Environmental Factishes, Variation, and Emergent Ontologies among the Matsigenka of the Peruvian Amazon By Caissa Revilla-Minaya Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Anthropology January 31, 2019 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Norbert O. Ross, Ph.D. Beth A. Conklin, Ph.D. Tom D. Dillehay, Ph.D. Douglas L. Medin, Ph.D. Copyright © 2019 by Caissa Revilla-Minaya All rights reserved ii To John iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My deepest gratitude is for the members of the Matsigenka Native Community of Tayakome, for generously welcoming my husband and me, allowing a couple of foreigners like us to participate in their lives, and sharing their stories, experiences, and numerous good laughs. I am grateful for their patience during this work, and for their kindness, humor and friendship. My committee members provided me with constant support and invaluable advice, making time to meet with me during my sporadic visits to Nashville during the last years of dissertation writing. Thank you Beth Conklin, Tom Dillehay, and Doug Medin. I am particularly indebted to my adviser Norbert Ross, for his continuous guidance, insightful criticism, and endless support during all stages of my doctoral studies. His incisive questioning of established theory has challenged me to become a better researcher and scholar. I thank him for his mentorship and friendship. Field research for this dissertation was made possible by the generous support of the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (Grant No. 8577), the Robert Lemelson Foundation and the Society for Psychological Anthropology, the Center for Latin American Studies and the College of Arts and Sciences at Vanderbilt University. Funding from the P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship Fund was also essential for my graduate formation at Vanderbilt University. The support of many individuals in Peru made this research possible. The collaboration of the Jefatura of Manu National Park has been invaluable for the realization of this investigation, in particular, the constant support of John Florez and Nelson Anaya, and the hospitality, camaraderie, and valuable work of the numerous park guards posted at the Control Posts of Limonal and Pakitsa during my quick visits. I am grateful to Cecilio Huamantupa and his family for logistic and technical support in Manu, and for making us iv feel that we have a family in Atalaya and Pilcopata. The personnel of the Cocha Cashu Biological Station have been constant field companions since my first visits to Manu. In particular, I thank Verónica Chavez, César Flores, Roxana Arauco, Fortunato Rayan, and Juan Capeshi for their friendship and assistance in the field. I also thank Oscar Espinosa of the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, whose support and advice have been instrumental for this research. Nancy Santullo and Caleb Matos of Casa de Los Niños Indígenas and Rainforest Flow provided invaluable technical support and companionship in the field. I am also grateful to Patricia Alvarez and Cecilia Carrasco for their friendship and logistical assistance. After returning from field work, I was incredibly fortunate to be hosted and welcomed in several different academic institutions that provided me with the necessary facilities and resources to write this dissertation. My sincere thanks go to Richard McElreath and Christyann Darwent of the University of California, Davis; Andrea Wiley, Jeanne Sept, and Eduardo Brondizio of Indiana University; and Richard McElreath (again) at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. I am especially grateful to Richard McElreath and Eduardo Brondizio, who welcomed me into their respective lab groups as if I were another student member, and generously made time to meet and discuss different aspects of my research, providing invaluable advice. I would also like to thank all the wonderful people that I met and reencountered during this time, enriching not only my academic experience but also life in general through their friendship and generosity. Thank you Cody Ross, Zoila Mendoza, Chuck Walker, Lucia Guerra, Daniel Manrique, Anne Kandler, Silke Atmaca, and the research and administrative staff and doctoral students at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. During these years, I have been lucky to have the company and friendship of fellow graduate students, with whom I shared the joys and frustrations of graduate student life. v Thank you Marlon Escamilla, Werner Hertzog, Tatiana Paz, Carmelina Espantzay, Gabriela Oré, Carla Hernández, Catalina Fernandez, Rodrigo Chocano, Paulo Massoca, Andressa Manssur, Raul Arzua, Ana Lima, Jennifer Cullin, Carmen Cortez, Carmen Valdivia, David Tenorio, Alejandro Rossi, Cinthya Ammerman, Ana Varela, and Tania Lizarazo for intellectual and emotional support, stimulating discussions, writing dates, and fun times. The long-distance company of friends who were always there for me along the way has also been invaluable for me. Thank you Pachi, Charlotte, Edgardo, Catherine, Carolina, Luis, and Nadia. I especially want to thank to my undergraduate adviser, Maria de los Angeles La Torre, without whom my doctoral studies would never have been possible. Thank you for your continuous support, advice, and friendship, despite the distance. Finally, without the constant encouragement, support, and love of my family, I would not have been able to study and conduct this research. Thank you Miriam, Oscar, Natalia, Gonzalo, Diane, Jim, Mike, Erika, and Toni, for always being with me. I am particularly grateful to my wonderful husband, John, who has been there during all stages, lows, and highs of this research, with encouragement, patience, trust, and love. You are not only an amazing colleague, fieldwork partner, and one-of-a-kind idea-challenger, but as a loving, confident, and generous life partner, you have made me believe that everything is possible. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION .................................................................................................................................. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... VII LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... X LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................ XI CHAPTER 1: EMERGENT ONTOLOGIES IN A CONTESTED ENVIRONMENT ......................................... 1 ONTOLOGY VS. EPISTEMOLOGY, OR, WHY APPLY AN ONTOLOGICAL APPROACH? ............................................. 6 METHODOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF AN ONTOLOGICAL APPROACH ............................................................. 11 ONTOLOGIES IN ACTION, OR, WHY CONDUCT RESEARCH AMONG THE MATSIGENKA OF TAYAKOME? ................. 14 The Environment For Conservationists ........................................................................................ 15 The Environment For Manu National Park Employees ................................................................ 17 Exploring Matsigenka Emergent Ontologies ................................................................................ 23 ORGANIZATION OF THE DISSERTATION ..................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPTUALIZATIONS ................ 28 QUESTIONING THE MODERNS ................................................................................................................. 29 THEORIES OF RESOURCES MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................. 32 The Tragedy oF the Commons and Some DeFinitions .................................................................. 32 Ostrom’s Institutional Approach ................................................................................................. 33 Frameworks, Translations, and Variability .................................................................................. 37 ETHNOGRAPHIC “NON-MODERN” ACCOUNTS ........................................................................................... 42 CONCEPTUALIZING ONTOLOGIES ............................................................................................................. 47 Ontology as a Heuristic Device .................................................................................................... 48 Ontology as a PerFormative Worlding ......................................................................................... 50 CRITIQUES TO ONTOLOGICAL APPROACHES ............................................................................................... 58 ONTOLOGIES AS EMERGENT CONFIGURATIONS: SOME THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL PREMISES ............. 64 CHAPTER 3: ONTOLOGIES IN CONSTRUCTION: THE HISTORICAL AND ETHNOGRAPHIC SETTING OF MATSIGENKA ENVIRONMENTAL CONCEPTIONS ........................................................................... 69 THE MATSIGENKA OF TAYAKOME ............................................................................................................ 69 bRIEF HISTORY OF THE MATSIGENKA