Glenn Shepard | Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (original) (raw)

Papers by Glenn Shepard

Current Anthropology, Jun 1, 2021

Over the past three decades, films made by the Mebêngôkre-Kayapó people of Brazil have shown a di... more Over the past three decades, films made by the Mebêngôkre-Kayapó people of Brazil have shown a distinctive and remarkably stable cinematic aesthetic, manifest in a set of filming, framing, and editing conventions first documented by Terence Turner. These films diverge significantly from Indigenous film productions documented elsewhere in Latin America, which tend to borrow more heavily from commercial cinematic codes and film genres. This contrast raises important issues about the personal, social, cultural, and political motivations behind such aesthetic and genre choices among different Indigenous peoples while posing the more fundamental question as to what exactly makes Indigenous media “Indigenous.” In this article, we describe what we identify as a Kayapó film aesthetic and discuss reasons for its continuity over time. We also consider the influence of hybridity, widely discussed by Indigenous media scholars elsewhere, but turn instead to the notion of anthropophagy as a more powerful root metaphor for understanding Kayapó film production. Although anthropophagy as an actual cultural practice and cosmological metaphor is generally associated with Tupi-speaking peoples of Brazil, culturally and linguistically distinctive from the Kayapó, the concept as applied by scholars of subaltern cultural productions helps us better understand the maintenance of Indigenous authenticity in Kayapó film production as the group navigates technological and sociocultural transformations.

Topics in Cognitive Science, Jul 1, 2023

Drawing on original ethnobotanical and anthropological research among Indigenous peoples across t... more Drawing on original ethnobotanical and anthropological research among Indigenous peoples across the Amazon, we examine synergies and dissonances between Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge about the environment, resource use, and sustainability. By focusing on the sensory dimension of Indigenous engagements with the environment—an approach we have described as “sensory ecology” and explored through the method of “phytoethnography”—we promote a symmetrical dialogue between Indigenous and scientific understandings around such phenomena as animal–plant mutualisms, phytochemical toxicity, sustainable forest management in “multinatural” landscapes, and the emergence of new diseases like the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19). Drawing examples from our own and other published works, we explore the possibilities and limitations of a “parallax view” attempting to hold Indigenous and scientific knowledge in focus simultaneously. As the concept of “bioeconomy” emerges as a key alternative for sustainable development of the Amazon, we encourage a critical and urgent engagement between dominant Western conceptions and Indigenous Amazonian knowledge, practices, and cultural values. Cognitive science, which has long contributed to studies of Indigenous categorization and conceptualization of the natural world, continues to play an important role in building bridges of mutual communication and respect between Indigenous and scientific approaches to sustainability and biodiversity conservation.

The American Naturalist, Nov 1, 2009

UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) eBooks, Nov 12, 2021

This chapter explores the Amazon’s biocultural diversity, focusing on IPLCs’ worldviews, knowledg... more This chapter explores the Amazon’s biocultural diversity, focusing on IPLCs’ worldviews, knowledge systems, livelihood strategies, and governance regimes. It synthesizes the main social and political processes that have led to the formal recognition of IPLCs’ lands and/or territories across the Amazon. The chapter highlights IPLCs’ critical role in using, shaping, conserving, and restoring Amazonian ecosystems and biodiversity, despite historic ongoing processes including violence, displacement, and conflicts between conservation and development agendas.

Informe de evaluación de Amazonía 2021

This chapter explores the Amazon’s biocultural diversity, focusing on IPLCs’ worldviews, knowledg... more This chapter explores the Amazon’s biocultural diversity, focusing on IPLCs’ worldviews, knowledge systems, livelihood strategies, and governance regimes. It synthesizes the main social and political processes that have led to the formal recognition of IPLCs’ lands and/or territories across the Amazon. The chapter highlights IPLCs’ critical role in using, shaping, conserving, and restoring Amazonian ecosystems and biodiversity, despite historic ongoing processes including violence, displacement, and conflicts between conservation and development agendas.

Science Advances

Primates, represented by 521 species, are distributed across 91 countries primarily in the Neotro... more Primates, represented by 521 species, are distributed across 91 countries primarily in the Neotropic, Afrotropic, and Indo-Malayan realms. Primates inhabit a wide range of habitats and play critical roles in sustaining healthy ecosystems that benefit human and nonhuman communities. Approximately 68% of primate species are threatened with extinction because of global pressures to convert their habitats for agricultural production and the extraction of natural resources. Here, we review the scientific literature and conduct a spatial analysis to assess the significance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands in safeguarding primate biodiversity. We found that Indigenous Peoples’ lands account for 30% of the primate range, and 71% of primate species inhabit these lands. As their range on these lands increases, primate species are less likely to be classified as threatened or have declining populations. Safeguarding Indigenous Peoples’ lands, languages, and cultures represents our greatest chance ...

