Living on the Edge: A Photographic Essay on Urban Aymara Migrants in El Alto,Bolivia

Like many other cities in Latin America, La Paz, Bolivia, has experienced rapid urbanizationthroughout the past two decades. Aymara-speaking migrants from theLake Titicaca region and across the Altiplano head for this capital in search of economic prosperity, and end up living in the bedroom city of El Alto, perched on the valley rim above La Paz. Once in the city, some migrants maintain strong ties with their rural origins while others disassociate themselves completely from their Aymara heritage. This photo essay explores the process of urbanization and migration among Aymara migrants in El Alto, illustrating how they maintain their rural skills in the urban context in order to survive and adapt to a new life. These photographs address issues such as transportation, employment, family, and ritual, depicting urban life on the edge of the city. Each image illustrates a facet of how Aymara migrants adapt to the urban environment by implementing known practices that they brought with them, or replacing them with newer, urban ones. The accompanying text explains each scene as well as the relationship to the subjects and the anthropological interest inherent in the images.     

Effect of altitude on the lung function of high altitude residents of European ancestry

The forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV), and ratio of FEV to FVC (%FEV) of 161 male and 158 female youths of European ancestry who were born at high altitudes and who were residing in La Paz, Bolivia (average altitude of 3,600 m) were examined and compared with those for lowland Europeans and highland Aymara Amerindians. FVC and FEV were significantly larger (p less than .001) in the La Paz Europeans than in two lowland control samples of European ancestry, with the relative differences between samples varying from small (1.5-4.1%) to moderate (7.7-11.9%). It could not be determined whether the enhanced lung volumes of the La Paz European children were acquired through an accelerated development of lung volumes relative to stature during adolescence, as is the case for Amerindian highlanders. After controlling for body and chest size, FVC and FEV were significantly smaller in the La Paz Europeans than in highland Aymara (p less than .001), suggesting that the lung volumes of the Aymara are influenced by factors other than simply growth and development at high altitude. Finally, as found in Amerindians, chest size is an important determinant of intra-individual variation in lung function among highland Europeans.     

Mast cells in the human lung at high altitude

Mast cell densities in the lung were measured in five native highlanders of La Paz (3600 m) and in one lowlander dying from high-altitude pulmonary oedema (HAPO) at 3440 m. Two of the highlanders were mestizos with normal pulmonary arteries and the others were Aymara Indians with muscular remodelling of their pulmonary vasculature. The aim of the investigation was to determine if accumulation of mast cells in the lung at high altitude (HA) is related to alveolar hypoxia alone, to a combination of hypoxia and muscularization of the pulmonary arterial tree, or to oedema of the lung. The lungs of four lowlanders were used as normoxic controls. The results showed that the mast cell density of the two Mestizos was in the normal range of lowlanders (0.6–8.8 cells/mm²). In the Aymara Indians the mast cell counts were raised (25.6–26.0 cells/mm²). In the lowlander dying from HAPO the mast cell count was greatly raised to 70.1 cells/mm² lung tissue. The results show that in native highlanders an accumulation of mast cells in the lung is not related to hypoxia alone but to a combination of hypoxia and muscular remodelling of the pulmonary arteries. However, the most potent cause of increased mast cell density in the lung at high altitude appears to be high-altitude pulmonary oedema.     

Surnames as indicators of European admixture in Andean Indians

The goal of the present report was to determine how well surnames assess the degree of European admixture in urban Aymara. Reflectances, which were measured at three wavelengths (425 nm, 545 nm, and 685 nm) and on two sites (the medial surface of the upper arm and the forehead), were used as genetic markers. The sample consisted of 556 Andean Indians of Aymara ancestry (305 males, 251 females; 10.0–29.9 yr) residing in La Paz, Bolivia (average altitude of about 3600 m). The first component from a principal components analysis was demonstrated to assess the underlying genetics of pigmentation, after controlling for tanning and vascularity, the two primary environmental modifiers of skin color. The scores associated with the first principal component were there-force entered into a discriminant function analysis, which indicated that surnames provide a useful indirect index of the degree of European admixture in urban Aymara. However, these results also suggested that the relationship between, surnames and ethnicity is not equally strong across all surname categories. In particular, the likelihood of correctly predicting surname category from reflectances was about twice that expected by chance alone in individuals with two Aymara or two Spanish surnames but was slightly less than would be expected by chance alone in those with mixed surnames. In addition, the findings of this study suggested that there may be significant genetic differences between rural and urban Aymara.     

