Wiwa: Feminine Tendency of Indigenous Spiritual Beliefs

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First of all, I would like to say very good job to Christina, Shadow, Daniela, and Federico. Your lecture post was wonderfully made and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Wiwa peoples.

From reading about the Wiwa peoples, I learned about their spiritual and cosmological beliefs, and I thought it was really interesting how they had the “law of mother” and how women were believed to have a closer connection to nature and given special roles (e.g. singing and dancing in Maleba). What made me reflect was that this phenomenon of feminine influence in their belief systems is not only exclusive to the Wiwa peoples, I’ve been noticing it from the start of the course. For example, for the Shipibo-Konibo peoples, they have Kéne and only women can see it. Another example is the Garifuna and ereba making which is almost exclusive to women. Furthermore, almost all the Indigenous groups we have talked about in this course view earth as “mother earth”, not “father earth”. I don’t know why this is so prominent in Indigenous belief systems and I think it would be really interesting to know why. How is it that all these Indigenous groups are from all over the world, yet have the same feminine influence in the belief systems? In a way, I think this happens in Western culture too. For example, in the Catholic faith, women have special roles. There are nuns, who have a very different role from priests, and there’s the Virgin Mary, who acts as a motherly figure to believers.

So-Called “French Fries”

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A few weeks ago, very randomly, my dad asked us if we knew where potatoes come from. Quickly my mom, my sisters and I replied “Ireland”. The answer was wrong, they came from South America, specifically Peru and Bolivia! This caused great discussion in our family since we all assumed potatoes were a western thing, especially with the connection to the potato famine in Ireland.

Fast-forward to this week’s unit about the Quechua peoples and their ancient interaction with potatoes, it made me reflect even further about the extent of appropriation certain foods and cultures take. It almost erases all history with societal common knowledge (yet the common knowledge is false). For instance, “French fries”. This is such a misleading statement. First, it turns out that “French fries” were not created in France (they’re from Belgium), and secondly, the potato never came from there or Ireland in the first place. Though I know this is not necessarily a big deal, what does alarm me is how often this occurs. How many other foods we attribute to come from a certain country or culture yet comes from a completely separate place? Furthermore, is this exclusive to just food or does it happen to other practices or things too? In the podcast lecture, we learned the many techniques the Quechua people have developed to keep foods fresh, such as “ch’arki”. In English we refer to this as “Jerky” and yet, similarly to the fries example, are unaware of its Andean origins. Nobody ever thinks to relate beef jerky to the Quechua, it is appropriated and known to be American.

This week’s reading really helped me put into perspective my personal knowledge and to be aware of what it’s based on, that is, if I believe something to be true simply because it’s been repeated so many times I accepted it, or because I learned it from actual facts and research.

What’s the Alternative?

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I enjoyed reading “Broccoli and Desire”. I really liked how the authors used the two lives of different individuals, Pablo and Susan, living on either side of the coin to illustrate their points. Having said this, two things were very ambiguous where I wish the author had expanded more.

The first thing I thought was ambiguous and that I had a hard time understanding, is how the authors, directly relate consumption to capitalism. In the text, it said: “In Susan’s story, we see the sort of late-capitalist consumption toward which we may maintain a cynical distance even as we willingly and gladly participate in it”. I thought that this was a conclusion that was made very lightly. Is this to say that buying from the grocery store is automatically capitalist? Is Susan automatically a capitalist because she bought broccoli at the grocery store and didn’t grow it herself? Are consumption and capitalism the same thing then?

Secondly, I also had a hard time understanding why Pablo’s shift of growing broccoli to export instead of growing traditional crops was a risky move. I understand that there’s risk in his crop being rejected, the pesticides he is exposed to, and even the small profit margins he earns, yet, as a whole, wouldn’t this still be less risky than the alternative? The alternative would be growing traditional crops and not being able to sell them due to Guatemala’s small domestic market and bad economy. Wouldn’t the alternative be riskier? Wouldn’t his shift in crops reduce his risks?

