Knowledge of Aymara inhabitants about the ancestral knowledge and interpretation of nature, fauna, and flora in agricultural culture

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51798/sijis.v6i1.1013

Keywords:

Aymara; ancestral knowledge; cultural adaptation; flora; fauna; decolonial studies

Abstract

This research aimed to determine the knowledge level possessed by Aymara inhabitants from the Ilave, Acora, and Huancané areas regarding the knowledge and interpretation of nature, fauna, and flora in agricultural culture. A quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive, and cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample consisted of 50 inhabitants of both genders, selected through non-probabilistic sampling, who were administered the Questionnaire on the Perception of Nature, Flora, Fauna, and Agricultural Culture, an instrument with adequate internal consistency. The results show that the level of knowledge of 52% of Aymara inhabitants was high, 36% was very high, and 12% was moderate. Additionally, the level of knowledge about the interpretation and meaning of nature (48%), the transmission of knowledge (40%), and social and cultural integration (84%) among the inhabitants was predominantly very high. On the other hand, knowledge related to relevance and adaptation reached a high level (48%). It was concluded that the level of knowledge of the Aymara inhabitants in the Ilave, Acora, and Huancané areas regarding the knowledge and interpretation of nature, fauna, and flora in agricultural culture was predominantly high. Therefore, it is recommended that educational strategies and community programs be implemented to promote the preservation and transmission of this traditional knowledge.

Author Biographies

Eleonor Vizcarra Herles, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, Peru

Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the National University of Altiplano, Peru.
PhD in Administration from the Federico Villarreal National University.

Francisco Tipula Mamani, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, Peru

Professor at the Faculty of Legal and Political Sciences of the National University of Altiplano.
Mr. in Law from the Andean University Néstor Cáceres Velázquez.

Marisol Yana-Salluca, Univesidad Nacional del Altiplano, Peru

Undergraduate and graduate professor at the National University of Altiplano. PhD in Education from the National University of Altiplano

Javier Montesinos Montesinos, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, Peru

Undergraduate professor at the National University of Altiplano. PhD in Education from the National University of Altiplano.

Mariela Cueva Chata, Universidad Nacional del Altiplano, Peru

Undergraduate professor at the National University of Altiplano. MA in Education from the National University of Altiplano

References

Alanoca, V., & Apaza, J. (2018). Saberes de protección ambiental y discriminación en las comunidades de aymaras de Ilave. Revista de Investigaciones Altoandinas - Journal of High Andean Research, 20(1), 95–108. https://doi.org/10.18271/ria.2018.333

Apaza, Y. K. (2019). Non-western epistemology and the understanding of the Pachamama (environment) within the world(s) of the Aymara identity. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 8(3), 6–22. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.v8i3.1241

Bastidas, A. M., Perez, B. F., Torres, J. N. Ospina, P. G., Arango, C. A., & Peñaranda, C. F. (2009). El diálogo de saberes como posición humana frente al otro: referente ontológico y pedagógico en la educación para la salud. Investigación y Educación en Enfermería, 27(1), 104–111. http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/iee/v27n1/v27n1a11.pdf

Berkes, F. (1999). Sacred ecology: Traditional ecological knowledge and resource management. Taylor & Francis.

Berkes, F., Colding, J., & Folke, C. (2000). Rediscovery of traditional ecological knowledge as adaptive management. Ecological Applications, 10(5), 1251-1262. https://doi.org/10.2307/2641280

Bixler, R. D., Koskella, B., Pickersgill, I., & Schumer, G. (2020). Phenology links wildlife ecology with sustainable agriculture. Nature Food, 1(3), 145-146.

Bodmer, R. E., Puertas, P., Fang, T., Antúnez, M., Soplín, S., Caro, J., Pérez, P., El Bizri, H. R., Arenas, M., Nieto, J. C., Kirkland, M., & Mayor, P. (2023). Management of subsistence hunting of mammals in Amazonia: A case study in Loreto, Peru. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43071-8_10

Boillat, S., & Berkes, F. (2013). Perception and interpretation of climate change among Quechua farmers of Bolivia: Indigenous knowledge as a resource for adaptive capacity. Ecology and Society, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-05894-180421

Calisaya, J. D. C., Yana-Salluca, M., Adco-Valeriano, H., Monrroy, D. E. H., Yana-Salluca, N., Herles, N. E. V., & Huanca-Arohuanca, J. W. (2023). Knowledge Management: The Siku, an Aboriginal Aymara Ethnic Group and Cultural Heritage of the Andean Highlands. Journal of Law and Sustainable Development, 11(11), e1531. https://doi.org/10.55908/sdgs.v11i11.1531

Chambers, P. A. (2020). Epistemology and domination: Problems with the coloniality of knowledge thesis in Latin American decolonial theory. Dados, 63(4), e20190147. https://doi.org/10.1590/dados.2020.63.4.221

Claros, E. (2012). Fauna y flora en el Vocabvlario de la lengva aymara de Ludovico Bertonio. Revista Ciencia y Cultura, 16(28), 175–216. https://cienciaycultura.ucb.edu.bo/a/article/view/394

Cocarico, S., Rivera, D., Beck, S., & Obón, C. (2024). Qarasiña culinary tradition: Conserving quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) as an intangible cultural heritage in Jach’a Puni (Andean community), Bolivia. Heritage, 7(10), 5390–5412. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7100254

