Review: [untitled] Author(s): David B. Halmo Reviewed work(s): Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies by D. A. Posey; W. Balée Source: American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 93, No. 2 (Jun., 1991), p. 488 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/681347 Accessed: 12/01/2010 13:00 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=black. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
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peasants than about the peasants' views of the state, or, indeed, themselves. Resource Management in Amazonia: Indigenous and Folk Strategies. D. A. Posey and W.Balee,eds. Advances in Economic Botany, Vol. 7. Bronx: New York Botanical Garden, 1989. 297 pp. $62.65 (paper). DAVID B. HALMO
of Michigan,AnnArbor University Resource in Amazoniais one of the Management most detailed collections of analyses of indigenous and local resource management systems currently in print. The book is divided into two sections. In part 1, Balee provides an overview of "limitation theories" and synthesizes a variety of data to illustrate that contemporary native Amazonians manage critical soil, plant, and animal resources in anthropogenic forests created by indigenous forebears. Balee estimates that at least 11.8% of forest in the Brazilian Amazon alone terrafirme is the product of human interventions over a long time span. Moran examines alternative models of adaptation and argues that macrolevel concepts and frameworks should be replaced by detailed analysis of the complexities of microlevel habitats (and the specific, varied adaptations by humans to them) in order to better inform the process of synthesizing patterns on a general level. The most significant essay in the first section is by Anna Roosevelt. Using Marajo Island as an example, she argues that societies were more complex and indigenous populations much more dense than has previously been thought. One reason for current misunderstanding of preconquest Amazonia is the surprising lack of systematic archeological survey and excavation using such common techniques as flotation. Alcorn suggests that tropical farmers manage natural bioecological processes by performing routine tasks of burning, weeding, sparing, and protecting useful plants (crop and noncrop) within fields as part of agricultural "scripts." Understanding these knowledge systems requires more indepth investigation than mere interviewing. Part 2 of the volume presents detailed case studies. Space limitations prevent discussion of each case in any detail. Briefly, Boom reports that 82% of plant species and 95% of individual trees inventoried in a one-hectare plot of forest are used by the Bolivian Chacobo. Ribeiro and Kenhiri discuss the relationships between Desana cosmology and named constellations with the timing of cli-
[93, 1991]
matic processes and economic activities. Smole provides an ecological analysis of Yanomama horticulture, drawing from his previous work. Balee and Gely present a case of forest manipulation, management, and creation of vegetational zones among the Ka'apor people similar in many ways to that which Posey has documented for the Kayapo. In the next essay, Anderson and Posey discuss the process by which Kayapo people create forest islands and maintain productivity of useful vegetation in scrub savanna ecozones. Hecht and Posey analyze the gardening system of the Kayapo and the ways in which crop associations within concentric rings contribute to maintaining soil fertility. Salick discusses Peruvian Amuesha agriculture in different ecozones from floodplain to mountain. While very detailed, the article seems repetitive, making it one of the book's less enjoyable essays. Johnson provides more a case of nondestructive resource exploitation than of manipulative management among the Machiguenga. One factor influencing the intensity of resource management, he argues, is population density. In contrast, Irvine presents a case of lowland Runa living at low population density who very actively manipulate preferred resources. Chernela shows how cultural proscriptions against deforestation along blackwater river margins by the Tukano people ensure fish harvests in seasonally flooded forests by maintaining the fish food source. Fishing is more productive than floodplain corn agriculture because of rapid soil nutrient depletion. The last two essays examine the resource management strategies ofcaboclos.Parker provides a historical overview of caboclosand correctly suggests that they be considered an indigenous (though nontribal) rural population. Frechione and Posey tapped the knowledge of an acculturated cabocloand found that he recognized up to 40 different resource units within various ecozones in the Lake Coari area. This book is must reading for ecological anthropologists, conservation biologists, and, most importantly, tropical foresters, agronomists, and planners who believe they are the only experts on tropical forests, agriculture, and development. Social Science and Social Concern: Felicitation Volume in Honour of Professor B. K. Roy Burman. S. B. Chakrabarti,ed. Delhi: Mittal, (Foreword by K. Chattopadhyay.) 1988. 612 pp. Rs 450 (cloth). M. Q. ZAMAN
UniversityofLethbridge
