'Indigenous people don't have boundaries': Reborderings, fire management, and productions of authenticities in indigenous landscapes

Cultural Geographies

Volumn 16, Issue 2, 2009, Pages 253-277

  Sletto, Bjørn ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN   (United States)

Author keywords

Fire management; Gramsci; Gran Sabana; Indigenous mapping; Venezuela

Indexed keywords

BORDER REGION; CARTOGRAPHY; CONFERENCE PROCEEDING; FIRE MANAGEMENT; GEOPOLITICS; INDIGENOUS POPULATION; LANDSCAPE CHANGE; MAPPING; STATE ROLE;

BOLIVAR [VENEZUELA]; GRAN SABANA; SOUTH AMERICA; VENEZUELA;

EID: 63449139818     PISSN: 14744740     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1474474008101519     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (39)

1. The mapping project discussed here was conducted during February - April 2002, October - December 2002, and April 2003 - April 2004 with assistance provided by a Fulbright-Hays dissertation award; a Peace Studies Fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation (administered by the Peace Studies Program, Cornell University); an NSF Geography doctoral dissertation research award (no. 0221324); and funding from the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and the Department of City and Regional Planning, Cornell University. I received logistical assistance and research permits from the elected representatives of the Comunidades Pemon, Sector 5, Gran Sabana; Instituto Nacional de Parques (INPARQUES); Dirección de Asuntos Indígenas (DAI); Electrificación del Caroni (EDELCA); Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG); the Comisión Permanente de Pueblos Indígenas in the National Assembly; the Comisión Nacional de Autodemarcación de Tierras Indígenas; and the Instituto Geográfico de Venezuela Simón Bolívar. I was affiliated with the Department of Anthropology at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC) during my stay in Venezuela. My special thanks to then-director of the Federación Indígena del Estado Bolivar, Juvencio Gómez; Héctor Fernálndez, capitan, Kumarakapay; my advisor at IVIC, Dr Stanford Zent; and the indigenous deputy in the national assembly, Noeli Pocaterra, for their assistance with the mapping project. The final map was printed courtesy of the Unidad de Información Geográfica of the Centro de Ecología (EcoSIG-IVIC) and the Centro Internacional de Ecología Tropical, both at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas. The map was presented to the chiefs of each of the 12 Pemon communities in Sector 5, Federación Indígena del Estado Bolivar, Municipality of the Gran Sabana, Instituto Nacional de Parques (INPARQUES), Dirección de Asuntos Indígenas (DAI), Comisión Nacional de Autodemarcación de Tierras Indígenas, and Instituto Geográfico de Venezuela Simón Bolívar.
2. See e.g. M. Chapin and B. Threlkeld, Indigenous landscapes: A study in ethnocartography (Washington, DC, Center for the Support of Native Lands, 2001); P. Herlihy, 'Participatory research mapping of indigenous lands in Darien, Panama', Human organization 62 (2003), pp. 315-31; P. Herlihy and A. Leake, 'Participatory research mapping of indigenous lands in the Honduran Mosquitia', in A. Pebley and L. Rosero-Bixby, eds, Demographic diversity and change in the Central American Isthmus (Santa Monica, CA, Rand, 1997), pp. 707-36; P. Knapp and G. Knapp, 'Maps of, by, and for the peoples of Latin America', Human organization 62 (2003), pp. 303-14; K. Kassam and S. Maher, Indigenous, Cartesian, and cartographic: Visual metaphors of knowledge in Arctic (Tundra) and sub-Arctic (Taiga) communities (Cultures and Biodiversity Congress, Kunming, China, 2000); P. Poole, Indigenous peoples, mapping, and biodiversity conservation: An analysis of current activities and opportunities for applying geomatics technologies (Washington, DC, Biodiversity Support Program, 1995); R. Riewe, Nunavut atlas (Edmonton, The Canadian Circumpolar Institute and the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut, 1992); A. Stocks, 'Mapping dreams in Nicaragua's Bosawas reserve', Human organization 62 (2003), pp. 344-56; and Toledo Maya Cultural Council, Maya atlas: The struggle to preserve Maya land in southern Belize (Berkeley, CA, North Atlantic Books, 1997).
3. N. Peluso, 'Whose woods are these? Counter-mapping forest territories in Kalimantan, Indonesia', Antipode 4 (1995), pp. 383-406.