Cocarico, S., Rivera, D., Beck, S., & Obón, C. (2025). Agrobiodiversity as a reservoir of medicinal resources: Ethnobotanical insights from Aymara communities in the Bolivian Andean Altiplano. Horticulturae, 11(1), 50. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae11010050

Fernández-Llamazares, Á., Díaz-Reviriego, I., Luz, A. C., Cabeza, M., Pyhälä, A., & Reyes-García, V. (2017). Rapid ecosystem changes challenge the adaptive capacity of local environmental knowledge. Global Environmental Change, 31, 272-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.02.001

Giagnocavo, C., De Cara-García, M., González, M., Juan, M., Marín-Guirao, J. I., Mehrabi, S., Rodríguez, E., Van der Blom, J., & Crisol-Martínez, E. (2022). Reconnecting farmers with nature through agroecological transitions: Interacting niches and experimentation and the role of agricultural knowledge and innovation systems. Agriculture, 12(2), 137. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12020137

Godden, N. J. (2021). Community work, love and the indigenous worldview of buen vivir in Peru. International Social Work, 64(3), 354–370. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872820930254

Huambachano, M. (2019). Traditional ecological knowledge and indigenous foodways in the Andes of Peru. Review of International American Studies, 12(1), 87–110. https://doi.org/10.31261/rias.6866

Incacutipa, D. J., Puma, J. S., & Cahuanihancco, C. (2022). Trayectorias migratorias de los aymaras del altiplano peruano. Alteridades, 1(63), 107-118. https://doi.org/10.24275/uam/izt/dcsh/alteridades/2022v32n63/Incacutipa

Inquilla, J., & Chambi-Apaza, E. (2019). Symbolic communication and the notion of “Pachamama” in the “Quechua” and “Aimara” cultures. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 4(2), 504–512. https://doi.org/10.22161/ijels.4.2.47

Jamioy, J. (1997). Los saberes indígenas son patrimonio de la humanidad. Nómadas, 4(2), 64–73. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/1051/105118909006.pdf

Jessen, T. D., Ban, N. C., Claxton, N. X., & Darimont, C. T. (2021). Contributions of Indigenous Knowledge to ecological and evolutionary understanding. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 20(2), 93–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2435

Lezama, P. R., Santos-Fita, D., & Vallejo, J. R. (2018). Herding ecologies and ongoing plant domestication processes in the Americas. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, 649. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00649

Mantari, M. A., Pari, Y. L. C., Cruz, R. G. A., & Flores-Mamani, E. (2024). Suma jakaña: Interacción socio-ética familiar y comunitaria aimara. Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental, 18(5), e08122. https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v18n5-166

Nugent, R., & Laporte, N. (2017). Naturenomics: Incorporating nature into urban economic policy plans and practices. Economía Agraria y Recursos Naturales, 17(2), 119-137.

Pancorbo, M., Parra-Rondinel, F., Torres-Guevara, J., Cruz-Soriano, A., & Casas, A. (2024). Gathering, agriculture, and exchange: an ethnoecological approach to the study of food patterns and feedstuff sources in communities of the Central Andes, Peru. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 20, 69. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-024-00705-9

Saylor, C. R., Alsharif, K. A., & Torres, H. (2017). The importance of traditional ecological knowledge in agroecological systems in Peru. International Journal of Biodiversity Science, Ecosystem Services & Management, 13(1), 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/21513732.2017.1285814

Sepúlveda, G., Muñoz, I., Cifuentes, D., & Muñoz-Torres, P. (2022). Agricultural activities and economic projections of Aymara communities in the Lluta river basin and Precordillera of the Arica and Parinacota Region. Idesia (Arica), 40(3), 103-118. https://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0718-34292022000300103

Soejarto, D. D. (2000). Forest plot as a tool in a biodiversity-based plant selection approach in a natural products drug discovery program. Advances in Natural Science (Hanoi), 1(S1), 9–15.

Van, J., & Enríquez Salas, P. (2002). Señas y señaleros de la santa tierra agronomía andina. Abya Yala.

Viguera, B., Martínez-Rodríguez, M.R., Donatti, C., Harvey, C.A. y Alpízar, F. (2017). Impactos del cambio climático en la agricultura de Centroamérica, estrategias de mitigación y adaptación. Materiales de fortalecimiento de capacidades técnicas del proyecto CASCADA. Conservación Internacional.

Villarroel, G., Gavilán, V., Apaza, R. D., & Roel, P. (2024). Aymara. Conocimientos, saberes, prácticas y rituales agropecuarios y alimentarios. CRESPIAL.

Vizcarra, E., Tipula, F., Yana-Salluca, M., Montesinos, J., & Cueva, M. (2024). Interpretation of nature, fauna, and flora in the agricultural culture of Aymara people: A qualitative study. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 8(2), 1952–1967. https://doi.org/10.70082/esiculture.vi.1889. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1016

Downloads

Published

2025-03-31

How to Cite

Vizcarra Herles, E., Tipula Mamani, F., Yana-Salluca, M., Montesinos Montesinos, J., & Cueva Chata, M. (2025). Knowledge of Aymara inhabitants about the ancestral knowledge and interpretation of nature, fauna, and flora in agricultural culture. Sapienza: International Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 6(1), e25014. https://doi.org/10.51798/sijis.v6i1.1013

Issue

Section

Economic & Social Sciences - Original Articles