Title
Only Slaves Climb Trees - Revisiting The Myth Of The Ecologically Noble Savage In Amazonia
Abbreviated Journal Title
Hum. Nat.-Interdiscip. Biosoc. Perspect.
Keywords
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT; INDIGENOUS CONSERVATION; AMAZONIA; YUQUI INDIANS; KAYAPO RESOURCE-MANAGEMENT; BOLIVIAN AMAZON; FOREST ISLANDS; YUQUI; FORAGERS; APETE; CONSERVATION; REAPPRAISAL; STRATEGIES; SOCIETY; Anthropology; Social Sciences, Biomedical
Abstract
Professional and popular publications have increasingly depicted native peoples of Amazonia as ''natural'' conservationists or as people with an innate ''conservation ethic.'' A few classic examples are cited repeatedly to advance this argument with the result that these cases tend to be generalized to all indigenous peoples. This paper explores the premise that many of these systems of resource conservation come from areas of Amazonia where human survival depends on careful management of the subsistence base and not from a culturally imbedded ''conservation ethic.'' Where resource constraints do not pertain, as in the case of the Yuqui of lowland Bolivia, such patterns are unknown. Finally, the negative consequences of portraying all native peoples as natural conservationists is having some negative consequences in terms of current struggles to obtain indigenous land rights.
Journal Title
Human Nature-an Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective
Volume
5
Issue/Number
4
Publication Date
1-1-1995
Document Type
Article; Proceedings Paper
DOI Link
Language
English
First Page
339
Last Page
357
WOS Identifier
ISSN
1045-6767
Recommended Citation
"Only Slaves Climb Trees - Revisiting The Myth Of The Ecologically Noble Savage In Amazonia" (1995). Faculty Bibliography 1990s. 1186.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/facultybib1990/1186
Comments
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