently, however, TEK has been recognized in a more inclusive way, and How to cite this book chapter:
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2019
This introductory article examines key issues related to Indigenous conceptualisations of cultura... more This introductory article examines key issues related to Indigenous conceptualisations of cultural heritage, especially intergenerational aspects, Indigenous concepts of time, Indigenous knowledge, heritage language, and relationships with the environment. It urges to reflect on how these aspects are integrated when legal mechanisms protecting and promoting Indigenous cultural heritage have been designed and developed. The article also discusses the ability to form resistance through Indigenous cultural heritage. Our examples, which primarily come from the Sámi and also from global Indigenous perspectives, all point to the importance of a holistic approach to guarantee Indigenous peoples' rights to their cultural heritage. Finally, we discuss the crucial role of research and appropriate research methodologies in contributing to better protection of Indigenous cultural heritage.
In Bridging Cultural Concepts of Nature: Indigenous People and Protected Spaces of Nature, Rani-Henrik Andersson, Boyd Cothran, Saara Kekki (ed.), pp- 169–199. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press., 2021
Esse artigo trata acerca da conduta ética em pesquisa que envolve
povos indígenas. Nas últimas dé... more Esse artigo trata acerca da conduta ética em pesquisa que envolve povos indígenas. Nas últimas décadas, os territórios indígenas vêm sendo palco para a realização de muitas pesquisas, sobretudo, no âmbito antropológico. Neste artigo, questionamos como estes códigos se associam com as formas de pensar e se relacionar dos indígenas sob a conduta ética e adequada na pesquisa. Refletindo nossas experiências na região do rio Purus, estados do Acre e Amazonas, como membro do povo indígena e como pessoa não-indígena, analisamos como as relações são criadas e como impactam as relações estabelecidas na pesquisa. Nossos dados foram produzidos especificamente durante as pesquisas colaborativas sobre o passado e o presente dos povos indígenas Apurinã e Manxineru, que pertencem à família linguística Aruak. Sob à luz de seus princípios locais, de se relacionar, discutimos como os diferentes seres, incluindo humanos e não-humanos, interagem, convivem, dialogam e como eles devem ser reconhecidos como públicos da pesquisa. Este artigo mostra que os protocolos culturais locais devem refletir juntamente com os Códigos de Conduta Ética Oficiais fornecidos para as ciências humanas e sociais. Esse tornará o espaço ético, criado como um instrumento crucial, ainda mais impactante para quem deseja realizar uma pesquisa ética com os povos indígenas.
This article identifies core dimensions in the notion of “sustainability” as it is conceptualized... more This article identifies core dimensions in the notion of “sustainability” as it is conceptualized among Indigenous peoples. These are context-based relationality, community-based governance, education, language, quality of life and health, and communal recognition of certain nonhumans as life-givers. Taking into account different Indigenous cultural and socio-philosophical experiences and their process of sociality with different life forms, it has become clear that these are little spelt out in the previous sustainability definitions. Thus, understanding how local interconnections are sustained and reproduced, both for humans and nonhumans, should inform policy mechanisms as well as new forms of evidence. We want to point out that the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot and should not be taken as universal due to conceptual and moral differences among different communities and peoples.
Indigenous Research Methodologies in Sámi and Global Contexts, 2021
This chapter addresses the role of a “northern” researcher carrying out research with Amazonian I... more This chapter addresses the role of a “northern” researcher carrying out research with Amazonian Indigenous peoples. Reflecting on my long research experiences in the Purus River region, the states of Acre and Amazonas, Brazil, and my co-living and co-knowing with the Apurinã and Manchineri, I ask how Indigenous sovereignty and power can be accommodated with North-South relations. Indeed, can Indigenous agendas be combined with academic research at all? I discuss the relationships, impacts, and interactions in research. Then I analyse the local values and cultural protocols that have been taught to me very practically, materially, and immaterially not only during my fieldwork, but also in the longer research process. I then address the “path method” I learned as a way to produce knowledge and to contemplate changing situations. The researcher’s relations and personal experiences are thus fundamental, even if the methodological practices can also be guided by studying Indigenous research methodologies. My research points to my constant attention to Indigenous agendas and their importance in the multiple relations of actors.
