Perception and management of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) diversity among Makushi Amerindians of Guyana (South America)

27 Pages·2000·16.2 MB·English

by  Marianne Elias

Journal of Ethnobiology 239-265 Winter 2000
20(2):
AND MANAGEMENT
PERCEPTION OF CASSAVA (MANIHOT
AMONG
MAKUSHI
ESCULENTA CRANTZ) DIVERSITY
GUYANA
AMERINDIANS
OF (SOUTH AMERICA)
MARIANNE
ELIAS
cefe-cnrs
Mende
1919 Route
de
Montpellier cedex Ftance
5,
LAURA
RIVAL
Department Anthropology
of
Kent
Eliot College, University
of
Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NS, United Kingdom
MCKEY
DOYLE
cefe-cnrs
Mende
1919 Route
de
Montpellier cedex Ftance
5,
—
ABSTRACT, ways which Makushi
This presents the in subsistence
article
economy and farming practices, food preparations, cultural knowledge and
its
social processes have played a role in bringing cassava varietal and genetic
all
among
diversity into existence. After comparing cassava varietal diversity the
Makushi of Guyana with that found in the rest of Amazonia, the authors discuss
management and show
the genetic implications of traditional that evolution in
from combined
populations of domesticated cassava results the action of natural
human
and Various socio-cultural factors exercising selective pressure,
selection.
exchange planting material between farmers and the conceptual
in particular the of
opposition of seedlings and plants coming from vegetative propagation, are
examined. The approach adopted, which integrates indigenous botanical
and emphasises
knowledge, elements of plant genetics ecology, that diversity
cannot be reduced to a finite stock of well defined, separate entities called varieties,
by which farm-grown
but and evolving process varieties are
rather, a fluid
is,
r
and
continuously gained
lost.
Key words; Cassava, Manihot esculenta, Makushi Amerindians, Guyana, traditional
agriculture
—
RESUMEN. manera en que economia de
Este articulo presenta la la subsistencia
de preparacion de comidas,
de Malushi practicas cultivo, la las el
Ids y las
han una
mecanismos contribuido importante
conocimiento cultural y los sociales a
Despues de un comparative de
diversidad genetica y varietal de la yuca. analisis
por Makushi de Guyana con que
diversidad de yuca cultivada los la se
la la
Amazonia, discute sobre simplicaciones
encuentra en de el articulo la
el resto la
muestra que que evolucion
geneticas de las practicas de cultivo tradicionales, y la
de combinada
de consecuencia accion
las poblaciones de yuca cultivada es la la
ELIAS No. 2
240 Vol. 20,
et
al.
humana.
de la seleccion natural y la seleccion Varios factores socio-culturales
implicados en la seleccion, en particular los intercambios de estacas entre los
cultivadores y la oposicion conceptual entre la planta nacida de semilla y la planta
obtenida por estaca son examinados. La integracion de los conocinuentos botanicos
indigenes, de elementos de genetica y de ecologia muestra que la diversidad,
Uamadas
de reducida un conjunto de entitades determinadas
lejos estar a finito
variedades, es al contrario un proceso fluido y dinamico, por el cual las variedades
cultivadas son continuamente adquiridas perdiddas.
y
—
RESUME. Cet presente fagon dont Teconomie de subsistance des
article la
Makushi ainsi que les pratiques de culture, la preparation des mets, les
une
connaissances culturelles et les mecanismes sociaux ont tous contribue a
importante genetique du manioc. Apres une analyse
diversite varietale
et
comparative de du manioc chez Makushi de Guyana avec
la diversite varietale les
celle que Ton trouve dans le reste de TAmazonie, Tarticle discute les implications
genetiques des pratiques de culture traditionnelles et montre que revolution de
populations de manioc domestlque consequence de faction combinee de
est la la
humaine.
selection naturelle selection Plusieurs facteurs socioculturels
et la
impliques dans la selection, en particulier les echanges de boutures entre les
cultivateurs et Topposition conceptuelle entre plante issue de graine et plante
issue de multiplication vegetative sont examines. L'approche adoptee, qui integre
les connaissances botaniques indigenes, des elements de genetique d'ecologie,
et
souligne que la diversite, loin d'etre reduite a un stock fini d'entites determinees
appelees varietes, est au contraire un processus fluide et dynamique par lequel
varietes cultivees sont continuellement acquises perdues.
