Bolivia, May through July 2006
I spent two months working in the town of San Borja and the surrounding Tsimane communities
on the health and anthropology project run out of UNM and UC Santa Barbara. I help manage
the data collected by the project and am preparing to pursue my dissertation research with
the Tsimane over the next couple years. This summer Helen Davis, another grad student at
UNM, and I ran a small study looking at the effects of education among Tsimane kids.
The Tsimane speak their own language, and some of the men and women speak Spanish.
The communities range in size from about 40 to 400 people, and vary considerably in how
connected they are with the outside world. They are mainly reached by river or roads built
by the logging companies. Most families hunt, fish, and garden for their food, but some
also find jobs with the loggers or sell produce in San Borja. A handful of Tsimane who
speak Spanish well also work with the medical team or collect interview data for the
anthropology side of the project.
The first couple photos are from La Paz, the 3rd and 4th show the highway down to
the lowlands, and the rest are from San Borja and the Tsimane communities.
Thanks to Eric Schniter for a few of these!