Remembering Darrell Posey´s Contribution to Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology

The main purpose of this article is to provide an account of Darrell Posey’s academic life, from a north-American undergraduate student interested in entomology into one of the main figures and builders of Ethnobiology and major advocate of Indigenous Peoples ‘rights around the world. This short biography highlights his relations with the Kayapó indigenous people and his role in coordinating a decade-long interdisciplinary ethnobiology research project named “The Kayapó Project”. It was mostly through the development of this team effort that he contributed fundamental and long-lasting theoretical, methodological and practical advancements to the field of ethnobiology.

‘This is not the jungle, this is my barbecho’ : semantics of ethnoecological landscape categories in the Bolivian Amazon

This work was supported from the ‘Forschungskredit’ by the University of Zurich [grant number FK-13-104]; Hans Vontobel Foundation; Maya Behn-Eschenburg Foundation; Ormella Foundation; and Parrotia Foundation.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Brazilian People: The Formation and Meaning of Brazil

Book review of The Brazilian People: The Formation and Meaning of Brazil. Darcy Ribeiro. Gregory Rabassa (transl.). Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida,2000. xviii + 332 pp., bibliography. $34.95 (cloth). ISBN 0-8130-1777-7

Biocultural Diversity: Innovating in Research For Conservation

Author's translation of: Nemogá GR. Diversidad biocultural: innovando en investigación para la conservación. Acta biol. Colomb. 2016; 21(1) Supl:S311-319. doi:10.15446/abc.v21n1sup.50920.The conservation of biodiversity may be deemed ethical and more effective by focusing simultaneously on biological and cultural erosion. This idea was in the functional and ethical principles of the initial understanding in conservation biology. However, biological conservation research has emphasized inventories, quantification and georeferencing biodiversity with utilitarian purposes. Such research gives little importance to the intrinsic value of biodiversity provoking calls to explore appropriate ways of "living with" biodiversity. This paper responds to that call. The biocultural approach offers a more comprehensive view to recognize and investigate the complex interrelationships between ecological processes and cultural dynamics. For research, this approach highlights the need to recognize the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, as well as the community worldviews that infuse meaning to community practices and relations with the environment. This paper explores biodiversity research data involving traditional knowledge and communities during the period 1991- 2010 in the GroupLac Database. Given the limited recognition to the contributions of communities, this paper outlines the main barriers that the adoption of the biocultural approach faces. The paper proposes ethical guidelines to transform research attitudes and practices that ignore ancestral rights over the territory and traditional knowledge, hinder the recognition of the intrinsic value of biodiversity, and as a result, prevent conservation in a biodiverse, multi-ethnic and multicultural territory.The English version was supported by University of Winnipeg funding and the work of Laura J. Nemogá and Natalie Bartmes, both students at this University.https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/actabiol/article/view/5092

The Indians and Brazil

Book review of The Indians and Brazil. Mercio Pereira Gomes. Translated by John W. Moon. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2000. xvi + 300 pp., notes, appendices, bibliography. ISBN 0-8130-1720-3

Para além do colonialismo: a sinuosa confluência entre o Museu Goeldi e os Mebêngôkre