les et
INTRODUCTION
While
human
plant/people
side of interactions
mechanisms
number
developments
new
have given type economic botany and
rise to a of that integrates ecological
dimensions
evolutionary in the reinterpretation of plant domestication,
cultiva-
and management, have renewed
tion resulted in interest in traditional farming
known
systems, for maintaining high levels of biological diversity (Boster 1983;
and
Merrick Brush
Salick 1990; Salick 1992a; et al. 1994). Traditional farming sys-
tems have so been studied by who have
far geneticists, attempted
to assess the
found
level of genetic diversity in collections of cultivated plants, including
vari-
who
and by
have
eties, social scientists, carried out extensive
ethnological surveys.
However, only few have
a studies tried to connect both genetic and ethnobiological
maintenance
aspects of the of varietal diversity Quiros Zimmerer
(e.g., et 1990;
al.
1991; Salick 1992b; Louette et 1997; Souza Emperaire
al. et 1997;
al. et 1998).
al.
The
overall objective of our investigation of cassava (Manihot
ethnological
logical and genetic data in order understand how
to
the
biological diversity of this
managed
and
maintained
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 2000 241
Makushi community North
sen to study bitter cassava cultivation in a of the
Some
Rupununi savannas of Guyana, South America (Figure of the results of
1).
now
our genetic studies are available (Elias et in press); ecological studies are
al.
The paper document
in progress. specific objective of this to the cultural
still is
knowledge and practices that have brought the genetic diversity of cassava into
OCEAN
ATLANTIC
VENEZUELA
Georgetown
SURINAM
Boa
Vista
BRAZIL
km
100
*• was
conducted
Area where the study
L—
FIGURE Map Guyana, showing the location of the Makushi communities where
of
was
the study conducted.
ELIAS No.
2
242 et Vol. 20,
al.
existence. This information on the cultural environment, combined with informa-
and
tion on ecology, essential to the interpretation of population genetics
is
evolutionary patterns (Elias et in press).
al.
cassava, characterised by high cyanogenic-glucoside content of the tu-
Bitter
Amazon, been
berous roots, the staple crop in the v^here has cultivated for
is it
more than 3000 years (Renvoize 1972). Most cassava research to date has been
Amazon
conducted Northwest example Hugh-Jones Boster
in the (see for 1978;
Hammen
Dufour Chernela Van
1984a; 1985, 1988; 1987; der 1992; Salick et 1997),
al.
where the cultivation and processing of (mainly bitter) cassava have been meticu-
comparison and
lously described. Rival (in press) presents a of cassava cultivation
processing between northwest Amazoruan groups and Amerindians of the Guyana
shield.
METHODS
-Our study was mainly based Rewa, Makushi community
study in a small
of
North Rupununi Guyana, Rewa
in situated at the confluence of the rivers
le
WSW
km
Rupununi
(forest area), 50 of Apoteri (4^02' N, 58^35' W). Marianne
-
months Rupununi
spent 9 over 3 field sessions in the (April 1997, February
May
SSeepptteemmbbeerr -- DDeecceemmbbeerr Laura weeks
11999988,, 11999988)); Rival soent 5 (2 field ses-
sions in April 1997 and April 1998); and Doyle McKey spent one month (one
fiel
session in October 1998). In April 1998, there were 162 people living in Rewa
(ir
women
eluding three Wapishana men, Wapishana women, and two Patamona
six
forming 27 households. Because of its small size and relative isolation, Rewa
i
commercial and
less subject to political pressures than savanna communities. Othe
Makushi
villages, located in the savarmah area, were also visited. Concerning th
no
farming system, major differences were found between and Rewi
these villages
which can thus be considered Makushi
representative of the farming system
i
reeion.
this
methods
ethnographical data,-Our
if
semi
and
structured interviews questionnaires
ramme
two women
involving the close collaboration of remunerated Makushi
research-
We
work many
with
ers. tried to as farmers as possible; however, three female
farmers and two male
(ages: 22, 35, 52) farmers were
(ages: 41, 50) identified as
our main informants. As almost everybody Rewa
in fluent in English or Portu-
is
and
guese; discussions interview were conducted
in these languages, including
some Makushi words
for critical points. Bilingual villagers helped us with people
who One
spoke only Makushi. Rewa and two
villager in savannah
villagers in the
Makushi
helped us with
area spelling.
