Stuffing or Yerba - We're Not That Different

Avatar, one of my favorite movies in which a human assimilates into a foreign alien culture while his fellow man attempts to destroy the unfamiliar yet profitable land, might be the best representation of our author, Richard Reed, and his journey to the Guarani community of Itanarami. And just like the Navi people of Pandora in James Cameron’s Avatar, the indigenous people of Itanarami have lived for years in peace, working within their sustainable resources, and whether those tactics employ agroforestry or a neurological bond with the environment, the underlying lessons still resonate.

Reed continues by foreshadowing the looming possibility of an environmentally bland, urbanized, and dim future for the communities of the Guarani people in Itanarami. The ethnocide taking place in South America is another story which parallels our class discussions in which those in power exploit the naive indigenous populations. And in this video we can see the dull lives of those forced from the forest.  

Our author then spends the majority of the first chapter discussing the innervations that familial connections have throughout religion, social structure, economics, and spatial living arrangements. And although the Guarani world seems distant from the hustle and bustle of Wall Street, this indigenous community embodies our basic human nature. Think of a world in which our family exists as our only form of trade and socialization. The realization that a transaction requires more than money and profit, but rather feelings of an emotional connectedness, creates an unwritten agreement between the people of Guarani communities. Imagine your family’s Thaknsgiving coming up in which every family will bring something to benefit the whole; whether it be Aunt Kathie’s homemade stuffing, or my cousin’s perfect mashed potatoes, every family member has their role in the occasion. And in my family, my eldest and only living grandmother will lead us in prayer, be the first to eat, and will be catered to throughout the day, while the kids eat at a smaller table, and wait their turn. Fast forward to Christmas in which gifts are exchanged, and maybe an elder uncle offers his advice like the man who taught his nephew against domestic violence. Our lives do not deviate much from the traditions of the Guarani, and considering the social constructs that govern our closest relationships it is not surprising that we stay close to our families, and willingly share our possessions to benefit our loved ones. Therefore, if these interactions are derived from our humanistic mind which seems to transcends societal pressure based on our familial organization, the next step is realizing our intrinsic relationship with nature, and allowing those feelings to surface again, giving us a connection to earth like the people of Guarani have.