Paper short abstract:

Focusing on the history of one Sapara community in the Ecuadorian Amazon this presentation argues that wilderness can be understood as lack of relations between humans and non-humans. The forest is not tamed, but made safe for dwelling through agreements between humans, spirits, plants and animals.

Paper long abstract:

Focusing on the history of a certain Sapara community in the Ecuadorian Amazon this presentation argues that wilderness is understood as lack of relations between humans and non-humans, challenging the Cartesian nature/culture dualism that denies the possibility of a more-than-human society.

The forest is not "tamed", but made safe for interaction through agreements between humans, spirits, plants and animals. These agreements are made through dreams and visions, and become realized in hunting practices, choices of a cultivation site, food taboos and areas where one should not venture, swim, hunt etc. The community members are wholly aware of the functionalist aspects of ecological sustainability that these agreements entail, and with their profound relations with their more-than-human society, their commitment to do their part for protecting their territory against extractive industries is unwavering.

While the dichotomy between nature and culture, wild and tame, is not present in the quotidian life of the community members, the concept of "wild" does exist. What is wild, however, is not the forest of the living territory, where relations with non-humans have been established and cared for, but the forest outside this society, where the non-humans are hostile and can readily harm those who enter their living spaces.

The communal history presented here begins with this hostile forest and tells the long story of how the founders of the community interacted with their cohabiting non-humans, creating a society beyond what is commonly understood as a community.