The manner in which an early-contact situation develops depends not only on the parties directly involved in the contact, but also the attitude of the surrounding populations, which serve as the social and cultural environment in which the newly-contacted group's relationship with the outside world develops. For this reason, it is useful to understand what the attitudes of these local populations are towards isolated indigenous groups.
Attitudes of the Local Acculturated Indigenous Peoples
The Sharanahua are the local indigenous population most likely to be involved in and influence the development of a relationship between the Mashco and the outside world if sustained contact with the Mashco occurs in the Purús region. This is partially for geographical reasons, since the Sharanahua live in the villages nearest to the traditional area of Mashco activity in the Purús region, and also because of a strong link between the Sharanahua village of Gastabala and foreign missionaries.
Views towards the Mashco among the Sharanahua vary substantially. Certain attitudes that underlie these attitudes are widespread, however. Despite the fact that there has never been a single attack attributed to the Mashco, an undercurrent of fear and apprehension is perceptible in most discussions about the Mashco with Sharanahua individuals. Similarly, a combination of disdain and pity for the primitive, nomadic lifestyle of the Mashco is apparent.
From these common underlying attitudes however, spring three very different views on how the Mashco should be handled. The viewpoint that many of the Sharanahua and Amahuaca hold is that it is wisest not to meddle with the Mashco because of the potential peril involved. Once friendly contact is initiated though, one would expect this attitude to wane quickly, and give way to the other two views I heard discussed in Gastabala.
Both these views support intervention among the Mashco, but with different goals. The first actively supports missionary activity among the Mashco, such as that currently being attempted by Pioneer Mission. This view, though not held by a very large number of individuals at the moment, is significant because the Sharanahua chief of Gastabala, Gustavo Melendez, and his immediate supporters, embrace it. The chief is a Christian pastor, and appears to strongly support the introduction of Christianity to other indigenous groups, including the Mashco. He and his supporters see missionary activity among the Mashco having the benefits of bringing both Christianity and "civilization", both in a material and cultural sense, to an unchristian and primitive group of nomads.
The chief¹s support of missionary activity among the Mashco has meant that he has been able to organize resources among his kin and other close supporters for the use of Pioneer Mission, and has provided a friendly and convenient staging area for Pioneer Mission. These resources include the Gastabala airstrip and rivercraft for the long journey up to the Dos Bocas region.
The second interventionist view is supported by an even smaller number of individuals, but is of a very disturbing nature. This view considers the Mashco to be an untapped labor force. The man who expounded this view to me explained that the ideal plan would be to convince the Mashco settle nearby, force them to stop speaking their own language and to learn Sharanahua, and use them to work the gardens of the Sharanahua in the area.
Although this view was voiced explicitly only by one man, his comfort in doing so in front of other Sharanahua on multiple occasions probably indicates that such a view is not censured in the community. Furthermore, several other men expressed agreement while he explained his view on the Mashco to me. He mentioned that he was planning to travel to the Dos Bocas region with a 'cousin' in September of 1998 to look for the Mashco, and implement his plan. While it seemed unlikely at the time that he would actually do this, this man, and those who think like him, would very likely take advantage of any sustained contact made with the Mashco, by themselves or by others, to exploit the Mashco for their own ends.
One belief does appear to be shared by many individuals in both interventionist camps. This belief concerns the irrelevance of Mashco desires with respect to contact with the outside world. Simply put, neither interventionist camp appears to consider the desires of the Mashco of any importance in discussions of making contact with them, and this belief is manifested in what is perceived to be the best strategy for making contact with the Mashco. The strategy espoused by most of the proponents of interventionist action with the Mashco is that one should seek a Mashco group and abduct an individual, who would then be taken downriver and convinced to go back and gather the rest of his group and bring them into contact with the outside world on a permanent basis. The point is that it is assumed that the decision for the Mashco to make contact with the outside world is not, fundamentally, one that is for the Mashco to make, but instead, one for outsiders to make. In short, the Mashco have no right to remain out of contact with the outside world, even if they so wish it.
I should point out that not every Sharanahua who supports intervention by outsiders with the Mashco voiced this point of view. In particular, I did not hear Gustavo, the chief and village pastor, explicitly support this view. Nevertheless, many individuals in both interventionist camps did explicitly voice this view.
The above evidence suggests that the Sharanahua of Gastabala will continue to serve as supporters of efforts to contact the Mashco, and will continue to offer resources to groups attempting to do so. Given their involvement at this early stage, it is likely that the Sharanahua will play an important role in interactions between the Mashco and the outside world, if the Mashco are ever contacted in the Purús region.
Attitudes of the Mestizos of Puerto Esperanza
To a large degree, the area of Mashco activity is sufficiently far from the mestizo population center of the region, Puerto Esperanza, that there is little interest in or concern about the Mashco. Many of the residents of Puerto Esperanza to whom I spoke had only a dim awareness of the Mashco. Some few, typically long-time residents of the area, had knowledge of the Mashco, but the innocuous nature of the Mashco leads most of them to believe that there is no need for anything to be done, one way or the other, about the Mashco.
Some residents of Puerto Esperanza, all relative newcomers, expressed the view that the Mashco, like all nativos, needed to become civilized and productive members of Peruvian society as quickly as possible. None of these residents (one of whom was the teniente gobernador of Esperanza), however, proposed any plan to bring about such an end. Given the lethargic and underfunded nature of the local government, it is extremely unlikely that any activity to make contact with the Mashco would ever be carried out.
What the response of the mestizo population of Esperanza and the local government would be in the eventuality of sustained contact with the Mashco is difficult to predict, but I anticipate that a course of least action would be taken - that is, leaving the handling of the contact to missionaries and acculturated indigenous groups.