A small world after all: Globalization and the transformation of childhood in India

This essay investigates the phenomenon of global television in India and how Indian children, particularly those from the upper middle class, are being integrated into a global consumer cuitare. I suggest that in spite of the surface homogeneity of children's culture global capitalism mediates experiences of children differentially depending on class and location. It has led to greater class stratification in children's play and Indian children, unlike their American counterparts, are socialized to be producers rather than consumers.     

Dancing the Main jo'oh: Hma ‘Btsisi’ Celebrate Their Humanity and Religious Identity in a Malaysian World

Official government census takers tick the religion box titled ‘none’ when they fill out the forms for most Orang Asli. Yet at weddings and other festivities, the Hma' Btsisi', an indigenous Mon‐Khmer speaking people of Peninsular Malaysia, perform a religious dance and song cycle called the main jo'oh. Today, in Malaysia, the main jo'oh is a government centrepiece for Orang Asli culture. Btsisi' are frequently asked to perform the main jo'oh for the Malaysian public and for tourists. The main jo'oh is displayed as a curious, albeit beautiful and exotic performance by a heathen people who have ‘no’ religion. But this paper points out that the dance is far from being solely an exotic relic. I argue that the meanings embodied in the dance performance form the foundation of Btsisi' beliefs; in other words, their religion. I conclude by discussing the main jo'oh in the modern Btsisi' and national context. In particular, I demonstrate that the main jo'oh is a way for the Btsisi' to identify and distinguish themselves from other Orang Asli communities as well as from the majority Malay population.     

Cuatro especies nuevas de <Emphasis Type="Italic">Telipogon</Emphasis> (Orchidaceae) de los bosques montanos de Bolivia

Four new species of Telipogon are described and illustrated: T. cotapatensis, T. juan-torrezii, T. oliganthus and T. pubescens. All were collected from the montane forest of Cotapata National Park, Nor Yungas Province, Department of La Paz, Bolivia.     

People of the Great Sandface

“The final year in the traditional life of the last free‐living !Gwikwe Bushmen of the central Kalahari Desert of Botswana, before they followed others to a government settlement, becomes a moving and sensitive celebration of their struggle for survival. Having learnt the techniques needed to make the film single‐handedly Paul Myburgh went to extraordinary lengths of physical endurance and deprivation to put on record the last group of bushmen living in the old nomadic way. An anthropologist, he lived for 22 months in the bush. To him it represents their final exodus, and is an informative portrayal of life in a band of people whose way of life represents a vanishing link with our past. Myburgh's photography is superb: sweeping shots setting the scene of the endless desert contrasted with the frenzy of the hunt and the gnarled, wizened face of the oldest woman, the wiggly walk of the youngest child. Myburgh's familiarity with the !Gwikwe allowed him to shoot intimate scenes in which the subjects seem totally unaware of the camera, allowing the viewer a unique experience of their exodus: for instance, the tribal puberty dance, an event which men are prohibited from watching. In the end it is sensible, but immeasurably sad, that the !Gwikwe, for their survival, must concede that the desert has defeated them. The film becomes an uncanny time capsule of man's earlier days and one is left with the feeling that through the ages we've lost something: a spirit of community, perhaps. This film is the final record of these ancient people—the hunters with the poison arrows, the people of the healing dance, the painters of Southern Africa's rock art treasures who speak with a strange clicking tongue—a vanishing phase of human culture. In the closing scene a bush‐man gazes in incomprehension at water splashing from a tap; ironically, beyond contemporary Western understanding too” [Cinema Under Siege, 1990:50].     

‘Dancing the image’: materiality and spirituality in Andean religious ‘images’

In the Christian tradition, representing the divine has often been considered both an impossible and yet necessary endeavour rooted in the human need in certain moments of weakness to visualize God. In this article, based on research findings from fieldwork carried out with urban indigenous groups in La Paz, Bolivia, I suggest that the articulation of local and Catholic representational traditions and practices has produced an understanding of the religious image not so much as an object of detached contemplation or a reference to a religious symbol but rather as an energized element which physically shapes the relationship and exchange between the material and the spiritual world. I suggest that through a study of Andean religious images we may be able to produce an alternative ontological perspective on the relationship between the spiritual, material, and living worlds.

