Fatal Substances: Apurinã’s Dangers, Movement and Kinship

Abstract

Through continuous patterns of travel when hunting, visiting other settlements, trekking and foraging, the Arawak-speaking Apurinã of southwestern Amazonia are able to access resources, new power and skills, and knowledge about other beings. In the course of the trips, however, certain trees, stones and types of earth formation are approached with the utmost caution as the spirits of these places may afflict the unwary with their invisible poisonous arrows, causing illnesses or even deaths, if not removed by shamanic skills. Similar illnesses are also related to moiety food taboos, a danger which highlights the crucial elements of kinship construction among the Apurinã. Yet immobility can also be dangerous as stability can make the body ill and decrease its stamina and strength. This article shows that it is not only co-residence that produces kin; movement also contributes to community-building. Encounters with other beings contribute to establishing selfhood and kin territory, as well as making allies. The centrality of movement in Apurinã experiences is also discussed as an element leading to the dominant position of Arawakan peoples in the history of southwestern Amazonia.