Inga Rimakkuna: Indigenous Frontiers in the Pastaza Basin, Peru by ©2018 Joshua Homan M.A., University of Kansas, 2011 B.A., University of Kansas, 2006
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Inga Rimakkuna: Indigenous Frontiers in the Pastaza Basin, Peru By ©2018 Joshua Homan M.A., University of Kansas, 2011 B.A., University of Kansas, 2006 Submitted to the graduate degree program in Anthropology and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Chair: Bartholomew Dean Brent Metz John Hoopes Barney Warf Michael F. Brown Joane Nagel Date Defended: 4 December 2018 The dissertation committee for Joshua Homan certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Inga Rimakkuna: Indigenous Frontiers in the Pastaza Basin, Peru Chair: Bartholomew Dean Date Approved: 4 December 2018 ii Abstract This dissertation examines the lives of Inga-speaking indigenous peoples living in the Pastaza basin in the northern reaches of the Peruvian Amazon. Through an in-depth historical overview, I demonstrate how the imposition of Inga (a dialect of Quechua) by Jesuit missionaries in the 17th century acted as a means of binding multiple indigenous groups together within the mission system. Drawing on historical documents from the Jesuit Era through the 20th century, I detail the ethnogenesis of the Inga-speaking peoples in relation to other groups within the region. Rather than focusing on a singular, bounded ethnic group as has often been the case in Amazonia, I explore ongoing processes of ethnogenesis—of becoming Inga—using several crucial ethnographic tropes, such as kinship, marriage, shamanism, politics, and community foundation. I demonstrate the fluidity of identities in the indigenous frontiers of the Pastaza basin, at the margins of indigenous territories, problematizing traditional understandings of indigenous sociality in Amazonia. Through relationships with both indigenous and non- indigenous peoples, as well as extractive enterprises, NGOs, and the Peruvian state, the Inga- speaking peoples of the Pastaza basin continue to forge new identities within these indigenous frontiers. It is precisely within these frontiers, I argue, that the work of ethnogenesis takes place—the translation of culture and language, the production of new, emergent cultural systems, and the creation and maintenance of ethnic boundaries. iii Dedicated to my father, Douglas Homan (1949-2014), who pushed me to explore both the world and my own consciousness. Kayka tukuy Inga rimakkunapa murupichkullaktamanta. iv Acknowledgements This work has encompassed a number of years of research, both at home in the United States and throughout the Upper Amazon, and numerous individuals and organizations have made it possible. First, I must thank the residents of Mushu Kawsay, who shared their lives with me with me, put up with my 'gringo' habits, tolerated my slow pace in the bush, and answered my many questions regarding not only their lives but the lives of their ancestors. While all of the ayllus in Mushu Kawsay collaborated with me during the fieldwork period, I must especially thank my compadres, Marcelo Mucushua Arahuanaza and Juan Pipa Mucushua, as well as my comadres, Maria and Sara Luz. Through our relations of compadrazgo, they brought me into their ayllus and made me feel like a true runa. Esteban and Andres, who were the first to accept me into the community, provided many long conversations throughout my stay. Alonso and Simión, likewise, assisted greatly in my attempts to understand the transformational aspects of life in the llakta of Mushu Kawsay. I must thank the crew of the lancha Erick, Chocherita, Alan and his small crew, and the crew of the Duende, for their assistance in transportation as well as many conversations throughout the evenings as we traveled on the Marañón and Pastaza. Our conversations deep into the evenings provided great insight into habilitación and commercial fluvial activities throughout the region. My conversations with indigenous leaders such as Aurelio Chino Dahua, Bladimiro Tapayuri Muyayari, and David Chino Dahua were also extremely helpful in my attempts to understand indigenous sociality and the indigenous rights movement in the Upper Amazon. The community members of Sisa and Chazuta, especially Wilian Guerra Arevala, Cesar Barta, and Ivan Paredes Carome, were critical in uncovering the linkages between the mid-Huallaga Quechua-speaking peoples and those living in the Pastaza basin. v The Department of Education provided a Fulbright-Hays fellowship which covered the majority of costs of my fieldwork period. Both the Universidad Nacional de San Martín and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú hosted me during my long-term fieldwork as a Fulbright-Hays Fellow. I must also thank the staff at the Fulbright Commission in Lima, especially Marcela Harth and Henry Harman, for their assistance as I went into the field. FEDIQUEP (Federación Indígena Quechua del Pastaza) provided me with permission and backing to conduct fieldwork in the Pastaza