Date of Award
6-1991
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Arthur Helweg
Second Advisor
Dr. Larry Israel
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
This thesis is an ethno-historical reconstruction of the Siriono from their roots among the Paraguayan Guarani of the 16th century to the present Siriono life styles in eastern Bolivia. A description of the Siriono culture at the time of contact is juxtaposed with analyses of the current varying results of post-contact approaches to directed social change taken by outsiders among the Siriono.
The findings from this study indicate that: (a) to the extent that underdevelopment does exist among the Siriono it is not only the result of contact this century, but began as a process of deculturation long before contact; and (b) the condition of all the Siriono people is not one of underdevelopment. The condition of a particular community, Ibiato, provides an example of post-contact directed social change that succeeded in providing the Siriono with their own identity in Bolivian society.
Recommended Citation
Scholte, Ronald S., "The Siriono People of Eastern Bolivia: Cultural Survival Amidst Directed Social Change" (1991). Masters Theses. 1019.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1019