Processes of spatial mobility among the Mbya are of interest in anthropological and ethnobiological studies, as these processes are related to transformations in the landscape and the environment. Despite this, ethnographic literature usually focuses itself on the mobility of Guaraní communities from the perspective of population dynamics on a regional scale.Our research among two Mbya-Guaraní communities in the Argentinean province of Misiones has enabled us to recognize patterns of mobility on a micro-scale. Certainly, the mobility of adult members of these communities as they perform hunting and gathering activities delimit spaces of individual use. We consider the different pathways as "signatures in landscape", resulting from processes of spatial mobility inherent to those activities Taking into account the gathering and circulation of medicinal plants for treatment of gastrointestinal illnesses, we have been able to identify different pathways inherent in their search, towards the monte or other spaces away from de settlement. The design and construction of the pathways is determined by the specific personal knowledge of individuals who search for these valuable resources.Using both strategies of direct observation -as members of the community manipulate different resources during these search and gathering trips -and interviews, we have been able to gather and interpret significant information on the strategies used by the Mbya to domesticate the monte areas.As a consequence of our approach we suggest that the landscape design resulting from these trips should not be considered a consensual or collective strategy of the whole community; it is rather the result of the daily strategies of individuals, which involves the selection of resources mainly based on each individual's knowledge and interests.

Greater socio-environmental instability favors the individual production of knowledge because innovations are adapted to new circumstances. Furthermore, instability stimulates the horizontal transmission of knowledge because this mechanism disseminates adapted information. This study investigates the following hypothesis: Greater socio-environmental instability favors the production of knowledge (innovation) to adapt to new situations, and socio-environmental instability stimulates the horizontal transmission of knowledge, which is a mechanism that diffuses adapted information. In addition, the present study describes “how”, “when”, “from whom” and the “stimulus/context”, in which knowledge regarding medicinal plants is gained or transferred. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews from three groups that represented different levels of socio-environmental instability. Socio-environmental instability did not favor individual knowledge production or any cultural transmission modes, including vertical to horizontal, despite increasing the frequency of horizontal pathways. Vertical transmission was the most important knowledge transmission strategy in all of the groups in which mothers were the most common models (knowledge sources). Significantly, childhood was the most important learning stage, although learning also occurred throughout life. Direct teaching using language was notable as a knowledge transmission strategy. Illness was the main stimulus that triggered local learning. Learning modes about medicinal plants were influenced by the knowledge itself, particularly the dynamic uses of therapeutic resources.

En este trabajo nos proponemos utilizar la metodología de redes sociales como estrategia para el análisis de información relativa al dominio de las actividades de subsistencia-caza, recolección, horticultura, producción de artesanías y otras-en una comunidad aborigen Mbyá-Guaraní, integrada actualmente por 157 personas, en la Reserva de Usos Múltiples del "Valle del Cuñapirú", Misiones, Argentina. El estudio comenzó con el diseño de una encuesta etnográfica cuyos ítem permitieron obtener datos sobre todas las actividades que transectan las unidades domésticas y que definen vínculos entre los actores involucrados en las diferentes tareas y sus etapas de desarrollo, tanto dentro como fuera de la comunidad. De este modo iniciamos el análisis de redes sociales, aplicando las medidas de centralidad, con el propósito de visualizar los patrones de interacción emergentes del modo de subsistencia Mbyá-Guaraní. Redes-Revista Hispana para el análisis de redes sociales. Volumen 2#6 http://revista-redes.rediris.es Redes-Revista Hispana para el análisis de redes sociales. Volumen 2#6

Cita: CRIVOS, M., MARTINEZ, M.R., POCHETTINO, M.L., REMORINI,C., SAENZ, C. y SY, A. (2004). Nature and domestic life in the Valle del Cuña Pirú (Misiones, Argentina):Reflections on Mbya-Guarani ethnoecology. Abstract. Through the ethnographic record of the subsistence activities partially or completely performed in the domestic sphere in two Mbyá-Guaraní settlements in Misiones (Argentina), we outline factors important in describing the local natural environment. Data was collected through systematic observation and also through semi-structured interviews. Analysis indicates that the natural environment of the area is characterized by the indigenous community in several different ways. Thus, local people view the environment as made up of different "micro-environments," and they consequently think of the elements that compose these "micro-environments" as having different, distinct characteristics. In the context of their daily activities, both these "micro-environments" and the elements that compose them are regarded as resources, in that they are viewed in terms of what is in them relevant to the subsistence of these groups in the rainforest. It is the intention of this study to initiate the systematic recording and processing of information on how these indigenous communities know and manage the natural resources available to them in their daily life. AGRICULTURE AND HUMAN VALUES