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AYOREO SEX WORK in the MENNONITE COLONIES of WESTER PARAGUAY by Paola Canova a Dissertation Submitted To Intimate Encounters: Ayoreo Sex Work in The Mennonite Colonies of Western Paraguay Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Canova, Paola Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 25/09/2021 12:11:06 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319895 INTIMATE ENCOUNTERS: AYOREO SEX WORK IN THE MENNONITE COLONIES OF WESTER PARAGUAY by Paola Canova __________________________ Copyright © Paola Canova 2014 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2014 1 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Paola Canova, titled Intimate Encounters: Ayoreo Sex Work in the Mennonite Colonies of Western Paraguay and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Thomas E. Sheridan __________________________________________________________________ Date: 04/16/2014 Brian Silverstein __________________________________________________________________ Date: 04/16/2014 Thomas K. Park __________________________________________________________________ Date: 04/16/2014 Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: 04/16/2014 Dissertation Director: Thomas E. Sheridan ________________________________________________ Date: 04/16/2014 Dissertation Director: Brian Silverstein 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder SIGNED: Paola Canova 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation research would not have been possible without the support of countless people in different places and at different stages. Foremost I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor and dissertation chair, Dr. Thomas E. Sheridan, for his invaluable support and advice. I am also grateful to my co-chair Brian Silverstein, and committee member Tad Park, who supported my research project and whose theoretical perspectives have enriched my work and research interests. I am also thankful to Dr. James E. Greenberg for his role in guiding me during graduate school and for his contributions to this endeavor. Among other professors at the University of Arizona, I am especially thankful to Dr. Ellen B. Basso, Dr. Linda Green and Dr. Ana Alonso for shaping my academic formation as an anthropologist. Additional professors at the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology have given me unique opportunities to develop my investigation skills throughout graduate school, both in the US and abroad. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Diane Austin, Dr. Timothy Finan, and Dr, Marcela Vasquez-León for these opportunities. Fruitful conversations with Lucas Bessire helped me define the initial research project and continued to enrich my work at different stages. Carlos del Cairo has been an ongoing source of intellectual exchange and support throughout this research. I am indebted to him for reading my work at different stages and help me improve it by critically challenging my ideas. Maisa Taha and Annika Ericksen also contributed insightful comments and editorial remarks to several 4 chapters. I am thankful to Tad Doane for all his work and time spent on editing this dissertation. Among other peers who provided friendship and support during graduate school, I would like to specially acknowledge Satoshi Abe, Brian Burke, Tom-Zé Da Silva, Jessica Piekielek, Lucero Radonic, Krisna Ruette, and Megan Sheehan. In Paraguay, I am indebted to Oleg Vysokolan who introduced me to the Ayoreo in 1999. Others who enriched my initial experiences among the Ayoreo and the Chaco were José Zanardini, Lida Acuña, Beate Lehner and Carlos Giesbrecht. At the Museo Andrés Barbero, I am thankful to Adelina Pusineri, Raquel Salazar, and their work team for their steady support, especially during the final stage of writing. In the Mennonite Colonies, I am indebted to Salete Ranshaw and Arminda Krause and their respective families for making me feel at home in Filadelfia. I am also thankful to Gundolf Niebuhr, the Director of the Fernheim Colony Archive, for our stimulating intellectual exchanges and his ongoing support of my efforts. Other people who helped and supported me in various ways during my stay in the Chaco include: Chala Alvarenga, Junior Alarcón, Ana and Amadeo Benz, Sonia Castillo, Cynthia de Cazuriaga, Sabine Krause, Jimmy Siemmens, Blanca Sugastti, Victor Hugo Vega, and Abraham Sawatzky. I am also grateful to New Tribes Mission missionaries Alicia and Bruce Higham for opening their home and sharing their experiences among the Ayoreo with me. Likewise, I am grateful to missionaries Violeta and Henry Buchegger and Mr. and Mrs. Goddard for our many rewarding discussions. 5 Much of the success of my work in Bolivia was facilitated by Jürgen Riester and Irene Roca Ortiz at APCOB. Other people who provided assistance during my stay in Bolivia include Jute Chiqueño and her family, Subi Picanerai, Saron Chiqueño, Ike Etacoro, Tania Cutamiño and Luis Sebriano and family. I would also like to acknowledge the financial support I received from several institutions to complete this research. These include: the Fieldwork Dissertation Research Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Columbia University Libraries Research Award, the Zora Neale Hurston Travel Award from the Association for Feminist Anthropology, and the Tinker Foundation Field Research Grant. In addition, the School of Anthropology at the University of Arizona provided the following funding: Comins Fellowship Fund, Diebold Graduate Travel Award, the Graduate Tuition Scholarship, Graduate Student Travel Scholarship Fund, William & Nancy Sullivan Scholarship Fund, and the Traditions, Transitions and Treasures Fund. This work would not have been possible without the patience, guidance, and teachings of many Ayoreo. Although impossible to name everybody, I would like to particularly mention the following people: Joini Etacore, Tina Dosape, Isaias Posorajai, Suida Etacoro. Ebede Cutamiño, Acarani Picanerai, Juana Picanere, Ubuchua Picanere, Curia Chiqueño Oji Picanerai, Ducaobede Chiqueño, Doria Etacoro, Sereda Picanerai, Gabidé Etacore, Chiri Etacore, Gabi-de Etacore, Erui Cutamurajai, Naka Etacoro, Nebelino Chagabi Etacore, Carlitos Picanerai, Pajine Posiño, David Picanerai, Mateo Sobode Chiquenoi, Tona Picanere, Daniel Picanerai, Nina Dosape, Adelina Picanere, Kate Picanere, Carlitos Etacore, Eri 6 Posiño, Ijaroi Dosapei, Eri Posiño, Ikevi Posorajai, Seferino Dosapei, and Icaque Chiquenoi. The unconditional friendship and support of Kevin Gaskin, Laura Conti, Olivia Cano, Rossana Rios, Tad Doane and Anita Carrasco sustained me at different stages of this process. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family. Without their love and encouragement this dissertation would not have been possible; I am thankful to Horacio, Haydee, Horacito and Orit, and Eduardo and Megan, for wholeheartedly supporting me on all my Ayoreo journeys. 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS …………………………………………………..12 ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………….13 CHAPTER I: Introduction ……...……………………………………………..14 The Research Subject ……………………………………………………………14 On the Ayoreo: A Brief Introduction ……………………………………………18 Mennonites in the Chaco: Re-inscribing the Landscape ………………………...26 Woodcutters for the Mennonite Enclave………………………………………...34 The Contemporary Landscape of the Mennonite Colonies……………………...37 The Ayoreo Today……………………………………………………………….41 The Ayoreo in the Political Landscape of the Chaco……………………………46 Towards An Ethnography of Chaco Indigenous Women………………………..50 Sex Work Reconsidered: Some Theoretical Reflections………………………...52 A Personal Note on Fieldwork…………………………………………………..58 Structure of the Dissertation……………………………………………………..63 CHAPTER II: The Ethics of Ayoreo Sexuality ……………………………… 65 I.Ethical Selves…………………………………………………………………..66 The time of the Jnani Bajade or the First Original Beings………………………71 Mythical Narratives ……………………………………..………………….…73 II. Guiding Principles in the Realm of Sexuality..……………………………… 75 Attributes of young, unmarried women………………………………………….76 Flirting and Courting………………………………………………………...77 Desire ………………………………………………………………………. 78 8 Reciprocity……………………………………………………………………………82 Breaking the Moral Codes……………………………………………………….84 From Singlehood to Becoming Married…………………………………………86 Ayoreo Women:
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