This project, conceived in partnership with leaders from the Indigenous Achuar Nationality of the Ecuadorian Amazon, aims to document the material knowledge systems of the Achuar people in constructing and using their traditional ‘Jea’ (house) in the communities of Mashientz, Sharamentza and Pumpuentsa. The project focuses on documenting the entire lifecycle of the ‘Jea’, including the process of gathering materials like thatch and palm wood in the forest, using traditional construction tools and techniques, to its varied uses and rituals, such as the ‘guayusa’ and ‘ayahuasca’ ceremonies.
In particular, the project will focus on understanding how different areas in the ‘Jea,’ like the ‘tankamash’ (male space) and ‘ekent’ (female space), reflect defined gender roles in their society. To document these spatial processes, the project employs digital methods including video recordings of the construction process and interviews with elders, photographs (including 360 and aerial photos), and drawings. A novel approach includes the creation of ‘voice journals’, which digitally capture oral accounts from community members about the construction process and the evolving nature of their built environment, a critical element of their material culture.
The ‘Jea’ house typology is highly endangered due to Western construction practices rapidly entering Achuar territories over the past decade. The proposed research methods will not only serve to document the physical construction of the ‘Jea’ and the cultural practices it enables, but will also serve to pass down this construction knowledge to the next generations of Achuar builders.
Principal Investigator:
Luis Felipe Flores Garzon
Collaborators:
Angela Person and Teresa Chiriapa
Location of Research:
Mashientz, Sharamentza, and Pumpuentsa, Ecuador
Host Institution:
The University of Oklahoma, USA
Top Banner Image: ‘Jea,’ the traditional Achuar house and its surroundings. Photo credit: Luis Felipe Flores Garzon (2024).