Struggle for Cultural Survival

Abstract

Amazonica enters its second year, and brings to readers articles that reflect on the thorny dialogue between indigenous and non-indigenous persons, which is characterized by the struggle for cultural survival of the former, that struggle itself reflective of difficulties regarding the understanding of diversity, as expressed in myriad ways. The article on the Mbyá-Guarani in southern Brazil, written by Sergio Baptista da Silva, Martin Cesar Tempass, and Carolina Schneider Comandulli, presents a  Mbyá-Guarani particular understanding of territory, fundamental to the process of land demarcation, which conflicts with the nonindigenous view. That nonindigenous view arguably needs to be overcome in order to ensure the free will of ethnically distinct peoples, accustomed to secular mobility across international borders. Noelia Enriz contributes to this debate by considering indigenous education, which is framed in terms of interventionist and participatory models. Interventionist models disregard the autonomy of indigenous people; in contrast,  participatory ones focus on political training in order to mediate historical struggles. If the articles on the Guarani seem far removed from our regional focus, we must remember that Guarani mobility brought them back to the Amazon region, where they originated. Territorial mobility is also highlighted in the article by Fabiola Andrea Silva and Francisco Forte Stuchi. They evaluate the reasons for Kaiabi mobility along the border between Mato Grosso and Pará, with implications for archaeology. Luciana Barroso França stresses intra-ethnic conflicts within the village, between two Tupi-Guarani groups, in contact resulting from historical contingencies.From the article by Gnecco, who discusses archaeological discourse vis-à-vis the Other, together with its implications for the present - and future - we make the transition to archaeology, which is intimated in the provocative article by Sanna Saunaluoma, who brings new information and perspectives on monumental sites of Acre and Bolivia. Contributing to discussions on the social relations produced by trade fairs, which show other keys to understanding Amazonia in its current manifestations, we publish the research report by Gutemberg Armando Diniz Guerra and César Augusto Martins de Souza on the case of Altamira, Xingu river area.These papers in the aggregate complement and further inform efforts to extending outward our look on Amazon through the photo essay, research news, abstracts of theses and dissertations, and book reviews. These offer the reader a multiplicity of academic works on the region.We thank the editorial board and anonymous reviewers for this issue as well as the authors of the articles presented herein for their contributions and patience with the editorial process. We take the opportunity to extend a continuing invitation to readers of Amazonica to submit articles and other contributions through the website of the Journal. The Editors