Entender al “monte”: el brote del diálogo entre la comunidad indígena de San Antonio de Calarma y su entorno

Abstract

In this article, I address the notion of “el monte” (“the wilderness”) as understood by the Pijao at San Antonio de Calarma, an indigenous reservation in Tolima, Colombia. I analyze “el monte” first as an actor and a “self” that emerges from the dialogues between the Pijao and their environment, and as a non-human actor that relates to humans. Based on several stories, observation and social cartographies and my fieldwork at Calarma, I analyze how “el monte” shapes practices following the requirement of certain procedures: reforestation, the choice of cultivation areas, and the harvesting of plants useful for traditional medicine.