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Amerindian Groups of Northwest Amazonia. Their Regional System
of Political-Religious Hierarchies Author(s): Silvia M. Vidal
Source: Anthropos, Bd. 94, H. 4./6. (1999), pp. 515-528Published
by: Anthropos InstituteStable URL:
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Anthropos 94.1999: 515-528
Amerindian Groups of Northwest Amazonia Their Regional System of
Political-Religious Hierarchies
Silvia M. Vidal
Abstract. - Through the comparison of Arawakan-, Tukanoan-, and
Makuan-speaking groups from the Northwest Amazon, the article shows
that these peoples are organized in a regional sys- tem of
political-religious hierarchies. This regional multiethnic system
is characterized by extensive multilingualism, exoga- my, and
varied modalities of interethnic relationships. [North- west
Amazon, Arawakan, Tukanoan, and Makuan Amerindian groups, regional
system of political-religious hierarchies]
Silvia M. Vidal, Dr., works at the Department of Anthropology of
the Venezuelan Institute of Scientific Investigation (IVIC),
Caracas. Since 1973 she has done field research among the
Arawakan-speaking groups of Northwest Amazon. In 1993 she finished
her doctoral studies at IVIC. - Her publications include: Liderazgo
y confederaciones multi-tnicas amerndias en la Amazonia
luso-hispana del siglo XVIII (Antropolgica 1996); Introduccin. El
noroeste amaznico como epicentro de las matrices culturales
arawakas y tukanas y centro importante dei horizonte civilizatorio
Orinoco-Amazonense (in: Alberta Zucchi and Silvia Vidal [eds.],
Historia y etnicidad en el noroeste amaznico. Mrida 1998). See also
References Cited.
1 Introduction
Arawakan-, Tukanoan-, and Makuan-speaking groups have
traditionally been classified as "trop- ical forest tribes or
cultures." But in this article, through a macroregional analysis of
the Northwest Amazon, I will compare these groups to show that they
are organized into a complex regional system of political-religious
hierarchies.1 This regional multiethnic system is characterized by
multilingualism, exogamy, and varied modalities of interethnic
relationships. I will also discuss the ethnohistorical evidence to
show that regional systems with complex sociopolitical structures
were common in the Northwest Amazon and that the contemporary
regional system of Arawakan-, Tukanoan-, and Makuan-speaking groups
was gen- erated in the 16th century by complex processes of
ethnogenesis.
My analysis focuses on: 1) the northern Mai- puran branch of the
the Arawakan family of lan- guages (Table 1), 2) the eastern and
middle branch of the Tukanoan family of languages (Table 2),
and 3) the Maku-speaking populations (Table 3). These
Amerindians number between 30 and 40,000 individuals (Chernela
1993; Jackson 1995; Vidal 1993) who occupy diverse riverine and
hinterland areas of the upper Negro and upper Orinoco basins
between Venezuela, Brazil, and Colombia (see map).
Tukanoan-speaking groups' social structure, in ascending order
of inclusion, are the local de- scent group, the clan or sib, the
exogamous lan- guage group, and the phratry. Arawakan-speaking
groups are sociopolitically structured, in ascending order of
inclusiveness, by local descent group, exogamous, patrilineal,
ranked sib or clan, and exogamous patrilineal phratry.
Makuan-speaking groups, however, are organized by patrilineal clan,
independent local group (band), and endogamous regional group.
In the anthropological approaches to the cul- tural history of
the Amazon-Orinoco region, these groups have been classified into
different typol- ogies and "culture areas" (Oberg 1973; Steward
1948, 1949; Steward and Faron 1959) that pre- suppose a great
homogeneity in their contempo- rary social formations as well as in
their his- torical transformations. In these theoretical mod- els,
Makuan-, Arawakan- and Tukanoan-speaking groups have been
classified as "marginal tribes," "tropical forest cultures,"
"ranked social systems," and "Circum-Caribbean chiefdoms." However,
the groundbreaking work of Goldman (1968) among the Cubeo Indians
began to change this percep- tion of the Northwestern Amazonian
indigenous groups. Moreover, this author inspired a new gen-
1 The idea of Amerindian groups being organized into re- gional
systems was first brought to my attention by Nelly Arvelo- Jimenez
(1980 and in personal communications 1976, 1983, 1987;
Arvelo-Jimnez, Morales Mndez, and Biord-Castillo 1989;
Arvelo-Jimnez and Biord-Castillo 1994; Morales Mndez and
Arvelo-Jimnez 1981). She and her associates have studied the
"System of Orinoco Regional Interdependence" which has organized
ancient and contemporary Amerindian societies.
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516 Silvia M. Vidal
V o t u> V
-
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 1. Kamaa 1. Hupd Jupda 1. Yuhup o Yuhpde
2. Dao o Dow Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 1. Nadd 1. Kakwa o Bar-Mak 1.
Nukak
cultural complexity in the past. Furthermore, re- cent
ethnohistorical studies of indigenous groups occupying the area
between the Orinoco and the Amazon rivers reveal three important
facts (Roose- velt 1994; Vidal 1993; Whitehead 1994): 1) there are
marked differences between ancient and con- temporary Amerindian
social formations; 2) these differences were generated by complex
processes of ethnogenesis; and 3) there is cultural continuity
between ancient and contemporary systems and ethnohistorical data
is the basis for such a state- ment.
Sociocultural anthropologists generally have defined
ethnogenesis as the historical emergence of a culturally different
people. But, according to Hill (19962?: 1 f.), ethnogenesis
represents the synthesis of the political and cultural struggles of
a people to create enduring identities in general contexts of
radical change and discontinuity, and to build their historical
conscience. Thus, it is "a creative adaptation to a general history
of violent changes - including demographic collapse, forced reloca-
tion, enslavement," epidemics, and ethnic soldier- ing - "imposed
during the historical expansion of colonial and national states in
the Americas" (Hill 1996: 1; 1998: 166).