4. B. Conklin and L. Graham, 'The shifting middle ground: Amazonian Indians and eco-politics', American anthropologist 97 (1995), pp. 695-710; L. Graham, 'Image and instrumentality in a Xavante politics of existential recognition: The public outreach work of Ete'nhiritipa Pimentel Barbosa', American ethnologist 32 (2005), pp. 622-41; S. Radcliffe and S. Westwood, Remaking the nation: Place, identity and politics in Latin America (NewYork, Routledge, 1996).
5. More recent works on indigenous map-making have explored the limits of participation in such mapping projects, questioned the social implications of technology transfers to indigenous communities, discussed the implications of the fixing of fluid boundaries, uncovered the role of such projects in local conflicts, and critically analyzed issues of access and the reproduction of uneven gender relations or other inequalities of power in local communities. See e.g. J. Fox, 'Mapping the commons. The social context of spatial information technologies', The common property resource digest 45 (1998), pp. 1-4; J. Fox, K. Suryanata, P. Hershock and A. Pramono, 'Mapping power: Ironic effects of spatial information technology', in J. Fox, K. Suryanata and P. Hershock, eds, Mapping communities: Ethics, values, practice (Honolulu, East-West Center, 2005), pp. 1-10; E. Gordon, G. Gurdian and C. Hale, 'Rights, resources, and the social memory of struggle: reflections on a study of indigenous and black community land rights on Nicaragua's Atlantic coast', Human organization 62 (2003), pp. 369-81; K. Offen, 'Narrating place and identity, or mapping Miskitu land claims in Northeastern Nicaragua', Human organization 62 (2003), pp. 382-92; B. Orlove, 'The ethnography of maps: The cultural and social contexts of cartographic representation in Peru', Cartographica 30 (1993), pp. 29-46; B. Orlove, 'Mapping reeds and reading maps: The politics of representation in Lake Titicaca', American ethnologist 18 (1991), pp. 3-38; R. Schroeder and D. Hodgson, 'Dilemmas of counter-mapping community resources in Tanzania', Development and change 33 (2002), pp. 79-100; P. Walker and P. Peters, 'Maps, metaphors and meanings: Boundary struggles and village forest use on private and state land in Malawi', Society and natural resources 14 (2001), pp. 411-24.
6. M. Albert, 'On boundaries, territory and postmodernity: An international relations perspective', in D. Newman, ed., Boundaries, territory and postmodernity (Portland, Frank Cass Publishers, 1999), pp. 53-68.
7. A. Gramsci, Selections from the prison notebooks (Q. Hoare and G. Nowell Smith, eds) (New York, International Publishers, 1999), p. 160; see also A. Gramsci, Selections from cultural writings (D. Forgacs and G. Nowell Smith, eds) (London, Lawrence and Wishart, 1985).
8. J. Scott, Domination and the arts of resistance: Hidden transcripts (New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1990).
9. I situate my work in the tradition of 'critical geographies,' where geographers seek to promote social change through activism as well as research and writing. The debate concerning whether, how, and to what extent academically motivated research should also aim to be emancipatory has been covered extensively elsewhere (see e.g. R.M. Kitchin and P.J. Hubbardt, 'Research, action and "critical" geographies', Area 31 (1999), pp. 195-8; D. Fuller and R. Kitchin, eds, Radical theory/critical praxis: Making a difference beyond the academy? (Vernon and Victoria, Canada, Praxis (e) Press, 2004). One risk of such activist scholarship is claiming the right to 'speak for the subaltern' and in so doing, further disempower marginalized groups. Although this critique is important and has informed my work, I approached this project not as a 'study' but rather as an attempt to 'study with' the Pemon to reveal unequal relations of power (D. Mato, 'Not "studying the subalternquot;, but studying with 'subaltern' social groups, or, at least, studying the hegemonic articulations of power', Nepantla: Views from the south 1 [2000], p. 481). My research in the Gran Sabana concerned indigenous and state fire management and I saw my mapping work with the Pemon primarily as activism.
10. K. Crehan, Gramsci, culture and anthropology (Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 2002); A. Sassoon, Gramsci's politics (Minneapolis, MN, University of Minnesota Press, 1987).