Résumé

Dans la tradition chrétienne, la représentation du divin est souvent considérée comme une gageure impossible et pourtant nécessaire, motivée par la nécessité humaine de visualiser Dieu dans les moments de faiblesse. À partir des matériaux de terrain obtenus auprès de groupes autochtones urbains à La Paz, en Bolivie, l'auteur suggère ici que l'articulation des traditions et pratiques de représentation locales et catholiques a conduit à concevoir l'image religieuse moins comme un objet de contemplation détachée ou une référence à un symbole religieux que comme un élément chargé d'énergie, qui donne physiquement forme à la relation et aux échanges entre le monde matériel et le monde spirituel. L'article suggère qu'à travers l'étude des images religieuses andines, on pourrait élaborer un autre point de vue ontologique sur la relation entre les mondes spirituel, matériel et vivant.     

The Gender of the Joke: Intimacy and Marginality in Murri Humour

ABSTRACT

Murri Aboriginal humour performances are expressive events in which bodily experiences of policing and agency are discursively commented on in ways that expose Australia's naturalised rationalisations of indigenous governance. Drawing on the ‘out-of-the-way’ position of an indigenous minority encapsulated in the body of the nation-state and the Murri body's intimate ‘out-of-the-way’ folds and crannies, Murri humour delimits and mocks the marginal location Murri people are imagined to spatially and morally occupy within Australia. This work examines how gendered humour renders the Murri individual and social body legible to and for a Murri audience. Such humour performances engage the local and the global, the modern and the traditional, and the hegemonic and the counter-hegemonic in ways that link intimacy, bodies and embodiments to these macro-processes. Unraveling such binaries produces a nuanced analysis in which embodied social actions and sly social critique are captured as they are experienced and expressed through humour.     

Element Concentrations in Some Species of Seaweeds from La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon, South-Western Baja California, Mexico

La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon are water bodies of the Gulf of California that are influenced by waste water discharges from the City of La Paz and from activities of the phosphorite mining company “Rofomex”. Because seaweeds concentrate elements from the water and are used as effective indicators of contamination by metals, we investigated their usefulness in this region. Concentrations of certain major elements (Ca, Fe, K and Na) and trace elements (As, Ba, Co, Cr, Cs, Hf, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sr, Ta, Th, U, Zn and Zr) were determined in 12 species of seaweeds from La Paz Bay and La Paz Lagoon using instrumental neutron activation analysis. The contents of trace elements of environmental importance (As, Co, Cr, Fe, Sb, Se and Zn) in all studied samples are within the range of typical levels for a pristine environment not subjected to anthropogenic impact. Somewhat higher concentrations of Cr (81mg kg⁻¹), Hf (4mg kg⁻¹), Rb (48mg kg⁻¹), Sc (6.3mg kg⁻¹), Ta (0.95mg kg⁻¹), Th (6.8mg kg⁻¹), U (33mg kg⁻¹) and Zn (90mg kg⁻¹) were found in the green seaweed species Ulva (formerly Enteromorpha) intestinalis, whereas such elements as As (77mg kg⁻¹), Sb (1.4mg kg⁻¹) and Se (1.8mg kg⁻¹) were mainly concentrated in the species Sargassum sinicola, Codium cuneatum and Padina mexicana respectively. Because of their higher abundance and heterogeneity in elemental composition the seaweeds species Ulva intestinalis and Caulerpa sertularioides seem to be more suitable for further biomonitoring of heavy metal pollution of the coastal waters in this zone.     

Indigenous knowledge of dye-yielding plants among Bai communities in Dali,Northwest Yunnan,China

Background

Bai people in the Dali Prefecture of Northwest Yunnan, China, have a long history of using plant extracts to dye their traditional costumes and maintain this culture for posterity. However, the development of modern technology, while vastly improving the dyeing efficiency, is also replacing indigenous knowledge which threatens the indigenous practice, causing the latter disappearing gradually. This study sought to examine the indigenous knowledge of plants used for textile dyeing in Bai communities, so as to provide a foundation for their sustainable development.