basin in Inga-speaking communities. Other federations and indigenous organizations, including FEQUEBAP (Federación Quechua de Bajo Pastaza), CORPI-SL (Coordinadora de los Pueblos Indígenas - San Lorenzo), FECONACADIP (Federación de Comunidades Nativas Candoshi del Distrito de. Pastaza), and FENAP (Federación de la Nacionalidad Achuar del Perú) provided information related to ongoing political activities among indigenous groups in the regions of Alto Amazonas and Datem del Marañón. The Municipalidad Provincial de Datem del Marañon also provided me with critical logistical assistance during my first forays into the Pastaza basin in 2013. Language training in Quichua was provided through multiple Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships through the Department of Latin American Studies at the University of Kansas. I must especially thank my mashi amauta Nina Kinti Moss for spending many years teaching me the intricacies of spoken and written Quichua in numerous courses at the University of Kansas. Some of the research in this dissertation was conducted during the Chicago Field Museum's 26th Rapid Biological and Social Inventory in the Paranapura basin with the Shawi people. Other funding that made this dissertation possible was from the University of Kansas Doctoral Student Research Award, a Carroll D. Clark Award, and a Tinker Foundation vi Fieldwork Grant. Without the assistance of these organizations and the funding received in grants, this dissertation would not have been possible. My advisor and good friend, Bartholomew Dean, as well as the rest of my doctoral committee—Michael F. Brown, Brent Metz, John Hoopes, Joane Nagel, and Barney Warf—put up with my long absences of communication and many missed deadlines to get to the end. Many others at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, including but not limited to Majid Hannoum, Zachary Day, and Randy David, also provided much insight and assistance in the creation of this dissertation. I also want to thank Shane Greene, Santiago Rivas Panduro, Norman Whitten, Mary Elizabeth Reeve, Janis Nuckolls, and Pilar Valenzuela for their valuable assistance and conversations. Likewise, Zachary Holden, Ryan Levin, and Lance Lappin all provided critical feedback on a number of the topics covered in this dissertation. This work would not have been possible without my wife, Heidy Morey Teco de Homan, who accompanied me during most of my fieldwork and assisted me in not only understanding the Quechua-speaking populations of the Pastaza basin but also Amazonian peoples more widely. My extended extended family in Yurimaguas both housed me at times and put up with me: Walter Morey Ynuma, Elvira Tecco Cardenas, Veryk Morey Teco, Venus Pérez Teco, Dalia Pérez Teco, Roque Arevela. My own family in the States provided me with tons of support throughout the entirety of my academic career and I would not be where I am today without them: Kathy Copp, Albert Copp, Douglas Homan, Mandy Copp, Sean Copp, Heather Homan, Grace MacMillan, and Colin MacMillan. Finally, everything here is my own, but without the assistance of those listed above I would not have been able to produce it—faults and all—and I am forever indebted for their support. vii Note on Orthography All non-English words are written in an italic font. Standard Spanish orthography is used for all Spanish words, while Quechua orthography follows that of Tödter, Waters, and Zahn (2002). Quechua and Spanish orthography and pronunciation are quite close to one another, though there are a number of exceptions which are noted below. Other indigenous terms will follow the Summer Institute of Linguistics orthography for those languages (e.g., Candoshi, Achuar, Urarina, and Kukama) unless otherwise noted. Many quechua terms will be pluralized with the English -s suffix rather than the Quechua -kuna suffix to aid in readability in English, so that ayllukuna (families) becomes ayllus. VOWELS a like the a in “mama” i like the ee in “meet” u like the u in “lute” but more open, closer to a blend of the o in boat with the u in lute CONSONANTS ch like the ch in “check” h comparable to the h in English (a softer version of the j in Spanish) ll comparable to the pronunciation of y in English (e.g. “yes”), sometimes with an additional l sound (Kushilla → Kushilya) — Interestingly, the double l is also pronounced differently than in the Loreto Region, where it is comparable to the J sound in English k like the c in “cat” m like the m in “mama” n like the n in “no” ñ like the ny in “canyon” p like p in English (e.g., “peck”), unless preceded by n or m where it sounds closer to the English b (e.g., “boom”) r like the r in “road” s like the s in “silver” sh like the sh in “shower” t pronounced as t in English (e.g., “time”), unless preceded by n or m where it sounds closer to the English d (e.g., “dead”) ts no comparable English phoneme, pronounced as a brief t sound followed by an s sound w like the w in “water” viii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................