Indigenous Research Methodologies in Sámi and Global Contexts, 2021
This chapter addresses the genealogy of Indigenous studies, and how it is conceptualized and prac... more This chapter addresses the genealogy of Indigenous studies, and how it is conceptualized and practised in the Sámi context. It discusses the inclusion of Indigenous knowledges and Indigenous ways of doing research in academia, as well as the role of Indigenous research methodologies in this effort. We link our chapter to larger academic Indigenous discussions on the concepts of 'knowledge' , 'decolonization' , 'research' and 'indigenization'. At the theoretical and practical levels these processes and initiatives have enabled researchers to shed light on Indigenous views on the past, the present, and the future, first of all in Indigenous societies, but also in academia. This chapter also addresses the challenges of moving between local and global levels. Indigenous research contexts are diverse and dynamic, and the key to creating dialogues, bridges, and collaboration, lies in this very diversity, complexity, and multivocality of Indigenous societies.
Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 2021
This article looks at what origin stories teach about the world and what kind of material presenc... more This article looks at what origin stories teach about the world and what kind of material presence they have in Southwestern Amazonia. We examine the ways the Apurinã relate to certain nonhuman entities through their origin story, and our theoretical approach is language materiality, as we are interested in material means of mediating traditional stories. Analogous to the ways that speakers of many other languages who distinguish the entities that they talk to or about, the Apurinã make use of linguistic resources to establish the ways they interact with different entities. Besides these resources, the material means of mediating stories is a crucial tool to narrate the worlds of humans and nonhumans. Storytelling requires material mediation, and a specific context of plant substances. It also involves community meeting as a space of trust in order to become a communicative practice and effectively introduce the history of the people. Our sources are ethnography, language documentation, and autoethnography.
Producing geometric designs and images on materials, such as pottery, basketry, and bead artwork,... more Producing geometric designs and images on materials, such as pottery, basketry, and bead artwork,as well as the human body, is elemental and widespread among Amazonian Indigenous peoples. In this article, weexamine the different geometric forms identified in the precolonial geoglyph architecture of southwestern Amazoniain the context of geometric design making and relational ontologies. Our aim is to explore earthwork iconographythrough the lens of Amerindian visual arts and movement. Combining ethnographic and archaeological data fromthe Upper Purus, Brazil, the article shows how ancient history and socio-cosmology are deeply “written” onto thelandscape in the form of geometric earthworks carved out of the soil, which materialize interactions betweennonhuman and human actors. We underline skills in visualization, imaginative practices, and movement as ways topromote well-balanced engagements with animated life forms. Here, iconography inserted in the landscape is botha form of writing and also emerges as an agent, affecting people through visual and corporal practices.
Alternative: International Journal of Indigenous Peoples , 2019
This article discusses how for the Apurinã community in Brazil, the relationships with certain pl... more This article discusses how for the Apurinã community in Brazil, the relationships with certain places and nonhuman entities actually co-produce biocultural heritage. This involves not only storytelling, care, and respect, but also avoidance, and thus shows specific intergenerational ways of managing and relating to the land. Here I will especially address Apurinã ancestral forest and historical places, and the experiences and knowledge that they trigger, including stories of Apurinã ancestors, core values, ways of relating in the communities, as well as preferred ecological practices passed down through the generations. Besides the current Apurinã community, their biocultural heritage is shared and protected by various nonhuman actors who are its true owners. The ontological dimension of the Amazonian biocultural heritage also involves a temporal aspect, as the nonhuman entities contributing to its production can be activated and interacted with from different times, from the distant past to present times. Finally, this article discusses how international cultural laws protect such an understanding of the biocultural heritage, and shows that they offer insufficient space for nonhuman actors in biocultural heritage protection.
