The topic of our most recent blog posts was the “Amazonia” exhibit (curated by Nuno Porto) in the Museum of Anthropology, which revolves around the Amazon rainforest. Many of my classmates wrote in detail about how the exhibit’s contents allowed them to learn much about the lifestyles and and tools of the Indigenous tribes that live in the rainforest. Several of my classmates focused on a single artefact at the exhibit to illustrate in depth something that struck them in particular. Amanda focused on a bowl called kené used by the Shipibo tribe to show how the members of the Shipibo give seemingly mundane objects of utilitarian use a spiritual significance, as they use the kené as “a form of gaining access to the spiritual world by drinking ayahuasca from them”. To many of my classmates, going to the exhibit was an eye-opening experience due to the exposure to the vastly different lifestyles of these Amazonian tribes.

Since the Amazon is so well-known, most (if not all) of the class visited the exhibit with some prior knowledge of the rainforest beforehand. Daniela, who grew up in Brazil learning about the Amazon, stated that the exhibit allowed her to understand the different perspectives and contexts regarding the highly politically contested entity that is the Amazon. In her education, she said that she had “never truly been taught anything other than practical facts about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the brutal colonization and exploitation of Indigenous people”. Realizing that one’s prior knowledge is insufficient enables one to undertake further understanding, and Daniela attests to this, stating that “it is just as important for us to also take the time to learn about the culture and lives that inhabit these territories”, because “With understanding comes, beyond practical knowledge, empathy – which could certainly be of use if we wish to educate people in a bid to stop the destruction and violence against Indigenous people”.

Many of my classmates also linked the “Amazonia” exhibit to the concepts we learnt in other courses, particularly to our human geography course. For example, Brenna highlighted how the exhibit was related to what she learnt about the “concept of territory and the discrepancy in views between indigenous groups and European colonists”; while indigenous tribes “respected and shared the land and used it to the amount they needed, saving it from depletion”, European colonists “believed that land should be owned by the person who uses it most efficiently”. Indeed, this was made very evident when we look upon the main drivers of exploitation of the rainforest, such as cattle ranching and oil production, which are products of the capitalism that colonizers brought to South America. Because of this, “[the European colonizers] saw [indigenous tribes] as not using the land to its “full” potential and believed that land should be owned by the person who uses it most efficiently”. This led to the bloody process of land exploitation from the indigenous tribes that continues to this day.

Moreover, Daanish’s thoughtful and well-written reflections linked the lifestyles and cultures he learnt about with the broader processes that were studied in class. He states that, “the artifacts presented within it were indicators not only of values, but of material processes and social, political, economic, and historic relationships”. While his comment and examples focused on the relationships amongst Amazonian tribes, the same could be said about relationships between the indigenous tribes and the more urban population in South America, for as we learnt from Nuno Porto’s presentation, the tribes have recently established trade of their goods with the urban populations. While we study these past relationships to form a better understanding of the people who survive and thrive on this mysterious forest, it is apt to use this knowledge to forge relationships of respect and understanding.

Works cited: Daanish’s blog (https://blogs.ubc.ca/daanishsayani/2018/01/18/blog-4-on-the-amazonia-exhibit/), Brenna’s blog (https://blogs.ubc.ca/brennasblog/), Daniela’s blog (https://blogs.ubc.ca/danielaastu/), Amanda’s blog (https://blogs.ubc.ca/amandasblog/)