The Life and Death of the Glaciers of Bolivia’s Cordillera Real

FAIN: FT-291508-23

Sarah T. Hines
University of Oklahoma, Norman (Norman, OK 73019-3003)

Research leading to a book about the importance of Andean glaciers and the impact of climate change on Bolivia's indigenous peoples from the nineteenth century to today.  

“Mother of the Waters” interjects indigenous perspectives into contemporary conversations on glacial retreat as effect and symbol of global climate change. Policymakers are interested in tapping indigenous knowledge to develop responses to the impacts of shrinking glaciers. But policies and studies often fail to account for long histories of ethnic oppression or the changing, diverse ways that indigenous peoples have related to their environments. This project traces Aymara indigenous communities’ shifting relationships with glaciers in the Bolivian Andes from the end of the Little Ice Age in the mid-1800s to the present as temperatures have risen and glaciers have receded. Drawing on archival records, oral histories, scientific studies, and ethnographic interviews, this study moves beyond simple narratives of harm or resilience to reveal the diverse ways that indigenous communities’ caretaking practices have evolved in response to changing climatic, social, and political conditions.