Assessment and
varietal diversity was
of of its distribution, -Warietal diversity assessed
by asking farmers bring
first to leaves of every kind of cassava they then
cultivate,
by and
farms interviewing
visiting farmers. To
estimate
the equitability of diver-
among
we
sity distribution cassava farmers used the index which
of equitability,
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 2000
243
component
often applied to estimate the ''evenness'' of the diversity of biologi-
is
assemblages.
cal
X
-^
Pi Pi
^
—
calculated as follows e = where Pi=~^ and
It is n-
,
: / , '
numbers number
households
are the of that cultivate variety (respectively, the of
/
owned
by household
varieties
i).
MAKUSHI CASSAVA FARMING TODAY
The Makushi, a Carib-speaking group, live in the Rio Branco-Rupununi re-
gion, which a region politically divided between Brazil (Roraima State) and
is
whom
Guyana Makushi
(Region There approximately
are 20,000 today, of 7,000
9).
Guyana Makushi
live in (CIR 1993). Flistorical records of presence in the Rio Branco-
Rupununi
region date back to the early part of the 18th century (Riviere 1963;
Hemming
CIDR
With
1989; Farage 1991; 1994, 1995; Santilli 1994). cattle ranching
expanding the turn of the century, they experienced increased land shortages
at
many
and pressure to work as domestic servants or cowboys, and of them left the
now
Roraima Rupununi savannas what Guyana
in Brazil for the of (Farage
hills is
where they can be found, living in relatively small communities, headed
1991), still
by a captain or "toushau/' Makushi families historically traded manufactured
made
goods for cassava and cassava derivatives, particularly farine, a meal of
dried granules of grated cassava (Farabee 1924; Diniz 1966; Farage 1991). White
much
Makushi
needed the as for their agricultural products as they did
settlers
and doubt such demands modified
labour there that the
for their force, is little
indigenous agricultural system. Such influence accentuated the importance of
horticulture over hunting and gathering, and reinforced the tendency towards
many
Amerindian
sedentarisation in nucleated villages. like other groups, the
If,
Makushi had produced cassava surpluses prepare fermented drinks
traditionally to
by
for festive occasions, the condemnation of such politico-ritual activities mis-
new and
sionaries, the trade opportunities, additional factors linked to interethnic
make
contacts, led to the utilisation of cassava surpluses to farine for sale, a trend
which has influenced the choice of cultivated varieties.
Guyanese Makushi
cassava cultivation central to slash-and-burn ag-
Bitter is
which directed toward subsistence, rather than market, production.
riculture, is still
Many maintained (Makushi Research Unit
varieties of bitter cassava are 1996),
yams
and supplemented by other starchy crops such as {Dioscorea
the diet spp.),
is
corn {Zea mays sweet potato {Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam), sweet cassava {Manihot
L.),
pumpkin
plantains {Musa paradisiaca L.), or vegetables such as {Cucurhila
esculenta),
maxima Duch. ex Lam.), shallots (Allium cepa 'aggregatum' L.) and onions (Allium
watermelon
such as (CitruUus lanatus [Thunb.] Mansf.), as
cepa 'cepa' or fruits
L.),
and meat (game and
well as fish cattle).
by and Wet
Agricultural activities are conditioned climatic edaphic factors.
May November
(from September) and dry (from to March) seasons are pro-
to
Two make
nounced and interspersed with brief transitional periods. factors
savarmah particularly unsuitable for crop cultivation. In addition to being
soils
they are subjected to weather extremes; they are almost en-
particularly
infertile,
ELIAS No. 2
244 Vol. 20,
et al.
and parched under scorching sun during
flooded during the rainy season, a
tirely
why
the dry season. This explains people traditionally lived in forest galleries
and used
along main where remain moist throughout the year, the
rivers, soils
savannah mainly seasonal hunting.
