2. "Authenticity Seeking Tourists" who recount the history or "cultural symbolism" of their craft acquisitions, using terms such as "indigenous," and "authentic." Symbolic meaning also derives from the object's association with a foreign country or specific community; 3. "Special Trip Tourists" find meaning in the travel experience and meeting individuals very different from themselves; 4. "Textile for Enjoyment Tourists" find meaning in enjoying the textile itself, its beauty and other qualities. The workmanship of the craftsperson is admired, and owners speak of the craft's "hand made" and "primitive" qualities; and 5. "Apparel Oriented Tourists" gain meaning from the "personal statement" made by their purchase. The most common purpose for textile acquisition is the feeling of uniqueness and "difference from others" (Littrel 1990:241), mirroring the views of Douglas and Isherwood (1979), Miller (1987), and Carrier (1995) who consider the object as a marking service or providing the object with status that distinguishes the owner from other consuming classes. COURO VEGETAL Rubber tappers and indigenous peoples living in the tropical rainforest of the Western Brazilian Amazon have been collecting and bartering (and more recently selling) latex from the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) for over 150 years. The history of the rubber tapper has been well documented including its importance to regional, and national economies (e.g., Dean 1987; Santos 1980; Weinstein 1983). It is a history of fabled riches that drew poor migrant farmers from the Northeast of Brazil to the region to live in isolation in the forest, tapping rubber along an estrada de seringa, or rubber-tree trail, and of oppressive relations with rubber barons who controlled the rubber fields. At its ugliest, it is a history of brutal enslavement, torture, and murder of indigenous peoples in the uppermost Amazon regions in Peru and Colombia (Collier 1968; Stanfield 1998). The rubber tappers' story today is one of successfully protecting their lands from ranchers bent on clearing the rainforest for pasture, and the establishment of federal protected areas designated "extractive reserves" that give rubber tappers long-term usufruct rights to extractive resources (Schwartzman 1989; Hecht and Cockburn 1989). It is also one of searching for sustainable develop? ment strategies that are adaptable to the rubber tapper culture to increase family income and also conserve the rainforest (Allegretti 1995). It was within this his? torical and socio-economic context that couro vegetal emerged?a new product promising higher local incomes through traditional extractive activities that would also keep the forest standing.