DOCSLIB.ORG

Preserving and Expanding the Enxet Legacy Paraguay the College of Idaho Jazmin Nuñez Scolari & Mia Maldonado (College of Idaho) June-July 2021

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Preserving and Expanding the Enxet Legacy Paraguay the College of Idaho Jazmin Nuñez Scolari & Mia Maldonado (College of Idaho) June-July 2021 Preserving and Expanding the Enxet Legacy Paraguay The College of Idaho Jazmin Nuñez Scolari & Mia Maldonado (College of Idaho) June-July 2021 CONTEXT: Located at the heart of South America, Paraguay has long been overlooked by the media in comparison to its neighboring countries in the Southern Cone. This neglect is largely due to its landlocked location. However, Paraguay has a population of 7 million people. While most of the population resides in urban areas, the country is very sparsely populated. Many Paraguayans live in small rural villages, and they often derive their living from agricultural activity such as in the soy and beef industries, which are the country’s greatest exports. However, the demand for land in these industries has caused tensions between indigenous communities, the government, and ranchers. Though the Paraguayan Constitution guarantees indigenous peoples the right to preserve and develop their ethnic identity in their ancestral land, the government has failed to uphold their collective land rights in favor of agribusinesses. Deforestation significantly threatens indigenous land, especially in the Western side of Paraguay known as the Chaco— a semi-arid region with one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. The Chaco is home to abundant wildlife and several indigenous tribes like the Enxet. The Enxet is an ethnic minority traditionally known as hunter-gatherers, but today many members are skilled in artisanal craft, agriculture, and beekeeping. Already threatened by deforestation and land issues, the Enxet village of Karanda lost 13,300 acres of ancestral land and wildlife to forest fires in the year 2020 alone. With the COVID-19 pandemic, families working in the agricultural industry have lost their jobs and have yet to receive any financial or medical assistance from the Paraguayan government. Without income, community members rely on hunting and fishing in what is left of their ancestral forests. Facing agribusiness tensions, deforestation, wildfires, and a pandemic, the Enxet in Karanda lack the infrastructure to have a greater presence in Paraguay. The project we propose is aimed at empowering the sixty-nine families in the Karanda village by hosting various informative workshops while also refurbishing the current community collection center and providing computers and sewing machines so that residents may sell crafts for income and expand their market in today’s digitalized society. PROJECT OVERVIEW: In collaboration with Karanda locals, we propose to refurbish the village’s community collection center (centro de acopio) that offers a multipurpose room that can store computer equipment, general utilities, and sewing equipment. The current building needs new windows, doors, and proper painting to accommodate the project. Karanda is electrified through the company ANDE, and the wi-fi provider will be Chaconet. This refurbished center will serve as a meeting grounds for community members to get together. In order to empower the community about their land and environmental rights as indigenous people in a society that does not include them, we will host different awareness workshops promoting environmental, labor, and property rights. Additionally, we will host a digital learning workshop to introduce the computer equipment and provide basic IT skills. We will lead these workshops along with our project partners. The project is intended to improve the conditions in the Karanda community, particularly among job-seeking adults. To alleviate the high unemployment levels, the provided sewing equipment will allow both men and women to continue their traditional textile work and pursue an income. Likewise, access to computers will both enhance their digital skills and expand their market. Our project will take four-weeks between June and July. PARTNERSHIPS: Tierra Viva a los Pueblos Indígenas del Chaco, is an NGO working and promoting the human rights of the indigenous communities in the Chaco. Since 1994, Tierra Viva has led programs advocating public policies, strategic litigation, legal training, and organizational strengthening; their main goal is to ensure the protection of indigenous rights. Through Tierra Viva we connected with Remigio Romero Lopez, leader of the Karanda community, official translator of the Enxet language, and judicial expert of the Paraguayan Supreme Court. After contacting Remigio and discussing how we can help the community, together we decided on refurbishing Karanda’s collecting center. He is eager to work together on this project for his home village Karanda and share his expertise on indigenous legal rights. Also, he is our main contact to facilitate the communication with the other members of the community. He and his wife have graciously offered to host us in his home during the completion of the project. Additionally, Field Coordinator Santiago Bobadilla from Tierra Viva has accepted to be our main partner in Asunción and provide us the guidance in terms of indigenous legal and environmental rights, as well as assistance for the project while in Karanda. Also, two computer science students from the National University of Asunción have agreed to volunteer and help with our digital learning workshop. Despite that most of the community speaks Enxet and Guaraní, Remigio and other leaders of the community will be responsible for interpreting for the volunteers that