| This dissertation presents an ethnographic study carried out in highland Ecuador among Quichua-speaking groups within the Lake San Pablo-Imbakocha watershed. It illuminates local cosmology involved in non-human biophysical realms (NHBR). The study addresses the challenges of integrating disjunctive cognitive frameworks, embedded in the cosmologies of local indigenous peoples and multilateral organizations, during sustainable development projects. The author concludes that shifting methodological foci from Western epistemological frameworks, to the influences that bear upon the development of local epistemologies, mitigates cognitive disjunctions.; The researcher assisted a team of local indigenous and international experts in data collection for sustainable development planning. Data was collected through observation and unstructured and semi-structured interviews of local indigenous professionals, community leaders, elders, high school students, and other village residents. Analysis of the data demonstrates cosmological involvement in cognitive processes vis-a-vis non-human biophysical realms (NHBR). Cosmological elements were also documented in locally-generated diagnostic materials, community histories, personal histories, festivals, rituals, places, spaces, legends, and myths. The resulting analysis contributes to ethnographic studies of the region and to local and international sustainable development literature. In addition, the author suggests a new focal point for cognitive anthropology.; The author introduces the term, synaptic anthropology to suggest a cognitive focus for multilateral endeavors. The research indicates that focusing on environmental and cultural influences during synaptic formation will diminish disjunctions in cross-cultural endeavors. Documenting these elements provides valuable data to local cultures, and insights for non-local cultures, during multilateral interaction. Further, the author demonstrates that knowledge from local elders may provide economical and more efficient techniques for sustainable environmental management.; The dissertation calls forth the collected data to contextualize indigenous activism in Ecuador during the mid- to late 1990s, and further explicates the rationale and expectations for ongoing activism among indigenous peoples in Latin America. |
