In Brazil, an archaeologist and Indigenous Wajãpi people understand past traces differently—but their partnership bears fruit for both.
In the Brazilian Amazon, a university-trained archaeologist and Wajãpi Indigenous people understand traces from the past differently—but their partnership bears fruit for both.Sitting on a log, in the ever-present shadow of the Amazon forest, Roseno Wajãpi and I shared pieces of cassava bread and chunks of smoked fish. He told me about the beginning of time.
The Wajãpi had invited me to map archaeological sites in their territory. I was excited. It was the first time a university-trained archaeologist would work within the Wajãpi Indigenous Land, spanningBut during my first visit, our different understanding of the grooved rocks set me back. The Wajãpi already knew of my “archaeological finds”—the footsteps of Creator Hero from the beginning of time.
Seven days into my first trip to Wajãpi territory in 2009, we were crossing the Inipuku River, using a fallen tree as a bridge. Before stepping onto the trunk, I spotted the grooved rocks, a common archaeological feature I had seen multiple times during my career.As the group forged ahead, I didn’t even think of asking my Wajãpi partners about the grooves.
Just like an archaeological explanation, his account connected the material traces to events that formed them. Roseno’s story conveyed assumptions he had learned with his parents and grandparents. The story I told about the grooves reflected different assumptions that I had learned with my professors and more seasoned colleagues.
I came to learn from Wajãpi people that rocks, plants, and animals all carry marks from ancient times. Sometimes, as with the rock grooves, the Wajãpi traces of the past correspond with those I learned from archaeological training. In other cases, as with jaguar behavior, Wajãpi traces are beyond my archaeological toolbox.As we built space to share understandings over the years, we started bridging the gap between our different sets of knowledge.