only speak Spanish. TIMELINE: The project will take four weeks between June and July 2021 • Weeks 1 and 2- During the first two weeks, we will work under the close guidance of Santiago Bobadilla from Tierra Viva to prepare for our trip to Karanda. We will collect the renovation materials in both the capital city, Asunción, as well as in the closest city near the village, Loma Plata. Once in Karanda, we will spend a week getting to personally know the community and start the refurbishing of the collection center together with the help of local volunteers. • Week 3 - Remigio will take charge of the renovation on site supervision with our help and the help of local volunteers. We will also be collecting multipurpose room equipment and transporting it to Karanda during this time. This includes transporting computer desktops, desks, sewing equipment, chairs, etc. During this time, we and our partners will prepare for workshops to give to the community about environmental and legal rights and digital skills. By this time, the refurbishing of the community center will be close to finished. • Week 4 – In the fourth week, we will be finished with the renovation portion of the project. This last week will be dedicated to giving the workshops. The workshop portion of our project will take 2-3 days, with different groups of community members attending each day. In the final days of our project, we will host a ceremony which will provide the opportunity to center community members’ perspectives on their experience with the project. IMPACT & SUSTAINABILITY: The short-term goal of this project is to provide Karanda community members with a meaningful way to engage and strengthen their community during the renovation and workshop portions of the project. Overall, this project will provide a meeting grounds to foster multidisciplinary skills with sewing equipment for locals to make and sell traditional craft, especially for job-seeking adults. The newly refurbished community center will additionally provide computer access so that residents may improve their digital skills to expand job opportunities beyond Karanda. Most importantly, we are determined to leave Karanda residents with greater knowledge of their land rights as Enxet, so that they feel empowered to make claims against the Paraguayan government who has not upheld their land rights against agribusinesses. We will be leaving the community center knowing that Remigio, as the village leader, and Karanda residents are committed to preserving these resources for future use. By broadening their legal knowledge, educational resources, and digital infrastructure, the Enxet will be able to make a greater presence throughout Paraguay to maintain their culture and land. PERSONAL STATEMENTS: Jazmin Nuñez: Born and raised in Paraguay, I am a native speaker of Spanish and speak Guarani fluently— one of the indigenous languages of Paraguay also spoken by the Enxet. As an Environmental Studies major, I have been aware of the long abandonment of the local government towards indigenous communities; therefore, I am committed to making a positive change by actively supporting these marginalized ethnic minorities that are continually being affected by the current environmental crisis. Mia Maldonado: I am currently a junior at the College of Idaho with double majors in International Political Economy and Spanish along with minors in Communications and Health Promotion. I am passionate about sustainable development and hope to utilize my area of study to empower and provide equity to underrepresented communities, especially in Paraguay as my father is Paraguayan and has shared with me his country’s culture and history growing up. It would be an honor to fulfill this project for the resilient Enxet in my country of heritage. COVID-19: This project will abide by the sanitary guidelines set by the Paraguayan Ministry of Health, ie, mask wearing, sanitation supplies, social distancing, etc. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rodrigo Villagra Carron Phd Thesis
    THE TWO SHAMANS AND THE OWNER OF THE CATTLE : ALTERITY, STORYTELLING AND SHAMANISM AMONGST THE ANGAITÉ OF THE PARAGUAYAN CHACO Rodrigo Villagra Carron A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2010 Full metadata for this item is available in the St Andrews Digital Research Repository at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/965 This item is protected by original copyright I THE TWO SHAMANS AND THE OWNER OF THE CATTLE Alterity, storytelling and shamanism amongst the Angaité of the Paraguayan Chaco Rodrigo Villagra Carron A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St. Andrews April 2009 II ABSTRACT My thesis examines from an ethnographic account how history has been made, told and interpreted by the Angaité people of the Chaco since the Paraguayan nation-state effectively carried out the colonization of this territory in the 19th century until the present day. The key elements of this account are the Angaité’s notions and practices on alterity, storytelling and shamanism and how they interplay with one another. I explore the notions of alterity and its counterpart similarity in the context of multiple material transactions in which the Angaité engage both among themselves and with outsiders. I also examine the inseparable socio-moral evaluations attached to such transactions. I show how certain transactions such as exchange or commoditisation do not necessarily conflict with good social relations. Nevertheless, the closest relationships – preferably evoked in kinship terms - are constantly constructed by the combination of several practices including sharing, pooling, cohabitation and companionship and the relational morality that underpins them.
