Hunters with no Prey, Horticulturists with no Land. An Approach to the current Ways of Production and Access to Food by the Hitnu Indigenous People

Abstract

The Hitnu indigenous people suffer from a serious food crisis that has been sharpened by many factors in recent years. The purpose of this text is to present a multi-causal overview of the current situation of the production and access to food by this indigenous group. The purpose is to understand the situation that they are facing, and to contribute analytic elements that allow to overcome certain investigative approaches and reductionist social interventions, in so far as they concentrate on a single area of the problem. The article will state the need of considering: the current patterns of social organization, inter-generational differences, land uses, the variation of indigenous territory, types of social classification, inter-ethnic relationships, the interference of external groups (Multinational Corporations, guerrillas), the close economic relations with the non-indigenous world, among other elements that allow us to approach this complex food crisis. The severity of the Hitnu people's food crisis will be highlighted based on the data collected through fieldwork, ethnography, and bibliographical review. This is one case, among many others in the country, that makes apparent the enormous vulnerability of the Ethnic communities