Methods

We conducted a semi-structured interview among 344 informants (above age 36) selected through a snowball sampling method. Free lists and participant observation were used as supplementary methods for the interviews. Three quantitative indicators (informant consensus factor [ICF], use frequency, and cultural importance index [CI]) were used to evaluate the indigenous knowledge of the dye-yielding plants.

Results

Twenty-three species belonging to 19 plant taxonomic families were used for dye by Bai communities. We summarized them into four life forms, eight used parts, five colors, three processing methods, and four dyeing methods. Among them, Strobilanthes cusia (Nees) O. Kuntze was the most traditional dyeing plant and has an important cultural value. Location, age, and gender were found to have a significant effect on indigenous knowledge, and the dyeing knowledge was dynamic and influenced by social factors.

Conclusions

Diverse plant resources and rich indigenous knowledge of textile dyeing persist at settlements of Bai communities in Dali Prefecture. However, high labor costs and thinning market of traditional products that use plant dye cause repulsion toward traditional practice. To that, a good income in other profession attracts indigenous people to shift from their tradition of making plant-based dye and associated cultural systems at risk of extinction. More research for market development for products that use plant-based dye is necessary for the conservation of this valuable knowledge and biodiversity protection in Bai communities.

     

From “Haus Tambaran” to Church: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Papua New Guinean Architecture

ABSTRACT

This article examines contemporary Papua New Guinean architecture created in the oscillation between Melanesian culture and Western impact. Some of the country's indigenous buildings are truly remarkable, especially the prestigious structures known as “Haus Tambaran” in the Sepik River area which have lent inspiration to many outstanding samples of contemporary Papua New Guinean design. We have studied both the indigenous and contemporary architecture of the Sepik region in the field and in additional research in collaboration with the late Professor Wallace Ruff and are comparing and contrasting contemporary architectural design with indigenous buildings. Here, we focus on a church at Ambunti, East Sepik Province. There is no electricity available on the site to facilitate climate control. Moreover, this contemporary building serves Western political, social, religious and educational functions. At the same time, the church incorporates aspects of the country's architectural heritage, including aesthetics as well as site-design and design with climate. Our comparison contrasts the modern building's functions, aesthetics, and design solutions with the area's indigenous local equivalent, the Haus Tambaran, and reveals elements borrowed, left aside, or altered in the process of adaptation. Issues discussed here include historic precedent, aesthetics, ownership, gender, and other social issues, as well as design and construction. Formal aspects, their meanings and functions, as well as environmental considerations and design solutions are borrowed, translated, or transformed, recalling but also differing from “Green Architecture,” to serve contemporary Western needs.     

Herd composition in an Aymara community of the Peruvian Altiplano: A linear programming problem

A model of herd management is presented for Aymara alpaca herders in the south central Andes. Linear programming methods and subjective utility values are used to model how pastoralists choose the size of their herd and the species they raise. These decisions are modeled in light of the land and labor resources available to pastoralists, and the products Andean herders must derive from their herds (meat, wool, and dung). The model predicts typical herd size in the community of Chinchillape, and has implications for social and economic changes seen in the Andes today. Specifically, pastoralists in Chinchillape are pursuing maximizing strategies, optimizing herd value by concentrating on alpacas, and decreasing the proportion of llamas in their herd in response to expanding transportation systems. Finally, results of the models indicate that sheep are a very poor option for Andean herders. This explains the reluctance of indigenous herders to adopt sheep herding in some areas of the Andes.     

