南米における焼畑農業についての二,三の考察 : 熱帯焼畑農業研究 第1報
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概要
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Before the Western Civilizations reached there, the slash-and-burn agriculture had distributed over tropical South America, especially in the tropical rain forest area and its marginals. This agiculture is well adapted to the natural conditions of this area.(1) the technological adaptation of agricultureThe aboriginal peasants who practice the slash-and-burn agriculture mostly belong to the Arawak, Carib and Tupi=Guarani tribes. They cultivate the manioc as main crop besides maize, beans and sweet potatoes etc. In this area the bitter manioc plays the important part in the crop complex. The manioc are not necessarily harvested in the usual sense. They may be left in the ground and used as needed. So, the agricultural activities go on throughout the year for the peasants who depend on the maniocs. Then, in tropical South America, there are no sanctioned ceremonies.The forest clearings and rough cultivations are done by men with digging sticks and stone axes, but rest of agricultural works are done by women. These cultivated lands usually are scattered in a numbers of isolated plots in the jungle which surrounds a village, but after 3 or 5 years cultivations, the soil are exhausted and the new plots then must be cleared.(2) the social adaptation of agricultureThe basic socio-political unit of the forest people is extended family, living in a large communal house. Economically also it forms the basic unit, that is, the fundamental production and consumption unit of the tribes. The agricultural clearings are farmed jointly by the extended family members and the produces are jointly distributed. This joint labour system, for example among the Tupi=Guaravi people it was called pusirão, was found in almost all the native agricultural tribes. But their agricultural implements are inferior to the hoes of the West African tribes (Yorubas, Ibo and Haussa etc). Their cultivations, therefore, are not so intensive as African tribes are.The typical communities of the native tribes in South America are generally consit of 150-500 persons, while there are many towns in native tropical Africa. The small size of communities might be caused by this poor intensity of the agriculture.(3) the acculturation process.After the white Civilizations reached there, the native agriculture has changed rapidly. The new crops and metal implements were introduced. The sedentalism, commercialism and the more intensity of cultivation come to their agriculture. With the changes of means of agriculture, among these many tribes, the extended families had been changed in its functions and at last they disappeared.
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