L’article analyse les transformations de la relation entre le Musée Goeldi et les Mebêngôkre (peuple amazonien mieux connu sous le nom de Kayapó), dans une perspective à long terme. Trois moments de cette relation sont détaillés : la transition du XIXe au XXe siècle, lorsque les institutions religieuses étaient des intermédiaires entre les indigènes et la société nationale brésilienne ; les années 1930, lorsque de nouveaux mouvements migratoires vers la région amazonienne menaçaient l’intégrité physique et territoriale de ce peuple ; et les années 1980-1990, lorsqu’un modèle de développement socio-environnemental a émergé qui reconnaissait le rôle des indigènes en Amazonie. L’article conclut en prônant l’importance de la recherche collaborative et de la muséologie participative au XXIe siècle, tant pour sa qualification scientifique que pour la valorisation des savoirs autochtones aux profondes répercussions politiques, sociales et environnementales.This paper discusses the transformations in the relationship between the Goeldi Museum and Indigenous peoples, specifically the Mebêngôkre, better known as Kayapo, in a long-term perspective. Their complexity is not merely influence of a social Darwinism that would have cornered natural history museums in the role of agents of colonialism and ideologues of structural racism. Three key moments in the construction of ties between the Goeldi Museum andthe Mebêngôkre are analyzed: the transition from the 19th to the 20th century, when religious missions were financed by the State and compulsory intermediaries between the Indigenous people and national society to integrate them into ‘civilization’; the 1930s, when new migratory movements to the Amazon region and the dictates of an oligarchy that strengthened itself through land control – especially in Brazil nut production areas – threatened the physical and territorial integrity of this people; and, finally, the 1980s-1990s, when opposition to the developmentalism of the military regime emerged and crystallized into a socio-environmental model that recognizes the importance of the role of Indigenous peoples and traditionalpopulations in the Amazon. After highlighting the transformations observed in the relationshipbetween museums and Indigenous peoples, the article concludes by advocating the importance assumed, in the 21st century, by collaborative research and participatory museology, both for their scientific qualification and for the appreciation of Indigenous knowledge with profound political, social, and environmental repercussions.O artigo apresenta as transformações no relacionamento do Museu Goeldi com os povos indígenas, neste caso, os Mebêngôkre (mais conhecidos como Kayapó), em uma perspectiva de longa duração. A complexidade dessa relação não se resume à mera influência de um darwinismo social que teria acantonado os museus de história natural no papel de agentesdo colonialismo e de ideólogos de um racismo estrutural. Três momentos-chave da construção dos vínculos entre o Museu Goeldi e os Mebêngôkre são analisados: a transição entre o século XIX e o XX, quando missões religiosas eram financiadas pelo Estado e intermediárias obrigatórias entre os indígenas e a sociedade nacional, no intuito de integrá-los à “civilização”; os anos 1930, em que novos movimentos migratórios para a região amazônica e os ditames de uma oligarquia que se fortalecia por meio do controle fundiário – sobretudo em áreas produtoras de castanha-do-pará – ameaçavam a integridade física e territorial desse povo; e, finalmente,os anos 1980-1990, quando surge uma oposição ao desenvolvimentismo do regime militar, cristalizando-se num modelo socioambiental que reconhece a importância do protagonismo dosindígenas e das populações tradicionais na Amazônia. Uma vez destacadas as transformaçõesverificadas na relação entre museus e povos indígenas, conclui-se advogando a importância assumida no século XXI por pesquisas colaborativas e por uma museologia participativa – tanto para sua qualificação científica quanto para a valorização de um saber indígena com profundas repercussões políticas, sociais e ambientais

Para além do colonialismo: a sinuosa confluência entre o Museu Goeldi e os Mebêngôkre

O artigo apresenta as transformações no relacionamento do Museu Goeldi com os povos indígenas, neste caso, os Mebêngôkre (mais conhecidos como Kayapó), em uma perspectiva de longa duração. A complexidade dessa relação não se resume à mera influência de um darwinismo social que teria acantonado os museus de história natural no papel de agentes do colonialismo e de ideólogos de um racismo estrutural. Três momentos-chave da construção dos vínculos entre o Museu Goeldi e os Mebêngôkre são analisados: a transição entre o século XIX e o XX, quando missões religiosas eram financiadas pelo Estado e intermediárias obrigatórias entre os indígenas e a sociedade nacional, no intuito de integrá-los à “civilização”; os anos 1930, em que novos movimentos migratórios para a região amazônica e os ditames de uma oligarquia que se fortalecia por meio do controle fundiário – sobretudo em áreas produtoras de castanha-do-pará – ameaçavam a integridade física e territorial desse povo; e, finalmente, os anos 1980-1990, quando surge uma oposição ao desenvolvimentismo do regime militar, cristalizando-se num modelo socioambiental que reconhece a importância do protagonismo dos indígenas e das populações tradicionais na Amazônia. Uma vez destacadas as transformações verificadas na relação entre museus e povos indígenas, conclui-se advogando a importância assumida no século XXI por pesquisas colaborativas e por uma museologia participativa – tanto para sua qualificação científica quanto para a valorização de um saber indígena com profundas repercussões políticas, sociais e ambientais

Ethnozoology in Brazil: current status and perspectives

Ancient connections between animals and human are seen in cultures throughout the world in multiple forms of interaction with the local fauna that form the core of Ethnozoology. Historically, ethnozoological publications grew out of studies undertaken in academic areas such as zoology, human ecology, sociology and anthropology - reflecting the interdisciplinary character of this discipline. The rich fauna and cultural diversity found in Brazil, with many different species of animals being used for an extremely wide diversity of purposes by Amerindian societies (as well as the descendents of the original European colonists and African slaves), presents an excellent backdrop for examining the relationships that exist between humans and other animals. This work presents a historical view of ethnozoological research in Brazil and examines its evolution, tendencies, and future perspectives. In summary, literature researches indicated that ethnozoology experienced significant advances in recent years in Brazil, although from a qualitative point of view improvement is still needed in terms of methodological procedures, taxonomic precision, and the use of quantitative techniques. A wide range of methodologies and theories are available in different areas of learning that can be put to good use in ethnozoological approaches if the right questions are asked. The challenges to studying ethnozoology in Brazil are not insignificant, and the tendencies described in the present study may aid in defining research strategies that will maintain the quantitative growth observed in the recent years but likewise foster needed qualitative improvements