article
Tapirs, tractors, and tapes: The changing economy and ecology of the Xavánte Indians of central Brazil
Human ecology • 25 (4) • Published In 1997 • Pages: 545-566
By: Santos, Ricardo Ventura, Flowers, Nancy May, Coimbra Junior, Carlos Everaldo Alvares, Gugelmin, Sílvia Angela.
Abstract
This article revisits an earlier study of ecological variables and socioeconomic change, in which a Xavante community’s involvement in market-related activities was attributed to the combined effects of land scarcity, environmental degradation, and rising food prices. Drawing on updated economic data, the present study argues that greater involvement in wage work and other market-driven activities in the late 1970s and 1980s was largely attributable to government-imposed mechanized rice farming, supported by observation of how, when the rice project collapsed in the early 1990s, the community returned to a more traditional economy based on hunting, gathering, and swidden agriculture.
- Region
- South America
- Sub Region
- Eastern South America
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2015
- Field Date
- 1976-1977, 1994
- Coverage Date
- 1976-1994
- Coverage Place
- Pimentel Barbosa reservation, Mato Grosso, Brazil
- Notes
- Ricardo V. Santos, Nancy M. Flowers, Carols E. A. Coimbra, Jr., and Sílvia A. Gugelmin
- Includes bibliographical references (p.564-566)
- LCCN
- 72623826
- LCSH
- Xavante Indians