Graduate student Eric Schniter, under the supervision of Dr. Michael D. Gurven, will undertake research on how and under what conditions elderly Tsimane contribute to the well-being of others in their communities. Tsimane are an indigenous people found in the Bolivian Amazon where they live in small villages and get their food from fishing, hunting, gathering, and gardening. The research is organized into four three-month phases, and will take place primarily in six focal Tsimane communities. During phase one, he will census and map the communities, including taking kinship and reproductive histories. He also will conduct focus group interviews to investigate Tsimane ideas about skills, abilities, and strengths of the elderly. During phase two, he will conduct interviews on expertise and information transfer between Tsimane of different ages. During phase three, he will collect details of the daily activities of 100 older adults. Finally, during phase four, he will examine personal networks of 100 older adults.
How and why older Tsimane make a difference in their society is an important topic to study because it helps explain why humans live long lives. It has puzzled scientists that, while most animals live only as long as they can reproduce and take care of themselves, humans live past their reproductive years and often become dependent on others for their survival. While doubtful that elderly Tsimane are helping those around them by providing food, this study looks at skills and abilities, support networks, and well-being in an effort to determine if the role of elderly Tsimane might be more along the lines of providing help in the form of advice, knowledge, entertainment, emotional support, affection, mediation, and supervision. Knowledge about how elderly get the help they need and also help those around them can be practically applied to anticipated problems of a large and growing old-age population across the world.