Who’s the Real Enemy?

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While reading Honduras’ Ereba Makers, I felt that it was very biased against Western Society. I find that these days, Western society and culture are almost seen as the worst thing to happen to the world and I find that incredibly wrong.

Throughout the text, KM Hall portrayed Western investment in Latin America as a very negative thing, and that for the most part, Latin America should be left alone, as trying to help leads to exploitation. I disagree with this. I think that this perspective is outdated and very ignorant of how people in Latin America feel, and it’s built only on what is perceived on the surface. I will not deny and say that abuse and exploitation haven’t happened before, they have, but we are in different times. As someone born and raised in El Salvador, I can tell you that people in third-world countries seek and need foreign investment in their countries. If you look closely, Latin American countries that are doing the best economically, are countries that have plenty of foreign investment (e.g. Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica). People hope and would rather work in American companies or other Western ventures because they provide better wages and working conditions as they are more likely to follow government and UN regulations than even locals. I think that society has made big corporations the enemy, yet that is not always the case, especially in 2020 when there are so many regulations on employment conditions such as minimum wage rates and employee benefits (yes, this exists even in Latin America and only because Western organizations have intervened). A corporation growing and becoming richer doesn’t necessarily result in the exploitation of workers. Both can grow at the same time.

Being A Proud Mestiza

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This week, I will reflect on the words mestizaje and mestizo as I thought Ata, Ashley, Jeremiah and Claire were very insightful in how they described them.

Growing up in El Salvador, a country in Central-America, I heard the term mestizo a lot. I even remember learning about it in elementary school. To be honest with you, as a Latina, yet not member of any Indigenous group, I can only relate to how non-indigenous Latinos perceive the term. I think that just as Ata, Ashley, Jeremiah and Claire put it, I agree with Vasconcelos’ belief of “mestizaje” being a unifying term. I‘ve always viewed being mestizo as almost a sort of ethnicity of its own. As Latinos, we are neither purely indigenous, neither purely European, so I do find that putting a name to what we are simplifies things and unite us as a race. I believe that all the negative connotations of the term have slowly been erased and that the term is no longer viewed as “impure”, but rather as any other ethnicity. There’s always been that question to Latinos of “what are we?” and I think “mestizo” is the answer.

A few years ago, out of pure curiosity, I decided to take a DNA test to know more about my ancestry. And of course, the results weren’t shocking, I was about 50% European and 50% Salvadorian which in theory, is what being mestizo is. Nevertheless, I thought it was very interesting and later found, after doing a bit of research that that’s the result of most people in Latin America.

Imposing Regulations on Ayahuasca Consumption

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Holman’s reading provided me with a good introduction to what ayahuasca entails and its connection to the Shipbo peoples. What stood out to me was the potential threat that ayahuasca poses to health and the lack of scientific research about its consumption.

In the text, Holman explained that there had been incidents in which the consumption of ayahuasca had had very detrimental effects on health of both natives and tourists. Holman said that most of the health concerns were due to pharmacological interactions, yet research had been inconclusive. To me, this was a very frightening thing. I think that there is a certain degree of negligence in commercializing ayahuasca and creating a whole industry from it when, as Holman said, there isn’t enough research to determine if ayahuasca is harmful or not. I think more research should be conducted on the side effects of ayahuasca before making it so accessible to everyone around the globe. I believe that even though ayahuasca is considered a sacred and important thing for the Shipibo peoples, we should not dismiss the fact that is a form of drug, and that we should treat it as one.

I believe that ayahuasca consumption should be heavily regulated until further research is found, as to avoid any more possible deaths related to the plant. Tourism based on the plant should also be regulated and Shamans should not be allowed to advise on the consumption of ayahuasca as they are not medically or scientifically qualified to dispense of it.

Beyond the Physical Capacity of Mass Media: Access

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As I read the different definitions of keywords posted by my classmates, I found one that particularly connected to our discussion on mass media. The keyword was “access”.