Amerindian Groups of Northwest Amazonia 517
Table 1: Groups of the Maipuran Branch of the Arawakan Family of
Languages
Wainuma-Yukuna-Guar- Kabiyar-Piapoco-Achagua
Tariana-Uainambeu Proto-Kurripako Resigaro
Warekena Mariat Kurripako
Bare Madwaka-Guinau-Mawakwa-
Jabaana-Anauy Proto-Bar Igneri-Caqueto
Wapishana-Pauishana-Atorai- Mapidian
Cauishana u Wirina North u
Baniva-Yavitero-Maipure- Lokono-Taino-Guajiro- Paraujano
Proto-Baniva Manao Yumana Pase Marauha Marawa
Palikur-Marawan Waur
Proto-Palikur Yaulapiti Custenau Mehinacu Aru o Arun
Proto-Amuesha Pre-Andean Maipuran Proto-Piro-Apurin
Proto-Ashaninca (Campa) Proto-Harakbut
Proto-Moxo South Maipuran Proto-Shani
Paressi
eration of sociocultural anthropologists to further study among
Tukanoan, Makuan, and Arawakan groups, whose results radically
transformed former understandings about these peoples.2 These
groups of peoples cannot be categorized as marginal tribes or as
chiefdoms. Rather, they represent an inter- nally hierarchized
political-religious organization which is unique among the
Amazonian societies that survived the colonial system.3 Moreover,
in this multilingual and ranked social system, there still prevail
sociocultural patterns which seem to suggest that these societies
had a greater socio-
Table 2: Tukanoan Family of Languages
I. Eastern Tukanoan
A. North B. Middle C. South
1 . Tucano 1 . Bar and related groups 1 . Macuna 2. Wanano a.
Bar 2. Barasano 3. Piratapuyo b. Tuyuca
c. Ppiwa 2. Desano and related groups a. Desano b. Sirano 3.
Tatuyo and related groups a. Tatuyo b. Carapano
II. Middle Tukanoan
1. Cubeo
III. Western Tukanoan
Table 3: Makuan Family of Languages
2 Arhern 1981; Chernela 1983; Hill 1983; Jackson 1983; Journet
1980-81, 1988; Silverwood-Cope 1990, Sorensen 1972; Vidal 1987,
1993.
3 Chernela 1983, 1993; Goldman 1968; Jackson 1983; Hill 1983,
1989, 1993; Vidal 1987, 1993; Wright 1981.
Anthropos 94.1999
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518 Silvia M. Vidal
2 The Northwest Amazon as a Regional System
2.1 Ethnogenesis and the Cultural History of the Northwest
Amazon
Ethnohistorical evidence of Amerindian groups occupying the area
located between the Orinoco and the Amazon rivers, reveals two
important facts that challenge former simplistic approaches to the
cultural history of Amazonia.4 First, there are marked differences
between ancient and con- temporary Amerindian social formations;
and sec- ond, the differences were generated by complex processes
of ethnogenesis.
Simplistic interpretations of the cultural history of Amazonia
considered that the differences ob- served between the older
Amerindian formations (16- 18th centuries) and the relatively
recent ones (19th and early 20th centuries) were mainly the product
of European intervention and disruption (colonial expansion), which
gave rise to processes of "acculturation" and "detribalization" in
Amer- indian populations. These interpretations are based on: 1)
static, reductive, and essentialist portrayals of culture, history,
and society (Gupta and Fergu- son 1997); and 2) projections of the
ethnographic present into the past (Whitehead 1993, 19936;
Rooselvelt 1994).
For other authors, however, these differences were the result of
complex processes of socio- cultural continuity and change which
generated the emergence of new and ancient indigenous
sociopolitical formations (Whitehead 1988, 1989, 1993a; Vidal 1993;
Vidal and Zucchi 1996), and of the progressive substitution of
Indian econo- mies and geopolitical and social interconnections
with the European colonial pattern (Whitehead 1993a: 286).
Although European colonization of the Negro River basin began in
the middle of the 17th century, the occupation and the definitive
control of the Amazon region did not occur until well into the 18th
century. Indeed, it is only by the mid- 18th century, when one can
speak of the implantation of the colonial system and of the
intensification of social, ethnic, and cultural relationships
between Europeans and Indians.
In the context of long-term processes of eth- nogenesis, the
indigenous peoples adopted at least
three strategies to face colonial systems: 1) open military
resistance; 2) political and economic alli- ances with sectors of
one or more colonial powers; and 3) avoidance of direct contact
with Europeans. Open military resistance forced the redefinition of
the ethnic identities and the establishment of new alliances.
Economic alliances promoted the emergence of new alignments among
European, Criollos, and Amerindian (for example, as partners in
trade of slaves and material resources). The latter originated
strong competition and interne- cine wars among natives for the
control of the commercial routes of European goods, as well as the
appearance of "ethnic soldiering" or "martial tribefs]" (Whitehead
1990: 357). Avoiding direct contact with Europeans followed by
migrations, influenced in realigning of indigenous and In-
dian-European political alliances as well as the redefining of
group identities. Each of these three alternatives, or the
combination of them, gave rise to new ethnic and sociopolitical
formations.