for
Makushi on
With the rare exception of plantain and cotton farms, farms are,
the whole, bitter cassava farms. Sweet cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, plantains,
pumpkin or watermelon are sometimes inter-cropped with bitter cassava, but these
consumed
crops are rather marginal. Bitter cassava daily as farine {u'lvi), cas-
is
sava bread fermented drinks (paraktrt, kasiri and wo^, casereep (kumasi),
{kai),
a black, thick paste used throughout Guyana to cook meat and fish, and, finally,
starch tapioca {imu yanasa) or porridge (Figure
2).
new
Each year during the dry season, households clear farms (ranging from
m_
400 to more than one hectare) in old fallows or secondary forest, that on
is,
land that has already been used in the past to cultivate cassava. As the main prob-
lem farm management from and
in protection of crops predators fluctuating
is
and
climate, risk aversion, particularly the risk of flooding of leaf-cutter ant inva-
sion, seems to play a greater role than soil fertility in the choice of farm sites.
new
Clearing a farn\ {mitya^tt) considered hard work, and exclusively a
is is
man
male was performed by with help
activity. traditionally a the of his rela-
It
tives and friends (mayu), in exchange for food or drinks {parakirt or
ivo').
now
Cooperation in forest clearing tends to be restricted to immediate kin, for
New
example, father and son. farms are burnt (mnpo^tt) in March or April, just
before the first rains. Fire is propagated with kokerite {Attalea regia [Anderson])
lit
may
frondS; a process difficult to control and which lead to forest and crop
fires
pulled
w
yello
white or creamish
roots
scraped
put in water
itd
gr
3 days
^ CASEREEP
boiled
kumasi
mixed
water
^UCC/Cii
+
starch
Ini
parched
TAPIOCA
water + sqweezed sifted imu yainasa
hacked and
starch
bumi
(thick
night
/
cake)
ihiowa tfied lonrjnto
backed
ihin
I / pieces
cafcc)
m
soaked
in pui a buclnt
water
of water
pitched
4
wrapped
in banana leaves
chewed
with powder from cassava
leaves infected b> fungi
from a previous
preparaijor
of this product
/ night
^
2 nights
CASSAVA
PARAKARI
FARINE
BREAD
parakirt wo'
u'wi
kai
HGURE
2.—Processing and products made
of cassava by Makushi
Amerindians.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 2000
245
when
Ground
losses weather conditions are particularly dry. cleaning {mti kui
new
by
ma), the third stage in preparing a cassava farm, undertaken the entire
is
household, children included. The male farmer hoes (ya nu mil) the and
field,
mounds known
shapes the soil into (locally as "banks"), in which cuttings (locally
called "cassava sticks", ktsera in Makushi) are planted (soil mounding, a practice
uncommon
Amazonia, found Upper Xingu [Cameiro
rather in also in the
is 1961]).
Female farmers, sometimes accompanied by their children, divide the long
stems of freshly harvested cassava into cuttings. Although they store long stems
in shady places or keep them for weeks, slightly buried in the ground before using
them as planting material, farmers prefer to prepare cuttings directly from a living
plant. Moreover, the selection of cuttings depends on whether a plant healthy
is
and whether has produced a generous harvest of roots. Cutting the stems a
it is
woman's work, but planting usually done by men, although not always
this
is is
the case in other villages (Mary Riley, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, per-
same
sonal communication). Three to five cuttings of the variety are planted
together each mound, pointing the west. Although most people are aware
in to
that cuttings planted eastward grow as well as those pointing westward, they
still
maintain westward orientation protects the plant from the sun and favours
that a
maybe common
between and Makushi
growth. There a connection this belief the
its
practice of burying corpses with the feet pointing east, head west, and the face
looking to the rising sun (data collected by Laura Rival in Massara, April 1997).
common
Another practice observed by Laura Rival in the field, and aimed at en-
couraging growth and tuber production, to plant a magical plant (generically
is
known as bina in Guyana) in the middle of the field, or to chew the root of such a
mounds Makushi
plant, and spit over the (see also Research Unit 1996).
it
new
The time takes a farmer to plant a cassava farm depends on his avail-
it
how many
and on stems the household has in stock; thus varies greatly
ability, it
Some
from farm farm, and from individual to individual. farmers plant cassava
to
two weeks As
every day week, and then stop for or three before continuing.
