Similarity, Knowledge and Gender Among the Pastaza Runa (Ecuadorian Amazon)
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Living through forms: similarity, knowledge and gender among the Pastaza Runa (Ecuadorian Amazon) Francesca Mezzenzana London School of Economics and Political Science Thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology of the London School of Economics and Political Science for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Lent Term 2015 1 DECLARATION I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/ PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. This version has been redacted to protect the identities of participants and communities. I declare that my thesis consists of approximately 95000 words. 2 ABSTRACT In this thesis I explore the knowledge practices of the Pastaza Runa, an indigenous group of the Ecuadorian Amazon. A central claim in my work is that processes of knowledge acquisition among the Runa involve an acknowledgement that human bodies, as well as non-human ones, share a network of ‘likeness’. This is not to be located specifically in the possession of a soul nor in the ‘shared’ substance of the body. For the Runa, humans share with non-humans specific ‘patterns’ of action, which I call ‘forms’. Things can affect humans (and vice versa) because they share a certain formal resemblance. Such resemblance is not found in discrete entities, but rather in the movements between entities. As such, forms cannot be reduced to the physicality of a singular body: they are subject-less and inherently dynamic. The concept of forms developed in this thesis seeks to think about the relationship between human and objects in ways which go beyond ideas of ensoulment or subjectification. Such focus is central to my analysis of the relationship between humans and objects, and, in particular, between women and their ceramic pots. I explore the connection between women and pots by following closely the sequences of elaboration of ceramic vessels. Pottery making is intimately linked to women’s capacity for engendering novelty. I suggest that, for the Runa, the differentiation between women and men is not ‘made’ but rather given a priori. The ‘givenness’ of this difference has major implications for what one - as a Runa woman or man - can know or do. Thus, I explore how women, by virtue of their capacity for giving birth, are thought to be ‘inherently’ inclined towards ‘exteriority’. By virtue of such ‘outward’ propensity, women need to engage in processes of making knowledge visible to the eyes of others. This ‘exteriorizing’ process has important consequences for the ways men and women are respectively thought to become ‘acculturated’. Ultimately this work also aims to examine how processes of ‘change’ - a key concept in Amazonian cosmologies - are inevitably gender inflected. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of figures#7 Acknowledgements#9 Glossary of common Runa terms#13 Prologue#16 Introduction. The form of anthropology#19 The pot of the anthropologist%25 Causana: on life, knowledge and beyond%30 Ahuana: On making%41 Engaging with questions of being and knowing%46 Notes on the language and orthography%52 Chapter 1. Moving across unai: resonances and evocations#53 The indigenous city%55 Jista pasau!%61 The brown Bobonaza%73 The sounds of power%75 Amazonian guerrillas%79 The years of awakening: fighting for the right words%82 ALLPAMANDA, CAUSAIMANDA, JATARISHUN!%85 A path to Sumak Kawsay%88 Chapter 2. Paju: forms of knowledge#93 Incorporating vital substances%94 Paju chimbanga: Stumbling across paju%102 Of logs and baskets%108 4 Manipulating forms%112 On forms and life%115 Conclusion%117 Chapter 3. The gender of forms#118 Cultivating male strength%125 The Good and the Wild%127 Reproducing women’s knowledge%135 Reproducing di$erence%141 Conclusion%148 A first encounter with pottery: A Prelude#150 Meeting the apamama%151 A grandmother made of clay%155 Chapter 4.The body pot#159 The emergence of forms%160 The process%162 Vital materials%170 Weaving bodies out of others%173 Weaving the potter%184 Conclusion%187 Chapter 5. On Runa designs#190 The birth of modern designs%197 The shaman’s vision and the potter’s design%205 Sumaclla ricuri: beauty, desire and abundance%209 Conclusion: on women’s work%220 Chapter 6. On knowing and not-knowing#224 ‘Between two worlds’ : The story of a childhood%228 Marrying a wild man%234 5 Going native%239 Teresa’s awkwardness%243 Our shared assumptions%248 Notes on “culture”, culture and Runaness%255 Conclusion%260 On gendering acculturation%261 Epilogue#265 Appendices#270 Bibliography#274 6 Table of figures Fig. 1. Map of Ecuador.....................................................................................................22 Fig. 2. Map of the Pastaza region....................................................................................23 Fig. 3. The main road in Ñukanchi Allpa.......................................................................56 Fig. 4. Houses in Ñukanchi Allpa...................................................................................59 Fig. 5. Women going to the ceremonial house in Ñukanchi Allpa..............................63 Fig. 6. Map of Puyo and the Bobonaza river.................................................................66 Fig. 7. The road to Canelos.............................................................................................68 Fig. 8. On the way to Teresa Mama................................................................................74 Fig. 9. Playing a snare drum during the ceremonial festival........................................78 Fig. 10. Poster with the 1992 march slogan...................................................................87 Fig. 11. Tree (chucu ruya).................................................................................................91 Fig. 12. Gathering clay in Canelos................................................................................153 Fig. 13. Grey clay.............................................................................................................163 Fig. 14. Positioning the cauchus.....................................................................................164 Fig. 15. Bowl full of di$erent huihuishcu.......................................................................165 Fig. 16. An uncooked mucahua......................................................................................166 Fig. 17. Potter’s tools......................................................................................................167 Fig. 18. Mucahuas left to dry in the sun........................................................................167 Fig. 19. Firing a mucahua................................................................................................169 Fig. 20. Applying shilqui!u.............................................................................................169 Fig. 21. Shilqui!u.............................................................................................................171 Fig. 22. Recently fired tinaja.........................................................................................183 Fig. 23. Following the ‘mother line’..............................................................................198 Fig. 24. Amarun washa....................................................................................................194 Fig. 25. Tsawata washa....................................................................................................194 Fig. 26. Tijeranga............................................................................................................195 Fig. 27. Murushina pintashca mucahua............................................................................196 Fig. 28. Detail of mucahua.............................................................................................196 Fig. 29. Old style’ design...............................................................................................199 Fig. 30. Example of ‘symmetrical’ design....................................................................203 Fig. 31. Mucahuas for a festival.......................................................................................212 7 Fig. 32. Urcu supai............................................................................................................213 Fig. 33. Figurative designs..............................................................................................214 8 Acknowledgements Completing a work which has taken more than four years entails acknowledging all the care and support I have generously received in this part of my life. This PhD has not been only ‘work’: in many moments, my research had become my entire life. Thankfully, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by some incredible people. So I take here the opportunity to thank all those who, in the last few years, have contributed to making my life and work richer and more enjoyable. First, I wish to thank my Runa friends and relatives from Puyo, Canelos and other communities for the generosity