2.2 The Historical Background of Contemporary Amerindian
Sociopolitical Formations
From the 16th to the mid- 17th centuries, the an- cient
forefathers of the contemporary Arawakan-, Tukanoan-, and
Makuan-speaking groups were part of the groups belonging to the
Manoa and Oni- guayal (or Omagua) Macro Polities (also known as
macroregional political and economic systems; see Vidal 1993) of
the Northwest and Central Am- azon. These macro polities were
multiethnic, mul- tilingual, sociopolitical, and economic systems,
which had an internal interethnic hierarchy led by a paramount
chief ("lord" or "king") and a powerful elite of secondary chiefs;
leadership was hereditary (Whitehead 1994; Vidal 1993). Early
European documents of the great river basins of the Orinoco and the
Amazon refer to the existence of extensive connections among groups
(riverine and hinterland peoples) within and among macro polities.5
According to Whitehead (1993a), these connections were based on
regional trade systems. But I consider these regional trade systems
to be the most visible probe of Amerindian sociocultural
connections and political relations.
European colonization of the Negro River basin began in the mid-
17th century. However, Portu-
4 Chernela 1993; Cipolletti 1991; Hill 1996a, 1996b; Morales
Mndez 1979; Oostra 1991; Parra 1991; Vidal 1987, 1993; Vidal y
Zucchi 1996; Whitehead 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996;
Wright 1981.
5 Acuna 1864; Almesto 1986; Cuervo 1893-94; Cruz 1986; Federmann
1916; Llanos Vargas y Pineda Camacho 1982; Simon 1882; Whitehead
1988, 1993a.
Anthropos 94.1999
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Amerindian Groups of Northwest Amazonia 519
guese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and British colonial empires were
competing among each other and with some Amerindian leader groups
of local mac- ro polities in order to take control over the indige-
nous populations and regional trade systems of the Orinoco and
Amazon rivers. Although, Oniguayal leadership disappeared by the
early 17th century, it looks as if the powerful leadership of the
Manoa macro polity was able to survive until the late 1650s when it
began to lose its total political and economic hold on the region.
By the end of the 17th century, the Manoa and other macro polities
of the Negro, Orinoco, and Amazon rivers were experiencing dynamic
processes of transformation and disintegration. Internal
sociopolitical contra- dictions and conflicts, the demographic
decimation of Amerindian populations (diseases, enslavement, and
the like), and the European colonization of the Negro River led to
radical disruptions; these processes caused the mobilization and
regrouping of indigenous peoples, and by the early 18th centu- ry
they gave rise to new sociopolitical formations which I coined as
"multiethnic confederacies" (Vidal 1993).
The multiethnic confederacies were flexible and varied in their
ethnic membership and were led by charismatic shaman-warrior
chiefs. Whitehead (1994: 39) has described this political system as
having a "trading-military" mode of leadership. Powerful chiefs
based their political authority on their ability to build a
personal following (kinfolk, in-laws, and allies), on their skills
as regional traders, especially of European goods, and on their
shamanic knowledge and power.6 European written records and the
oral history of Arawakan- speaking groups both lead to the
conclusion that these powerful indigenous chiefs or "captains" and
their followings celebrated big multiethnic ritual festivals that
were related to the Kuw religion and included sacred places,
special men's houses, whipping and fasting ceremonies, and musical
performances such as dancing, singing, and the playing of trumpets,
flutes, and drums.
From 1700 to 1770 there were as many as 15 multiethnic
confederacies led by Arawakan-speak- ing groups (Tables 4-6).
Between 1700 and 1730, most of these confederated groups and their
leaders
were devoted to an intense trade of their own commercial
products and slaves with each other as well as with Portuguese,
French, Spanish, and Dutch colonies in exchange for guns and
other
Table 4: Multiethnic Confederacies (1700-1725)
1. The Manao Confederacy
Groups: Manao, Bare, Mak, Tibur, Maba- zar, Javar, Bumajana, and
Maya- pena
Principal warrior-chief: Ayuricawa o Ajuricaba Other chiefs:
Debajar, Bejar, Basuriana, Caricu,
Camandary, Aduana
2. The Cauaburicena Confederacy
Groups: Bare and other peoples of middle and lower Negro
River
Principal warrior-chief: Curunam
Other chiefs: ?
3. The Aranacoacenas Confederacy
Groups: Bare and other groups of middle and upper Negro River
(?)
Principal warrior-chief: ?
Other chiefs: ?
Table 5: Multiethnic Confederacies (1725-1755)
1. The Demanao Confederacy
Groups: Bare, Manao, Warekena, Cubeo, Mak
Principal warrior-chief: Camanao
Other chiefs: Maa, Manacaari, Ignacio, loa, Ma- babire,
Jauinuman, Immo, Cocui, Dau- ema, Auajari, Juviary, Cayamu, Mur,
Caunarao, Mab, Inao, Yune
2. The Madavaka Confederacy
Groups: Bare, Mabana, Warekena, Yahure, Guinau, Anauy, Baniva,
Desana, Mak, Guariba, Ye'kuana
Principal warrior-chief: Guaicana (1725-1745), Amuni (1745
-1754), Mavideo (1755-1760)
Other chiefs: Mabi, Mar, Amuni, Arucun, Cavi o Caavi, Tape,
Guarena, Guaipure, Guarape, Yurico, Mapure
3. The Boape-Pariana-Maniva Confederacy
Groups: Baniwa or Kurripako, Mabana, Meo- ana or Arapao, Mbei,
Cubeo, Yapoa, Mak, Bare, Warekena, Puinave, Des- ana, Tariana,
Chapuena, Guaipunavi
Principal warrior-chief: Cunaguari or Cunaguasi Other chiefs:
Yavita, Boap, Macapu, Cuceru or
Cruceru
6 Some of these forms of political, religious, and economic
relationships still prevail among contemporary Amazonian groups and
have been named by Smith (1996: 154- 163) as "economies of the
gift" because as global system they are essentially economies of
reciprocity with social purposes: to maintain and reproduce local
societies and to establish ties among indigenous peoples.
