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Bird's EyeView
Friday, August 30,1996
Embracing the people of the
AMAZON
Tyler Wirken / KANSAN
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Bart Dean, assistant professor of anthropology, and his wife Michelle McKinley, assistant research professor at the Anthropology Museum, have shaped their lives around studying and helping the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.
professor of anthropology, and his wife Michelle McKinley have also decorated their North Lawrence home with hand-crafted pots and woven rugs.
Story by Eric Weslander
tribal blow-gun hangs above Bart Dean's desk. Dean, assistant
Although they have just returned from a six-month trip to the Chambira region of Peru, they want to make it clear that they were not tourists.
They have spent the past nine years working with the Urarina people, a tribal group numbering fewer than 5,000 who are scattered in isolated villages throughout the Chambira Basin.
they were not courts. McKinley and Dean are the directors of the Amazonian Peoples Resources Initiative, an organization dedicated to protecting the indigenous peoples of the Amazon from disease, ignorance and exploitation.
And whenever the subject of their personal involvement comes up, the conversation always returns to the Urarina people.
"WE'VE DONE FAR TOO LITTLE."
"People like the Urarina exist, and they can exist very hidden from society," said McKinley, assistant research professor at the Anthropology Museum. "They experience a lot of abuses, because people just don't know."
Bart Dean, assistant professor of anthropology
THE KU CONNECTION
Dean received his doctoral degree from Harvard in May 1995. Shortly after, he accepted a job in the department of anthropology at the University of Kansas.
McKinley resigned as the director of Cultural Survival, founded Amazonian Peoples Resources Initiative, and accepted a position at University of Kansas' Anthropology Museum.
Since coming to the University, Dean and McKinley have received support from various departments, which include grants from the department of anthropology, the Hall Center for the Humanities, and the department of Latin-American studies.
McKinley received a juris doctorate from Harvard and was the former director of Cultural Survival, a human rights organization.
At the invitation of the KU department of Latin American studies, McKinley gave a lecture on the rights of indigenous peoples and received an enthusiastic response.
Dean said that in addition to the grants, they have benefited from the expertise of many faculty members and students.
"We felt it was imperative that we organize and garner support for our cause in this country," she said. "This is possible at such a large university where there is a lot of interest, sympathy, and willingness to participate."
"There is a wealth at this university, from the department of geography to the
school of nursing, that we have been able to tan into," said Dean.
For example, Jennifer Hunter, graduate student, with a background in nursing, joined Dean and McKinley in the Chambra Basin for one month this summer.
Hunter studied the nutrition and growth of Urarina and helped develop a health survey of the area.
"You can read about it, but no matter how much you've intellectually prepared, there is nothing like actually going," said Hunter.
When Dean and McKinley returned from the Chambira Basin, they brought back many Urarina artifacts to be displayed throughout the year.
The Urarina are hunters and gatherers who are isolated in the Chambira Basin. The only way to reach their villages is by taking a boat along the Amazon river. This trip can take up to 8 weeks.
The goal of the collection and planned exhibits is to raise awareness of the plight of the Urarina people.
THE PLIGHT OF THE URARINA
Today, the Urarina people face three main threats:
A deadly form of cerebral malaria, a disease which the Urarina do not have the resources to fight, is spreading through their villages.
wo professors have dedicated their lives to helping the Urarina tribe in Peru.
CONTRIBUTED AR
The few schools that exist in the Chambira are Spanish-speaking schools. The Urarina, however,
Since they do not read or write, they are routinely exploited by loggers who float down from Iquitos, the closest city to their villages. The loggers give them
have their own language which is not written and is not related to any known languages.
chain saws, and tell them to produce a set amount of lumber. Because the Urarina have no monetary system, they receive things like cloth, bullets, and moonshine for their services. Often the Urarinate receive $100 worth of goods for more than $1000 worth of lumber, Dean
The photo above and at top were taken by Bart Dean. They depict the people of the Ugarita tribe of Peru.
said.
What it comes down to is blatant exploitation," he said.
FROM RESEARCH TO ADVOCACY
What began as research for Dean and McKinley gradually evolved into advocacy.
In January 1900, Dean was diagnosed with a severe case of malaria, which he contracted from an August 1989 visit to Peru. He had been living among the Urarina people and studying their way of life for several months.
When the doctor who treated him at the Harvard infirmary became interested in his research, Dean realized that it was possible to do more than just observe the Urarina.
"We go there as students of their culture and their society, but also realize that we are in a position of power," Dean said. "It would be immoral to just be students without somehow passing on opportunities to them."
The doctor and Dean began to distribute antibiotics and other modern medicines to the Urarina, and found their health was only one of many things that needed outside attention in the village.
To help the Urarina fight the cerebral malaria and other health problems, APRI has begun a sustained health care program among the Urarina. In addition to teaching tribal workers various preventative health techniques, APRI has made antibiotics available to many of the villages.
APRI is trying to establish schools that are taught in the native Urarina language as well as in Spanish.
"We have hired an Urarina teacher and have a school going, but to really make it effective we would need at least 30 schools," Dean said. "We hope to do this over the next five to 10 years."
The Urarina have a legal title to their homelands, but their inability to read and write has left them unable to take advantage of their position.
For example, loggers could come in, clear out large portions of the rain forest and leave before anyone would say anything. Dean said.
"TO TURN OUR BACKS WOULD BE TREACHEROUS."
Michelle McKinley, assistant research professor at the Anthropology Museum
CONTINUING WORK
Through the years, however, Dean and McKinley have established trust with the Urarina people.
"They are suspicious of anyone from the outside," McKinley said. "Anyone from the outside has only brought them misery."
defend the Chambira Basin.
"I was willing to be the village idiot," he said. "That's why the people gave me a nickname which means 'white howler monkey."
Dean said that having a sense of humor was important. Dean and the Urarina people realized that, although their cultures were extremely different, they all could laugh at a good loke.
Although Dean and McKinley have gained the confidence of the Urarina people and have taken several significant steps toward empowering the Urarina, they do not see themselves as heroes.
"We've done far too little," he said. "The only real way it will work is when they can do these things for themselves."
Dean knows his personal experiences fascinate many people, but he doesn't like to dramatize the details.
"I feel much more comfortable talking about the Urarina people than I do talking about myself in a boat," he said. "I don't want to make people think I was fending off anacondas."
McKinley said that although many of her colleagues from Harvard were making buckets of money, her job satisfaction could not be quantified.
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"I don't think I could do anything else," she said. "To turn our backs would be treacherous."
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