communities and people who construct these objects and endow them with meaning. It is therefore critical to consider the socio-economic, cultural, and political implications of the process of commoditizing objects or activities imbued with cultural meaning. Are there some communities better placed to maintain their cultural traditions while at the same time profiting from commoditizing them? Research in Ecuador, Mexico, and Panama on indigenous craft production for tourists found that communities that largely controlled marketing and distribution of their products and reinvested profits in the community were able to reinforce their cultural identity (Stephen 1991:102). In Vanuatu, local producers of wood carvings were able to extend indigenous entitlements, based on genealogical his? tories and rituals, into the realm of international market property rights. Thus, "[expatriate collectors and dealers are increasingly affected by the stringent terms of the Ambrym men, who both restrict the pool of production and control the pool of consumers" (Geismer 2005:451). How is the commoditization of couro vegetal changing socioeconomic rela? tions in the Amazon rainforest? Rubber tappers and indigenous peoples have been able to increase their local incomes by carrying out value-added processing activities in the forest. In addition, local community members have been trained to manage local production activities, increasing their control of the production process. Cultural brokers, such as NGOs, may face challenges in maintaining the interests of local producers engaged in commercializing material culture (Wilson 2003), cultural knowledge (Fernando 2003), and in ecotourism ventures (West and Carrier 2004). These intermediaries can play a key role in bringing culture imbued products to consumers, but they must work closely with communities to ease them into the global marketplace. Businesses and non-governmental organizations can help them build management and administrative capacity to manage growth and change within the business and the community. They can help reflect on potential changes to intra-community relationships, both economic and social, prior to engaging the global marketplace. The challenge rainforest communities face is to establish new market linkages in ways that both value and respect their cultural traditions. NOTES 1. The author thanks H. Russell Bernard and Marianne Schmink for their comments on early drafts of this manuscript and also thanks the anonymous reviewers of Ethnology for valuable suggestions to improve the paper. 2. It appears that the actual fabrication of clothing is now done in Italy.
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