Anthropos 94.1999
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520 Silvia M. Vidal
Table 6: Multiethnic Confederacies (1755-1770)
1. The Darivazanas Confederacy Groups: Bare, Warekena, Piapoco,
Puinave,
Cubeo
Principal warrior-chief: Mara Other chiefs: Davipe or Dauipe,
Dojo, Mabiu
2. The Amuisana Confederacy Groups: Baniva, Bare, Yavitero,
Desana
Principal warrior-chief: Amuni Other chiefs: Dauiba, Teyo,
Arucun, Yavita
3. The Tariana-Maniba Confederacy Groups: Tariana, Kurripako,
Cubeo, others (?) Principal warrior-chief: Boap Other chiefs: ? 4.
The Guaipunavis Confederacy Groups: Guaipuinavi, Parcune,
Docionavi,
Puinave, Megepure, Warekena, Ma- cirinavi
Principal warrior-chief: Cuceru Other chiefs: Capi, Guayucava 5.
The Marabitana Confederacy Groups: Bare, Manao, Guinao,
Catarapene,
Yahure, Mak, Guariba
Principal warrior-chief: Immo (1755-1764), Cocui Other chiefs:
Cocui, Cayamu, Inao
6. The Madawaka Confederacy Groups: Bar-Madwaka, Baniva,
Haruca,
Mawakwa, Anauy, Ye'kuana
Principal warrior-chief: Davillape or Davicape Other chiefs:
Caavi
European goods. During this period there were many different
European camps, also known as arraiales or corrals, which were used
to keep captive indigenous slaves and for the control of Indian and
European trade between colonies.
On one hand, the instability of these new ethnic formations,
their possession of a great number of European weapons, and their
definitive integration with the colonial commercial networks of
Euro- pean goods, led to competition and internecine conflicts
among leading groups of these indige- nous confederacies. On the
other hand, European economic ambitions and fears of these powerful
indigenous peoples pushed colonial authorities not only to
intensify their explorations and patrolling of some of the more
important commercial routes, but also to compete with the
Amerindian polities and other rival colonial powers to gain
control
over strategic areas of the Negro and Orinoco basins. Thus, the
European colonial system itself and interactions among Europeans
and Indians were decisive for the creation and transformation of
these new ethnic sociopolitical formations.
The process of European economic dominion over the Amerindian
political economy began in the 1750s and continued until the late
1770s. Dur- ing this period the Crowns of Spain and Portugal signed
a delimitation treaty to demarcate their respective oversea
possessions. The border demar- cation implied the expansion of
colonial frontiers, whose goal was to obtain definitive territorial
control by expelling intruders and competitors. Achieving a forced
political, legal, economic, and cultural amalgamation implied the
integration of indigenous populations to imperial crowns.
As a consequence, new sociopolitical changes and violence took
place in the Orinoco-Negro re- gion. Between 1755 and 1767, there
were many in- digenous rebellions in the middle and upper Negro as
well as in the upper Orinoco rivers.7 While some rebel groups were
defending their lands and sacred places against European
encroachment, others were fighting to regain control over strategic
trade networks. Yet these events meant a deeper involvement of
these indigenous groups with the colonial system. This involvement
produced a continuous desertion of some indigenous groups from
European towns and villages, while for other groups it entailed a
decline of their economic and political autonomy.
Between 1756 and 1760, both Spanish and Portuguese expeditions
to define their limits were in the upper Negro-upper Orinoco
region. Mili- tary and civilian authorities tried to impose some
changes in the organization of their respective colonies; the
foundation of new towns and for- tresses began, and mission towns
were transformed into secular villages under the control of imposed
European and Indian authorities. Europeans even prohibited
indigenous peoples to freely move with- in and between colonial
territories.
A great contingent of Portuguese soldiers, offi- cials, and
experts traveled along the Negro River, and began using indigenous
chiefs and groups as mediators and ethnic militia against other
inde- pendent Indians groups. This Portuguese campaign generated a
great Indian rebellion in 1757. Indeed, several, allied indigenous
confederacies and in-
7 Caulin 1841; Fernandez de Bovadilla 1964; Ferreira 1885, 1886,
1887, 1888; Mendoa Furtado 1906; Ramos Prez 1946.
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Amerindian Groups of Northwest Amazonia 521
dividual Indians and groups from mission towns confronted the
Portuguese army at So Gabriel Falls.
This war broke Indian-Portuguese relationships and caused many
indigenous migrations from mid- dle Negro basin to the Spanish
colony in upper Negro-upper Orinoco region. However, Spanish
authorities caused more changes with their inter- vention in the
nature of Indian-European interac- tions. Spaniards tried to
negotiate their political protection against the Portuguese and
ethnic sol- diers in exchange for indigenous subjection to the
Spanish Crown. By 1759, many powerful indig- enous leaders of major
confederacies were per- forming public ceremonies of vassalage to
Spanish authorities. This vassalage weakened Arawakan- speaking
groups' leadership and directly impacted their confederacies,
causing their progressive dis- integration.
By the end of the 18th century, most of the village sites along
the major river routes, (upper Orinoco and upper Negro) were
virtually unin- habited,8 and several groups of the Negro River had
been changed from gentiles, or independent peoples, into
abalizados, or assimilated individuals and families (Neto 1988), or
groups undergoing drastic reductions in their political autonomy
(Vid- al 1993). During this same period, a new kind of indigenous
category emerged; that of canicur or traitor (Neto 1988: 52 f.;
Stradelli 1929: 395). It was used by the Manao, Bare, and other
groups of the upper Negro region to refer to both individuals and
groups who were at the service of the colonial powers.
