Presenter(s): Itzel Quiroz
Co Presenter(s): Michelle Scalise Sugiyama
Faculty Mentor(s): Michelle Scalise Sugiyama & Marcela Mendoza
Poster 39
Session: Sciences
Western conservation research is increasingly recognizing the value of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) for preserving and managing wild resources. Because indigenous peoples are increasingly faced with the loss of their language and traditional subsistence practices, documentation of TEK is urgently needed. However, it is unclear how this knowledge is stored and transmitted. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that stories (e.g., myths, legends, folktales) are an important means of TEK storage and transmission in indigenous cultures. Focusing on the botanical knowledge of the Wichí of the Bolivian Gran Chaco, we predicted that their oral tradition would contain stories about important plant resources, and that these stories would contain information useful for locating, identifying, extracting, processing, and/or predicting the availability of these resources. To test this prediction, we surveyed a collection of traditional Wichí narratives (n = 319) for stories about plants; the search yielded 39 plant stories, which were then analyzed for information about characteristics, habitat, distribution, ecological cues, management, seasonality, processing, and uses. All 39 stories contained the predicted information, which was cross-checked against the Wichí ethnographic record to ascertain that it matched actual plant use. The study concludes that oral tradition plays an important role in the transmission of Wichí practical ethnobotanical information, and may be useful for reconstructing the TEK of other indigenous peoples facing cultural disruption. Future research will analyze the oral traditions of other first nations to determine how widespread this phenomenon is.