Aymara Indian Perspectives on Development in the Andes

By Amy Eisenberg; Introduction by Amy Eisenberg; Preface by Amy Eisenberg

University of Alabama Press

Explores the relationship between indigenous people, the management of natural resources, and the development process in a modernizing region of Chile

Aymara Indians are a geographically isolated, indigenous people living in the Andes Mountains near Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the most arid regions of the world. As rapid economic growth in the area has begun to divert scarce water to hydroelectric and agricultural projects, the Aymara struggle to maintain their sustainable and traditional systems of water use, agriculture, and pastoralism.

In Aymara Indian Perspectives on Development in the Andes, Amy Eisenberg provides a detailed exploration of the ethnoecological dimensions of the tension between the Aymara, whose economic, spiritual, and social life are inextricably tied to land and water, and three major challenges: the paving of Chile Highway 11, the diversion of the Altiplano waters of the Río Lauca for irrigation and power-generation, and Chilean national park policies regarding Aymara communities, their natural resources, and cultural properties within Parque Nacional Lauca, the International Biosphere Reserve.

Pursuing collaborative research, Eisenberg performed ethnographic interviews with Aymara people in more than sixteen Andean villages, some at altitudes of 4,600 meters. Drawing upon botany, agriculture, natural history, physical and cultural geography, history, archaeology, and social and environmental impact assessment, she presents deep, multifaceted insights from the Aymara’s point of view.

Illustrated with maps and dramatic photographs by John Amato, Aymara Indian Perspectives on Development in the Andes provides an account of indigenous perspectives and concerns related to economic development that will be invaluable to scholars and policy-makers in the fields of natural and cultural resource preservation in and beyond Chile.

Eisenberg’s history of the Aymara is an impressive compilation . . . demonstrating the importance of looking to the colonial and republican origins of modern Andean nation-states to understand present-day conflicts. . . . [Aymara Indian Perspectives on Development in the Andes] . . . is a powerful contribution to development studies and scholarship on the Andes.’
—The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology

‘Eisenberg makes her point: consultation with Aymara communities could resolve social, environmental, and economic development issues. Aymara perspectives reveal that development projects help some, but negatively impact community cohesiveness, access to water and farmland, safety of community members and domesticated animals, public health, and hence Aymara livelihood.’
—Tribal College Journal

Eisenberg has succeeded at providing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary exploration that extends the traditional, segmented boundaries of scholarship, which is long overdue. She has also found a balance between scholarship and a lyrical writing style that tells a story that reflects a thematic metaphor of Aymara worldview that is engaging, coherent, and will retain the reader’s interest.’
—Leslie E. Korn, author of Rhythms of Recovery: Trauma, Nature, and the Body

Amy Eisenberg, PhD is an ethnobotanist and botanical artist who works collaboratively with indigenous peoples internationally and nationally. She recently conducted organic sustainable agriculture and agroforestry research in Asia and the Pacific.

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. The Aymara: Pre- and Post-Columbian History

2. The Aymara Community Today

3. Jaqin Uraqpachat Amuyupa—Aymara Cosmovision

4. The Aymara Cultural Landscape

5. Social and Environmental Impact Assessment

6. Aymara Responses to a Changing Environment

7. Conclusion

Bibliography