11. While 'hegemony' is often understood as domination that stems from a lack of self-awareness on the part of the subaltern - i.e. subalterns give their consent to being dominated because they are 'historically on the defensive' (Gramsci, Selections from the prison notebooks, p. 273) - 'coersive power' is associated with 'political society,' often understood as the 'state' (Gramsci, Selections from the prison notebooks, p. 160; see also Sassoon, Gramsci's politics). 'Hegemony' thus becomes a way 'of thinking about the complicated way consent and coercion are entangled with one another' (Crehan, Gramsci, culture and anthropology, p. 101). I use 'common-sense' to describe a 'specific mode of thought with a certain content of beliefs and opinions' (Gramsci, Selections from the prison notebooks, p. 423).
12. Gramsci, Selections from the prison notebooks, p. 244.
13. Albert, 'On boundaries, territory and postmodernity', p. 59, S. Dalby, 'Globalization or global apartheid? Boundaries and knowledge in postmodern times', in D. Newman, ed., Boundaries, territory and postmodernity (Portland, Frank Cass Publishers, 1999), p. 134; see also S. Michaelson and D. Johnson, 'Border secrets: An introduction', in S. Michaelson and D. Johnson, eds, Border theory: The limits of cultural politics (Minneapolis, MD, University of Minnesota Press, 1997), pp. 1-39; D. Newman, 'Geopolitics renaissant: Territory, sovereignty and the world political map', in D. Newman, ed., Boundaries, territory and postmodernity (Portland, Frank Cass Publishers, 1999), pp. 1-16; D. Newman and A. Paasi, 'Fences and neighbours in the postmodern world: boundary narratives in political geography', Progress in human geography 22 (1998), pp. 186-207; G.Ó Tuathail, 'De-territorialized threats and global dangers: Geopolitics and risk society', in Y. Gradus and H. Lithwick, eds, Frontiers in regional development (London, Rowman and Littlefield, 1999), pp. 17-31; G.Ö. Tuathail, 'Thinking critically about geopolitics', in G. Tuathail, S. Dalby and P. Routledge, eds, The geopolitics reader (London, Routledge, 1998), pp. 1-12.; A. Paasi, 'Boundaries as social processes: Territoriality in the world of flows', in D. Newman, ed., Boundaries, territory and postmodernity (Portland, Frank Cass Publishers, 1999), pp. 69-88; A. Paasi, Territories, boundaries and consciousness: The changing geographies of the Finnish-Russian border (New York, John Wiley and Sons, 1996); T. Wilson and H. Donnan, 'Nation, state and identity at international borders', in T. Wilson and H. Donnan, eds, Border identities: Nation and state at international frontiers (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1-30.
14. M. Foucault, Discipline and punish (A. Sheridan, trans. [1975]) (New York, Random House, 1977), p. 141.
15. F. Driver, 'Bodies in space: Foucault's account of disciplinary power', in C. Jones and R. Porter, eds, Re-assessing Foucault (London, Routledge, 1994).
16. An internal report from the Ministry of the Environment 20-odd years ago reflect this push for agglomoration of Pemon settlements: (The Pemon live dispersed in small settlements and) 'this is a negative factor for environmental conservation; because of this it is necessary to study methods to group them together... When they are united (in larger groups) it will be easier to keep them under constant control' (Urcicinio Acuña Galletti, 'Proyecto de prevención de incendios y proteccón ecológica de la Gran Sabana.' Internal memo. Caracas, Instituto Nacional de Parques, 1980, p. 4). By constantly 'staying in contact with (the Pemon) to determine what their needs are,' the Pemon would be 'influenced' to congregate in larger, nucleated settlements (Galletti, 'Proyecto de prevención de incendios y protección ecológica de la Gran Sabana', p. 7). The construction of permanent homes and provision of state services stems from a long-term policy to convert indigenous people into settled agriculturalists
17. Crehan and Gramsci, Culture and anthropology, pp. 6, 108.
18. Radcliffe and Westwood, Remaking the nation: Place, identity and politics in Latin America, p. 1.
19. J. Sharp et al., 'Entanglements of power: Geographies of domination and resistance', in J. Sharp, P. Routledge, C. Philo and R. Paddison, eds, Entanglements of power: Geographies of domination and resistance (New York, Routledge, 2000), pp. 1-42.
20. República de Venezuela Decreto 1640, 1991.
21. L. Fernández, Determinación de las áreas prioritarias del sector suroriental de la cuenca alta del Río Yuruani: Memória descriptive. Tarenken, La Gran Sabana (Puerto Ordaz, C.V.G. Electrificación del Caroní, Departamento de Proteccín y Mantenimiento de Cuencas, 1984).
