Of Enemies and Pets: Warfare and Shamanism in Amazonia

Blood revenge is one of the most commonly cited causes of violence and warfare in tribal societies, yet it is largely ignored in recent anthropological theories of primitive warfare. A theory of tribal violence is presented showing how homicide, revenge, kinship obligations, and warfare are linked and why reproductive variables must be included in explanations of tribal violence and warfare. Studies of the Yanomamö Indians of Amazonas during the past 23 years show that 44 percent of males estimated to be 25 or older have participated in the killing of someone, that approximately 30 percent of adult male dealths are due to violence, and that nearly 70 percent of all adults over an estimated 40 years of age have lost a close genetic relative due to violence. Demographic data indicate that men who have killed have more wives and offspring than men who have not killed.

A partir da caça de porco do mato, este artigo é um ensaio etnográfico sobre uma noção indígena de ponto de vista, aplicada ao campo das relações entre o humano e o animal, na cosmologia de um povo Tupi, os Juruna. Além de revelar a complexidade particular dessas relações, a noção de ponto de vista permite mostrar como a noção de duplo é irredutível à noção de alma, como "natureza" e "sobrenatureza" são efeitos de perspectivas, e como, finalmente, a caça se insere em uma estrutura espaço-temporal bilinear múltipla, evocadora dos "labirintos" que os Juruna desenham na pele. This article takes the wild boar hunt as the basis for an ethnographic essay on an indigenous notion of point of view, applied to the field of relations between humans and animals in the cosmology of a Tupi people, the Juruna. In addition to revealing the particular complexity of these relations, the concept of point of view shows how the notion of double is irreducible to that of soul, like "nature"and "supernature"are effects of perspectives, and finally how the hunt is included in a multiple bilinear spatial/temporal structure, evoking the "labyrinths" that the Juruna paint on their skin.