The Indigenous Chiquitanian community of San Juan de Lomerío, formally founded 188 years ago, is part of the municipality of San Miguel de Velasco in the department of Santa Cruz. This community, bathed in the green color of its forests, is part of the Chiquitanía region, which is characterized by a unique beauty in the world.

© Buna

The families from San Juan dedicate a large part of their time to agriculture and additionally to raising a few chickens, pigs and cattle on a small scale. Inside the chacos you can hear the songs of birds and the noise of various bees from the bush. As they say in the village, if you pay attention, you can also hear larger animals such as the urina, the tatu, the taitetuses, among others.

©Buna

When it comes to crops, San Juaneños are proud to show off their jokos, corn of different colors, plantains, yucca, beans, watermelon, pineapple, wild and cultivated fruit trees, tobacco, tutumas, among others, which can be found in the chacos and gardens of the houses. In spite of selling the surplus, one of the main uses of the crops is the sustenance of the family and the community, with which various delicacies are prepared during harvest time.

© Buna

In the community of San Juan, different professions are carried out to complement agricultural activities: sales, woodworking, bakery, transportation or weaving are some of them. Other people also sell their labor to the agro-industry which is expanding rapidly in the surrounding area.

©Buna

Here we tell the photo story about the "beloved corn" and its important cultural links in the community of San Juan de Lomerío from the Chiquitania, with Voces Indigenas Urbanas.

If we talk about plants that people grow, corn is one of, if not the most beloved crop in San Juan de Lomerío. With much pride, people tell us when and how their varieties are used for different purposes.

©Buna

At the end of the year, the people from the village are much busier because the planting season for 'maicito' and other crops begins. People keep one, two or three hectares of crops in which they have always planted corn. The photo shows the preparation of the chaco for planting. Most of the fields are prepared by slash and burn on a small scale. Patches of forest and grazing areas are maintained within the plots.

©Buna

The different varieties of corn have grains of various colors: purple, yellowish, white; and are, among many other uses, used as food for pigs and chickens, to prepare the famous 'chicha de maíz', to cook soups, they are the primary ingredient of certain pastries cooked in a clay oven or simply boiled to eat them fresh. Corn is part of the San Juaneña tradition, it is part of the flavor of their meals, the refreshment for the heat and the days of celebration, the smell of the bread in the afternoon and the color of their kitchens. The corn is also used for the preparation of traditional masitas, which are prepared with cheese produced in the community.

©Buna

Weaving is a fundamental tradition for the sense of belonging and identity of the Chiquitano people of San Juan de Lomerío. It is especially the women who work in the process of planting and harvesting cotton, obtaining the fiber, spinning and weaving. Sitting in their houses, they use a huzo made of guapasi wood to mold the fiber. Some men also know the trade, they know how to make their own weavings according to different needs and uses.

©Stefan Ortiz

"I came to weaving because I loved it, I saw a lady who was weaving and I got very excited," says Doña Rafaela, one of the most active weavers in the community. Now she makes backpacks, briefcases, saddlebags, hammocks, bags, wallets, belts, and many other works for her family, her neighbors, and even for some travelers passing through San Juan. She weaves with her daughter on a loom that she had made in her community.

©Stefan Ortiz

Weaving maintains the Chiquitano tradition and is also an opportunity to earn some extra income. Although sometimes the work in the chaco and at home does not leave much time, the women have tried to organize themselves to continue weaving. They have even taken the initiative to teach the younger ones at school. Thus, several students have been encouraged to weave their own belts, purses, cell phone covers or saddlebags for motorcycles. Sometimes people from San Juan, or from neighboring communities, place orders for these beautiful weavings that represent their people.

©Stefan Ortiz

Weaving is a source of knowledge, creativity and innovation in indigenous Chiquitano hands. Their techniques are learned from grandmothers and mothers, complemented with workshops and experiences that the weavers obtain in their quest to keep tradition alive, find economic income opportunities and seek new ways to teach their children the importance of their knowledge. The Chiquitania lives in the handmade weavings of its indigenous communities.

©Stefan Ortiz

The Chiquitano homes in the community of San Juan de Lomerío, in the municipality of San Miguel de Velazco, are the main nucleus of life, culture and the Indigenous economy. In them, families live together, meet to share their daily lives, educate their children about the importance of staying united and helping each other, siblings, fathers and mothers, children and grandparents.

©Stefan Ortiz

Women are the pillar of the house and home. They ensure its care by taking care of key aspects of its economy, food, health and cleanliness. Caring for the home is very important, for without it the family would not exist and there would be no day-to-day well-being. Taking care of the animals, getting ingredients and preparing food, remembering and teaching traditional recipes, looking for ways to improve the diet to ensure the health of the family, doing the accounts, washing clothes, sweeping, making chicha, taking care of the children...

©Stefan Ortiz

There are many tasks and trades that are required to maintain the household. That is why the role of women is fundamental in the Chiquitano culture. Often, children participate in the tasks and thus learn how to take care of their own homes in the future. Some men are not left behind, and also contribute their knowledge to take care of their homes, for example, building or repairing walls, roofs and floors.

©Stefan Ortiz

The Chiquitano home builds community, brings neighbors and friends together, prepares events and parties, and contributes to a united and strong village.

©Stefan Ortiz

Very early in the morning, the people of Juárez wake up to have a good chicken locro for breakfast before going out to their ranches to take care of the cattle. Sometimes, especially when the days of work and herding are very long, it is easier to spend the night in their posts - cattle ranches - and wake up directly in the Chaco.

