PROJECTS
The Ayoréo of the Gran Chaco​
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The Ayoreo people are hunters and gatherers whose original territory in the Gran Chaco straddled the borderlands of Bolivia and Paraguay. Nomadic families harvest multiple wild species for food, medicines, and fibers from this arid tropical forest. An unknown number of isolated (un-contacted) families remain in this vast but vanishing wilderness.
The Ayoreo perceive their presence in the Gran Chaco as Gente Verdadera, the true beings, one with nature. Over the past 30 years, most of the Ayoreo people have been forcibly removed from their tribal lands to small mission settlements. One plant (Bromelia hieronymi), known as dajudie in Ayoreo language or garabatá fino in Spanish, is legendary and notable for its many uses. These patches of land, often surrounded by soybean fields, lacked their familiar and valued resources of native forests.
Lacking their valued dajudie on mission settlements, women often took arduous trips backs to their original forests in the Chaco to harvest native plants.
The Ye'kwana,
People of the River​
​The Ye'kwana inhabit tributaries of the Orinoco River Basin in southern Venezuela and parts of Brazil. Numbering over 5000, they live in small villages along the shores of rivers, where they hunt, fish and farm. They are known as the People of the River because of their exceptional ability to carve canoes and navigate the rivers.
Basketry is an intricate part of daily life, and men and women weave more than 30 functional and ceremonial baskets. Over the last few decades, new trends in basket weaving have emerged, while others have declined.
Click on these links to read more about the Ye'kwana History and Geography, Lifestyle and Baskets
Click this link to find complete Information about the Yekwana
Trading Traditions​
Continuity, Innovation, and Resource Use Among the Ye'kwana and Ayoréode ​
The Ye'kwana and Ayoréode have been hunting and harvesting in vastly different ecological zones in South America for centuries. Each group has intimate knowledge of the plant resources required for subsistence and survival, and these plants fulfill a functional, ceremonial, and even spiritual role in each society.
Over the past 30 years, new and sometimes forced re-settlement patterns have disrupted these ancient rhythms. These have influenced the basket and fiber weaving traditions of each group, placing a new emphasis on development and resource management.
Artisans continue to rely on traditional methods and local resources, but women's cooperatives have become the main force for change as women develop innovative products and programs as a means of cultural and economic survival.
Innovation by Cultivation​​
In 2000, women of the cooperative Cheque Oitede (finest weavers), with help from an ethnobotanist, organized the transplant of wild dajudie into managed gardens in their now-settled communities. Over time, they improved management and harvesting techniques, and today there is a 3-hectare community farm, and the program has been replicated in other communitites, providing a reliable resource.
Today, bags are made primarily for tourists and for sale in the International marketplace. Dajudie has become an important source of income for women but remains a valued part of Ayoréode identity and lore.
Innovation by Design​​
Encouraged by missionaries over 30 years ago, Ye'kwana women began to transform their burden basket to a finer, more delicate version for sale to tourists. They are still decorated with the mythical figures of Ye'kwana legend and colored with natural dyes. The women continue to experiement with new colors and designs, and a new artistry is evolving. These baskets are favorites in the US home décor market, and women attend invitational folk art festivals, and participate in business development and resource management workshops at home and abroad.
What's In A Bag​​
Once removed, fibers are cleaned, dried and dyed, using some natural and some synthetic dyes. Ash from a termite mound is used to coat and smooth the fibers, which are then twined together by rolling along the woman's thigh.
A small bag may take up to 3 weeks to make, working 6-8 hours a day, and can be sold for $20 in the local market and $45-$75 in the International marketplace.
From Garden to Global Market
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With a reliable resource provided by the garden plants, women are able to produce more bags and global markets provide reliable income and better opportunities. Revenue to the cooperative has increased by 80% over the past 3 years, and women have learned administrative skills and made beneficial funding contacts.
