Between the Fox and the Condor: Livestock Production and Symbolism in the Quebrada de Humahuaca
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Abstract
This essay analyzes the relationship between human beings and the environment in the Quebrada de Humahuaca, province of Jujuy, Argentina, within the sphere of livestock production. The analysis is based on ethnographic sources and on texts that address this topic in other areas of the Andes.
The relationship examined here is symbolically mediated by three non-domestic animals native to the region: the fox, the condor, and the eagle. These animals indicate to the shepherd or livestock producer what will happen in the near future with their livestock. In this case, we are dealing with a phenomenon known in the Andean area as señas, signs that the inhabitants of the Quebrada read in nature and interpret; the wild animals mentioned produce señas of good or bad luck.
Human beings in this region do not produce individually, but rather in close relationship with other beings that inhabit their environment, with whom they also share their production.
Nature functions as a mediator of livestock production, and this mediation establishes a kind of “kinship” between domestic and non-domestic animals, thus revealing the relationship among different species.
The population of the Quebrada interprets the signs produced by nature and, in this way, constructs meanings that frame their lives.
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The author/s grant exclusive license without temporary limit for the manuscript to be published in Cuadernos-FHyCS edited by Humanides the Faculty of Social Science, National University of Jujuy.
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