This article looks at negotiations with state authorities and the evidentiary criteria they creat... more This article looks at negotiations with state authorities and the evidentiary criteria they create in culturally contrasting contexts when phenomena deal with elements that for the dominant society are conceptualized as “supernatural.” We draw from the level of experiences of other‐than‐human beings, especially spirits and “ungraspable” presences, as social practices in and of themselves as well as acts of mobilizing those which are meaningful for knowledge production in Indigenous Amazonia and North European contexts. Our two cases show how in state territorial protection debates and health services, visibility, quantification, measurability, Euro‐American dominant, mainly binary, and bounded concepts are employed to create the grounds of validity. Yet, for actual individual or collective experiences, new types of evidence work can emerge in collaborations. Thus, this article sheds light on the needs for contextual and communicative actions to overcome contrasting onto‐epistemologies in the context of the state.
Evidence from several earthwork-building societies has recently been discovered in Amazonia that ... more Evidence from several earthwork-building societies has recently been discovered in Amazonia that challenges existing theories about precolonial, human-environment interactions. Combining data obtained by plant macrofossil analyses, archaeological excavations, historical sources, and indigenous oral histories, we focus on the pre-colonial sources of subsistence and domestication processes of some tree species. Our study shows that the societies that built geoglyph-type earthworks in southwestern Amazonia harvested and consumed both wild and domesticated palm fruits, Brazil nuts and other identified species in the first millennium of the Common Era. Drawing on theories of human ecology, we argue that in the pre-colonial Amazonian context, plant domestication occurred as complex and nonlinear activities of protecting, supporting, and cultivating. This multifaceted indigenous cultural phenomenon of domestication had an important long lasting impact on Amazonian forest composition, and it is obvious that human and botanical interaction has also led to clear and observable differences in Brazil nuts and some palm fruits compared to their ancestors.
Creating Dialogues: Indigenous Perceptions and Forms of Leadership in Amazonia, H. Veber & P. K. Virtanen (eds.), 259–284. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2017
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2020
Throughout the Amazon, notions of ownership and mastership shape the use of natural resources amo... more Throughout the Amazon, notions of ownership and mastership shape the use of natural resources among many Indigenous communities. These ideas are reflected in the figure of game masters (i.e. spiritual beings who own the animals), which are widespread among Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin. In this paper, we explore the diverse biocultural manifestations of this socio-cosmology, focusing on the game masters' dynamic roles, histories and functions. Our review highlights the breadth and depth of ideas, practices, and rituals used to regulate humans' relations with these non-human agencies. It illustrates how the relations established between Indigenous communities and animals reflect both reciprocity and other asymmetrical types of dependency. This complex and sophisticated socio-cosmology underpins Indigenous understandings of sustainability in the world's largest tropical rainforest.
Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 2021
Communication, an apparently intangible practice, does in fact affect the way people engage with ... more Communication, an apparently intangible practice, does in fact affect the way people engage with their social worlds in very material ways. Inspired by both ethnographic and archival-driven research, this special issue aims to fill the gap in studies of language materiality by addressing entanglements with otherthan-human agencies. The contributions of this special issue on verbal and nonverbal communicative practices among Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in the Global North and the South interpret language materiality as practice-and process-oriented, performative, and embodied relations between humans and other-than-human actors. The articles cover three major sub-themes, which ostensibly intertwine to a greater or lesser degree in all the works: (in-)visible actors and elements-related language; language materiality narrating and producing sociality; and the emotions and affect of language. The topic of this special issue, the materiality of languages, manifested in multiple engagements with the environment, proves particularly critical at the moment, given the current environmental crisis and the need to comprehend in more depth social relations with numerous other-than-human agencies.