During our discussion of mass media in class and the “Critical Media Studies” reading, it was concluded that what differentiates mass media from individual media was the ability of mass media to reach remote locations efficiently. But, after reading the definition of access, I believe that the differential factor between mass media and individual media should be access, not the ability to reach a remote audience.

In the “access” keyword blog post, it talks about an example of a person and their computer. In the example, it is described that just by having a computer, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have access to what is on the computer. Your access depends on your cognitive ability to use the computer. According to the definition in the blogpost, access involves the opportunity to gain entry and obtain use of a system, network or file but does not stop at the physical sense. I believe the same applies to mass media. Just because a broadcasted concert in LA has the potential to reach an audience in France, it doesn’t mean that people in France have cognitive access to the broadcasted concert. To the people in France, their accessibility will not only depend on if they have a device to stream the concert but also, their comprehension of the concert. Perhaps not everyone in France can understand the lyrics of what is sang at the concert since it is in English, and therefore, lack access to the essence of the concert.

In short, I don’t think that the mere potential of something to reach a remote audience is enough to conclude something is “mass media”. The potential to reach remote audiences doesn’t guarantee access to the media in a cognitive way, access does.

Inciting Division in the Name of Inclusivity

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Out of the three texts we read this week, I found the “Introduction” by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Eve Tuck, and K. Wayne Yang most interesting, but perhaps for the wrong reasons.

Though the text aimed to create an inclusive environment and encourage diversity, I thought it did quite the opposite for me. I thought the message of the writing in many instances encouraged a sense of division and disparity between indigenous and non-indigenous, and in a way, created a sense of dismiss to those who didn’t belong to the indigenous community. For instance, it repeatedly used the term “white settler”. I believe this term is very dismissive because firstly, it assumed that everyone who wasn’t indigenous was a settler and therefore white, which is obviously not true. Furthermore, the term settler is very misleading. What defines a settler? Is a person born in Canada whose parents, grandparents, and great grandparents were also born in Canada still a settler? Does it mean that even though they were born in this land, they will never be able to call Canada their home? Where do they belong? When does it end?

Another aspect in which the text encouraged division was by explicitly separating “insiders” from “outsiders” and saying that a “beginner needs to know about boundaries, borders, liminality, and intersectionality” (Smith 13). I fear that this results in a double standard. How is it that society aims to have open borders and condemn’s Trump’s wall, yet, the text encourages “boundaries” and “borders” between indigenous and non-indigenous? I think the goal should be for everyone to share our country of Canada and be united by our citizenship because in the end, Indigenous or non-indigenous, we are all Canadians.

I Am From

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I am from Izote

From tropical mountains

And the pacific ocean

I am from lime, sour, zesty. Tangy.

From sand are small rocks,

From Ana and Nelson.

From peppermint and corn.

I am from the comal toasting,

tortilla,

basil,

and eating sushi every Sunday.

Hi! My name is Andrea Quintana, I am a third-year commerce student specializing in Finance. I am originally from El Salvador but currently live off-campus in Abbotsford with the rest of my family. Besides business, I am very interested in politics and everything happening in the world especially the current political climate and COVID situation. I like to keep up with the news and read books that help me develop opinions and perspectives. For fun, I really enjoy playing tennis and travel. Tennis is my favourite sport (I personally believe it is the best sport ever made), and I have been playing since very little. My favourite place to travel to is Europe because of the vast history it has everywhere you go, and its clear influence on Latin American culture. If I had to narrow it down, I would say France, Spain, Italy and are my favourite countries. There’s nothing quite like walking down the Champs-Élysées, visiting La Sagrada Familia, and sitting at the Roman Colosseum.

I enrolled in LAST 303 because up until now, I had only taken French courses as electives and I wanted to branch out, especially being Latina. It has been a while since I learned about the different indigenous groups of Latin America! I thought LAST 303 would provide me with the opportunity to further gain insights into my culture, my ancestry, tradition, and food.

I am very optimistic about the course and hope to get to know everyone in class!