‘WE ARE NOT THE TRUE PEOPLE’ NOTIONS OF IDENTITY AND OTHERNESS AMONG THE ESE EJJA OF NORTHERN BOLIVIA Isabella Lepri London School of Economics and Political Science University of London PhD 1 UMI Number: U18B031 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U18B0B1 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 T HeStS F Szoz. Abstract This thesis is based on eighteen months fieldwork in the Ese Ejja community of Portachuelo, on the lower Beni River, in northern Bolivia. The Ese Ejja are an indigenous Amazonian people of the Tacana linguistic family. The thesis analyses Ese Ejja ideas of alterity and demonstrates that such ideas are the basis for the construction of identity. Alterity must constantly be created and maintained, however, ‘others’ pose u constant threat and, therefore, difference must also be eliminated through conviviality and procreation. Drawing on socio-cosmological ideas, myth and everyday life experiences, the argument focuses on the Ese Ejja’s ambivalent sentiments towards non-indigenous people, who are considered the epitome of otherness. These sentiments are characterised by both fear and avoidance, and, at the same time, by emulation. Vis- a-vis non-indigenous people, the Ese Ejja display a form of self-deprecation, expressed in the statement that they themselves are not ‘the true people’. The thesis analyses the relationship between culturally shared and individually held ideas. Among the Ese Ejja, self-deprecation is the dominant discourse, but ideas vary from person to person and they transform over the course of people’s lives. And it is through individual and collective transformations that dominant cultural constructs are refashioned and reproduced. Thus, the thesis stresses the importance of giving voice to the contrasting and contradicting ideas that exist in any social group. It concludes that Ese Ejja identity - constructed through alterity - is better understood as a contingent position rather than an absolute essence. Finally, it is suggested that the notion of not being ‘the true people’ is rooted in indigenous perceptions of history, viewed as a progressiverapprochement with the non-indigenous peoples. 2 Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................6 Figures, maps, plates and tables ..................................................................... 7 Notes on orthography and translation......................................................... .8 1. Introduction............................................................................ 10 The existing research ..........................................................................................11 Not real people............................................................................................................ 16 Words and practices: individual and society............................ 20 Alterity .................................................................................................................25 Change.. ...................................................................................................................... 27 Methodology................................................................................................................30 Description o f chapters....................................................................... 37 2. Ese Ejja origins and settlement in Portachuelo ............................. 40 The historical records.................................................................................................42 Portachuelo.................................................................................................................52 Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 62 3. Alterity, sociality and everyday life .........................................................63 Different kinds o f people ............................................................................................. 63 Names.......................................................................................................................... 66 Identity in practice ...................................................................................................... 69 Everyday life......................................... 72 Tranquil life................................ 82 Conclusion................................. 88 4. Why are the Ese Ejja not ‘the true people’? ......................................... 90 Real humans............................................... .91 The Ese Ejja are not people........................ 93 Being dejja .................................................................................................................. 96 Face to face with Bolivians....................................................................................... 103 Ese Ejja in town ........................................................................................................ 108 Strategically avoiding confrontation ................. ;..................................................... 112 Other-becoming ........................................................................................................114 Play o f mirrors.......................................................................................................... 116 Conclusion............... 120 5. Contrasting histories................................................................................ 122 3 Being in history ......................................................................................................... 123 The State and Indians ................................................. 126 Emergence of political movements and changes in State policies ............................ 128 Reaction to political changes .................................................................................... 131 National politics versus indigenous social philosophy............................................. 138 Conclusion.............................................................................. 142 6. Ese Ejja kinship ............................. 144 Terminology .............................................................................................................. 148 Sameness and difference ............................... 152 Same and other .......................................................................................................... 153 Siblings and the origin of difference ................... 155 Alto and Bajo............................................................................................................ 158 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 164 7. Ancient people’s stories............................................................................ 167 Myth and history....................................................................................................... 171 The Ese Ejja and their myths.................................................................................... 174 First impressions....................................................................................................... 175 Cosmology............................................... 178 Discovering ancient people ’s stories........................................................................ 184 The stories................................... 186 Relevance................................................................... 194 Effacing history ......................................................................................................... 198 How people relate to the stories............................................................................... 199 Age difference .............................. 203 Schooling, denial and the rediscovery o f *culture ’................................................... 204 Conclusion...................................... 206 8. Being Christian ..........................................................................................209 Early ideas o f the supernatural................................................................................. 211 Being Christian ....................................................................................... 215 Sunday service........................................................................................................... 218 Appeal o f Christianity................................ 220 Men and women ........................ 221 Illness ......................................... 222 Dancing and drinking ............................................................................................... 224 Contrasting ethics ..................................................................................................... 228 4 Pragmatism and inconstancy ...................................................................................