This article discusses relational land-based education in the Brazilian Amazon and the idea of in... more This article discusses relational land-based education in the Brazilian Amazon and the idea of intra-dependency. The data produced with the Apurinã presents the intra-relational spaces of knowing created between different beings, human and other-than-human, which contrast with the notion of individual learners. Apurinã co-existence in learning also sheds light on the emotional dimension of Amazonian relational epistemology, while its inclusion of human–environment relations can contribute to taking seriously the practice of care toward other-than-human beings.
The relationship between Indigenous learning systems and sustainability pedagogies has not been s... more The relationship between Indigenous learning systems and sustainability pedagogies has not been sufficiently elaborated despite the recognition of Indigenous peoples as stewards of the world's biological, cultural and linguistic diversity. Indigenous pedagogies are intergenerational, relational, and land-based. This special section addresses intergenerational efforts to regenerate local biocultural knowledge in settings that extend beyond the classroom and proposes that educators support these processes by cultivating relational learning through new sensory, perceptive, and affective capacities throughout life. [Indigenous pedagogies, sustainability, intergenerational knowledge, more-than-human futures, biocultural regeneration, hope]
We examine the Indigenous uses, oral histories, and knowledge of native Guadua bamboo species in ... more We examine the Indigenous uses, oral histories, and knowledge of native Guadua bamboo species in southwestern Amazonia. Two Guadua species form dense stands in which individual plants die en masse at regular intervals of about 28 years. Scholars suggested that pre-colonial earth builders took advantage of these die-off events as a natural aid in removing the forest to construct geometric earthworks. Our results show that Guadua species have a significant position in Indigenous socio-cosmologies, land use, and as a protector of diverse resources. Indigenous ontological understandings cannot be separated from discussions of the abundance and geographical distribution of Guadua as a critical controlling factor in the vegetation structure and function of southwestern Amazonian rain forests. Furthermore, oral histories point to the connection between land management and bamboo, as well as bamboo and the use of fire, conforming to the suggestion of opening ceremonial spaces in bamboo patches in pre-colonial earthwork societies.
Situating Sustainability: A Handbook of Contexts and Concepts, 2021
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) refers to a body of knowledge, practices, and ideas transm... more Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) refers to a body of knowledge, practices, and ideas transmitted and (re)generated orally and non-verbally in diverse forms from generation to generation. It is constantly changing and being updated. TEK is rich among several communities, but we will situate our cases in the Amazonian and Arctic Indigenous contexts. We will also discuss the limits of TEK in sustainability science, which include its truth-value and legitimacy. As it originates from different traditions, experiences, and language structures, it is challenging to systematize. Recently, however, TEK has been recognized in a more inclusive way, and How to cite this book chapter:
AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 2019
This introductory article examines key issues related to Indigenous conceptualisations of cultura... more This introductory article examines key issues related to Indigenous conceptualisations of cultural heritage, especially intergenerational aspects, Indigenous concepts of time, Indigenous knowledge, heritage language, and relationships with the environment. It urges to reflect on how these aspects are integrated when legal mechanisms protecting and promoting Indigenous cultural heritage have been designed and developed. The article also discusses the ability to form resistance through Indigenous cultural heritage. Our examples, which primarily come from the Sámi and also from global Indigenous perspectives, all point to the importance of a holistic approach to guarantee Indigenous peoples' rights to their cultural heritage. Finally, we discuss the crucial role of research and appropriate research methodologies in contributing to better protection of Indigenous cultural heritage.
