Indigenous Peoples and Conservation Organizations

The Sirionó in Bolivia 77
But a satellite photograph that divides the landscape
into savanna and forest does not begin to
capture the diversity seen on ground level by an
experienced eye. The Sirionó recognize many
forest types by their soils and the presence of
indicator species (CIDDEBENI 1996). The three
most extensive forest categories recognized by
the Sirionó are tagged by prominent species in
their undergrowths. The first, Ibera, refers to a
high density of lianas. The second, Quiarochu, is
named after a prolific Heliconia. Finally, Ibiete
is abundant with a rapidly growing ginger plant.
Palms, such as the motacú and the chonta
(Astrocaryum chonta), are abundant and often
make up more than half the trees in all three forest
types (Townsend 1996).
Although the land is flooded part of the year, cold
southerly winds during the dry season leave
behind only water holes, which become a crucial
limiting factor for game populations. The swamps
of the deepest savanna, locally called yomomos,
contain considerable water even in dry years
because each is capped by a floating peat mass
capable of supporting Tajibo trees (Tabebuia) five
meters tall. Yomomos provide refuge for many
aquatic animals, including two species of caiman
(Caiman yacare, C. nigricollis), three kinds of
stork (Jabiru mycteria, Ciconia manguari,
Mycteria americana), capybara (Hydrochaeris
hydrochaeris), and marsh deer (Blastocerus
dichotomus). Other important water holes lie
beside many of the pre-Columbian mounds.
Before wells were dug in Ibiato, the Sirionó
often had to walk a kilometer or more to dig for
water in the savanna. Many people still do so
during the dry season because they find well
water too “salty.” A recent development project
in Ibiato has perforated a new well and built a
water tank, and though the water’s taste has not
improved, it is available on most days at various
spigots near the houses. The children who were
the principal water carriers from the savanna now
have more free time. This benefit is offset by
other costs: it takes fuel to keep the tank pumped
full and, more ominously, runoff from the new
water system threatens to erode the Ibiato hillside,
which was constructed by generations of
pre-Columbian labor.
When the rains return sometime between October
and December, the creeks overflow. Millions of
walking catfish emerge from aestivation and
swarm onto the flooding savanna. Overnight
what was parched landscape becomes a superrich
breeding ground for fish, reptiles, amphibians,
and insects, drawing a multitude of
migratory birds and mammals to feast on the
abundance. The savannas submerge as the rainy
season progresses, significantly hampering transportation.
It requires a strong ox to cross from
Ibiato to the forest, and most people must walk
circuitously around the swamp to reach their garden
plots. During this period Ibiato turns from a
village on a hill into an island.
The floodwaters drain northeast into the Cocharca
River and from there into the Itenez and Madeira
rivers of the Amazon Basin. The northeasterly
drainage is aided by dry southerly winds that follow
the winter cold fronts from June to August.
These fronts, locally known as surazos, can drop
temperatures from 36º C to 7º C in a few hours.
After a few days these winds usually shift, and
temperatures return to average, about 25º C.
2.2 Sirionó Social Organization
According to Holmberg (1969), the fundamental
social and economic unit of the nomadic Sirionó
was the matrilineal nuclear family (married man,
spouse or spouses, and their children). The
Sirionó wandered in bands, usually consisting of
several matrilineal extended families (with
matrilocal residency), which were loosely associated
around strong leaders. The chieftain (a patrilineal
position) knew where the game and other
food resources could be found, but his band had
no prescribed territory. Resources were held in
common but belonged to whoever used them.
When one band came across another, the meetings
were peaceful and without prescribed ceremonies.
The Four Square Gospel Mission joined various
bands together at Ibiato, each with its own leader
or cacique, some of whom had considerable fame
in the Sirionó world. Several caciques were
given equal roles to play in managing the community,
and in this way a council was created.
For decades these leaders solved internal problems
and represented the Sirionó with the mission
while the Andersons managed the
community’s relations with the outside world.
During the 1970s, direct management of the mission
and its cattle herd was delegated to a series
of hired outside administrators.