The lack of data on subsistence and land-use patterns often impedes the design of ecologically sustainable, culturally appropriate, socially acceptable and politically feasible approaches to the legalisation of land tenure among indigenous peoples. With specific reference to Amerindians of the Gran Chaco, this thesis shows the extent to which a participatory research methodology can empower indigenous peoples in generating, articulating and communicating data which are vital to the support of their land claims. Fieldwork was conducted with Angaite Indians of the Paraguayan Chaco between 1994 and 1996. Participatory research methods included a census of ten villages (pop. 1,005), drawings of subsistence activities, a survey of material possessions, a time-allocation study, self-kept records of food intake, anthropometric measurements of children, self-kept records on wildlife use (in ten villages), and Indian-made maps of land-use. Satellite imagery provided the basis for the geographic analysis of landuse patterns at local and regional scales. The Angaite own some land but are surrounded by privately owned cattle ranches. Their actual land and resource-use patterns extend over an area ten times greater than that to which they are legally entitled. Although horticulture and paid labour are now the mainstay of the Indian subsistence economy, hunting and fishing continue to provide over 90% of their meat consumption. Hunting patterns are shown to affect a large number of animals but only a small number of species. Land-use is focused on the communal exploitation of resources at key sites spread over broad areas of land. This concept is not catered for in the current Paraguayan legislation, which is based on the principle of giving families a plot of land to farm. On the basis of data generated by the Angaite, this study underlines the need for a radical rethinking of how Indian land-rights might be legalised in a manner which enhances the ecological sustainability of their respective lifestyles. Fundamental to that rethinking is the empowerment of indigenous peoples to express and communicate their own views on their own needs for land.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:268063 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Leake, Andrew Paul |
| Publisher | University of Hertfordshire |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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