Landscape and land-use change in the Amazon are most commonly addressed by the standard tools of land-cover change research: remote sensing, demographic methods, and political ecology approaches. These methodologies are used to construct a description of the causes and effects of landuse transitions at broad scales. In contrast, studies that incorporate a very specific, human scale – individuals’ memories of the land – have already proven useful for correcting this picture in other regions. Here I evaluate the use of oral histories with ribereño residents of the Muyuy-Panguana archipelago in the Peruvian Amazon, with the primary goal of integrating this information into ecosystem studies.
Oral history approaches differ from other interviewing techniques in that they impose less structure on the conversation, and encourage evaluation rather than merging of the relationship between interviewer and interviewee. In this study individuals, couples, and small groups were interviewed about their personal histories, the formation of their communities, and their perception of culture-nature changes. Conversations progressed from short, specific questions to more open-ended queries intended to direct the discussion towards the interviewee’s personal history in relation to the landscape, and his or her ecological knowledge. I found that the recorded Amazonian landscape narrative exposed through this technique is a blend of environmental factual information and narrative art, and that both elements are useful in conservation and landscape change research.
Some of the factual information in the interviews is difficult or impossible to obtain through more traditional methods. For example, the narratives reveal a more precise history of a prominent river channel in the archipelago. Neither a typical remote sensing analysis using multi-temporal images, nor a study of historical maps, could determine that before the 1970’s the channel was sometimes almost dry and could be crossed by people and animals on foot. Through the interviews, I also obtained descriptions of forest successional patterns. The interviewees described processes that echo and sometimes extend the knowledge accessible in the ecological literature. The narrative art demonstrated in these interviews is useful for historical analysis since many experiences were shared, resulting in structural similarity. In some instances, the narrative includes precise descriptions of change processes. In other cases, the narrative of the floodplain’s dynamism is intertwined with mythological figures. Myth can arise alongside a conventional story of forest succession, or to account for more drastic and inexplicable changes in the landscape. As I overcame my bias towards the factual components of the interview and became more attuned to the contexts in which mythology entered the conversation, I found that they often reflected the relationship of the community to specific landscape features, or even my own relationship with the interviewee. The myths can serve as explanations for dramatic events, or to encourage certain codes of conduct in using resources or interacting with the landscape.
Integrating oral historical techniques into conservation research is not only another way to access historical and ecological facts or represent cultural interactions. The narratives also present the conservation goals of the interviewees. The goals of a conservation program are ultimately subjective judgments, and it is important to understand local preferences and techniques in devising conservation strategies. Oral history is especially appropriate for collecting this information, since people are allowed to explore their memories and evaluate their experiences.
Through this freedom preferences and aesthetics enter the interview. Hence, the ribereño oral history is not only useful for understanding ecosystem dynamics and environmental history, but also for promoting a more inclusive conservation agenda for the communities of the Amazon.
Originally published as:
Nazario, J.A. 2007. Landscape Images in Amazonian Narrative: The Role of Oral History in Environmental Research. Conservation and Society 5(1):115-133.
Javier A. Arce-Nazario is at the Division of Society and Environment, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California at Berkeley, USA (jarce@berkeley.edu).
