Abstract
The maintenance of exceptionally high numbers of folk varieties by the Piaroa people of the Venezuelan Amazon is considered. We cataloged 113 manioc folk varieties, their nomenclature, use and relevant characters, revealing significant insights into the role of manioc in Piaroa social life. Through a qualitative investigation of the cultivation, processing and symbolic significance of manioc (Manihot esculenta) in two Piaroa regions over a period of 18 years, we have found that such agrobiodiversity can only be fully explained by a combination of multiple factors, including pragmatic and ecological considerations, the subtle and complex diversity of Piaroa manioc preparations and a variety of sociocultural factors, such as manioc’s role as a mediator of social relationships and as a marker of cultural and social heritage.
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Notes
According to Piaroa folk botanical taxonomy, manioc is classified as a monotype life from category (isaw h \(\widetilde{e}\)), which is to say it is the only member of its class at the life form rank.
In the midst of this period of uncertainty, both authors applied separately for research permits to collect plant samples in the late 1990s but were unable to obtain them.
The major fluvial regions occupied by the Piaroa in Venezuela include: Suapure, Parguaza, Cataniapo, Cuao, Autana, Sipapo, midddle-upper Orinoco, lower-middle Ventuari, and Manapiare.
We are aware that the total inventory of culturally recognized varieties cannot be extrapolated on the basis of population numbers alone, especially given the lack of representative sampling design. But the magnitude of hypothetical increase should take into account the size and variability of the population (>12,000 in 190 communities), the diversity of the environment inhabited (savanna, lowland forest, upland forest; blackwater, clearwater, whitewater basins; seasonal and a seasonal pluvial conditions), and the considerable degree of interethnic contact and interaction.
The nucleation of families and the removal from the home of men for wage labor and older children for education is placing a considerably higher childcare burden on adult women (Heckler 2002).
For methods and more on this study see Zent and Heckler 2004.
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Heckler, S., Zent, S. Piaroa Manioc Varietals: Hyperdiversity or Social Currency?. Hum Ecol 36, 679–697 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-008-9193-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-008-9193-2