From Filmmaker Warriors to Flash Drive Shamans, 2018

University of Chicago Press, Apr 30, 2021

Recent scientific findings about plant intelligence are forcing anthropologists to reconsider ind... more Recent scientific findings about plant intelligence are forcing anthropologists to reconsider indigenous theories of plant vitality. In this paper, we compare original ethnographic and ethnobotanical research among two different peoples from opposite extremes of lowland South America - the Makushi of Guyana and the Matsigenka of southern Peru - and explore how somatic experiences and chemonsensory properties of plants permeate indigenous understandings of illness etiology and medical efficacy in both the cosmological and microbiological domains. We synthesize emerging theory in ecosemiotics, embodiment, plant personhood, and plant intelligence with the concept of "sensory ecology" (Shepard 2004) to recast multi-species ethnography as a phytochemical, as well as a philosophical, endeavour.

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America, 2016

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science, 2020

The tropical lowlands of South America were long thought of as a “counterfeit paradise,” a vast e... more The tropical lowlands of South America were long thought of as a “counterfeit paradise,” a vast expanse of mostly pristine rainforests with poor soils for farming, limited protein resources, and environmental conditions inimical to the endogenous development of hierarchical human societies. These misconceptions derived largely from a fundamental misunderstanding of the unique characteristics of ancient and indigenous farming and environmental management in lowland South America, which are in turn closely related to the cultural baggage surrounding the term “agriculture.” Archaeological and archaeobotanical discoveries made in the early 21st century have overturned these misconceptions and revealed the true nature of the ancient and traditional food production systems of lowland South America, which involve a complex combination of horticulture, agroforestry, and the management of non-domesticated or incipiently domesticated species in cultural forest landscapes. In this sense, lowla...

Neotropical Ethnoprimatology, 2020

Primates constitute one of the main sources of animal protein for the Yanomami people of Brazil a... more Primates constitute one of the main sources of animal protein for the Yanomami people of Brazil and Venezuela. Monkeys are also important in Yanomami mythology, technology, and body adornment. Ten primate species are found in the Yanomami territory: Ateles belzebuth, Alouatta macconnelli, Cheracebus lugens, Saimiri cassiquiarensis, Aotus trivirgatus, Chiropotes israelita, Cacajao ayresi, Cebus olivaceus, Cacajao hosomi, and Cebus albifrons. In this chapter, we summarize the literature concerning primates in the lives of the Yanomami and present original data collected by J.P. Boubli at Maturaca village in Brazil and by H. Caballero-Arias on the Upper Orinoco in Venezuela. The literature and our more recent fieldwork show that A. belzebuth remains the preferred game species of the Yanomami due to its reported good taste. A. macconnelli is also a prized game species despite a less desirable taste and some cases of cultural avoidance. The remaining eight primate species of smaller body sizes are rarely targeted on hunting expeditions. Traditionally, Yanomami used bows and arrows to hunt, which meant a lower success rate per hunting effort. Today, firearm use is widespread, resulting in increasingly severe and apparently unsustainable impacts on primate populations. We hope that this publication will help stimulate a collaborative effort among anthropologists, biologists, and the Yanomami themselves to find solutions for the sustainable hunting of primates and other culturally important animal species in their territory.

Biological Conservation, 2018

Current Anthropology, Jun 1, 2021

Over the past three decades, films made by the Mebêngôkre-Kayapó people of Brazil have shown a di... more Over the past three decades, films made by the Mebêngôkre-Kayapó people of Brazil have shown a distinctive and remarkably stable cinematic aesthetic, manifest in a set of filming, framing, and editing conventions first documented by Terence Turner. These films diverge significantly from Indigenous film productions documented elsewhere in Latin America, which tend to borrow more heavily from commercial cinematic codes and film genres. This contrast raises important issues about the personal, social, cultural, and political motivations behind such aesthetic and genre choices among different Indigenous peoples while posing the more fundamental question as to what exactly makes Indigenous media “Indigenous.” In this article, we describe what we identify as a Kayapó film aesthetic and discuss reasons for its continuity over time. We also consider the influence of hybridity, widely discussed by Indigenous media scholars elsewhere, but turn instead to the notion of anthropophagy as a more powerful root metaphor for understanding Kayapó film production. Although anthropophagy as an actual cultural practice and cosmological metaphor is generally associated with Tupi-speaking peoples of Brazil, culturally and linguistically distinctive from the Kayapó, the concept as applied by scholars of subaltern cultural productions helps us better understand the maintenance of Indigenous authenticity in Kayapó film production as the group navigates technological and sociocultural transformations.

