Puyo Runa: Imagery and Power in Modern Amazonia

Book review of Puyo Runa: Imagery and Power in Modern Amazonia. Norman E. Whitten Jr. and Dorothea Scott Whitten. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008. 336 pp., 29 figures, 3 maps, bibliography, index. ISBN 0-252-03239-X (cloth), 0-252-07479-3 (paper)

Chapter 10 Indigenous Networks and Evangelical Frontiers: Problems with Governance and Ethics in Cases of ‘Voluntary Isolation’ in Contemporary Amazonia

The periodic emergence of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation in Amazonia have given rise to sensational media reports and heated academic debate. In this chapter we describe briefly the historical and contemporary relations between indigenous peoples in and out of isolation in the Guiana Shield region of North-eastern South America and discuss the role of indigenous missionaries in histories of contact. After considering these facts in relation to some of the general debates about isolated peoples and policy, we assess the ethical dimensions of the question of emergence from isolation

Chapter 2 First Contacts, Slavery and Kinship in North-Eastern Amazonia

The first book to address the classic anthropological theme of property through the ethnography of Amazonia, Ownership and Nurture sets new and challenging terms for anthropological debates about the region and about property in general. Property and ownership have special significance and carry specific meanings in Amazonia, which has been portrayed as the antithesis of Western, property-based, civilization. Through carefully constructed studies of land ownership, slavery, shamanism, spirit mastery, aesthetics, and intellectual property, this volume demonstrates that property relations are of central importance in Amazonia, and that the ownership of persons plays an especially significant role in native cosmology

Chapter 2 First Contacts, Slavery and Kinship in North-Eastern Amazonia

The first book to address the classic anthropological theme of property through the ethnography of Amazonia, Ownership and Nurture sets new and challenging terms for anthropological debates about the region and about property in general. Property and ownership have special significance and carry specific meanings in Amazonia, which has been portrayed as the antithesis of Western, property-based, civilization. Through carefully constructed studies of land ownership, slavery, shamanism, spirit mastery, aesthetics, and intellectual property, this volume demonstrates that property relations are of central importance in Amazonia, and that the ownership of persons plays an especially significant role in native cosmology

Chapter 10 Indigenous Networks and Evangelical Frontiers: Problems with Governance and Ethics in Cases of ‘Voluntary Isolation’ in Contemporary Amazonia

The periodic emergence of indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation in Amazonia have given rise to sensational media reports and heated academic debate. In this chapter we describe briefly the historical and contemporary relations between indigenous peoples in and out of isolation in the Guiana Shield region of North-eastern South America and discuss the role of indigenous missionaries in histories of contact. After considering these facts in relation to some of the general debates about isolated peoples and policy, we assess the ethical dimensions of the question of emergence from isolation

Creativity and Control: Property in Guianese Amazonia

Creativity and Control: Property in Guianese Amazonia. This article introduces the anthropology of property relations to indigenous Amazonia, where property has long been assumed to be absent, and shows that focusing on Amazonian forms of property can lead to greater understanding of native practices and institutions. The article begins by showing that the Trio, Wayana and Akuriyo of southern Suriname have a wide range of practices and values which can usefully be understood in terms of property. This provides the basis for a discussion of the analytical importance of the anthropology of property for Amazonia, followed by a consideration of the place of Amazonian forms of property in the context of anthropological theory.Créativité et contrôle: la propriété en Amazonie guyanaise. Cet article traite de l’anthropologie des relations de propriété en Amazonie indigène. Alors que, dans cette région, le concept de « propriété » a été longtemps considéré comme absent, nous démontrons ici qu’en s’interrogeant sur les formes amazoniennes de propriété, il est possible d’atteindre une meilleure compréhension des pratiques et des institutions indigènes. On s’attachera, tout d’abord, à montrer que les Trio, les Wayana et les Akuriyo du sud du Suriname possèdent une large palette de pratiques et de valeurs qui peuvent être comprises en termes de propriété. C’est sur cette base que l’on peut entamer une discussion sur l’importance analytique de l’anthropologie de la propriété pour l’Amazonie et repenser la place que les formes amazoniennes de propriété prennent dans le contexte des théories anthropologiques.Creatividad y control: la propiedad en la Amazonía guayanesa. Este artículo trata de la antropología de las relaciones de propiedad en la Amazonía indígena, región donde la propiedad ha sido desde hace mucho tiempo presentada como ausente. Demostramos aquí que las formas de propiedad existentes en la Amazonía permiten una mayor comprensión de las prácticas e instituciones indígenas. Empezamos demostrando que los tirios, los wayanas y los akuriyos del sur de Surinam poseen una gran variedad de prácticas y valores que pueden ser considerados en términos de propiedad. Esta parte descriptiva permite que se discuta la importancia analítica de la antropología de la propiedad en el estudio de esta región y nos lleva a concebir el lugar de las formas amazónicas de propiedad en el contexto de la teoría antropológica

The imbalance of power: Leadership, masculinity and wealth in the Amazon

Amerindian societies have an iconic status in classical political thought. For Montaigne, Hobbes, Locke, Hume and Rousseau, the native American ‘state of nature’ operates as a foil for the European polity. Challenging this tradition, The Imbalance of Power demonstrates ethnographically that the Carib speaking indigenous societies of the Guiana region of Amazonia do not fit conventional characterizations of ‘simple” political units with ‘egalitarian’ political ideologies and ‘harmonious’ relationships with nature. Marc Brightman builds a persuasive and original theory of Amerindian politics: far from balanced and egalitarian, Carib societies are rife with tension and difference; but this imbalance conditions social dynamism and a distinctive mode of cohesion. The Imbalance of Power is based on the author’s fieldwork in partnership with Vanessa Grotti, who is working on a companion volume entitled Living with the Enemy: First Contacts and the Making of Christian Bodies in Amazonia

Archetypal agents of affinity: 'Sacred musical instruments in the Guianas?

The central Guianas are not a classic area for the study of sacred flute cults, and one reason for this is that, arguably, flutes there are not really ‘sacred’ and the rituals that are associated with them are not really about the flutes themselves, the flutes being merely ‘tools’ in ceremonies which celebrate and renew society itself. There is nevertheless at least one type of flute ceremony found throughout the Guianas, which bears comparison with the ‘classic’ flute cults associated with other parts of Amazonia, even if the flutes are not preserved between ceremonies and are not subject to visual prohibitions. At the risk of reinforcing the impression that the Guiana Caribs do not qualify for entry to the ‘sacred flutes’ club, I am going to question a few of the categories that have been used to define its members, and suggest that the common features of Guianese and Northwestern Amazonian flute ceremonies may bring us insight into some pan-Amazonian social themes; in this I take advantage of the tendency for Guianese ethnography to provide simpler and more manageable templates, so to speak, of pan-Amazonian themes