Member Spotlight: Janet Chernela

Janet Chernela holds a PhD in anthropology from Columbia University and is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at the University of Maryland. She has conducted fieldwork and consulting work in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and is author of numerous articles and a book, A Sense of Space: The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon. She has worked with the Indigenous peoples of the Upper Rio Negro basin in Brazil for over four decades and, together with its members, participated in the founding of the indigenous women’s association, AMARN-Numia Kurá.

Read more about her work:

IWAC Member Spotlight - Janet Chernela.pdf

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Misson, Brazil, 1978: Girls scrubbing rocks

Janet (rt) with some of the founders of AMARN, their daughter members, their grandchildren

The poster contains the following wording: "Deolinda, one of several women who were trafficked to Manaus without knowing what awaited them. They expected something better.  But, instead, they were subjected to domestic, sexual, and psychological violence. They faced racism, discrimination, and stereotyping."

See more of Janet’s work and fieldwork photography here:

Janet Chernela - Featured Photography.

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