Topics in Cognitive Science, Jul 1, 2023

Drawing on original ethnobotanical and anthropological research among Indigenous peoples across t... more Drawing on original ethnobotanical and anthropological research among Indigenous peoples across the Amazon, we examine synergies and dissonances between Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge about the environment, resource use, and sustainability. By focusing on the sensory dimension of Indigenous engagements with the environment—an approach we have described as “sensory ecology” and explored through the method of “phytoethnography”—we promote a symmetrical dialogue between Indigenous and scientific understandings around such phenomena as animal–plant mutualisms, phytochemical toxicity, sustainable forest management in “multinatural” landscapes, and the emergence of new diseases like the novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 (COVID‐19). Drawing examples from our own and other published works, we explore the possibilities and limitations of a “parallax view” attempting to hold Indigenous and scientific knowledge in focus simultaneously. As the concept of “bioeconomy” emerges as a key alternative for sustainable development of the Amazon, we encourage a critical and urgent engagement between dominant Western conceptions and Indigenous Amazonian knowledge, practices, and cultural values. Cognitive science, which has long contributed to studies of Indigenous categorization and conceptualization of the natural world, continues to play an important role in building bridges of mutual communication and respect between Indigenous and scientific approaches to sustainability and biodiversity conservation.

The American Naturalist, Nov 1, 2009

UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) eBooks, Nov 12, 2021

This chapter explores the Amazon’s biocultural diversity, focusing on IPLCs’ worldviews, knowledg... more This chapter explores the Amazon’s biocultural diversity, focusing on IPLCs’ worldviews, knowledge systems, livelihood strategies, and governance regimes. It synthesizes the main social and political processes that have led to the formal recognition of IPLCs’ lands and/or territories across the Amazon. The chapter highlights IPLCs’ critical role in using, shaping, conserving, and restoring Amazonian ecosystems and biodiversity, despite historic ongoing processes including violence, displacement, and conflicts between conservation and development agendas.

Informe de evaluación de Amazonía 2021

This chapter explores the Amazon’s biocultural diversity, focusing on IPLCs’ worldviews, knowledg... more This chapter explores the Amazon’s biocultural diversity, focusing on IPLCs’ worldviews, knowledge systems, livelihood strategies, and governance regimes. It synthesizes the main social and political processes that have led to the formal recognition of IPLCs’ lands and/or territories across the Amazon. The chapter highlights IPLCs’ critical role in using, shaping, conserving, and restoring Amazonian ecosystems and biodiversity, despite historic ongoing processes including violence, displacement, and conflicts between conservation and development agendas.

Science Advances

Primates, represented by 521 species, are distributed across 91 countries primarily in the Neotro... more Primates, represented by 521 species, are distributed across 91 countries primarily in the Neotropic, Afrotropic, and Indo-Malayan realms. Primates inhabit a wide range of habitats and play critical roles in sustaining healthy ecosystems that benefit human and nonhuman communities. Approximately 68% of primate species are threatened with extinction because of global pressures to convert their habitats for agricultural production and the extraction of natural resources. Here, we review the scientific literature and conduct a spatial analysis to assess the significance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands in safeguarding primate biodiversity. We found that Indigenous Peoples’ lands account for 30% of the primate range, and 71% of primate species inhabit these lands. As their range on these lands increases, primate species are less likely to be classified as threatened or have declining populations. Safeguarding Indigenous Peoples’ lands, languages, and cultures represents our greatest chance ...

From Filmmaker Warriors to Flash Drive Shamans, 2018

University of Chicago Press, Apr 30, 2021

Recent scientific findings about plant intelligence are forcing anthropologists to reconsider ind... more Recent scientific findings about plant intelligence are forcing anthropologists to reconsider indigenous theories of plant vitality. In this paper, we compare original ethnographic and ethnobotanical research among two different peoples from opposite extremes of lowland South America - the Makushi of Guyana and the Matsigenka of southern Peru - and explore how somatic experiences and chemonsensory properties of plants permeate indigenous understandings of illness etiology and medical efficacy in both the cosmological and microbiological domains. We synthesize emerging theory in ecosemiotics, embodiment, plant personhood, and plant intelligence with the concept of "sensory ecology" (Shepard 2004) to recast multi-species ethnography as a phytochemical, as well as a philosophical, endeavour.

