article
Cultural change and environmental awareness: a case study of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia
Mountain research and development • 2 (3) • Published In 1982 • Pages: 289-298
By: Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo.
Abstract
This article is a discussion of Kogi adaptation to living and farming on the slopes and foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in northern Colombia. The Kogi are descendents of refugees from a coastal chiefdom that was conquered by the Spaniards in 1600. In order to take advantage of the region's varying soils and climate, families live a nomadic existence travelling to as many as five different homes and fields that are situated at different altitudes and in different valleys. They grow a different mixture of crops at each location and harvest their crops on year-round basis. Priests play an important role in maintaining the carrying capacity of the environment by closely scrutinizing the moral conduct of the community through confessional. Appropriate moral behavior includes sexual abstinence, raising of small families, and keeping a subsistence ethic. The priests also designate open land as taboo, and only lift the taboo in times of impending food or nutritional shortage.
- HRAF PubDate
- 1997
- Region
- South America
- Sub Region
- Northwestern South America
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field Date
- not specified
- Coverage Date
- not specified
- Coverage Place
- Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia
- Notes
- G. Reichel-Dolmatoff
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 295-297)
- LCCN
- 82641140
- LCSH
- Kagaba Indians