Consumer demand for caesarean sections in Brazil: informed decision making,patient choice,or social inequality? A population based birth cohort study linking ethnographic and epidemiological methods

ObjectivesTo investigate why some women prefer caesarean sections and how decisions to medicalise birthing are influenced by patients, doctors, and the sociomedical environment.DesignPopulation based birth cohort study, using ethnographic and epidemiological methods.SettingEpidemiological study: women living in the urban area of Pelotas, Brazil who gave birth in hospital during the study. Ethnographic study: subsample of 80 women selected at random from the birth cohort. Nineteen medical staff were interviewed.Participants5304 women who gave birth in any of the city''s hospitals in 1993.ResultsIn both samples women from families with higher incomes and higher levels of education had caesarean sections more often than other women. Many lower to middle class women sought caesarean sections to avoid what they considered poor quality care and medical neglect, resulting from social prejudice. These women used medicalised prenatal and birthing health care to increase their chance of acquiring a caesarean section, particularly if they had social power in the home. Both social power and women''s behaviour towards seeking medicalised health care remained significantly associated with type of birth after controlling for family income and maternal education.ConclusionsFear of substandard care is behind many poor women''s preferences for a caesarean section. Variables pertaining to women''s role in the process of redefining and negotiating medical risks were much stronger correlates of caesarean section rates than income or education. The unequal distribution of medical technology has altered concepts of good and normal birthing. Arguments supporting interventionist birthing for all on the basis of equal access to health care must be reviewed.

What is already known on this topic

Women''s preferences for caesarean sections are understood to result from lack of knowledge and psychological aptitude to handle vaginal delivery and its consequencesEfforts to reduce the demand for caesarean sections have focused on providing consumers with correct information on the relative risks associated with vaginal and operative deliveries

What this study adds

In Brazil, many women prefer caesarean sections because they consider it good quality careRich women are more likely to have caesarean sections, supporting the notion that medical intervention represents superior carePoor women may implement a series of medicalised practices that justifies the need for greater medical intervention during birthInterventions for reducing caesarean sections by educating physicians and patients about risk factors associated with birthing procedures are not sufficient     

First record of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cymatium keenae</Emphasis> Beu, 1970 (Mollusca: Ranellidae) from Antofagasta Bay,northern Chile,in connection with El Niño events

Cymatium (Monoplex) keenae Beu, 1970, the neopolitan triton, is a Ranellidae predator distributed in tropical and subtropical waters. In this study we report this species for the first time in Antofagasta Bay, northern Chile. Adult specimens have been found since June 2003 at depths ranging from 5 to 15 m in La Rinconada Marine Reserve (23°28′18″S, 70°30′46″W) in Antofagasta Bay, near a scallop farming facility. The present findings clearly extend the geographic range of C. keenae, which previously had been reported from La Paz, Gulf of California (Mexico) to Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) in the SE Pacific. Previous evidence strongly suggests that the intrusion of this tropical immigrant can be related to warm El Niño episodes. We analyze the key role of the oceanographic characteristics of Antofagasta Bay as potential temporal refuge for this species.     

Ongoing evolution of the potato on the altiplano of western Bolivia

This investigation of the biological and cultural factors determining evolution of the potato in the Andes focused on a hybrid swarm comprising weeds and cultivated forms of Solanum x ajanhuiri. Three species of bee visitors were likely pollinators of potato flowers in altiplano fields. Mapping and statistical analyses of the juxtaposition of weed and cultivated diploid potatoes indicated situations where insectmediated hybridization between cultivated and noncultivated taxa was likely. Folk belief that a valley in the Department of La Paz, Bolivia, was the source of the important cultivar, ajawiri, is supported by the variety of weeds of S x ajanhuiri from this site that show cultivated characteristics. Farming practices of Aymara subsistence cultivators should facilitate the introduction of genetic recombinants into cultivated gene pools. Although evidence is presented that humans have directed potato evolution on a small scale, it is most likely that the domestication process has always been passive in its essential aspects. Human intervention may be more deliberate during times of crop failure.     

Social Dancing and Incidence of Falls in Older Adults: A Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

BackgroundThe prevention of falls among older people is a major public health challenge. Exercises that challenge balance are recognized as an efficacious fall prevention strategy. Given that small-scale trials have indicated that diverse dance styles can improve balance and gait of older adults, two of the strongest risk factors for falls in older people, this study aimed to determine whether social dance is effective in i) reducing the number of falls and ii) improving physical and cognitive fall-related risk factors.ConclusionsSocial dancing did not prevent falls or their associated risk factors among these retirement villages'' residents. Modified dance programmes that contain "training elements" to better approximate structured exercise programs, targeted at low and high-risk participants, warrant investigation.

Trial Registration

The Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612000889853