The Last Shaman

The Last Shaman PDF Author: Andrew Gray
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571818362
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Get Book

Book Description
The Arakmbut are an indigenous people who live in the Madre de Dios region of the southeastern Peruvian rain forest. Since their first encounters with missionaries in the 1950s, they have shown resilience and a determination to affirm their identity in the face of many difficulties. During the last fifteen years, Arakmbut survival has been under threat from a goldrush that has attracted hundreds of colonists onto their territories. This trilogy of books traces the ways in which the Arakmbut overcome the dangers that surround them: their mythology and cultural strength; their social flexibility; and their capacity to incorporate non-indigenous concepts and activities into their defence strategies. Each area is punctuated by the constant presence of the invisible spirit, which provides a seamless theme connecting the books to each other. The death of a shaman in 1980 had an enormous spiritual and political consequences for one of the Arakmbut communities, resulting in a shift in its social organization from comparative hierarchy to a more egalitarian system. The author uses this case as an illustration to challenge the idea that indigenous peoples live in fossilized, static worlds. He shows that political activities in conjunction with shamanic communication with the spirit world provide the impetus and context for change. Buy all three volumes for 20% discount

The Last Shaman

The Last Shaman PDF Author: Andrew Gray
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571818362
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Get Book

Book Description
The Arakmbut are an indigenous people who live in the Madre de Dios region of the southeastern Peruvian rain forest. Since their first encounters with missionaries in the 1950s, they have shown resilience and a determination to affirm their identity in the face of many difficulties. During the last fifteen years, Arakmbut survival has been under threat from a goldrush that has attracted hundreds of colonists onto their territories. This trilogy of books traces the ways in which the Arakmbut overcome the dangers that surround them: their mythology and cultural strength; their social flexibility; and their capacity to incorporate non-indigenous concepts and activities into their defence strategies. Each area is punctuated by the constant presence of the invisible spirit, which provides a seamless theme connecting the books to each other. The death of a shaman in 1980 had an enormous spiritual and political consequences for one of the Arakmbut communities, resulting in a shift in its social organization from comparative hierarchy to a more egalitarian system. The author uses this case as an illustration to challenge the idea that indigenous peoples live in fossilized, static worlds. He shows that political activities in conjunction with shamanic communication with the spirit world provide the impetus and context for change. Buy all three volumes for 20% discount

About the House

About the House PDF Author: Janet Carsten
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316582531
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book

Book Description
The domestic unit is inseparable from its homestead, and the 'house', at once a physical place and a social unit, is often also a unit of production and consumption, a cult group, and even a political faction. Inspired by Lévi-Strauss's suggestion that the multi-functional noble houses of medieval Europe were simply the best-known examples of a widespread social institution, the contributors to this collection analyse 'house' systems in Southeast Asia and South America, exploring the interrelationships between buildings, people, and ideas. They reveal some of the ways in which houses can stand for social groups and serve as images of process and order.

The Arakmbut--mythology, Spirituality, and History

The Arakmbut--mythology, Spirituality, and History PDF Author: Andrew Gray
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781571818768
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book

Book Description
The Arakmbut are an indigenous people who live in the Madre de Dios region of thesoutheastern Peruvian rain forest. Since their first encounters with missionaries in the 1950s, they have shown resilience and a determination to affirm their identity in the face of many difficulties. During the last fifteen years, Arakmbut survival has been under threat from a goldrush that has attracted hundreds of colonists onto their territories. This trilogy of books traces the ways in which the Arakmbut overcome the dangers that surround them: their mythology and cultural strength; their social flexibility; and their capacity to incorporate non-indigenous concepts and activities into their defence strategies. Each area is punctuated by the constant presence of the invisible spirit, which provides a seamless theme connecting the books to each other. Following the Arakmbuts' recommendation, the author uses their three greatest myths to introduce social, cultural and historical aspects of their lives. He ends with a discussion of the relationship between myth and history showing how the Arakmbut recreate their myths at the dramatic moments of their history. Buy all three volumes for 20% discount

Gender and Sociality in Amazonia

Gender and Sociality in Amazonia PDF Author: Cecilia McCallum
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000184188
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Get Book

Book Description
This is the first book to focus directly on gender in Amazonia for nearly thirty years. Research on gender and sexual identity has become central to social science during that time, but studies have concentrated on other places and people, leaving the gendered experiences of indigenous Amazonians relatively unexplored. McCallum explores little-known aspects of the day-to-day lives of Amazonian peoples in Brazil and Peru. Taking a closer look at the lives of the Cashinahua people, the book provides fascinating insights into conception, pregnancy and birth; naming rituals and initiation ceremonies; concepts of space and time; community and leadership; exchange and production practices; and the philosophy of daily life itself. Through this prism it shows that in fact gender is not merely an aspect of Amazonian social life, but its central axis and driving force. Gender does not just affect personal identity, but has implications for the whole of community life and social organization. The author illustrates how gender is continually created and maintained, and how social forms emerge from the practices of gendered persons in interaction. Throughout their lives, people are 'being made' in this part of the Amazon, and the whole of social organization is predicated on this conception. The author reveals the complex inter-relationships that link gender distinctions with the body, systems of exchange and politics. In so doing, she develops a specific theoretical model of gender and sociality that reshapes our understanding of Amazonian social processes. Building on the key works from past decades, this book challenges and extends current understandings of gender, society and the indigenous people of Amazonia.

Boletim do Museu Nacional

Boletim do Museu Nacional PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Anthropology
Languages : pt-BR
Pages : 620

Get Book

Book Description


The United States and Latin America

The United States and Latin America PDF Author: American Academy of Political and Social Science
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Latin America
Languages : en
Pages : 268

Get Book

Book Description


Report

Report PDF Author: American Sociological Association. Committee on Regional Societies
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Sociology
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Get Book

Book Description


Latin American Studies Association ... International Congress

Latin American Studies Association ... International Congress PDF Author: Latin American Studies Association. International Congress
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Latin America
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Get Book

Book Description


The Social Welfare Forum

The Social Welfare Forum PDF Author: National Conference on Social Welfare. Annual Forum
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Charities
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book

Book Description


The Anthropology of Love and Anger

The Anthropology of Love and Anger PDF Author: Joanna Overing
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134592302
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book

Book Description
The Anthropology of Love and Anger questions the very foundations of western sociological thought. In their examination of indigenous peoples from across the South American continent, the contributors to this volume have come to realise that western thought does not possess the vocabulary to define even the fundamentals of indigenous thought and practice. The dualisms of public and private, political and domestic, individual and collective, even male and female, in which western anthropology was founded cannot legitimately be applied to peoples whose 'sociality' is based on an 'aesthetics of community'. For indigenous people success is measured by the extent to which conviviality, (all that is peaceful, harmonious and sociable) has been attained. Yet conviviality is not just reliant on love and good but instead on an even balance between all that is constructive, love, and all that is destructive, anger. With case studies from across the South American region, ranging from the (so-called) fierce Yanomami of Venezuela and Brazil to the Enxet of Paraguay, and with discussions on topics from the efficacy of laughter, the role of language, anger as a marker of love and even homesickness, The Anthropology of Love and Anger is a seminal, fascinating work which should be read by all students and academics in the post-colonial world.