The introduction in the literature of ethnic (trib- al)
denominations to refer to indigenous groups of the Northwest Amazon
began in the 19th century. By this century, the indigenous
population had decreased drastically and migrations had increased
from major river towns to places and communities located in sectors
far from the colonial control. However, ethnolinguistic groups led
by shaman- chiefs, who conducted important ceremonials of Kuwai
religion, continued organizing, not only their identities, but also
military and/or religious rebellions as well as passive resistance
to the decadent colonial regimes.
These ritual activities continued until the first three decades
of this century, and several visitors and ethnographers reported
that, between 1831 and 1851, the natives continued celebrating
important multiethnic ritual and religious ceremonies in the
Vaups, Isana and Negro rivers.9 In fact, there are references
that indicate that: a) indigenous groups as well as the mestizos or
caboclos carried out in their towns, with or without the presence
of priests, ritual festivals in honor of the Catholic saints, and
b) the Arawakan- and Tukanoan-speak- ing groups performed sacred
ceremonies of the religion of Kwai or Yurupari. In short, migratory
movements, sociopolitical revitalization processes, and
sociopolitical and religious reorganizations were structured around
interethnic alliances, male secret societies, and the adoption of
specific rituals related to the Catholic calendar.
During the second half of the 19th century, multiethnic
religious ceremonies and the indige- nous resistance had
materialized in the emergence of important pan-indigenous messianic
movements (Hill and Wright 1988; Wright and Hill 1986). These
messianic movements, led by Tukanoan- and Arawakan-speaking
shamans, were able to guarantee both the physical survival and
sociocul- tural continuity of the peoples, the consolidation of a
regional system of political-religious hierarchies that still
persists today and the organization of the Arawakan, Tukanoan, and
Makuan societies of the Northwest Amazon.
3 The Regional System of Political-Religious Hierarchies
3.1 A Comparison of Arawakan, Tukanoan, and Makuan Models
A profound comparative analysis of Arawakan, Tukanoan, and
Makuan sociopolitical, economic, and religious structures reveal
both distinctive and compatible levels of political integration.
The lev- els of political integration among the Tukanoans could
embrace or extend to a whole area (i.e., a regional system of
marriage alliances) but their leaders' political influence is
restricted to the sib level. In part, this characteristic owes its
existence to the Tukanoan practice of linguistic exogamy. But it is
also related to the polarization of the relationship between each
phratry and their in-laws in two groups: 1) in-law sibs who are
close kindred and with whom a balanced reciprocity is prac- ticed;
and 2) the other nonrelated and distant sibs (and phratries) with
whom the negative reciproc- ity is the prescriptive norm.10
Arawakan-speaking
8 Ferreira 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888; Humboldt 1956; Jerez 1960,
1960?; Ribeiro de Sampaio 1825.
9 Chernela 1993; Spruce 1996; Wallace 1969; Wright 1981. 10
Chernela 1983; Hill 1987; Hugh-Jones, C. 1979; Jackson
1983.
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522 Silvia M. Vidal
groups, on the other hand, practice a nonlinguistic exogamy and
place all their in-laws ("the other") in a single category,
allocating them ambivalent and contradictory meanings ("people,"
"non-people," "relative" or "brother-in-law," potential "allied" or
"enemy," and so on) (Hill 1987: 190 f.). These social relationships
are added to both the system of religious beliefs and the
possibility to verticalize and horizontalize hierarchical
structures. These factors have influenced their forms of
leadership, their control and expansion of their alliances, and the
emergence of interregional political alliances and multiethnic
confederacies.
On the other hand, when the Bar Mak de- scribe their social
structure, they make reference to the term kulu or patrilineal
clans (Silverwood- Cope 1990: 78, 99). From the ego-centered per-
spective of an individual of a given clan, any other clan member is
an agnate (de-wa kulu) or an in-law (bay'na kulu). Agnate clans are
related in a hierarchical relationship as older or senior (mata
kulu) and as younger or junior (tsapedit kulu) brothers. This
association between junior and senior clans is also described in
the same terms in the relationship of the Bar-Mak with their
neighboring Tukanoans: younger clan members pay services to or are
servants (anan) of the older clans (Silverwood-Cope 1990: 1 19).
There are two groups of exogamic and hierarchized clans which, in
some cases, are very similar to an organiza- tion of moieties (119
f.). However, it should be emphasized that clan exogamy is not
rigid and that they are dispersed in the several regions they
occupy (120 f.). These social groupings of the Mak (kulu) and the
larger units in which clans are hierarchically organized, are
diffused along regional, local, and domestic groups.
Among the Mak of different regions there is little if any
contact. However, each regional group knows the existence of others
from oral tradition (Silverwood-Cope 1990: 81). Silverwood-Cope at-
tributes the isolation and independence of each regional group to
endogamy; that is to say, as a result both of the presence in each
region of two patrilineal descent groups tied by affinity to each
other and to the exchange of sisters among the masculine members of
each group. However, the regional group is not a limited political
and social unit, because agnatic and affinity ties exist among the
members of local groups from different regions. These ties are
invoked in conflicts and fission processes within a local group or
when there are not marriageable women in the region (81). In
addition, the local groups of a region can get together or not,
depending on the existent po-
litical relationships among them. Silverwood-Cope (1990: 81)
reports that in the region of the Mac- Paran, they and their
riverine neighbor groups (i.e., the Desana) celebrate ritual and
exchange ceremonies which are attended by all local groups of the
area.
