Example of Outline for Geography research article: Amazonian Agriculturalists Bound by Subsistence Hunting. by Eric Minzenberg & Richard Wallace (2008) Published in: Journal of Cultural Geography, 28(1), 99-121.

1. Article #7: Amazonian
Agriculturalists Bound by
Subsistence Hunting.
by Eric Minzenberg & Richard Wallace
Published in: Journal of Cultural Geography, 28(1), 99-
121.
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Geography Topic: Subsistence - kinship
economies of the Amazonian Caboclo
communities, Natural Resource
Management in the Amazon Basin

2. Topic, Population & Setting:
• Topic: An ethnographic study of the Caboclo
community kinship systems of subsistence
hunting in the Amazon (Abstract – p. 99)
• Geographical Setting: Amazonian Caboclo
communities in Seringal Sao Salvador, western
Brazilian state of Acre, Amazon Basin
• Rural Brazil: Sustainable Development Project –
PDS, local resource management of wildlife
• Cultural systems: social conflict & cohesion of
Kinship - “non-market exchange of game meat
between rural households” (p. 100)
p. 99 – Abstract & Introduction, p. 103 – Study location map
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3. 3
A
Brazilian connection:
Immigrants in
Framingham, MA have
friends & relatives in
Marietta, GA &
Atlanta, GA p. 484
etting: San Salvador, Guajara, Brazilian state of Acre, western Amazon Bas

4. 4
Resource Management Areas, Acre, Brazi
ubber Tapping – part of subsistence
conomy – supplement income
pok Trees – Western Brazilian Natural
Slash & Burn–
agriculture to su

5. Study Purpose, Objective & Rationale
• 1. What impact did the transition of Caboclo communities of
Sao Salvador, Brazil from the debt-peonage of rubber tapping
back to hunting kinship culture have on maintaining cultural-
environmental stability?
• 2. Researchers explore the significance of the Caboclo
settlement residents who are engaged in transitions of
subsistence to market-based agricultural production. (p. 102)
• Research Objective: Examine the socio-cultural dynamics of
subsistence hunting for Caboclo families in Sao Salvador, Brazil
Rationale:
Understanding the community of subsistence hunting and how
maintenance of kinship & meat exchange play a major role in
maintaining the ecosystem & support the Caboclo communities.
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6. Cultural Geography of Caboclo Peoples
• Caboclo communities– Descendants of
miscegnation of Indigenous Peoples with the
Portuguese & Africans from NE Brazil (p. 99).
• Subsistence hunting- Term to describe non-
market living in the Amazon
• Deb-peonage system – Caboclo paid % of rubber
harvest to the land developers
• Kinship ties – beyond economic & into the inter-
household exchanges: “Social conflict & tension –
part of household meat exchange among families,
maintains cultural cohesion & stabilizes the physical
environment of western Amazon
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7. Historical Background of Sao Salvador
Rubber economy from 1930’s to 1990 – The debt-
peonage rubber system required a rubber tapper or
“Seringueiro” to pay annual land-use fee of 50 mg of
rubber to the Patrao (Pedro de Morais). Estimates of 600
kg of rubber or 10% in payment to the de Morais family
(p. 102).
1980’s Morais family left Brazil, Caboclo had to make a
“livelihood transition” for each household & family:
Subsistence fishing & hunting & market sales of rubber &
local fish & meat
2005 –rubber tapping no longer the main economic
activity (p. 103)
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8. Ethnography & Cultural Geography of Traditional Amazonian
Peoples
• The Researchers studied the culture of the Caboclo
communities by observation, interviews, and participation in
community councils
• Study indicates game hunting sustains natural environment &
inter-household ties
• Outside strategies such as animal rearing to conserve regional
wildlife backfire & disturb traditional “socio-economic
relationships in rural communities.”
• Study shows need for further ethnographic research to:
understand existing & emergence of “socio-cultural” cultures
in their “local contexts” i.e. the Caboclo communities in the
state of A
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9. Management of common property
resources
• Kinship ties– intra-household connections are
a “regulatory mechanism” of exploitation of
meat & game resources in the PDS settlement
• Cattle Rearing – Land intensive, destroys
forest & displaces Indigenous People whose
culture & practices maintain the ecosystem.
• Deforestation – dislocates people & disrupts
linkages between households. Incredibly
destructive for short-term gain.
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10. Commentary
• “Kinship ties” maintain relationships among
the People – hunting practice is the principal
mechanism through which kinship is enacted
and households are held together.
• PDS Sao Salvador environmental reserve
created to slow deforestation of subsistence
agriculture. Allow Caboclo communities to
maintain game hunting for sustenance & to
maintain sustainable socio-economic culture.
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