    [Show full text]
  • A Grammar of Enxet Sur (PDF)
    A GRAMMAR OF ENXET SUR DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MANOA¯ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN LINGUISTICS May 2021 by John A. Elliott Dissertation Committee: Lyle Campbell, Chairperson Patience Epps Gary Holton William O’Grady Alexander Mawyer Acknowledgements Completing a project like this involves a huge amount collaboration and support, and there are many people and institutions to thank. First, I would like express my gratitude for being able to live and learn on the mokupuni of O‘ahu. My work and my life have benefited not just from the mountains and forests and waters here but also from having opportunities to learn about them from Indigenous perspectives. I would like to thank the Endangered Language Documentation Project (ELDP), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Bilinski Foundation for funding this research. Funding for research on underdocumented and endangered languages is not exactly abun- dant, and I am grateful for the support this work has received thus far. As an academic work, this dissertation has been made possible through lots of help and support from my dissertation committee and the faculty at the UH Mnoa linguis- tics department. Many thanks are in order to my advisor, Lyle Campbell, for all of the information he has shared and advice he has given me over the years, but also for his en- couragement and faith in my ability to succeed in completing a project like this. I am also grateful to the other linguists on my dissertation committee, Gary Holton and Patience Epps for their commentary and helpful, insightful suggestions on my own data and on language description in general, and especially to William O’Grady who has been of great assistance in helping me turn this description from a tool for my own understanding to something of greater use and interest to other linguists.
    [Show full text]
  • Paraguayan Guarani the History of Guarani Is a History of Resilience
    grammars of world & minority languages Paraguayan Guarani Paraguayan The history of Guarani is a history of resilience. Paraguayan Guarani is a vibrant, modern language, mother tongue to millions of people in South America. It is the only indigenous A Grammar of language in the Americas spoken by a non-ethnically indigenous majority, and since 1992, A Grammar of it is also an official language of Paraguay alongside Spanish. This book provides the first comprehensive reference grammar of Modern Paraguayan Guarani written for an English- language audience. It is an accessible yet thorough and carefully substantiated description Paraguayan of the language’s phonology, morphosyntax, and semantics. It also includes information about its centuries of documented history and its current sociolinguistic situation. Examples come from literary sources and film, scholastic grammars, online newspapers, Guarani blogs and other publications, publicly accessible social media data, and the author’s own fieldwork. They are specifically chosen to reflect the diversity of uses of modern-day Guarani, with the aim of providing a realistic picture of the current state of the language in twenty-first century Paraguay. This book will benefit researchers and students of Guarani and Paraguay, such as linguists, anthropologists, ethnographers, sociologists, historians, or cultural studies and literature scholars. Typologically-oriented researchers and students of other Tupian and Amerindian Bruno Estigarribia languages will have reliable data for comparative purposes.