Although cross-cousin marriage is practiced among the Arawaks,
the system is focused on widening alliances in order to incorporate
other groups who are not their traditional affinal kins (Hill 1987,
1989; Vidal 1993). This is the result of a complex relationship
that exists between these practices and the service paid by
sons-in-law to their fathers-in-law, the localization of the de-
scent units, the rule of patrilocal residence, the establishment
and increment of political networks, and the cycle of ceremonial
exchange of goods of different class or value (i.e., smoked fishes,
and other aquatic and terrestrial animals for vegetable products)
among affinal kins. Hill (1987, 1989) has pointed out that among
the Wakunai, the service paid by sons-in-law constitutes the only
legitimate means of establishing alliances among affinal sibs of
different phratries; it also contrib- utes to balance the social
relationships and the access and distribution of the resources of
diverse areas, by means of the ceremonial exchange be- tween
receivers and suppliers of wives. He also mentions that the
continuous occupation of the riverine territories by sibs and
phratries is based on the rule of patrilocal residence. Access to
resources of particular territories can be negotiated among affinal
relatives through ample agreements negotiated between son-in-law
and father-in-law, when the first one pays bride service to the
sec- ond. Negotiations for the permission to exploit resources on
affinal relatives' territories have been described by Wright (1981)
for the Hohdene and the Warperdakna, and by Vidal (1987) for the
Piapoco and the Achagua.
As Silverwood-Cope (1990: 117) mentions, the marriage alliances
among the Mak are charac- terized by endogamy at several different
levels: 1) ethnic group (with few exceptions they marry other Mak);
2) regional group; and 3) local group with bilateral composition.
On the other hand, Oliveira (1995: 70) underwrites the importance
of linguistic endogamy11 as a differentiating element
1 1 Like the Mak, Arawakan-speaking groups do not prac- tice the
linguistic exogamy as it is practiced among the Tukanoan groups,
because they marry within their linguis- tic community or ethnic
group. In general, the exogamy practiced by the Arawakan-speaking
groups is at the level of sibs and phratries; this is, they do not
marry people of their same sib and phratry, and they also emphasize
the
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Amerindian Groups of Northwest Amazonia 523
among groups of interfluvial (Mak) and riverine (Tukano) areas.
Although patrilineality organizes the bonds of ancestral identity
and of descent among the Mak, the author also highlights the
existence of the rule of uxorilocality that guides men to marry
outside of their local groups. This last factor also contrasts with
the virilocality of Tukanoan and the patrivirilocality of Arawakan
groups (Oliveira 1995: 58).
The enormous potential that the Arawakan system of marriage
networks has for politico-re- gional alliances is also evident in
the prohibition of marriage among individuals that belong to
descent units sharing the same totemic symbol and possibly the same
mythical ancestors (Vidal 1993). Thus, this means the inclusion as
kin of a larger number of segments and populations both at regional
level in the category of "siblings" ("we/us"), and the ampliation
of alliance networks among affinal kin of diverse groups ("they/the
others"). This system of regional exogamy, in turn, is related to
and based on their religious system as well as their traditional
beliefs on regarding the origin of the world and the ancestors.
The religious system of the Arawakan-speaking groups is divided
in two or more mythical cycles whose more salient personages are
the Creator or Npiruli (or Inpirrkuli) and Kwai (Kuai, Kuw or
Yurupari). Each one of these cycles consists in a corpus of
narratives (stories, myths, mythohistories, songs, prayers, advice,
and so on.), rituals, knowledge, masculine secret societies, ini-
tiation ceremonies, and parties, which include a wide variety of
ideological-symbolic and practical codes. These codes contain
important knowledge and information that have influenced and guided
the strategies selected by these groups in order to confront events
and processes throughout their history. For the Arawakan-speaking
groups, the origin of people is linked with an unique, and special
place that is shared by all groups. In this place, the first
ancestors emerged in a hierarchical order from older to younger
siblings, and from where they were dispersed throughout the Orino-
co-Amazon region. This hierarchical emergence not only refers to
the sibs of each phratry but also to each Arawakan- and
non-Arawakan-speaking group of the Northwest Amazon.
Although Tukanoan-speaking groups also have the cult of the
Kuwai (He), they don't relate the origin of the world and their
ancestors to a specific place. Their origin is bound to one
or several ancestral "anaconda(boa)-canoes" that were left by
the founding members of descent units in different places of the
Amazon region.12 The Mak, according to Silverwood-Cope (1990: 134),
share diverse aspects of their religious and cosmo- gonie beliefs
with Arawak and Tukano. In effect, Idn Kamni, or the Creator, for
the Mak, is a trickster whose great powers go hand in hand with his
failures and difficulties. On these and other aspects, Idn Kamni
resembles the trickster Kwai of the Cubeo and Arawak. Also in their
lore on the origin of the world, the Mak narrate that people were
created of Idn Kamni' s saliva, blended with powder of stones from
a stream located somewhere at the Isana or Ayari rivers
(Silverwood-Cope 1990: 139 f.). Later, this first people began to
travel in anaconda(boa)-canoes through an extensive area which
includes the region between the city of Manaus and the Vaups,
Papur, and Macu-Paran rivers. In that way, Idn Kamni allocated each
clan and indigenous group a place or territory on this earth.
Finally, Oliveira (1995: 80) indicates that the Mak, as do the
Arawakan- and Tukanoan-speak- ing groups of the northwest Amazon,
also perform the ritual ceremonies of Kwai, He, or Yurupari,
following the same patterns and restrictions that the riverine
groups established for this cult.
On the other hand, the flexibility observed among the
Tukanoan-speaking groups to identify the place of the first
people's emergence (ancestral anaconda-canoes), contrasts with the
rigidity of their rank system in which men are organized by age
between older and younger brothers. This system is synchronized
with the hierarchical order of sibs in each linguistic group and
phratry; a characteristic that is influenced and closely related to
Tukanoan political (chiefs of towns or local communities) and
ritual (powerful ritual special- ists) leadership. In contrast,
among most Arawakan groups (Wakunai, Baniva, Warekena, Tariana),
the distinction between older and younger brothers is more flexible
in daily life since it is possible for a younger brother to achieve
a higher status as chief of a community or ritual specialist (Hill
1987). Wright (1981) has pointed out, howev- er, that this
flexibility is not present among the Hohdene (a Wakunai phratry),
since the oldest siblings are the ones who have the highest pos-
sibility of access to positions of power in ritual and secular
leadership. Vidal (1987, 1993) has also found this same rigidity in
rank principles between older and younger siblings among two
prohibition of marriage between individuals who have the same
totemic symbol and mythical ancestor.
