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    15 views13 pages

    The Indian Within The Indian Without003

    Uploaded by

    Maru Ambort

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 13
    6 ‘The Indian Within, the Indian Without Citizenship, Race, and Sex in a Bolivian Hamlet Andrew Canessa Pocobaya! inthe highlands of Bolivia ound myself sting ina fends Kitchen we she prepared one of ny favorite dither Ase busied her sel preparing the guinea pig and I peled veges, we charted about my goddaughter Ais, who bad js eft ber huband because oF iv lence. We commlseratd with Alla and then {ask “Do you ight” She nodded maveroffctly and explained yes they dd; her husband ‘ren beat er up once withthe metal ebe she wis to How on the Bi, ‘thesald with alugh. We eed on and aed ber what kinds of hinge herhushend sid when they ought” She sid he fen shored in Span Ishand aid “ajo (damn aswell phrases such “india sult (ey Jndan woman) and “ald ini (cursed indian woman) | was not surprised, a had heard people count similar thing before, and Boni- faa simply shragged when lake her why her husband spoke to het In thiway Poco ian indian village several our wal tn the nee sod, Everyone inthe wlge spaks Aymara all the women dis in the mode ‘hac currently pif indian dresin Bolivia, andl the residents would cerainly be considered indan, indigenous, Ayman, campainas, oF whatever term outsider ute to charcerie the ehnicllydiinx pes nv communis ofthe highlands So why then would x man from hi ‘community bask isu in Spanish to his wife and al her a “india”? Pocobaya, can ale f 3,000 meter above sae ia hamlet ofp proxinatdy «vo hundred pesons (INE 1992) inthe province of Lae (La Pu), No oad leads to Pocobaya, bute few hour wal from che rovncil capil of Sorta (pop. 2,000, which i the most imporant ‘maker own i thereon Sort onthe oad that cones the Bol ian highlands to the wopical lowlands. Ths, eventhough Pocobay i at some dance from the meopoltan ener, eno fiat vel ‘othe mins and cles of Bolivia: indeed, many Pocobyetis tne with some frequency to the gold mine. Poesbaya Furthermore has 4 school that echescldren opto the sth grade (an secenty only othe) snd many adales lites 0 Aymara language radio. Thus Pocsbayets, ‘ven those who rely leave the communi are quite aware of ie beyond ‘hel sal vilge, ‘Nevertheless te experence of Poabayeos of hie beyond the vi lng is by no means homogenous some spend a good del of thei ime aay fom home and consequently have views on the word beyond that Alf from those who remain. The people of Poabsya may abe inane 28 fara Bolivian soi is concerned, but within the community some ‘symbole indiannes more than others namely the monlingal worsen who rarely moe beyond theambiof the Aymarespeaking work. Many ‘ofthe me, in conta, speak Spanish do sasonalwodk in mines and lage arcu eoncens and have done miliary service, which goes them fairey with the country most women de nor poses, Me ae sneraly the only one abet obtain cach, which vitally unobaie able in Pocobaya? Dutt increasing popalition in recent dade, he fetliy ofthe and ha decreed a4 rel f short low periods and reson. This leaves ide surplus forthe marke and when Poabsyece do take their produce w marke, res of exchange are geeraly quite lsadvanageus Aaa el, and ais the cae In any indian comma ties in Bolivia (Rivera Cascangl 1996.75), men are oblige to eave the ‘community to acquire the resources to suey the demands ofthe com ‘muni Thar, Poebaya, a ithe cae with moet slr communities, Ss dependent onthe scety and economy beyond it Tn tems ofthe howehold economy, men and women ages, when asked, tha they have complementary role and many howstolé ke requ the labor of men and women be peformed propery (Can- ‘51997, Fer example, plowing requiem o ead the teat and 3 ‘woman ro drop the sed Tes ak are deemed "mal and Teale” respectively. The postve vate of complementary ix clay ated by both men and women. Women strongly ater ther poon snd domi anc in ther households and somesianes speak oftheir hasbands ap Si" vor who came and go. Many men are quite frank that important ecto, expecially Bnanell ones, are equal shared | once aed one (Cc Rc nd a1 of my neighbor what woud happen if without consulting his wife, he ‘ough cow wih the money he brought back From the mine. He ave me horid look and shook his head, insisting he would never do that ‘ecase he woud geal he lame fic werea wrong decison ‘Men wl eguenly speak wit high read fr thee wives and in ‘many contexts tlk poitvely of ther productive actives, One ofthe ‘most important auc for men and women is bor. and men value thee ‘vive abr highly incon, mana bors oe ale highly ia me Topoltandicoune. Inthe Ande, che pronity to earth has parla ‘acini meaings a urban