    [Show full text]
  • Cheryl Lynn Duckworth Director
    Revitalizing Our Dances: Land and Dignity in Paraguay A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at George Mason University By Cheryl Lynn Duckworth Director: Agnieszka Paczynska Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution Fall Semester 2008 George Mason University Fairfax, VA Dedication I am honored by the time, friendship and support offered to me by so many in Paraguay, particularly the indigenous leaders who took the time to share their stories with me. It is to them that I dedicate this work. Arriba Paraguay! ii Acknowledgements As you may imagine, there are innumerable people to thank for their time, support, encouragement and listening as I completed this project. First I am pleased to thank my committee, Agnieszka Paczynska, Peter Mandaville and Dan Rothbart, for their guidance, insight and creativity. I would also like to thank my family, Mom, Dad, Jack, Paula, Peter and Rebecca, for their hours of listening and cheerleading. Mom, Jack, Paula and Dad, thank you so much especially for being such a generous research grant foundation! I would also like to thank the warm and kind people throughout Paraguay who offered their time and help—Josephina and all at Peace Corps Paraguay, the Kansas- Paraguay Committee, Andres, Krista, Julio, Domingo, Perla and all at the inspiring Santa Ana community! iii Table of Contents Page List of Abbreviations…………………………………………………………….……..…v Abstract………………………………………………………………………….…….…vi 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………..…….…1 2. An Historical View of the Indigenous Rights Movement in Paraguay…………...…25 3. Literature and Theory Review……………………………………………………….44 4. The Indigenous Communities Under Stroessner…………………………………...133 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Language Contact and Linguistic Change in the Chaco
    Artigos • Articles Language Contact and Linguistic Change in the Chaco Lyle Campbell1 1. Introduction The goals of this paper are to examine several aspects of language contact involving languages of the Chaco region. More specifically, I discuss changes that are unexpected in situations of intensive contact; I consider possible explanations for resistance to lexical borrowing; I address the implications of language contact in these Chaco languages for claims about change in language contact situations in general; I evaluate claims regarding mixed languages in the region; and I investigate diffused linguistic traits in the Chaco and determine whether the Chaco is a linguistic area. 2. Language contact in Misión La Paz Several aspects of what I report here are based on findings from research involving multilingualism in Misión La Paz, Salta Province, Argentina (henceforth MLP). Three indigenous languages are spoken in MLP in addition to Spanish: Chorote, Nivaclé (also called Chulupí, sometimes Ashluslay), and Wichí (formerly called Mataco). All three are members of the Matacoan language family (called familia mataco-mataguaya in Spanish), but they are not particularly similar to one another, diversified on the order of Germanic languages. Misión La Paz is located just across the Pilcomayo River from Paraguay and about 20 kilometers from Bolivia. At the time the fieldwork research there began (2001) there were about 650 inhabitants, but it has since grown to over 850. The indigenous people there live in very poor socioeconomic conditions, and they maintain much of the traditional culture. There are c.2,500 speakers of Chorote, and c. 8800 speakers of Nivaclé (called Chulupí in Argentina, sometimes Ashluslay in various spellings), with c.400 in Argentina and c.8400 in Paraguay.
    [Show full text]
  • Los Enlhet-Enenlhet Del Chaco Paraguayo
    [Una versión anterior de este trabajo apareció en Suplemento Antropológico 40/1: 503-569 (Junio de 2005), Asunción, Paraguay] [Última modificación: 12/03/2021] Los pueblos del Gran Chaco y sus lenguas, primera parte: Los enlhet-enenlhet del Chaco Paraguayo Alain Fabre 1. Ésta la primera entrega de una serie de cuatro, dedicadas a las fami- lias lingüísticas chaqueñas enlhet-enenlhet (lengua-maskoy), matagua- * Quisiera agradecer a Hannes Kalisch, quien contribuyó de una manera decisiva a la maduración de este trabajo. Huelga decir que soy el único responsable para cualquier error o falla que aparezca en el texto final. ** Investigador independiente. Dirección electrónica: [email protected]. 1 Suplemento Antropológico yo, guaykurú y zamuco. Esta primera entrega abarca los seis pueblos de la familia lingüística enlhet-enenlhet, la única cuyos integrantes vi- ven exclusivamente en el Chaco paraguayo. En lo que hace a las de- más familias, tienen representantes tanto en el Paraguay como en los países vecinos, y serán objeto de sendas entregas en los próximos nú- meros del Suplemento Antropológico. La serie fue elaborada en base a algunos capítulos de mi libro Manual de las lenguas indígenas sud- americanas1. Se trata, sin embargo, de una versión totalmente refundi- da y puesta al día. Por razones prácticas, he decidido dejar a un lado los dos pueblos tupí-guaraní del Chaco paraguayo, ñandeva (tapieté) y los guaraní occidentales2, así como el aislado vilela3 del Chaco ar- gentino, casi extinto. Tal como se podrá apreciar, el volumen de la bibliografía exis- tente acerca de los pueblos autóctonos chaqueños es considerable, si bien se halla desperdigado en numerosos archivos, bibliotecas, revis- tas y libros, a lo largo y ancho del nuevo y viejo mundo.4 1.1.