12 Chernela 1983; Corra 1980-81; Goldman 1968; Hugh- Jones, C.
1979; Jackson 1983; Reichel-Dolmatof 1971.
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524 Silvia M. Vidal
other Arawakan-speaking groups: the Piapoco and the Bare.
The expansion and contraction mechanisms constitute two aspects
of the same dynamic process in sociopolitical relationships among
Arawakan- speaking groups. Hill (1983, 1984, 1987, 1989) has
clearly documented these two aspects among the Wakunai, indicating
their close relationship with the religious system and ritual
power. This author (1989: 3-5) points out that the Wakunai define
ritual power throughout two dimensions of their social
relationships: 1) the vertical dimension (or
"developmental-generational") is associated with the hierarchy of
descent units, the mythical powers of creation and the recreation
of life, attributed to the patrilineal ancestors, ritual
specialists, and to the old men and women of the group; and 2) the
horizontal dimension (or "of exchange rela- tionships") that opens
the relatively closed social world of local groups toward a dynamic
and expansible universe of political-historical relation- ships
among consanguineous relatives (us) and a plurality of affinal kins
of other descent groups and peoples. These dimensions evidence the
existence of mechanisms and processes of fission and fusion (Vidal
1987) that form part of the social reproduc- tion of
Arawakan-speaking populations (i.e., the recreation and constant
reinforcement of descent units and ethnic groups).
The contraction/expansion processes and the fusion/fission
mechanism have made possible: a) the integration-assimilation of
segments, descent units or complete groups to Arawakan-speaking
populations; b) the division of sectors and/or de- scent units of a
given Arawakan group (by fusing with another Arawakan or
non-Arawakan group) in order to progressively transform itself into
a new social entity; c) the alternated or combined access to the
territory of a phratry from another subgroup and group and the
exploitation of the resources within; d) the political alliance of
one or more groups and subgroups in warfare or ethnic conflicts;
and) the articulation or the separation of supracommunitarian
levels of sociopolitical inte- gration.
3.2 Discussion
Although anthropological studies of Northwest Amazonian groups
have underwritten the existence of regional systems, they emphasize
a regional system at a given river basin (i.e., Vaups River) or for
a given family of ethnolinguistic groups (i.e., Eastern Tukanoan).
But even in these analysis one
can perceive that these societies are united in a more complex
system. Thus, Jackson (1983: 6) has indicated that in order to
understand the regional system of Eastern Tukanoan groups, it is
necessary to envision a model of dispersed hunter-gatherers, with
independent local groups, flexible territorial borders, and fluid
membership of local commu- nities. Silverwood-Cope (1990: 74, 78)
has men- tioned that model of the Maku could be character- ized as
a system of professional hunters with high circular mobility,
related but independent local and regional groups, flexible
territorial borders, and fluid membership of local groups. The
Arawak- an-speaking groups, however, could be defined by a model of
localized groups of fisher-gatherers in continual expansion, with
interdependent local and regional groups, flexible territorial
borders, and fluid membership of local communities (Vidal
1993).
As we have seen, ethnological studies of Ara- wakan-, Tukanoan-,
and Makuan-speaking groups of the Northwest Amazon, indicate that
their complex regional system of political-religious hierarchies is
characterized by the differentiation of status (rank),
multilingualism, exogamy, cult or religion of the Kuwai or
Yurupari, interdepen- dence among groups, specialization of
individuals and groups in certain occupations and economic
activities, and the intense exchange or trade of goods.13
This is a regional system of intra- and inter- ethnic
hierarchies (Table 7), in which each ethnic unit shares
sociocultural elements or is sociocul- turally compatible with the
other units or groups. Goldman (in Chernela 1993: 10 f.), after
revisiting the Cubeo in 1981, concluded that the Vaups system
(Eastern Tukanoan and other groups) can be characterized as an
"elementary hereditary ar- istocracy." Chernela (1993: 6) mentions
that rank among the Eastern Tukanoan groups "is manifest on a daily
basis in the terms of relative address used by speakers in
conversation and greeting." This is also the case among the Wakunai
or Kurri- pako (an Arawakan group) (Hill 1993) and among the Cubeo
(a Tukanoan group) (Goldman 1968). Hill (1993: 11) states that in
Northwest Amazonia "ritual hierarchy is intrinsically connected to
the ecology of blackwater rivers and to competitive, egalitarian
relations of exchange among phratries and language groups." This
author also concludes
13 Arhern 1981; Chernela 1983, 1993; Goldman 1968; Hill 1983;
Hugh-Jones, C. 1979; Hugh-Jones, S. 1979; Jackson 1983; Oliveira
1995; Reichel-Dolmatoff 1968, 1971, 1985; Vidal 1987, 1993; Wright
1981.