people conta hee leas" Lives with the Ties of pessns who arin contact with cath uough thelr hand and feet andthe houses in which they lve (Orlove 1998). A white man whose amy used to havea hacienda inthe highlands noe frm Pocabaya and now ives in La Par explsined to me hw Indians bored crouched fd animal ike fr ours, withthe eavy hands working the ool i ll ‘weathers, "They dont fel odo pain ike you o 1” He seated his point by bending over and opening his ands and making diging mo- ‘on with «brut guia hie ce. “Themetopotizn clr, however, deals no only ina labor but rural indinn elu in genera fn Blithe dominane ntional cure taliesubay mein Spanish-speaking cere over rua inlan, Ay mara of Quechss peaking clears: Tis is most say evident in media ‘eprenttons ina county wherein che vat major of the popalaion Ibofindgenou orga, the absence finn faz on evs and post cee que sing? Thi rue of al the posers that appear in Sora, ‘the matt sown clot to Posbaya From ber poser turing pouting ‘women othe per of the various churches, is abundance chat “Roliviane’ az imagined ax white or lightkiand meio by he peple ‘who produce the posers? “Theres womething of an irony inthe absence of any indian lookng enon in thee representations, for dvoughour the county: bitory Indian have eerily been very presen in the imagination of Bolles clits they have constantly dre on images of nan wilt thee ‘own sense of superior. To some extent he absence of indians in public Images is estament to thei ambivalent preence in dhe imagination of| dominant groups: the indian and cura aspect ofthe Bolivian experience lean esata parc ofthe metropolitan dcoune, and in sme sense can be wen to have ben cented by it (Abererombie 1952) By the same roken, indian deny is Biol contingent and doesnot exit sl 182 dew Ca _g:neis outside of colonial nd neoolonial cau economic and po Tidal strcars. The dominant Bolivian national imagining, inded that of many other American nations, i found on eres of mally Implicating dyads that contast urban, Wener-rinte, modem culture ‘ith ar, anachroii. indian one. Ara consequence indian “other es” isa te very ber af he elite national imagination: the mote eis tepresed, the moe ii id ‘Although the caterer of indian and rural vers hispanic and urban se muruallyimpliating, they ae ot equally so: the dominant mete pola discoune is clearly hegemonic in tha ie produced ane wepro- luce in a wide range of sci poial, and cultura conten by white, ‘matin, and indians. Ati ted inthe intoducton eo this volume, Indian identi alo neralioed by many usb mesior and whites (even f only o locale o epee (Salmon 1981) but ie ually tue that indian deny sed of efection of che dominant die course inthe few space allowed for such an Metis for even those de courses tha challenge dominant idea about ace and entity doo ung, 4 very ecient language around indigent, ent, and ference ‘To boerow Laura Lewis (2003) phrase, ethnicity and deny in Latin ‘Amerie ar "hll of miso” with an infinite mamber of efectos se pled by she peasantry. The articulation ofthe wo sectors ofthe ecomomy ‘occurs atthe level ofthe peaanthoutcold, which, a Meilsoux (1 ‘nas pointed ou, bes the bru of double explotaton. More peci- cally wider economic aructars penetrate right int the ee of intimate ‘ero reiionship beween men and women since ite the men wh ‘workin che capac vector and the woman who alot ently wotk (Cp, ac nd a 14 in the peasant one: the “dl conomy” it arclte athe lee ofthe sated couple Gender Troubles Despite what many uiban Boivin blew abou highland indian wom ‘en, women in Pocobays have a relatively high sats within dhe commu tity (cE Paulson 1996) Ter ia song sense of gender complemenar- inyand people re very aware that eke wo adler o run 3 houschold propery. This vente of complementarity gos bajond the economic or ‘ne is nor considered a complete and pope socal person until one tare In Pocchaya marae i ofen refed a apc, which Therly mean "the making of « person." There is profound sense in ‘which the marsed couple, the chaser! (singular non meaning “inanwomal) is #snge voi and polit unit. As a consequence, womens opinion are respected, and all importanc decisions ae made ‘opether by the chachavarml, Morover, women ae considered heads of | fous eventhough men present she hosel at dhe community level and beyond. Both men and women poke to were epic about sharing spony and imporan decison ‘Whi the men ae in he zm inthe mins ot working sci the women in Pocbaya are working the eld and aking care ofthe ‘ren and ania, This shad work and fica to do lone, pariulaly blac the runing of she household i predicated ona gendered division flab The abence of men for extended period al means that worn ‘neces hive to underake tack normally reserved