©Stefan Ortiz

From their corrals, pigs, cows, bulls, donkeys, mules and horses call out to their caretakers from afar as soon as they are seen entering the road that connects the chacos with the town. A busy day of feeding, medicine, herding and care awaits them.

©Stefan Ortiz

The Chiquitanos know that their cattle are better off if they have shade for shelter. That is why they value having trees in their paddocks, but their cattle can also rest in the hills around their pastures.

©Stefan Ortiz

Moments of rest are important for the work of the cowboys and cowgirls. That is why the estancia always has a hammock and a radio to play music or to get the latest news from the region before returning to the village or to work.

©Stefan Ortiz

San Juan de Lomerío has a beautiful forest that occupies more than half of its Indigenous territory. Contrary to what is sometimes thought, the forests are not empty, unoccupied or wasted by the Indigenous communities. The people of San Juan tell us that many bees live in the forest, they remember and recognize up to nine different types. The parabita, the señorita, the oro and many others live in this community.

©Buna

These bees provide medicine, honey for juice and to sweeten hierba quemada (tea from burnt herbs) in the mornings. Although its use as a main sweetener has declined over time, replaced by sugar, people still recognise the bees of the bush and the taste of the honeys they make. "The most beautiful honey [for me] here is that of the bee they call the señorita", says Don Jesús. An expert honeybee expert, Doña Rafaela, comments that for her "sugar is harmful... the honey from the hive is pure flower and water!

©Buna

The Indigenous Juaneños have known how to take care of and share with the other species that live in this forest since their community was founded almost 190 years ago. It is nice to know that the communities of the Chiquitanía are rich in biocultural diversity.

©Buna

San Juan de Lomerío has protected its forest for generations, maintaining 19,000 hectares of management area, out of the 25,000 hectares of its community. Its forest allows the people of San Juan to obtain wood for their needs. Management has not come without challenges, because people's needs are increasing, and there are many external interests to exploit the Chiquitano forest without respecting the cycles of nature and the agreements that the Indigenous communities have reached to maintain their forest for future generations.

©Stefan Ortíz

Thanks to its management plan, carpentry has remained a lively and dynamic activity in San Juan de Lomerío. Don Antonio has been a carpenter since he was very young. He learned to work with cuchi (a native tree species) to make 'horcones', tajibo (a native tree species) for beams, and oak for doors, frames and interiors. Don Antonio and his fellow carpenters, like Don José, have many ideas for work. However, the lack of machinery limits them and forces them to send the poles to San Miguel for more elaborate cuts.

©Stefan Ortiz

The carpenters know the bush very well. Don Antonio and Don José explain that trees are living beings. They have to be chosen with respect, observing whether they are healthy, whether they are young, and according to the agreements on the use of species that are not in danger of extinction: "that is part of the work, what is done in the forest every day", says Don Antonio. He also explains that it is always necessary to leave "seedbeds" so that the species can reproduce and so that other living beings, such as nesting birds or bees that make their hives in these trees, can live.

Keeping the forest alive in the Chiquitanía is the decision and work of the communities of the region, who depend on these valuable resources.

©Stefan Ortiz

The Chiquitana community of San Juan de Lomerío depends on forest resources to sustain their livelihoods. Many people hunt, harvest honey, plants and wood from the forest.

The knowledge is maintained by the people of San Juan thanks to the contact they have with the forest and its crops. Observing is important for learning. It is rural people, especially those practising small-scale and Indigenous agriculture, who observe most and best how ecosystems function.

©Camila Benavides Frias

San Juan de Lomerío is an example of a Chiquitana community, which has a management plan for the community's green spaces. For example, they carefully select which trees to cut down so as not to deplete the resource, ensuring that there will be forest for future generations. If the forests were to die out, people would forget this knowledge that links them to the forest and allows life to continue.

©Camila Benavides Frias

In the countryside life is good, however, communities face challenges that resonate today, such as drought, pest attacks, or deforestation. This affects them in different ways, one of them is the loss of bees. For example, the rich honey that has always been consumed is no longer easy to find. What to do in the face of these challenges? These are questions that arise both from the leaders and from several households in the Indigenous territories.

©Camila Benavides Frias

An important part of dealing with problems is to understand and reflect on them, but also on the potentials that exist within communities. Understanding can be done in many ways. In this case, from academic research together with members of the communities, we try to understand the challenges and potentials by interviewing people and observing the environment in which they live.

©Camila Benavides Frias

In the territory we observe plants and bees in order to better understand what is happening with these living beings. As a team, we hope that this information will help to understand how we can better coexist with the species in the territories.

©Camila Benavides Frias

The women of San Juan de Lomerío say that when the stream in which they washed their clothes rose, they knew that clay would accumulate at the bottom of the water. This clay was one of the most important materials in the community, along with wood and motacú leaves.

©Stefan Ortiz

The clay dug from the ravine was ground well, and pots, clay pots or jars were made for cooking or for making chicha. They also made pots, adobe bricks for building walls, firewood ovens and roof tiles.

©Stefan Ortiz

Nowadays, building materials bought from outside, such as metals and bricks, have replaced clay. But the knowledge persists among the people of San Juan, especially the older ones. Many families still have clay materials in their homes, such as the jars in which the traditional chicha tastes best.

©Stefan Ortiz