Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
indistinguishable from the biopolitical governance of Ayoreo-speaking
peoples. How is the category of isolated life brought to bear against Ay-
oreo humanity? What is at stake in this process for settled Totobiegosode
and their concealed relatives?
Ambiguity of the Hidden
As part of my fieldwork, I spent two years working alongside the first
tribal organization of the Totobiegosode, formed in 2005. The name
chosen for this institution reflected its futuristic orientation: the Orga-
nización Payipie Ichadie Totobiegosode (OPIT), the Organization of New
Totobiegosode
Ayipie
.
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During this time, it was impossible to ignore the
real social force that the fantasy of the isolated Indian exerted within and
through Ayoreo life. It was a national legal category, a global framework
for Indigenous rights, a form of moral reasoning about cause and effect,
and a rallying cry for several competing NGOs. Yet it was difficult, if
not impossible, for me to recognize this hypervisible “isolated” Ayoreo
subject within the realities I encountered on the ground. I struggled to
understand the tense gaps between the increasingly powerful category of
