i FOLK FILMMAKING by ADAM PÉROU HERMANS AMIR B.A., Colgate University, 2007 M.Sc., University of Otago, 2010 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Environmental Studies Program 2016 ii This thesis entitled: Folk Filmmaking written by Adam Pérou Hermans Amir has been approved for the Department of English Benjamin S. Hale J. Terrence McCabe ____________________ Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. iii Amir, Adam Pérou Hermans (Ph.D., Environmental Studies) Folk Filmmaking Thesis directed by Associate Professor Benjamin S. Hale Wildlife conservationists often come into conflict with local communities. To resolve conflict, conservationists conduct education and sensitization programs to raise awareness and teach the value of wildlife. This “missionary approach” raises issues of epistemic and social injustice. Just as conservation often requires local communities to relinquish sovereignty over land and natural resources, conservation education challenges local values and morality. Invited to produce conservation education media for communities living near the critically endangered Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), I used the opportunity to pursue a more just method for moral debates over wildlife in contexts of unequal power and unshared cultures. For my dissertation, I designed, tested, and analyzed a form of participatory video production: “Folk Filmmaking.” Folk Filmmaking differs from ethnography. Instead of documenting local moral beliefs about wildlife, it provides an opportunity for locals to represent themselves. It invites them to think collectively and critically about their moral beliefs. It encourages them to articulate, develop, and represent those beliefs. It provides the resources to do so through filmmaking. My dissertation describes the exclusion of African accounts about gorillas, revealing an epistemic injustice that undermines the authority of moral claims developed without this knowledge. It shows how justifications for gorilla conservation—the intellectual puzzles of animal rights; the careful, complex science of primatology, ecology, and evolutionary history; the clarion calls of environmental ethicists—seem salient in Western communities but almost irrelevant in the communities of the Cross River headwaters. It describes the Folk Filmmaking process, the films we produced, and an analysis of the method. It concludes by reflecting on the promise and limits of Folk Filmmaking as a method of moral adjudication in other contexts of wildlife conservation conflicting with local communities. iv Dedication Dedicated to Shakira & Junior Caleb Laisin, & their companions growing up in the Cross River Headwaters May our generations foster better relations. v Acknowledgements I extend thanks in many directions. To my father, Stephen Hermans. He was integral to the execution of this dissertation. He loaned me thousands of dollars to buy a new camera, a new computer, and a ticket to Calabar. He did not accept my attempts at repayment. When I lost my computer to an apartment fire, he replaced it. I spent the year finishing this dissertation in a state of economic torpor. My father helped me survive and afford my school fees. I cannot thank him enough. The biggest obstacle to Folk Filmmaking may be finding the means to employ it without such a benevolent patron. As if sending me money was not enough, my father also sent me edits. He read my grant applications and my dissertation (in multiple iterations) with a lawyer’s eye and pen. The mistakes are mine but much of the clarity and coherence of argument I attribute to him. To my mother. She made me into the person who would write this dissertation. My convoluted studies and thinking seem mostly to remind me what she already taught me. When she reads this dissertation, she will probably wonder why I needed so many words to make a simple argument about respect. To Dr. Alison Jaggar for her warmth, inspiration, and encouragement. Alison’s teaching showed me how to sort through the issues, how to help, and how to be careful. She too proved enormous support—with edits, company, and a wonderful place to live—but I thank her most for how she helped my thinking. To Dr. Ajume Wingo for first inviting me to Cameroon and remaining a close friend ever since. He gave me a second family and a reason to continue returning to Africa. He, and his friends and family, too, provided us enormous support during our work. I will not forget Ajume and my early morning walks and talks in Bambui. I wish we were neighbors. Of the many folks Ajume sent to help us, I thank in particular Mamadou and Nicolene Laisin. They welcomed us into their home throughout our fieldwork, always providing us with food, family, and fun. We miss them and their crew of neighborhood