LEARNING ECOLOGY: ETHNOBOTANY IN THE SIERRA TARAHUMARA, MEXICO by FELICE SEA WYNDHAM (Under the Direction of Brent Berlin) ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates social-environmental factors contributing to differential ethnobotanical expertise among children in Rarámuri (Tarahumara) communities in Rejogochi, Chihuahua, Mexico. This research contributes to understanding processes of transmission and acquisition of environmental knowledge and to the development of an ecological, interactionist model of indigenous education. The first section describes an ethnography of Rarámuri childhood, focusing on children’s life stages, work, play, and family environments. Some aspects of Rarámuri epistemologies of learning are explored. Among these is the importance of relationship maintenance through ritual and thinking/behaving well. Structured interviews with Rarámuri children between the ages of 5 and 18 showed consensus as to the primary importance of mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles as teachers of plant knowledge. Secondarily, siblings, cousins and playmates were identified as teachers. The second section presents a quantitative study of children’s knowledge of a set of 40 culturally significant local plants in three use-categories: medicinal, edible, and other material utility. The social-environmental factors significant in predicting levels of plant knowledge among children were, most notably, which primary school (of two local choices) children attended and, to a lesser extent, age of the child completing the interview. Plant-name and plant-use interviews suggest that many children today are not acquiring their parents’ full repertoire of plant knowledge, but rather, exhibit knowledge of a restricted set of plants that are most salient culturally and ecologically. The discussion of results highlights the importance of understanding how knowledge distribution patterns correspond to social relationships, social roles, and individual and family interest and experience. From the ethnographic and interview data presented in this dissertation, a Rarámuri model is suggested in which the richest and most extensive plant knowledge is held and practiced by select families, based on their interest and abilities. Children raised in these families are more likely to learn and practice this knowledge, regardless of other social-environmental factors such as schooling and bilingual ability. Implications for educational and conservation applications are discussed. The research described in this dissertation was completed in Rejogochi and surrounding areas over an 18-month period, from July 2001 to December 2002. INDEX WORDS: Rarámuri, Tarahumara, ethnobotany, ethnoecology, cultural transmission, human ecosystems, human ecology, informal education, indigenous education, Sierra Tarahumara, Northern Mexico. LEARNING ECOLOGY: ETHNOBOTANY IN THE SIERRA TARAHUMARA, MEXICO by FELICE SEA WYNDHAM Bachelor of Arts, Brown University, 1993 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2004 © 2004 Felice Sea Wyndham All Rights Reserved LEARNING ECOLOGY: ETHNOBOTANY IN THE SIERRA TARAHUMARA, MEXICO by FELICE SEA WYNDHAM Major Professor: Brent Berlin Committee: Elois Ann Berlin Benjamin G. Blount William L. Merrill Judith Preissle Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia August 2004 Dedication For my mother, Edith Wyndham and for my father, Charles Wyndham, for introducing me to the Sierra. iv Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to my committee chair, Brent Berlin, and committee members, Elois Ann Berlin, Ben Blount, Bill Merrill and Jude Preissle, for their help and guidance while completing this work. Charles Peters gave me excellent and provocative advice throughout the process, for which I thank him. In Mexico, first I thank the community of Basíhuare and the residents of Rejogochi for their interest in this project, their guidance and instruction, their companionship and their friendship. I am particularly indebted to Moreno Sitánachi and Margarita León, Martha Sitánachi, María Elena Lirio and Martín Sanchez, Salomena Ramírez and Efigenia Ramírez, Azucena Zafiro, Roberto Morales González and Julián Morales González, Stanislaus Rascón, Marianita Morales González and Juan Rico León, Martín Chavez and his family, and many, many more. I will always be indebted to the many children of Rejogochi who befriended me, taught me, and allowed me access to their worlds. Felipe Ramírez, Elena Rich, Myriam Constantino and all the teachers at Rejogochi helped me throughout my stay in the Sierra, for which I am grateful. I thank Francisco Cardenal for his friendship, inspiration, advice, information and gourmet meals, and David Ribas for his friendship and support. Thanks also to Ubaldo Gardea and his lovely family, and all the teachers and students at the secundaria Basíhuare for their patience and good humor. Father Luis Verplancken, S.J., and his wonderful office staff in Creel helped me in many ways v on many occasions, for which I am indebted. Sandy Brown’s friendship, companionship on many hairy adventures, and unwavering positive enthusiasm made my stay in the Sierra so much more exciting. Bill Merrill and Janneli Miller shared their own field (and post-field) experiences with me in important ways. At the Instituto Politécnico Nacional of Durango, Mexico thanks to Dra. Socorro González Elizondo for identifying and curating my plant collections, and to Dra. Celia López González for her enthusiasm and help. My sister, Kristine Wyndham, was a constant support while I was writing, as was Stephanie Paladino; Winn Mallard helped launch me into the field keeping my priorities straight. Thanks also to Monika Wyndham and Alex Wyndham. I will always appreciate Charlotte Blume’s upbeat outlook on life and am grateful for the many ways that she enhanced my graduate school experience. I thank Isidor Ruderfer, Jim Boster, Michael Fischer, Jaxk Reeves and the Statistics Consulting Center at UGA for their help and technical advice. The Human Ecosystems Kuchka was a source of inspiration, feedback and critical thinking during the dissertation process. The field research described in this dissertation was funded by an American Education Research Association/Spencer Foundation Pre- dissertation Fellowship (2000-2001), and a dissertation improvement grant from the National Science Foundation (2001-2002). Pre- dissertation field work was funded by a Tinker Foundation/ University of Georgia Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies travel grant to the Sierra Tarahumara in 1999. The write-up phase of this vi dissertation was supported by a University of Georgia Dissertation Writing Fellow grant (2003-2004). The mistakes and shortfalls are all mine. Matéteraba! vii Table of Contents Page Acknowledgements..................................................... v Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................. 1 Traditional knowledge in global contexts ................... 5 Some personal reasons for the research ..................... 8 Overview .................................................. 10 Notes on language and orthography ......................... 12 Benefits to the community ................................. 13 2 Rarámuri Sociocultural and Biophysical Environments ......... 15 Brief history of the region ............................... 18 Population ................................................ 20 Social and cultural overview .............................. 22 Biophysical landscapes and ethnoecology ................... 43 3 Growing up Rarámuri ......................................... 49 Ethnographic methodology and techniques ................... 50 Rarámuri life stages ...................................... 53 Interpersonal and emotional life within the family ........ 75 Daily life for Rarámuri children .......................... 78 4 Rarámuri Learning Ecology: Guided Reinvention of Culture ... 94 Socialization ............................................. 96 Schooling ................................................. 98 Children and tesgüino networks ........................... 100 viii Rarámuri concepts of learning: “thinking well” and “binéreri” ........................................... 101 In the family: learning and teaching about plants ........ 106 Reported learning and teaching networks .................. 110 5 Intracultural Variation of Plant Knowledge ................. 115 Objectives ............................................... 116 Methods and techniques ................................... 118 Analysis ................................................. 133 Results .................................................. 136 Discussion ............................................... 147 Conclusions .............................................. 161 6 Conclusions and Beginnings ................................. 163 Interactionist perspectives on learning and teaching in cultural context ..................................... 164 Learning, cultural transmission and ecosystem transformation ....................................... 168 Toward a model of Rarámuri education: knowing plants vs. plant knowledge ...................................... 170 References Cited................................................... 176 Appendix A Plant Species and Rarámuri Names Collected, Listed Alphabetically by Family ................................... 190 B Instruments