22. Because Pemon follow traditional practices that emphasize fire prevention through prescriptive burning, fire fighters suggest that most fires die out on their own even when they are dispatched to 'combat' the fires. Recent research suggests that the fire suppression practiced by EDELCA might have contradictory and potentially negative consequences. In areas far from communities, or in priority zones where fires are more aggressively combated or Pemon avoid burning, fuel levels appear to be increasing. When fires eventually start in these areas, they tend to be more extensive and destructive (B. Sletto, 'Burn marks', Unpublished PhD Dissertation [Ithaca, Cornell University, 2006]; see also I. Rodríguez, 'Conocimiento indígena vs. científico: el conflicto por el uso del fuego en el Parque Nacional Canaima, Venezuela', Interciencia 29 [2004], pp. 121-9; I. Rodríguez, 'Pemon perspectives of fire management in Canaima National Park, southeastern Venezuela', Human ecology 35 (2007), pp. 331-43.
23. F. Zerpa et al., SIPCIV: Un Sistema de Información Espacio-temporal para Caracterizar Areas Afectadas por Incendios (Report presented at CBComp 2003, I Workshop de Tecnologia da Informaçao Aplicada ao Meio Ambiente - Sistema de Informações Geográficas, Universidade do Vale do Itajai, Itajai, Brazil, 2003). Online: http://www.cbcomp.univali.br/anais/pdf/2003/wma061.pdf. Accessed 30 April 2006, p. 2).
24. See J. Ferguson, The anti-politics machine: 'development', depoliticization and bureaucratic power in Lesotho (Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1995).
25. Gramsci, Selections from the prison notebooks, p. 423.
26. A. Cousins, 'La frontera etnica Pemon y el impacto socio-economico de la mineria de oro', PhD Dissertation (Caracas, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciónes Científicas, 1991); A. Mansutti, 'Penetracín y cambio social entre los akawaio y Pemon', PhD Dissertation (Caracas, Instituto Venezolano de Investigacínes Científicas, 1981); D. Thomas, Order without government: The society of the Pemon Indians of Venezuela (Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1982); L.A. Urbina, 'Adaptación ecológico-cultural de los Pemon-Arekuna: El caso de tuauken', PhD Dissertation (Caracas, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciónes Científicas, 1979).
27. J. Scott, Weapons of the weak (New Haven, CT, Yale University Press, 1985).
28. Sletto, Burn marks: The becoming and unbecoming of an indigenous landscape; Rodríguez, Pemon perspectives of fire management in Canaima National Park, southeastern Venezuela.
29. Driver Bodies in space: Foucault's account of disciplinary power (London, Routledge, 1994).
30. Gaceta Oficial No. 37.118, 12 January 2001.
31. M. Chapin and B. Threlkeld, Indigenous Landscapes: A Study in Ethnocartography (Washington, DC, Center for the Support of Native Lands, 2001).
32. The unfortunate foregrounding of elder men's 'expert' knowledge was seen as necessary both by the author, indigenous leaders, and women engaged in the project as a means to adequately, quickly and accurately document land-use in remote areas that are rarely, if ever, visited by women. However, critical attention to gender imbalances in indigenous mapping is crucial for a better understanding of the social implications of such projects. This gendered process excluded women's perspectives derived from occasional travels between communities, and elder women's memories of place names, hunting places, and were overlooked. Although elder women participated as experts in three of the 12 communities, in the remaining villages the process was dominated by elder men.
33. See e.g. J.B. Harley, 'Maps, knowledge, and power', in D. Cosgrove and S. Daniels, eds, The iconography of landscape: Essays on the symbolic representation, design, and use of past environments (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1988), pp. 277-312; J.B. Harley, 'Cartography, ethics, and social theory', Cartographica 27 (1990), pp. 1-23; J.B. Harley, 'Deconstructing the map', in T. Barnes and J. Duncan, eds, Writing worlds: Discourse, text and metaphor in the representation of landscape (London, Routledge, 1992), pp. 231-47; J. Scott, Seeing like a state (New Haven, Yale University Press, 1998).
34. Crehan, Gramsci,Culture and anthropology, p. 7.
35. Gazeta Oficial No. 38.599, 8 January 2007; see http://www.asambleanacional.gov.ve/ns2/pdf/gacetas/38599%2020070108.pdf
36. Scott, Domination and the arts of resistance.
37. H. Bhabha, ed., Nation and narration (London, Routledge, 1990).
38. Graham, 'Image and instrumentality in a Xavante politics of existential recognition: The public outreach work of Ete'nhiritipa Pimentel Barbosa', p. 625.
39. Ibid.