Co-Parenting with the Land in Amazonian Ecuador: Speech, Breath, and Personhood Among the Napo, Runa

This paper explores the processes of personhood in lowland Amazonia and specifically, Kichwa-speaking communities in Ecuador. In lowland Amazonia, personhood is developed through a multitude of social processes in contrast to the Western perception of birth as the defining moment of personhood. As noted in the current literature, an infants' personhood emerges through their relationships with family and community This thesis investigates whether a similar process exists among Kichwa speakers. While Kichwa infants undergo processes akin to their lowland Amazonian neighbors, such as body manipulation and food taboos, shared breath, often through speech, is vital to the ebbs and flows of personhood. This shared breath connects generations and fosters relationships between humans and the nonhuman environment, which is integral to the survival and thriving of the human ayllu and the processual attainment of personhood for infants and children.