Wichi Perceptions of the Land
The phrase "Ohäpehen honhat lhawo", in the title of this paper, is a common wichi expression which well sums up their perception of their relation to the land where they live. It literally means "we are the earth's flower". In 1991 I participated in a small team that sought to assist the Indian communities of the area to present a formal land claim to the Salta Government. During that time, and again and again since then, I have heard the people express ideas like the following:
"The Government is not the owner of the land, nor are the criollo settlers. This land and ourselves were here long before we ever saw this piece of paper that they call a 'land title'. And what is a piece of paper? Put it in the fire and it is gone! How can they say that they are the owners of the land if they never made it? How can they say that they are the owners of the trees if they never planted them? And how can they say that they are the owners of the honey and wild animals in the forest? They don't have any brands to prove it! How can they say that they own the land, if the land was here before them and will be here after they die? God alone can be the owner of this land and all that is in it, as it is all his making."
By the same token, neither do the Wichi see themselves as the "owners" of the land. To claim ownership to the land is in their eyes simply a preposterous idea, a mental slight of hand that is patently untrue and reveals something of the deceiptful nature that they have come to associate with "white" society. Their perception of being "flowers of the earth" clearly expresses their sense of belonging to the land, quite the reverse to the western concept of the land and its resources being the property of a person.
In the traditional Wichi conception of the world, which to a large extent still informs their perception of things, all the natural resources - the forest and its plants, the river and its fish, the wild animals, the distant mountains and the rain - all have their own spirit-owners or masters. These owners are prior to any humans who may claim ownership and it is important to avoid rousing their disapproval, otherwise they will bring misfortune upon the offending person in the way of illness and even death. Needless to say this spiritual reality reinforces the idea that humans cannot "own" the land.
There is a social corrolate to this conception which must be given its due emphasis. The Wichi have a very strong sharing ethic. Since the land and its resources cannot belong to any one person, it makes no sense to claim some kind of exclusive right over these resources. To the contrary, all should have equal right to make use of what is available, always bearing in mind that one should avoid offending the spirit owners by, for example, killing too many of his animals. In other words, you appropriate only what you can make use of directly and not what might give you power over others or security for the future.
The sharing doesn't stop here with equal access to resources, but carries over into the redistribution of the resources once they have been appropriated. Typically, a man who brings home game or fish, will lay it at the feet of his wife or his wife's parents, who will then distribute portions to the neighbouring family groups, who are likely to be kin relatives. But sharing is by no means limited to relatives. To be stingy is one of the worst offenses for a Wichi, ranking close to showing anger and being violent. One of the primary meanings of the word, "husek", which in wichi can translate "soul", "spirit", "will", "intelligence" or "life-force", is "generous". And so, curiously enough, non-Indians would seem to lack a "spirit", because we are rarely prepared to share as generously and as thoroughly as the Wichi expect of a human being. Anyone who does not share, or who hoards, is liable to be ridiculed and so will find him or herself alienated from his or her own people, a condition to be avoided at all cost.
It is not hard to realize that the implications of this constelation of concepts, values and behaviour makes for a set of relations between, on the one hand, the people and their natural environment and, on the other, the people themselves, that is fundamentally different from those commonly found in western society.
