Water and Heritage: Sustainable Alternatives Based on the Worldviews of South American Communities

Abstract

Water has a central position in the cosmovision of Native peoples in Brazilian culture. In the Andes, water is sacred and revered. However, in South America, colonial practices and the advance of agriculture and farming following industrialization has had devastating effects on cultures and ecologies. Only in recent decades has awareness started growing that there might be lessons for a sustainable future to be found in Indigenous peoples’ ways of living with water. This article conceptualizes the importance of “nature-based solutions” and illustrates this with examples from Brazil (Minas Gerais) and the Andes. It shows how ancient water practices are still present in local communities and languages, and the authors suggest ways of reinstating and protecting water-related heritage that go beyond the divides between nature and culture, tangible and intangible.