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America, 2016

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Environmental Science, 2020

The tropical lowlands of South America were long thought of as a “counterfeit paradise,” a vast e... more The tropical lowlands of South America were long thought of as a “counterfeit paradise,” a vast expanse of mostly pristine rainforests with poor soils for farming, limited protein resources, and environmental conditions inimical to the endogenous development of hierarchical human societies. These misconceptions derived largely from a fundamental misunderstanding of the unique characteristics of ancient and indigenous farming and environmental management in lowland South America, which are in turn closely related to the cultural baggage surrounding the term “agriculture.” Archaeological and archaeobotanical discoveries made in the early 21st century have overturned these misconceptions and revealed the true nature of the ancient and traditional food production systems of lowland South America, which involve a complex combination of horticulture, agroforestry, and the management of non-domesticated or incipiently domesticated species in cultural forest landscapes. In this sense, lowla...

Neotropical Ethnoprimatology, 2020

Primates constitute one of the main sources of animal protein for the Yanomami people of Brazil a... more Primates constitute one of the main sources of animal protein for the Yanomami people of Brazil and Venezuela. Monkeys are also important in Yanomami mythology, technology, and body adornment. Ten primate species are found in the Yanomami territory: Ateles belzebuth, Alouatta macconnelli, Cheracebus lugens, Saimiri cassiquiarensis, Aotus trivirgatus, Chiropotes israelita, Cacajao ayresi, Cebus olivaceus, Cacajao hosomi, and Cebus albifrons. In this chapter, we summarize the literature concerning primates in the lives of the Yanomami and present original data collected by J.P. Boubli at Maturaca village in Brazil and by H. Caballero-Arias on the Upper Orinoco in Venezuela. The literature and our more recent fieldwork show that A. belzebuth remains the preferred game species of the Yanomami due to its reported good taste. A. macconnelli is also a prized game species despite a less desirable taste and some cases of cultural avoidance. The remaining eight primate species of smaller body sizes are rarely targeted on hunting expeditions. Traditionally, Yanomami used bows and arrows to hunt, which meant a lower success rate per hunting effort. Today, firearm use is widespread, resulting in increasingly severe and apparently unsustainable impacts on primate populations. We hope that this publication will help stimulate a collaborative effort among anthropologists, biologists, and the Yanomami themselves to find solutions for the sustainable hunting of primates and other culturally important animal species in their territory.

Biological Conservation, 2018

Forest Ecology and Management, 2019

Past human modification of forests has been documented in central, southwestern, and eastern Amaz... more Past human modification of forests has been documented in central, southwestern, and eastern Amazonia, especially near large rivers. Northwestern Amazonia, and interfluvial forests there in particular, are assumed to exhibit little past human impact. We analyzed soils and floristic structure and composition of interfluvial forests located in the Içana River basin, northwestern Amazonia, to assess their degree of past human modification. Ancient Baniwa village sites, abandoned centuries ago, have given rise to "ancestral forests" with as much as 57% of all trees/palms belonging to a group of species managed currently by the Baniwa, compared to only 10% of such species in old-growth forests that are not remembered as having been inhabited or managed in Baniwa oral tradition. Participatory mapping and direct observations revealed ancestral forests to be widely distributed throughout the region, whereas old-growth forests are rare. Managed species in ancestral forests contributed 5-fold more to total tree/palm biomass than in old-growth forests. Human management has produced lasting changes in floristic composition, maintained total tree/palm biomass, and improved soil quality. This is the first study to demonstrate past human modification in Amazonian interfluvial forests, while explicitly isolating historical human management from edaphic effects on floristic structure and composition. Despite environmental limitations on human population size, posed by nutrient-poor black water rivers and acidic, sandy soils, indigenous peoples of northwestern Amazonia left a clear, lasting cultural legacy in ancestral forests. Given legal changes that threaten indigenous peoples' land rights currently under debate in Brazil, we call for a reconsideration of biodiversity conservation policies and indigenous rights in areas that show enduring legacies of management by indigenous populations.