The goal of my summer travel in Bolivia was to identify potential dissertation research sites in the northern Bolivian Amazon, around Riberalta and Cobija. I was attracted to the region for a number of reasons. Not only has the Bolivian Amazon been the subject of relatively little research published in English, but additionally, this area of Bolivia is currently the top exporter of Brazil nuts. I am interested in dissertation research that focuses on a commodity, but on a less important commodity than one such as coffee or sugar. I was told that a large number of indigenous peoples are involved in the collection of Brazil nuts, but none of the research I found on the topic foregrounded indigenous issues. Thus, research in this geographic area seemed to be an ideal place to combine my interests in political economy and indigenous politics. What I found, while visiting the area, was a picture more complicated than I envisioned. In this short report I can't do justice to this complexity, but I hope to illuminate some of the key issues shaping the lives of the people I visited.

Research Methods

I spent the bulk of my summer in or near Riberalta (approximately 5 ½ weeks). I also spent short amounts of time in Cochabamba, where I did library research; Santa Cruz, where I visited two indigenous organizations (CIDOB and APCOB); and La Paz, where I could access the resources of the Vice Ministry in charge of Indigenous Affairs. My time in Cobija was limited due to illness and inability to change money. Shortly after arriving in Riberalta, I rented a room from a family. Coincidentally, the cousin of the father in the house was head of a development organization that works with indigenous peoples in the forest (PRODESIB). Through him, I was able to quickly locate the local indigenous organization (CIRABO) that includes the Chacobo, Pacaguara, Cavineña, Ese Ejja, Tacana, Araona, Yaminawa, and Mosetene peoples and gain CIRABO's assistance for the summer. This translated to being allowed to accompany representatives of PRODESIB and CIRABO on three trips, up the Madre de Dios river to Tacana and Cavineña communities, up the Beni river to Ese Ejja and Cavineña communities, and over land to a Chacobo community. Through these fast-paced trips, I was able to gain a superficial understanding of important issues currently affecting indigenous peoples in the Bolivian Amazon today. Informal interviews and observations were my primary means of gathering data, supplemented by written sources I was able to collect such as scholarly books and articles, government documents, and newspapers.

Brazil-Nut Collecting.

In northern Bolivia, among the people I visited, the currently dominant commodity is the Brazil nut [also called Para nut, Amazon nut, almendro (but not almond), and castaña (but not chestnut)]. Palm hearts and timber are also important. An important characteristic of the Brazil nut is that it can be collected without killing the tree from which it comes, unlike the type of palm heart found in the area or timber. This makes Brazil-nut extraction seem like an economically feasible and environmentally friendly option. The collection and processing of the nuts, along with other non-timber forest products such as palm hearts, has been promoted as a way to protect the rainforest, as sustainable forest use. Thus, these local collectors deal with laws that limit legal uses of the forest and its products, with development workers that encourage "local participation".but feel limited by the types of projects that seem feasible and fundable, with local owners of the land (or holders of land concessions), and with factory owners that establish the price of nuts. The history of the collection and sale of Brazil nuts is tied to that of rubber. When the rubber market was strong, Brazil nuts were collected to complement rubber income. When the rubber market collapsed, Brazil nuts became the most important source of cash income for many. Since the most recent collapse of the rubber market in the 1980s, Bolivia has become the leading exporter of Brazil nuts. According to one man in a rural community I visited, men disappear into the forest collecting nuts for a Riberalta nut factory during the months of January, February, and March. They are contracted to collect for only one of approximately a dozen factories located in Riberalta. The collectors have trails that they use year after year and know where the trees are from which they will collect the nuts. According to this man, the men are absent from their communities for the entire three months during which the nuts fall from the trees, unless someone gets sick and goes to Riberalta-the nearest place to get medical attention. When the men go to the "monte", that is, into the woods, they hunt and collect all of their food. They collect the nuts and drop them at collection stations along the river, and boats pick them up to take them to the factories in Riberalta. In the factories, workers, mostly women and girls, crack the nuts on nut crackers that line work benches, cut out imperfections, and sort sizes for shipment and sale. The women work long hours (perhaps 4 a.m. - 10 p.m.) with a break for lunch. One woman described a processing plant where they "treated their workers well." She talked about how it didn't make enough money and closed. For most of the workers, the hours are long, the pay minimal, and the work repetitious.

Identifying Subjects

One of the goals of my summer was to construct a "cast of characters" acting in the region. This list is based on distinctions I find useful as a researcher. A list from the "native's point of view" would probably be quite different.

Social Classes Campesinos with or without indigenous affiliation. "Campesino" and "indigena" were sometimes presented as mutually exclusive identities. City dwellers of modest means The upper class Indigenous Members of different indigenous groups including Chacobo, Ese Ejja, Tacana, Cavineña, and Movima. Membership in a group can itself be complicated and contested.

Indigenous

• Foreigners
  
  

• Investors, speculators
• Missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant
• Researchers from the natural and social scientists
  

  
  Government Representatives
  
  

• Elected officials
• Appointed representatives of government agencies
• Military men (only men as far as I know)

  Other groups of interest
  
  

• Indigenous confederacy (CIRABO)
• Development organizations

Future Research Orientation.

My summer's research laid the groundwork for dissertation work focusing on the ways the people of a local community near Riberalta are involved in the world system. I'm interested in the ways powerful external currents involving economic, environmental, and identity aspects are reconfigured at the local level.

Acknowledgements.

Despite the shortness of my visit, I already owe thanks to more people than I can name here for help in large and small ways. Shirley, Juan, Roger, Fabiola, Naza, Teo, Raul, and Loro especially deserve my heartfelt thanks. My surrogate family in Riberalta was generous with knowledge and affection, including me in family activities and neighborhood gatherings and making a special effort to introduce me to "comida típica." CIRABO and PRODESIB let me accompany delegates on three trips into the forest, providing entry into a number of communities belonging to four different indigenous groups. The people of these communities were gracious in accepting a stranger into their midst, sometimes without prior warning. The staff of every office I visited while in Bolivia were extremely helpful in providing access to the information I needed.

This material is based upon work supported under a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship and University of California, Berkeley, Center for Latin American Studies travel grant. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the Center for Latin American Studies.