In Bridging Cultural Concepts of Nature: Indigenous People and Protected Spaces of Nature, Rani-Henrik Andersson, Boyd Cothran, Saara Kekki (ed.), pp- 169–199. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press., 2021
Esse artigo trata acerca da conduta ética em pesquisa que envolve
povos indígenas. Nas últimas dé... more Esse artigo trata acerca da conduta ética em pesquisa que envolve povos indígenas. Nas últimas décadas, os territórios indígenas vêm sendo palco para a realização de muitas pesquisas, sobretudo, no âmbito antropológico. Neste artigo, questionamos como estes códigos se associam com as formas de pensar e se relacionar dos indígenas sob a conduta ética e adequada na pesquisa. Refletindo nossas experiências na região do rio Purus, estados do Acre e Amazonas, como membro do povo indígena e como pessoa não-indígena, analisamos como as relações são criadas e como impactam as relações estabelecidas na pesquisa. Nossos dados foram produzidos especificamente durante as pesquisas colaborativas sobre o passado e o presente dos povos indígenas Apurinã e Manxineru, que pertencem à família linguística Aruak. Sob à luz de seus princípios locais, de se relacionar, discutimos como os diferentes seres, incluindo humanos e não-humanos, interagem, convivem, dialogam e como eles devem ser reconhecidos como públicos da pesquisa. Este artigo mostra que os protocolos culturais locais devem refletir juntamente com os Códigos de Conduta Ética Oficiais fornecidos para as ciências humanas e sociais. Esse tornará o espaço ético, criado como um instrumento crucial, ainda mais impactante para quem deseja realizar uma pesquisa ética com os povos indígenas.
This article identifies core dimensions in the notion of “sustainability” as it is conceptualized... more This article identifies core dimensions in the notion of “sustainability” as it is conceptualized among Indigenous peoples. These are context-based relationality, community-based governance, education, language, quality of life and health, and communal recognition of certain nonhumans as life-givers. Taking into account different Indigenous cultural and socio-philosophical experiences and their process of sociality with different life forms, it has become clear that these are little spelt out in the previous sustainability definitions. Thus, understanding how local interconnections are sustained and reproduced, both for humans and nonhumans, should inform policy mechanisms as well as new forms of evidence. We want to point out that the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot and should not be taken as universal due to conceptual and moral differences among different communities and peoples.
Indigenous Research Methodologies in Sámi and Global Contexts, 2021
This chapter addresses the role of a “northern” researcher carrying out research with Amazonian I... more This chapter addresses the role of a “northern” researcher carrying out research with Amazonian Indigenous peoples. Reflecting on my long research experiences in the Purus River region, the states of Acre and Amazonas, Brazil, and my co-living and co-knowing with the Apurinã and Manchineri, I ask how Indigenous sovereignty and power can be accommodated with North-South relations. Indeed, can Indigenous agendas be combined with academic research at all? I discuss the relationships, impacts, and interactions in research. Then I analyse the local values and cultural protocols that have been taught to me very practically, materially, and immaterially not only during my fieldwork, but also in the longer research process. I then address the “path method” I learned as a way to produce knowledge and to contemplate changing situations. The researcher’s relations and personal experiences are thus fundamental, even if the methodological practices can also be guided by studying Indigenous research methodologies. My research points to my constant attention to Indigenous agendas and their importance in the multiple relations of actors.
Indigenous Research Methodologies in Sámi and Global Contexts, 2021
This chapter addresses the genealogy of Indigenous studies, and how it is conceptualized and prac... more This chapter addresses the genealogy of Indigenous studies, and how it is conceptualized and practised in the Sámi context. It discusses the inclusion of Indigenous knowledges and Indigenous ways of doing research in academia, as well as the role of Indigenous research methodologies in this effort. We link our chapter to larger academic Indigenous discussions on the concepts of 'knowledge' , 'decolonization' , 'research' and 'indigenization'. At the theoretical and practical levels these processes and initiatives have enabled researchers to shed light on Indigenous views on the past, the present, and the future, first of all in Indigenous societies, but also in academia. This chapter also addresses the challenges of moving between local and global levels. Indigenous research contexts are diverse and dynamic, and the key to creating dialogues, bridges, and collaboration, lies in this very diversity, complexity, and multivocality of Indigenous societies.
Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 2021
This article looks at what origin stories teach about the world and what kind of material presenc... more This article looks at what origin stories teach about the world and what kind of material presence they have in Southwestern Amazonia. We examine the ways the Apurinã relate to certain nonhuman entities through their origin story, and our theoretical approach is language materiality, as we are interested in material means of mediating traditional stories. Analogous to the ways that speakers of many other languages who distinguish the entities that they talk to or about, the Apurinã make use of linguistic resources to establish the ways they interact with different entities. Besides these resources, the material means of mediating stories is a crucial tool to narrate the worlds of humans and nonhumans. Storytelling requires material mediation, and a specific context of plant substances. It also involves community meeting as a space of trust in order to become a communicative practice and effectively introduce the history of the people. Our sources are ethnography, language documentation, and autoethnography.
Producing geometric designs and images on materials, such as pottery, basketry, and bead artwork,... more Producing geometric designs and images on materials, such as pottery, basketry, and bead artwork,as well as the human body, is elemental and widespread among Amazonian Indigenous peoples. In this article, weexamine the different geometric forms identified in the precolonial geoglyph architecture of southwestern Amazoniain the context of geometric design making and relational ontologies. Our aim is to explore earthwork iconographythrough the lens of Amerindian visual arts and movement. Combining ethnographic and archaeological data fromthe Upper Purus, Brazil, the article shows how ancient history and socio-cosmology are deeply “written” onto thelandscape in the form of geometric earthworks carved out of the soil, which materialize interactions betweennonhuman and human actors. We underline skills in visualization, imaginative practices, and movement as ways topromote well-balanced engagements with animated life forms. Here, iconography inserted in the landscape is botha form of writing and also emerges as an agent, affecting people through visual and corporal practices.
Alternative: International Journal of Indigenous Peoples , 2019
This article discusses how for the Apurinã community in Brazil, the relationships with certain pl... more This article discusses how for the Apurinã community in Brazil, the relationships with certain places and nonhuman entities actually co-produce biocultural heritage. This involves not only storytelling, care, and respect, but also avoidance, and thus shows specific intergenerational ways of managing and relating to the land. Here I will especially address Apurinã ancestral forest and historical places, and the experiences and knowledge that they trigger, including stories of Apurinã ancestors, core values, ways of relating in the communities, as well as preferred ecological practices passed down through the generations. Besides the current Apurinã community, their biocultural heritage is shared and protected by various nonhuman actors who are its true owners. The ontological dimension of the Amazonian biocultural heritage also involves a temporal aspect, as the nonhuman entities contributing to its production can be activated and interacted with from different times, from the distant past to present times. Finally, this article discusses how international cultural laws protect such an understanding of the biocultural heritage, and shows that they offer insufficient space for nonhuman actors in biocultural heritage protection.
This article looks at negotiations with state authorities and the evidentiary criteria they creat... more This article looks at negotiations with state authorities and the evidentiary criteria they create in culturally contrasting contexts when phenomena deal with elements that for the dominant society are conceptualized as “supernatural.” We draw from the level of experiences of other‐than‐human beings, especially spirits and “ungraspable” presences, as social practices in and of themselves as well as acts of mobilizing those which are meaningful for knowledge production in Indigenous Amazonia and North European contexts. Our two cases show how in state territorial protection debates and health services, visibility, quantification, measurability, Euro‐American dominant, mainly binary, and bounded concepts are employed to create the grounds of validity. Yet, for actual individual or collective experiences, new types of evidence work can emerge in collaborations. Thus, this article sheds light on the needs for contextual and communicative actions to overcome contrasting onto‐epistemologies in the context of the state.