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Amerindian Groups of Northwest Amazonia 525
Table 7: Amerindian Regional System of Political-Religious
Hierarchies of Northwest Amazonia
Interethnic Regional System of Political-Religious
Hierarchies
Arawakan Tukanoan Makuan
Enwi o Maku (chiefs) hara (chiefs) ? Tna, dana (masters, wisers)
Bayaroa (dancers, singers) ? punawa (warriors) Guaramara (warriors)
? Minani (owners, specialists) Kumua (shamans) Kulu (clan, group)
Mak (servants) Muno yori masa (servants) Anan (servants) Others
(in-laws, enemies, others ("mak," foreigners) allies,
foreigners)
Intraethnic System of Political-Religious Hierarchies
Arawakan Tukanoan Makuan
Ni (people) Mahsa (people) Ho (people) -nne (children, )
(unnamed) Kulu (clan)
Hik pon (children, L.G.) Mata kulu (senior clan) -daknai
(grandchildren, S) Kurua o Kuduri (grand- Tsapedit kulu (junior
clan) -nwi ("the/' L) children, S) -muna ("the," R.G.) In-laws
in-laws Bay'na kulu (in-law clans,
in-laws) Others other people
= phratry, L = lineage, S = sib, L.G. = Linguistic group, R.G. =
regional group
that "hierarchically ranked forms of social orga- nization like
those found in the Northwest Ama- zon today were undoubtedly more
widespread and common in Amazonia and adjacent areas prior the
arrival of European peoples . . ." (10).
As we have seen, both ancient and contempo- rary Amerindian
formations differ in their ethnic and linguistic compositions, in
their levels of po- litical integration, in their economic and
social complexity, and in the economic and political autonomy of
their ethnic entities. Notwithstand- ing, they also share
multilingual, multiethnic, and hierarchical systems. Thus, the
persistence and transformation of these three complex character-
istics must be included in interpretative schemes of the cultural
history of Amerindian peoples of the Northwest Amazon.
4 Conclusions
As we have seen, Arawakan-, Tukanoan-, and Ma- kuan-speaking
groups are organized by a complex regional system of
political-religious hierarchies resulting from a long-term process
of ethnogenesis which began in the 16th century. This regional
system is characterized by multilingualism, mul-
tiethnicity, social and ritual hierarchies, exogamy, and varied
forms of interethnic relations.
As discussed in the introduction, there have been simplistic and
partial approaches and inter- pretations of the ancient and
contemporary cultural history of Amazonia. Most of them were the
result of an emphasis of anthropological field studies on a single
Indian group as a closed system, or on a topic or specific process
in several groups of a given family of languages. However, there
also are studies that have centered their analysis on regional
approaches and in complex multiethnic relations. These efforts have
resulted in insightful interpretations of Amerindian peoples and
history. For example, Oliveira (1995) has analyzed the Northwest
Amazon region as a "complex border culture." This has lead this
author to conclude that this "complex border culture" is the
product not only of singular sociocultural formations that reveal
specific symbolic and cognitive systems, but of social actors such
as indigenous peoples, missionaries, governmental officials,
military au- thorities, and other individuals of diverse ethnic and
socioeconomic origins.
In this paper, I suggest that in order to under- stand the
cultural history of the Northwest Ama- zon and the nature of
contemporary Amerindian
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526 Silvia M. Vidal
regional systems, one must base the analysis on a macroregional
perspective that includes the socio- economic, political,
multilingual, and multiethnic contexts in which ethnic identities
and groups are created and developed.
This paper also demonstrates that in the his- tory of the
Northwest Amazon indigenous groups fluidity, flexibility, and
interdependence are three important aspects of their sociopolitical
structures that are always present in both the processes of
transformation and the emergence of new social formations in
different historical periods.
I would like to thank Nelly Arvelo-Jimnez and Werner Wilbert for
their useful academic comments and the English revision of this
article.
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Article Contentsp. [515]p. 516p. 517p. 518p. 519p. 520p. 521p.
522p. 523p. 524p. 525p. 526p. 527p. 528
Issue Table of ContentsAnthropos, Vol. 94, No. 4/6 (1999) pp.
351-698Volume InformationFront MatterEdwin W. Smith and His "Raw
Material" Texts of a Missionary and Ethnographer in Context [pp.
351-367]Rural and Urban Bira Women. An Anthropological Case Study
from Central Africa [pp. 369-379]Mode und Kleidung im kolonialen
Zentralafrika. Begegnung zweier Welten [pp. 381-400]Les "nkita"
comme pantomime des personnages extraordinaires chez les Kongo du
Bas-Congo [pp. 401-418]From Clarifying Pearls and Gems to Water
Coagulation with Alum. History, Surviving Practices, and Technical
Assessment [pp. 419-430]Hierarchy and Symbolic Construction of the
Person among Rural Egyptians [pp. 431-445]Historical Ethnology. The
Context and Meaning of the A. B. Lewis Collection [pp. 447-465]The
Enigma of the Unfinished Male. An Entry to East Bird's Head
Mytho-Logics, Irian Jaya [pp. 467-486]The Fox's Wedding [pp.
487-499]Zur Bedeutung Drogen-induzierter Wahrnehmungs vernderungen
bei den Kashinawa-Indianern Ost-Perus [pp. 501-514]Amerindian
Groups of Northwest Amazonia. Their Regional System of
Political-Religious Hierarchies [pp. 515-528]"Hitting the Bottom of
My Life". An Apache Talks about Jail [pp. 529-537]Berichte und
KommentareEric R. Wolf (1923-1999) [pp. 539-541]Benin Prehistory:
The Origin and Settling down of the Edo [pp. 542-552]Esquisse
ethnologique d'un spectacle sportif: Les matchs de Douala et de
Yaound [pp. 552-554]Wird die Polygynie in der modernen Gesellschaft
berleben? berlegungen zur Mehrfrauenehe am Beispiel der Mafa in
Nordkamerun [pp. 554-563]Anmerkungen zu einer schamanistischen
Sitzung im Sdwesten Madagaskars [pp. 564-568]Supplementary Notes on
Nage Bird Classification and Ethnoornithology [pp. 568-574]
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Miszellen [pp. 646-647]Neue Publikationen [pp.
649-664]Zeitschriftenschau [pp. 665-683]Back Matter