for a
months youngest and
can separate the the oldest plants in a single
a several
result,
farm. This practice, as well as the planting of varieties with different maturation
ensures a constant supply of harvestable roots throughout the year. Cassava
rates,
months months
roots are harvested on average rune after planting (range: 4 to 2
A
years), and the crop requires little care during this period first crop does not
.
women may
weeding more than three times, but perform spot
generally require
weeding and
weeding every time they harvest roots (both harvesting are female
tasks).
when
Roots harvested and as they are needed. Stems of freshly harvested
are
mounds
hoed what Makushi
cassava are sometimes replanted in again for the call
new
"second More commonly, they are taken to a farm, where the best
the crop."
and The surplus hidden under
planted. stored, kokerite
cuttings are selected is
Some may
bundles the edge of the farm. be given
fronds, or planted in tight at to
neighbours, relatives or friends. Unused stems stored in bundles also grow and,
if
the weather not too dry, develop tuberous roots nine months after. These roots
is
are harvested, but the stems are usually discarded, being used as planting mate-
only farmer desperately short of cuttings.
the
rial is
if
No.
ELIAS Vol. 20, 2
246 et
al.
After harvest, crop farms are planted with a second crop of cassava. Sec-
first
ond weeding and productivity
crop farms require greater efforts, their is lesser.
When
they not generally hoed again and replanted, except the
harvested, are
if
primary secondary
parcel cleared for the crop located in rainforest or old
first is
forest, where the rich, deep forest soil allows for a third, and even sometimes a
Abandoned farms soon covered with growing pioneer veg-
fourth crop. are fast
etation. Old farms are left fallow for two to twenty years, or more. Although farm
land not privately owned, old fallows are customarily for the use of the
left
is
who
them.
families cultivated
first
As most Amazonian cassava processing the responsibility of
in societies,
is
women, and food intimately connected with gender specialisation. However,
is
it
uncommon man
making
not to see a helping his wife edible products out of bitter
cassava, which contains a high concentration of cyanogenic glucosides and must
be detoxified before consumption. Roots are scraped, and the skin and inner peel
(except in the preparation of par akin and wo") removed. They are then washed
and grated. The grated pulp squeezed in the long plaited cassava sleeve press,
is
known Guyana matapi To make women mix
grated
in as (tinki). farine, first fresh
cassava with roots that have fermented for three days, and then squeeze the mix-
ture. The half-dry pulp is then used for preparing the final products (Figure
2).
most removed
This process ensures that of cyanide (Dufour 1989, 1995)
is
sum
To up, the farming system so far described broadly similar to those
is
found among Amazonian
other cassava farmers Dole
bitter (see in particular 1963,
Yde Grenand and
1978; 1965; Diniz 1966; Haxaire 1977; Hugh-Jones 1978, 1979;
Mowat Hammen
Carneiro Dufour Chernela Van
1983; 1983; 1987; 1989; der
1992;
We
Grenand Emperaire aware
1993; et 1998). are fully that the farming system
al.
we may
have studied be a recent development linked to sedentarisation. We sus-
pect, for instance, that the present shortage of farmland has resulted in sharp
reduction of fallow periods. This shortage, dramatic in the savannah, where farm-
have walk hours paddle
ers to for or for several days reach
to their farms,
is
Rewa
beginning to affect as well. Another consequence of sedentarisation
that
is
must
farms last longer, so people tend to select varieties that can stay in the ground
man
such example, popular
longer, as, for the "white stick" that remains harvestable
two
years after planting.
MAKUSHI
Makiishi
farms
in
monovarietal
random,
at the latter distribution being more
frequent. Every Makushi
variety has a
name, which
of the English
translation usually known. Rewa, we
is In
86
collected
mt names
of cassava
varieties
(Table corresponding
1), to 76 varieties (while
some were
varieties given different names by
different some knew
farmers,
farmers
name
survey.
in
their frequency
of representation among
some
While are shared by
almost
farmers
all (for example, varanakM and
vtve
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 2000
247
kuraatuma owned
by
piye), others are only a iew, or even by a single person
(for
example, oronkiptye and dominko The
equitability index cassava
ye). for variet-
would
ies is 0.63 (it be equal to 1 if all varieties had the same frequency in the
village), and 0.52 for households would be equal to the households had
(it 1 if all
No
same number Rewa
the of varieties). one in has an accurate or exhaustive knowl-
edge
of the varietal diversity present in the village.
