CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Processes of spatial mobility among the Mbya are of interest in anthropological and ethnobiological studies, as these processes are related to transformations in the landscape and the environment. Despite this, ethnographic literature usually focuses itself on the mobility of Guaraní communities from the perspective of population dynamics and on a regional scale. Our research among two Mbya-Guaraní communities in the Argentinean province of Misiones has enabled us to recognize patterns of mobility on a micro-scale. Certainly, the mobility of adult members of these communities as they perform hunting and gathering activities defines individual spaces of land use. The different pathways and processes of spatial mobility resulting from such activities may be interpreted as ?signatures in landscape.? Taking into account specific activities such as the treatment of gastrointestinal illnesses, we have been able to identify patterns of mobility (away from the settlements and towards the monte, for example) as members of the community search for therapeutic resources. The design and construction of the pathways used in these patterns of mobility is determined by the specific personal knowledge of individuals who search for these valuable resources. Using both strategies of direct observation ?as members of the community manipulate different resources during these search and gathering trips? and interviews, we have been able to gather and interpret significant information on the strategies used by the Mbya to domesticate the monte areas. The spatial design and construction resulting from these trips could not be considered a consensual or collective strategy of the whole community; it is rather the result of the daily strategies of individuals, which involves the selection of resources based on each individual?s knowledge and interests. Any potential consequences of these strategies in the long term should be assessed in future research.

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