In our ASTU class we have discussed who is telling the story and how this influences the story being told. In our discussions, we have acknowledged that the portrayals we read do their best to convey an individual’s version of the truth but that this may not be the complete story. In my view, the Amazonia exhibit that is currently being shown at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) is trying to convey the aspects of life in the Amazon that are not commonly portrayed, such as the conflict between the pressures of development and the indigenous populations living in the Amazon and the environmental implications of this conflict.

In my experience, the portrayal of Indigenous people living in the Amazon is one that focuses on their detached lifestyle, as if they live separated from the chaos of modern development. While the artifacts displayed in the exhibit convey a sense of the simpler lifestyle of the indigenous people, the overall message of the exhibit is that the collision between indigenous ways of life and modernization is unavoidable as environmental degradation continues in the Amazon. Rising global demands for palm oil, sugar, soy, and beef have contributed to rapid rates of deforestation. There has also been increasing levels of resource extraction, such as mining, logging, and extracting oil and gas. Not only does deforestation and resource extraction have detrimental environmental effects, but it encroaches on indigenous land.

People have been living in the Amazon for 11,200 years. For over ten millennia people have been living harmoniously with the environment. Yet, with the rise of industrialization and the continuing trends of consumerism, the prosperity of the Amazon is in a state of unprecedented insecurity. The exhibit highlights how indigenous people have taken political action against development in the Amazon. In addition, countries have begun to recognize the significance of indigenous groups relationship with the land, with certain countries like Ecuador and Bolivia going so far as to adopt indigenous ‘rights of nature’ into their constitutions.

The exhibit also does its best to portray the diversity of the indigenous groups currently living in the Amazon, recognizing the vast number of indigenous groups living in each country and making sure to explain from which group an artifact came and the use of that artifact within said group. One of the striking features of the exhibit is a display case with an assortment of objects that have no accompanying explanation about their cultural significance and purpose. This is because they were taken from indigenous groups for someone’s private collection without recording their history. They were later donated to the museum, however the cultural significance of the objects had already been lost. The exhibit notes that it wants to avoid situations like this, where culturally significant objects become mere trinkets when people fail to take the time to document the stories attached to them. This sheds light on the exhibits mission of emphasizing the importance of exchange as opposed to larceny.

The Amazonia exhibit tells a story of the complex relationship between nature and people. It is both a study of indigenous ways of life and a call for environmental protection. The interconnectedness of these themes can be seen closer to home, with striking parallels between the conflict in the Amazon and the environmental and indigenous conflicts here in Canada. In our geography class, we recently read an article explaining the significance of the #IdleNoMore movement here in Canada. The #IdleNoMore movement protests resource exploitation on First Nation’s land on the grounds of protecting the environment, protecting indigenous rights, and honouring treaties. This multifaceted issue makes clear that building more sustainable relationships between the land and all people is a global issue. My takeaway from the Amazonia exhibit is that by making Canadians aware of problems elsewhere in the world that so closely reflect those here in Canada, there is a greater potential for the finding and sharing of parallel solutions.