"Dualism is the most reductive of ontologies: to reserve only for humans the ability to want things, to mean things, or to create culture. The rest is labeled 'nature,' relegated to a nonreflexive existence."
"Wichí people inhabit an animated world. The land is alive; it communicates. They call it tayhi—roughly translatable as monte in Spanish. There is no equivalent in English."
"Silát, an organization of Indigenous Wichí women weavers, must navigate the tension between the agency of their unruly textiles and the instrumentalization or romanticization that the international art circuit defaults to."
"Before colonial borders were instituted, Wichí territory spanned the Gran Chaco—a region that crosses through Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil, facing displacement and forced labor."
Dualism limits agency to humans, relegating nature to a nonreflexive existence. Wichí culture perceives the land as alive and communicative, a concept absent in English. This perspective contrasts with the Western view and has gained attention in contemporary art, which often romanticizes Indigenous practices. Silát, a group of Wichí women weavers, faces challenges in maintaining the integrity of their work amidst the international art scene's tendency to simplify Indigenous production. Historically, Wichí territory faced colonial displacement and exploitation, shaping their current cultural expressions.
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