children tremendously. We will go back to Cameroon just to see them again. I also thank Marcel Navti for looking after us in so many ways. To Dr. Mara Goldman for all her knowledge and guidance, especially in teaching me how to appreciate the depth of cross-cultural environmental issues. I appreciate her challenge and remain inspired by her work as much as any other. To Dr. J. Terry McCabe for showing me how to study conservation from the other side. He provided an essential foundation for my work, as well as an exciting invitation towards anthropology, which I am only increasingly taking him up on. vi To Dr. Benjamin S. Hale for teaching me the importance of justificatory muster. Ben showed me how to turn ideas into papers. He also made my PhD possible. I appreciate him asking me to spend a few years together in Colorado. To Penny Bates for answering my endless questions, helping me address a menagerie of needs and issues, and for bringing her dog to join us in the office. Penny provided more help and support than I can express. I am sure I do not even know all the ways she helped me get through school. I cannot thank all the many folks who helped us throughout our work in Nigeria and Cameroon without making mistakes or omissions. I offer a huge, general thanks to all the communities. I hope to better show my gratitude when I return to help distribute the films. I offer particular thanks to Apah Smart, Louis Nkembi, Shufai Ngoshitong and crew, Tatang Banda and G.S.S. Bechati, Serika Lucas, Regina Leke, Azure Opio. To Louis Nkonyu, a towering thank you for bringing me along for weeks in the Cross River, providing me good food, shelter, and adventure. And enough material for a dissertation. Nkonyu, perhaps more than anyone else I know of, may be best suited for improving the conservation situation in the Cross River headwaters. To Ndimuh Bertand Shancho and Immaculate Mkong. They spent months working with us, devoting enormous amounts of time, energy, and resources to our project. I thank them for their hard work, their enthusiasm and effort, and their friendship. To ERuDeF, FFI, WCS Nigeria and WCS Cameroon for their collaboration, support, and hard work. To Ashleigh Baker, Eddie Rosenbaum, and Lyco Keita for so kindly hosting us in Buea. To Alexander P. Lee for years of good talks, thoughts, and fun times outside. Alex, more than anyone else, helped me think out conservation ethics. I hope we can co-author a book on it together. To Benni Leutner for the hours making the maps, and for joining me on yet another long walk when we finish. To Joana Roque de Pinho for all the example, ideas, and advice. I hope to collaborate with Joana too. To Luke Padgett for the wisdom. To Noal Amir, without whom none of my work would be possible. vii CONTENTS Illustrations, Images, & Maps viii Glossary & Abbreviations xi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1. WHO KNOWS WHAT ABOUT GORILLAS? 25 2. CONSERVATION IN THE CROSS RIVER HEADWATERS 59 3. WHY CONSERVE GORILLAS? 103 4. TABOOS & TOTEMS 144 5. FILMMAKING AS MORAL EXCHANGE 171 6. THE FOLK FILMS 207 7. JUNGLE JUSTICE 283 EPILOGUE 326 Bibliography 334 References 346 viii ILLUSTRATIONS, IMAGES, & MAPS I produced the hard copy of this dissertation as an extensively illustrated book. Please contact me for an illustrated copy. The electronic edition includes no illustrations or images. It features maps on the following two pages: vi and vii. All maps are by Benjamin Leutner Ph.D. candidate, Department of Geography & Geology, University of Würzburg Map References Borders Global Administrative Areas. http://gadm.org/ Cities Geonames. http://www.geonames.org/ Elevation NASA SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) V2 (30m) Forest Cover Data Sexton, J. O., Song, X.-P., Feng, M., Noojipady, P., Anand, A., Huang, C., Kim, D.-H., Collins, K.M., Channan, S., DiMiceli, C., Townshend, J.R.G. 2013. Global, 30-m resolution continuous fields of tree cover: Landsat-based rescaling of MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields with lidar-based estimates of error. International Journal of Digital Earth Protected Areas IUCN and UNEP-WCMC. 2015. The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). [Accessed: 09/2015]. UNEP-WCMC, Cambridge, UK. Available at: http://www.protectedplanet.net. Rivers & Roads Digital Chart of the World ix x xi GLOSSARY & ABBREVIATIONS Cross River A crude catch-all to describe the geographic area in which the remaining headwaters populations of Cross River gorillas occur. The Cross River actually begins as the Manyu River, in the mountains of South-West Region, Cameroon. The mountains and river continue into Cross River State, Nigeria, where the river takes on its new name. The gorillas remain only on a few mountaintops around the rivers’ watershed.