Evidence from several earthwork-building societies has recently been discovered in Amazonia that ... more Evidence from several earthwork-building societies has recently been discovered in Amazonia that challenges existing theories about precolonial, human-environment interactions. Combining data obtained by plant macrofossil analyses, archaeological excavations, historical sources, and indigenous oral histories, we focus on the pre-colonial sources of subsistence and domestication processes of some tree species. Our study shows that the societies that built geoglyph-type earthworks in southwestern Amazonia harvested and consumed both wild and domesticated palm fruits, Brazil nuts and other identified species in the first millennium of the Common Era. Drawing on theories of human ecology, we argue that in the pre-colonial Amazonian context, plant domestication occurred as complex and nonlinear activities of protecting, supporting, and cultivating. This multifaceted indigenous cultural phenomenon of domestication had an important long lasting impact on Amazonian forest composition, and it is obvious that human and botanical interaction has also led to clear and observable differences in Brazil nuts and some palm fruits compared to their ancestors.
Creating Dialogues: Indigenous Perceptions and Forms of Leadership in Amazonia, H. Veber & P. K. Virtanen (eds.), 259–284. Boulder: University Press of Colorado, 2017
Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 2020
Throughout the Amazon, notions of ownership and mastership shape the use of natural resources amo... more Throughout the Amazon, notions of ownership and mastership shape the use of natural resources among many Indigenous communities. These ideas are reflected in the figure of game masters (i.e. spiritual beings who own the animals), which are widespread among Indigenous peoples across the Amazon Basin. In this paper, we explore the diverse biocultural manifestations of this socio-cosmology, focusing on the game masters' dynamic roles, histories and functions. Our review highlights the breadth and depth of ideas, practices, and rituals used to regulate humans' relations with these non-human agencies. It illustrates how the relations established between Indigenous communities and animals reflect both reciprocity and other asymmetrical types of dependency. This complex and sophisticated socio-cosmology underpins Indigenous understandings of sustainability in the world's largest tropical rainforest.
Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication, 2021
Communication, an apparently intangible practice, does in fact affect the way people engage with ... more Communication, an apparently intangible practice, does in fact affect the way people engage with their social worlds in very material ways. Inspired by both ethnographic and archival-driven research, this special issue aims to fill the gap in studies of language materiality by addressing entanglements with otherthan-human agencies. The contributions of this special issue on verbal and nonverbal communicative practices among Indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities in the Global North and the South interpret language materiality as practice-and process-oriented, performative, and embodied relations between humans and other-than-human actors. The articles cover three major sub-themes, which ostensibly intertwine to a greater or lesser degree in all the works: (in-)visible actors and elements-related language; language materiality narrating and producing sociality; and the emotions and affect of language. The topic of this special issue, the materiality of languages, manifested in multiple engagements with the environment, proves particularly critical at the moment, given the current environmental crisis and the need to comprehend in more depth social relations with numerous other-than-human agencies.
This book contains ten articles written by the former and current Ph.D. students of Professor Mar... more This book contains ten articles written by the former and current Ph.D. students of Professor Martti Pärssinen to honor his sixtieth birthday. These texts in English, Finnish, and Spanish highlight the pronouncedly multidisciplinary nature and broad scope of the Latin American Studies program at the University of Helsinki, headed by Professor Pärssinen since 1999.
In Latin America, young indigenous people have become visible subjects in ethnic and interethnic ... more In Latin America, young indigenous people have become visible subjects in ethnic and interethnic encounters. Their engagement with the global world, institutions, technology, religious ideas, and politics tells us how indigenous groups adapt, transform, and innovate in relation to wider social and cultural trends, and how resilient modes of thinking and practices are. We need to consider their transition to adulthood as a core dimension of personhood. Equally, if we are to understand young people, we must know how they shape their values, actions, and identity. So how do Amazonian native young people perceive, question and/or negotiate the new kinds of social and cultural situations in which they find themselves? Virtanen looks at how current power relations constituted by ethnic recognition, new social contacts, and cooperation with different institutions have shaped the current native youth in Amazonia. Using detailed ethnographic account of the Manchineri community, the study examines at indigenous youths' new transition to adulthood, their responsibilities, and experiences related to, for instance, urbanization, and global youth cultures.