Sweet cassava is planted either in the farm, together with bitter varieties (but
two
the types of roots are not mixed, as sweet cassava not cultivated for the
is
same
purpose)^ or in the kitchen garden next to the house. Farmers say that sweet
cassava roots develop more slowly than bitter ones, and that the plant grows
taller.
Four different types of sweet cassava, called kana as opposed to kise
all (bitter
cassava), are grown in Rewa. They have white roots, and are generically
all re-
names
ferred to with English (''brown stick/' "four months/' "eiehteen months/'
or" Makushi name
confirms
yam
is not regarded as "real" cassava; like or sweet potatoes, its place in Makushi
diet is secondary (Makushi Research Unit 1996). Semi-quantitative tests based on
method and Edwards
a colorimetric using alkaline picrate (Williams 1980) con-
firmed that varieties designed as bitter by the Makushi have a high cyanide
all
content, whereas so-called sweet varieties have a low cyanide content (Elias un-
Dufour
published
data, see also 1988).
- Makushi myths
Perception cassava diversity lore includes several referring
of hitter
to cassava and origin, as well as to Cassava Mother [ktsera yan), the master
its
spirit that owns the plant, looks after its well being, and ensures good harv^ests
Although myths complex
(Rival in press). are cultural representations that cannot
be reduced one dimension message, Makushi myths
to single or relating to cas-
and
sava clearly convey the idea that this plant exists first foremost as a cultivated,
whose
that a domesticated or cultural plant, inalterable blueprint the master
is
is,
human
and whose
Cassava Mother, origin relates to the transformation of a
spirit
body
Wild cassava^ represented as a degenerated cultivar escaped from gar-
is
now
dens, which has stopped producing tuberous roots, because grows in
it
non-cultivated non-cultural) spaces, such as tops in the savannah.
hill
(i.e.
mixed Makushi and
Taxonomy.-Savanna-dwelling farmers of origin of Black,
(i.e.
who
known and Makushi have no knowledge
locally as "dougler"), direct of cas-
sava recognise only three kinds of cassava: yellow, cream and white
cultivation,
varieties. They differentiate them by color and use, as cassava bread is made with
the roots of white varieties, and farine with the roots of yellow varieties. The
first
morphological trait mentioned by a farmer is the color of the root, and its inten-
main yellow creamy
Three categories are actually differentiated; types, types
sity.
and
(which non-farmers confuse with yellow types), white types. This classifica-
among
tion, also found other groups (Emperaire et al. 1998), plays a determinant
may why
Makushi
role in evolutionary terms. This explain people tend to under-
why
estimate their varietal diversity, and outsiders are only aware of differences
in root
color.
Named and more ambiguous,
constitute the second, level of
varieties classifi-
named and
cation. Varieties are after animals, plants, objects, dishes, qualities,
AM WE MA DH FW EK WA PH CH LE ZP HS
Makushi names names NE VA DP JM TA RE AE JA CS Nl JH
English JE
X
ainis piye Inez stick
tn
aknes ptye agnes stick X
X
akuriu ye agouti
stick
Hamilton
amilton ye
stick
= =
amo'ko ptye grand father
st.
I
danal piye Danal stick X X
atnuru ptye thick stick
Angela
ankela ptye
stick
anra piye crane X X X X X X
stick
dominko Domingo
ye
stick
o
piye Eddie X X X X
eti stick
eni piye Eni X
stick
esekwipo ye Essequibo X
st.
= =
istnan piye Isman
stick fit
= =
Sandra piye Sandra
stick
atnuru piye ? thick stick ? X X X
a
kaima = pumpkin =
piye
stick
eri piye Ely X X X X X X X X X
stick
g"
kanaima
ye jombie X
stick
kartnani piye Carmani
stick
V)
kasiri piye kashiri stick
3.
kediam Kediam
piye
stick
kinV piye types) = dry stick
(2
^
* T^
reni piye Reni* stI i' c1k X X X X X X X X X
ko'kopiye grand mother
stick X
o
kraiiva piye brazilian stick X
karVna
piye Carib
stick
kompani company
piye
stick
krompi
piye X
?
3
kuntia ye
fish stick
en