    [Show full text]
  • Temporal Predicative Particles in Sanapaná and the Enlhet-Enenlhet Language Family (Paraguay)
    Leiden University Leiden University Centre for Linguistics Jens Van Gysel Temporal Predicative Particles in Sanapaná and the Enlhet-Enenlhet Language Family (Paraguay) A Descriptive and Comparative Study Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics: Language Diversity of Africa, Asia and Native America 2017 Supervisor Dr. Mily Crevels Leiden University Centre for Linguistics Second reader Prof. dr. Maarten Mous Leiden University Centre for Linguistics Acknowledgements Even though this Master’s Thesis is relatively limited in size and scope, the help of many people was essential in its creation. Most importantly, since this thesis is based on original fieldwork, I need to express my deep gratitude and friendship for the Sanapaná people of the La Esperanza community. Without their help, time, energy, kindness, and patience, this work would not have been possible. In particular, I wish to thank don Marino Ortega, the community leader, for his hospitality and willingness to accept me into his community and to allow me to live and work amongst the Sanapaná for two months. My language teachers as well were essential to the creation of this thesis. Valerio Chávez, Regino Echeverría, Silio Recalde, Doto Teytaro, Cecilio Teytaro, Civito Montes, Esteban López, Cristino Benítez, Pisoa Cabrera, Roberto Álvarez, Enrique Loma and Venancio González on a systematic basis volunteered their time and knowledge to help me learn about the Sanapaná language and customs, and many others offered their help and opportunities to practice my Sanapaná skills more sporadically. Adolf Kehler and his family, John and Patty Stucky, and Luís Martínez and his family also helped make my stay in Paraguay as comfortable and pleasant as possible.
    [Show full text]
  • ISO Change Request
    ISO 639-3 Registration Authority Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3 This form is to be used in conjunction with a “Request for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code” form Date: 2013-2-6 Name of Primary Requester: Hannes Kalisch E-mail address: nempayvaam at enlhet dot org Names, affiliations and email addresses of additional supporters of this request: Alain Fabre, University of Tampere, alain.fabre at tut dot fi Associated Change request number : 2013-014 (completed by Registration Authority) Tentative assignment of new identifier : enx (completed by Registration Authority) PLEASE NOTE: This completed form will become part of the public record of this change request and the history of the ISO 639-3 code set. Use Shift-Enter to insert a new line in a form field (where allowed). 1. NAMES and IDENTIFICATION a) Preferred name of language for code element denotation: Enxet b) Autonym (self-name) for this language: Enxet ([eenɬet]) c) Common alternate names and spellings of language, and any established abbreviations: Lengua Sur d) Reason for preferred name: The name Lengua is not recognized by the corresponding ethnic group, and is also no longer in use at the national level. At the official level, only the term Enxet is used today; this is the name given to the language by the ethnic group itself. e) Name and approximate population of ethnic group or community who use this language (complete individual language currently in use): Enxet, 5844 persons, 3842 speakers aged over 5 (National Census 2002). f) Preferred three letter identifier, if available: ENX Your suggestion will be taken into account, but the Registration Authority will determine the identifier to be proposed.
    [Show full text]
  • The Indigenous Languages of South America WOL 2
    The Indigenous Languages of South America WOL 2 Bereitgestellt von | Radboud University Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen) Angemeldet | 172.16.1.226 Heruntergeladen am | 06.02.12 13:07 The World of Linguistics Editor Hans Henrich Hock Volume 2 De Gruyter Mouton Bereitgestellt von | Radboud University Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen) Angemeldet | 172.16.1.226 Heruntergeladen am | 06.02.12 13:07 The Indigenous Languages of South America A Comprehensive Guide Edited by Lyle Campbell Vero´nica Grondona De Gruyter Mouton Bereitgestellt von | Radboud University Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen) Angemeldet | 172.16.1.226 Heruntergeladen am | 06.02.12 13:07 ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3 e-ISBN 978-3-11-025803-5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The indigenous languages of South America : a comprehensive guide / edited by Lyle Campbell and Vero´nica Grondona. p. cm. Ϫ (The world of linguistics; 2) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3 (alk. paper) 1. Indians of South America Ϫ Languages. 2. Endangered lan- guages. 3. Language and culture. I. Campbell, Lyle. II. Gron- dona, Vero´nica Marı´a. PM5008.I53 2012 498Ϫdc23 2011042070 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. ” 2012 Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin/Boston Cover image: Thinkstock/iStockphoto Typesetting: Dörlemann Satz GmbH & Co. KG, Lemförde Printing: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen ϱ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Bereitgestellt von | Radboud University Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen) Angemeldet | 172.16.1.226 Heruntergeladen am | 06.02.12 13:07 camp_000.pod v 07-10-13 10:05:11 -mu- mu Table of contents Preface Lyle Campbell and Verónica Grondona ..................
    [Show full text]