Charles Mann 1491

“1491” by Charles Mann (2006) Amazon Basin: refers to the drainage of the Amazon and its tributaries Amazonia: refers to the larger region bounded by the Andes to the west, the Guiana Shield to the north ,and the Brazilian Shield to the south Questions from the Reading Guide: ● How did colonialism contribute to misunderstandings about Amazonia and the people living there? Why was evidence of large civilizations in Amazonia “not seen” or recognized as such? ○ Colonialism contributed to the misunderstanding that Amazonia was scarcely populated when in reality it was densely populated by indigenous populations ○ Implications that Amazonia is vacant to encourage colonialism in the area ○ “Encounters with the river’s inhabitants were often hostile” (323) ○ Eurocentric lense reduced the observations of agricultural processes ■ Assumptions that Amazonia political/societal processes would be similar to European structures lead to an unfair observation of their societal structures ■ Colonists under constant attack from the indigenous populations at the start of exploration, and these encounters are all they recorded ○ “The farther we went the more thickly populated and the better did we find the land” Carvajal (323) ○ The misunderstanding that Amazonia’s resources are ‘unpromising’ because their natural materials like palm wood, bones, and basketry don’t last like steel or stone of both other indigenous cultures and Northern cultures ○ Evidence of larger civilizations in Amazonia went unnoticed because of how they were constructed and the fact that prime materials (besides pottery) like palm wood and cloth quickly disappeared ● No concrete/physical evidence of these populations lead to individuals to believe that the populations in Amazonia were scarce ● How did this erroneous understanding (or “pristine myth”) continue to impact popular understandings of Amazonia until recently? ○ Still the notion that these indigenous populations are living in a timeless state ○ At the start of colonization, much was written about the indigenous populations attacking and being present, but little to nothing was written about their cultural norms and the people themselves ○ Physical scientists could not accept that the “great tropical forest in South America and the planet’s greatest wilderness, touched by humankind lightly if at all” (324) was overpopulated and crowded ■ “The Amazon is not wild … claiming that it is will, in its ignorance, worsen the ecological ailments that activists would like to cure” (325) ○ The portrayal as Amazonia as a ‘window into the past’ ● Why are people like Meggars worried about the new evidence of thriving early civilizations in Amazonia? What is the counter argument for this? ○ These new developments/discoveries will bring to light that Amazonia is a “human-made environment” will be the greenlight for resource rape ■ Even if this environment is human made, this has lead to even more diversity, and this argument brings the notion that humans need to be a part of their environment ○ “Agriculture depends on extracting the wealth of the soil. With little soil to extract, Amazonian farmers face inherent ecological limitations. The only torm of agriculture they can practice for a long time is ‘slash-and-burn’ or ‘swidden’” (328) ■ Slash-and-burn is essentially the only way those in Amazonia can produce crops because if they tried to move to a permanent cultivation, a MegaNino would put them back again ○ Amazonia indigenous lives have changed little, if at all, over 2 thousand years ○ Article in American Anthropologist in 1954 by Meggers: ■ “There is a force at work to which man through his culture must bow. This determinant operatues uniformly regardless of time, place, psychology or race. Its leveling effect appears to be inescapable. Even modern efforts to implant civilization in the South American tropical forest is sufficient to allow the evolution of culture to proceed only to the level represented by [slash-and-burn farmers]; further indigenous evolution is impossible, and any more highly evolved culture attempting to settle and maintain itself in the tropical forest environment will inevitably decline to [slash-and-burn ] level.” (332) ○ The impossibility of moving beyond slash-and-burn is a consequence of a more general ‘law of environmental limitation of culture’ ○ Roosevelt/authors on Marajo combatted Megger’s claims regarding farming and the environment ■ This type of farming comes from a sophisticated culture in the Andes ■ Marajo housed thousands and was the most environmentally savvy ■ “Were freer, they were healthier, they were living in a really wonderful civilization” (336) Roosevelt ■ Argument that Megger’s research is safe and even Eurocentric, “Europeans have perceived the indigenous people of the tropics as living in a timeless statis” (337) ● What are the implications for present-day Latin America for nature and society? ○ This brings up debate for Amazonia being a “human-made environment” ○ Eurocentric ideals need to be rewritten ■ More respect granted to indigenous populations ■ Challenges are idea of the “pristine myth” ● Humans may be crucial in conservation