for men Agricul and domestic ss at n many cultures, ar divide ito sme and ferae rls. Women, for example, sow, weave, and cook men ‘low breathe round, and fetch Brewood. Gender dilerence i perfor ‘ave rather than ential i chat gender dsinctin is sen as being ‘xprene chrough the diferent hings men and women do rather han 1 ier sence of what they ae" Since the absence of men requires ‘women to undertake mal tala, the are macnn by tei labor. So {the sane ne tha men te masculine by eel may serve and by naviging the grogrphy ofthe mestizo-ceole ation, women in Po- cobayaaremaculinned through thet agricul labor. There ae, ow ‘et, inportane differences inthis process of masalinizaion. Men are "iene by this proces shrough chee acqlson of einensip and telaive fancy In Spanish; women, onthe ther and, are not, Whereas 14 Ando Can smen ei et higher wie” satu whe hey set hi i lage women, inconra, uno thie lhe the partes trun but hs is no always oot aon women a ing nrg independent. Inthe pas, women depended evil on hihashand to dl with money. Fanci, who now thers, debe he predicament She found hein when her hand dd “My husband lt ne with: ‘out knowing one. No, my husband ur tok ete of me ere: He ‘rs she one who knew how 0 wok for ony. (hen he id) he let me he without any mong Ido kaw How mich hig ae do tow (eval of oe Now ht my asad ots mychiden asetaching elie”? er ganddughtes, however ll apek ome Spanish and at cea: 'y mor ily be able we money even imo prc oe unde ‘tke by meno: When men ar sway or lng pind, wore wl go> ‘omar make neceary purses nd younger women npr ate becoming. ot of ney cen atonomous. Cling hat utonomy comes ener to some women han ther pecially for hone ‘omen who ane xh independent by making ole fora a ‘eighborng communi the women have made sce bane of ‘eating chides and woman hasbeen deed he dep pot of seers poston normal raved fr men. Sach neon foraone ye require the vor ofall ouchlder and would ave scented th sen and appr of mjorty of me. The peopl Feealyaimerthisnen wih mire of ho, sasemen al de Teele, ven though he parameters of women eae contin by gegraphy ad langage, tha they neverles do not ein nme rar fa removed rom he gendered toa imaginings of le ‘nef Women om Pola wll ao have lene scar sete of ‘heir acl and ele infor om hee vit othe mht twa ‘hen they ae splen to abruply and rade in Spanish, fr meio {eden ar well ar meno aches la gi hl cand in pa 1h Very fe Pages peak Span eve hse who have ge to school and alough many whe made be vst Pathe ey ‘cl eel bond the Aymar-peaing won At onsen ey avec chim wo the kind of whitened” Spanish-speaking miaraed clasp he menfl can im “Whiten” Ie therefore ot simply the color of on skin but « Crip Rca ad Sot! 48 complex of social and cultural atibues ha confer membership ofthe dominanecalturl group. ln speaking Spanith, undergoing lary se- ‘ee, wotking inthe ines, nen ate loser to he whic urban ie than ‘women. When shy are present in the (increasing Female village they ‘produce the rclation of elt values and difeence long gen- ‘ered lins, which rn ay cae, vals tha ae gendered o bin with ‘Because the metopaian dour on nation gendered sis aia ‘nn, ndian women ate oie removed from what valued in naioals terms in Bolivia Th che vile cone thse gendered and raialized imaginings of oa son ae reproduced with differen signers. Away fom the community, In contast Pocobeyeo men ae eaivelypomeres and even feminized indian. Asie ce lstrates the point. One day I waeled to Sorta vith ew fiends to deiner some dal fo sal, destined forthe United Sateand Europe, These dll te sold a "raditonal indigenous" and “Aymara ras and w the indian ides of my fends is ental to thee prticipation na glabal market, lusting thas their "indian has a iterations wel as loa signfane. "We entered the sore by the rear entrance and the couple was with ‘was berated in Spanish (ven chug the agen spoke ent Aya} For bring late and nor having finihed the work They were ordered co sit down onthe oor inthe corner ofthe ptt to wok on the doll. The gent who knows ane wel ieted me respectlly, and quickly bought 2 tha for mew sion. In Pecobaya women st onthe Roor and men Siton benches or oss, This che casein any public geri bu uo in private when, fr example «fy is aembled inthe kchen for sme My female friend spear very ile Spanish fat known to the pen, and ao the agents eof Spanish inher Barked commands and ‘Complain served to undedne she ars diference between the. The ‘mecand sbmisive way my male end esponded wo the agen differed ‘Sharply with the way he acs In Pocobya,whereheisa respected member ‘oF the oman. In Sorta he meri an indian who is suposed co bbemeeland submisive (behavior considered appropriate o women and

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