Recovering histories of hunter-gatherers in the Bolivian lowlands

Abstract

This paper introduces research on the collections of a former Franciscan mission museum in the town of Hall in Tirol, publically accessible for only a few years in the 1930s. Its recently discovered remains along with a remarkable amount of historic photographs and written sources relating to former Tyrolian missions in Bolivia shed light on a period when groups of hunting and gathering Siriono or Mbia were forced to give up traditional lifeways and adapt to the mission regime. The collection activity and correspondence of missionaries mirror this complex process from a European perspective. It is much harder to extract an indigenous point of view from the sources available. Hence, one aim of this project is to introduce the involved native communities to the existence of these collections in order to initiate a mutual and respectful dispute on a shared history, since the collections are also the heritage of the Franciscan order itself. Likewise, Austrian society is not aware of these events. Whilst recog...