URL de la vidéo : http://nuevomundo.revues.org/70144
À partir de récits sur les vestiges (pris au... more URL de la vidéo : http://nuevomundo.revues.org/70144 À partir de récits sur les vestiges (pris au sens large : objets et présences diverses y compris non- humaines), on s’intéressera à la façon dont les populations indigènes et riveraines (du Brésil et d’Argentine) communiquent à un public extérieur (les agents de la patrimonialisation) une certaine idée de leurs liens au territoire. Dès lors, en mettant l’accent sur certaines saillances paysagères, les vestiges participent de la légitimation de revendications identitaires et territoriales. Ils justifient la présence d’entités non-humaines dont les interactions avec les humains font le lien avec les générations précédentes.
Uploads
Articles & Chapters by Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen
povos indígenas. Nas últimas décadas, os territórios indígenas vêm
sendo palco para a realização de muitas pesquisas, sobretudo, no
âmbito antropológico. Neste artigo, questionamos como estes códigos
se associam com as formas de pensar e se relacionar dos indígenas sob
a conduta ética e adequada na pesquisa. Refletindo nossas experiências
na região do rio Purus, estados do Acre e Amazonas, como membro
do povo indígena e como pessoa não-indígena, analisamos como as
relações são criadas e como impactam as relações estabelecidas na
pesquisa. Nossos dados foram produzidos especificamente durante as
pesquisas colaborativas sobre o passado e o presente dos povos indígenas
Apurinã e Manxineru, que pertencem à família linguística Aruak. Sob
à luz de seus princípios locais, de se relacionar, discutimos como os
diferentes seres, incluindo humanos e não-humanos, interagem,
convivem, dialogam e como eles devem ser reconhecidos como públicos
da pesquisa. Este artigo mostra que os protocolos culturais locais
devem refletir juntamente com os Códigos de Conduta Ética Oficiais
fornecidos para as ciências humanas e sociais. Esse tornará o espaço
ético, criado como um instrumento crucial, ainda mais impactante para
quem deseja realizar uma pesquisa ética com os povos indígenas.
povos indígenas. Nas últimas décadas, os territórios indígenas vêm
sendo palco para a realização de muitas pesquisas, sobretudo, no
âmbito antropológico. Neste artigo, questionamos como estes códigos
se associam com as formas de pensar e se relacionar dos indígenas sob
a conduta ética e adequada na pesquisa. Refletindo nossas experiências
na região do rio Purus, estados do Acre e Amazonas, como membro
do povo indígena e como pessoa não-indígena, analisamos como as
relações são criadas e como impactam as relações estabelecidas na
pesquisa. Nossos dados foram produzidos especificamente durante as
pesquisas colaborativas sobre o passado e o presente dos povos indígenas
Apurinã e Manxineru, que pertencem à família linguística Aruak. Sob
à luz de seus princípios locais, de se relacionar, discutimos como os
diferentes seres, incluindo humanos e não-humanos, interagem,
convivem, dialogam e como eles devem ser reconhecidos como públicos
da pesquisa. Este artigo mostra que os protocolos culturais locais
devem refletir juntamente com os Códigos de Conduta Ética Oficiais
fornecidos para as ciências humanas e sociais. Esse tornará o espaço
ético, criado como um instrumento crucial, ainda mais impactante para
quem deseja realizar uma pesquisa ética com os povos indígenas.
À partir de récits sur les vestiges (pris au sens large : objets et présences diverses y compris non- humaines), on s’intéressera à la façon dont les populations indigènes et riveraines (du Brésil et d’Argentine) communiquent à un public extérieur (les agents de la patrimonialisation) une certaine idée de leurs liens au territoire. Dès lors, en mettant l’accent sur certaines saillances paysagères, les vestiges participent de la légitimation de revendications identitaires et territoriales. Ils justifient la présence d’entités non-humaines dont les interactions avec les humains font le lien avec les générations précédentes.