Plants and Animals in the Life of the Kuna (ILAS Translations from Latin America Series) (Hardcover)

by Jorge Ventocilla (Author), Heraclio Herrera (Author), Valerio Núñez (Author), Hans Roeder (Editor), Elisabeth King (Translator), James Howe (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Plants and Animals . . . documents Kuna culture, subsistence strategies, and traditional ecological knowledge while warning of the dangers of increased involvement in market economies. It does what many advocate but few accomplish by presenting indigenous views of ecology and culture. Written in large part by the Kuna for the Kuna, this book is one of the first comprehensive publications on ethnobiology that represents indigenous voices, giving ousiders a rare opportunity 'to eavesdrop, to listen as they exhort each other, to wake up, and to change.' (Cultural Survival Quarterly ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
"Plants and Animals . . . documents Kuna culture, subsistence strategies, and traditional ecological knowledge while warning of the dangers of increased involvement in market economies. It does what many advocate but few accomplish by presenting indigenous views of ecology and culture. Written in large part by the Kuna for the Kuna, this book is one of the first comprehensive publications on ethnobiology that represents indigenous voices, giving ousiders a rare opportunity 'to eavesdrop, to listen as they exhort each other, to wake up, and to change.'" --Cultural Survival Quarterly "The earth is the mother of all things"; thus begins this original and accessible book on how the Kuna of Panama relate to the natural world. An integrative project involving Kuna traditional leaders and trained scholars, and fully illustrated by a Kuna artist, this translation of Plantas y animales en la vida del pueblo Kuna focuses on Kuna plant and animal life, social life, and social change as a means of saving traditional ecological knowledge and "returning" it to the community. The authors hope to preserve the Kuna environment not only by reviving traditional technologies but also by educating the Kuna as to what needs protection. While the Kuna have a tradition of living in harmony with the land, the intrusion of the market economy is eroding the very basis of their sustainable way of life. As a response to this crisis, this book seeks to develop native self-awareness and provide a model for collaboration. It will appeal to Latin Americanists, anthropologists, and ethnobotanists, as well as to a general readership in environmental issues.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 168 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1st edition (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292787251
• ISBN-13: 978-0292787254
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,460,918 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended, April 23, 2000

By	Ron Mader "Planeta.com Founder" (Mexico) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Plants and Animals in the Life of the Kuna (LLILAS Translations from Latin America Series) (Paperback)

What should books about indigenous peoples strive for - acceptance among academics or the native peoples themselves? If there is a way to strike a compromise, the authors of Plants and Animals in the Life of the Kuna, have found a way to bridge the gap.

This book focuses on Panama's indigenous Kuna people. The work, an environmental and artistic mosaic, is a collaboration among two Kuna biologists and a Panamanian colleague. Illustrations by Kuna artists Ologuagdi and Enrique Tejada provide a clear portal for curious outsiders.

The authors document a variety of factors that contribute to environmental degradation, including abuses of the market economy, population growth, and careless practices. Being native to a region does not imply omnipotence.

"The Kuna, like the indigenous peoples of North America who enthusiastically killed beaver so that Europeans could wear tall hats, have been drawn into a system vastly larger and more powerful than their own society," writes James Howe in the book's forward. "If they are to survive as a people into the next century, they must reconcile the subsistence and market economies as well as protect the borers of their small enclave."