Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
With this single phrase, Jochade upended my expectations. Like a
good
Abujá
, I had hoped to discover a hidden substrate of continuity and
counter-hegemonic resistance within the unregulated domain of Ayoreo
radio.
I glanced at him sidelong in disbelief. He was looking down politely
and clearly not joking and he was not a man who brooked repetition or
incredulity lightly. I tried to condense my confusion into a question.
“Do you talk about how the
Cojñone
are stealing your lands?”
“The
Cojñone
are stealing our lands. It is true. But we do not talk about
that on the radio. We want to know who is sick. We want to share the
Word of God.”
Over the next several months, I struggled to apprehend the full sig-
nificance of Jochade's lesson. Of course, I knew that Ayoreo radio had
long been associated with Christianity. Bill Pencille made Direquednejn-
aigosode porters, including a young Jnupi, carry shortwave radio sets on
their backs through the tangled brush to Echoi, where he broadcast live
updates during his 1960 expedition to contact the band of Uejnai, the
great Guidaigose leader. At least since then, missionaries allowed their
favorites to communicate via the radio with relatives on allied Protestant
