Resilience and Recovery in the Gran Chaco: Ecological Knowledge Encoded in Wildfire Stories

SCALISE SUGIYAMA, MICHELLE; MENDOZA, MARCELA; CARPIO, MARÍA BELÉN

Eugene (Oregon)

Encuentro; Annual meetings of the American Society for Environmental History; 2022

American Society for Environmental History (ASEH)

Tropical forests, grasslands, and savannas in the Gran Chaco are fire-prone ecosystems, and local flora and fauna have developed adaptations that enable them to resist and tolerate their natural fire regimes. In this study, we investigate human responses to this problem. Humans have occupied the region for thousands of years, using and managing fire for hunting, planting, and warfare. Significantly, the oral traditions of Indigenous Chacoan peoples tell of cataclysmic fires, their devastating effects on life, and subsequent recovery processes. These stories are typically classified as origin myths; to date, they have not been examined in terms of the traditional ecological knowledge they may encode. Accordingly, we analyzed wildfire stories recorded among Weenhayek, Wichí, Western Toba-Qomle’k, Eastern Toba-Qom, Pilagá, and Nivaclé peoples. We found references to pre- and post-fire winds and temperatures, plant regrowth, animal behavior, and human coping responses, as well as warnings about the consequences of not abiding by traditional knowledge. These findings point to a dynamic relationship between Chacoan peoples and fire regimes: collectively, their stories describe strategies of resilience and recovery prior to European colonization. Our analysis of these narratives supports the hypothesis that Indigenous wildfire narratives encode valuable information about natural fire regimes.