Assembling Differences
The Reshaping of Hostility in Indigenous Assemblies (Peruvian Amazon)
Abstract
In the Peruvian Amazon’s lower Marañón basin, the prospect of an indigenous assembly appears unlikely: how can previously semi-nomadic groups, historically immersed in recurrent warfare, come together in a cohesive political entity? This transformation is undoubtedly a product of historical processes, greatly influenced by Western political structures and legal frameworks. However, does this shift erase the traditional conflicts among Amazonian groups? The criteria defining indigenous identity and collective action still bear traces of past hostilities, albeit reshaped by indigenous political dynamics. This article draws from the ethnography of a federation assembly to delve into the nuances between fragmentation and unity. Through the lens of assembly issues, it seeks to uncover both the ruptures and continuities defining contemporary indigenous communities.
References
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Taylor, Anne-Christine. 1993. “Remembering to Forget: Identity, Mourning and Memory Among the Jivaro.” Man 28 (4): 653–78. https://doi.org/10.2307/2803991.
Taylor, Anne-Christine. 1999. “The Western Margins of Amazonia from the Early Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century.” In The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, edited by Frank Salomon and Stuart B. Schwartz, 188–256. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, Anne-Christine. 2006. “Devenir Jivaro. Le statut de l’homicide guerrier en Amazonie.” Cahiers d’anthropologie sociale 2: 67–84. https://doi.org/10.3917/cas.002.0067
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Veber, Hanne, and Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen (eds.). 2017. Creating Dialogues. Indigenous Perceptions and Changing Forms of Leadership in Amazonia. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
Abélès, Marc (ed). 2011. Des Anthropologues à l’OMC: Scènes de La Gouvernance Mondiale. Paris: CNRS.
Allard, Olivier. Forthcoming. “Voting in Lowland South America: Changing Relations Between Indigenous People, Communities, and Nation-States.” In The Lowland South American Worlds, edited by Casey High and Luiz Costa, Routledge, forthcoming 2024.
Belleau, Jean-Philippe. 2014. Le mouvement indien au Brésil. Du village aux organisations. Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes.
Brown, Michael F. 1984. Una Paz Incierta: Historia y Cultura da las Comunidades Aguarunas Frente al Impacto da la Carretera Marginal. Lima: CAAAP.
Chaumeil, Jean-Pierre. 1990. “‘Les nouveaux chefs…’ Pratiques politiques et organisations indigènes en Amazonie péruvienne.” Problèmes d’Amérique Latine 96: 93–113.
Clastres, Pierre. 2013. Society Against the State. New York: Zone Books.
CORPI. 2012. Organigrama de la Coordinadora Regional de los Pueblos Indígenas, sede San Lorenzo, unpublished document.
Cova, Victor. 2021. “The Road to Taisha: Indigenous Protests for Road Infrastructure in the Ecuadorian Amazon and the Ontological Turn.” Sociologus 71 (1): 13–32. https://doi.org/10.3790/soc.71.1.13
Descola, Philippe. 1993. “Les Affinités sélectives. Alliance, guerre et prédation dans l’ensemble jivaro.” L’Homme 33 (126–128): 171–90.
Deshoullière, Grégory. 2016. “Une première route dans le Transkutukú, terres jivaro. Quelques remarques sur le rapport entre ethnicité, territoire et développement économique au temps de la Révolution citoyenne (Équateur).” Journal de la Société des américanistes 102 (2): 207–34. https://doi.org/10.4000/jsa.14823
Deshoullière, Grégory, and Santiago Utitiaj Paati. 2019. “Acerca de la Declaración sobre el cambio de nombre del conjunto Jívaro.” Journal de la Société des américanistes 105 (2): 167–79. https://doi.org/10.4000/jsa.17370.
Detienne, Marcel, ed. 2003. Qui veut prendre la parole ?. Paris, Seuil.
García Hierro, Pedro, Alberto Chirif, and Alexandre Surrallés. 2002. Una Historia Para El Futuro: Territorios y Pueblos Indígenas En El Alto Amazonas. Copenhague: CORPI/IWGIA.
Garra, Simone. 2017. “Les Sorciers Condamnés: Chamanisme et Mutation Dans Le Monde Awajún.” Ph.D. thesis in Ethnology, Nanterre: Université Paris-Nanterre.
Greene, Shane. 2009. Customizing Indigeneity: Paths to a Visionary Politics in Peru. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Hendricks, Janet Wall. 1994. To Drink of Death: The Narrative of a Shuar Warrior. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
High, Casey. 2015. Victims and Warriors: Violence, History, and Memory in Amazonia. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
Julou, Ronan. 2006. “L’autre en soi. Intériorisation de l’altérité et métamorphose identitaire chez les Jebero d’Amazonie péruvienne.” Ph.D. thesis in Ethnology, Paris: EHESS.
Morin, Françoise. 1992a. “Les premiers congrès Shipibo-Conibo dans le contexte politique et religieux des années 60–70.” Journal de la Société des Américanistes 78 (2): 59–77. https://doi.org/10.3406/jsa.1992.1457.
Morin, Françoise. 1992b. “Revendications et stratégies politiques des organisations indigènes amazoniennes.” Cahiers des Amériques latines 13: 75–85.
Mouriès, Thomas. 2016. “Comment peut-on être indigène ? La fabrication d’une identité politique en Amazonie péruvienne.” Bulletin de l’Institut français d’études andines 45 (1): 109–36. https://doi.org/10.4000/bifea.7872.
Ochoa, Nancy. 2009. “Entre Plusieurs Mondes. Les Chayahuita de l’Amazonie.” Ph.D. in Ethnology, Paris: EHESS.
Oakdale, Suzanne. 2022. Amazonian Cosmopolitans: Navigating a Shamanic Cosmos, Shifting Indigenous Policies, and Other Modern Projects. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Romio, Silvia. 2010. “Analyse Socio-Politique de l’AIDESEP, Organisation Interethnique de l’Amazonie Péruvienne.” Master’s thesis in Political Studies, Paris: EHESS.
Servindi. 2012. “Perú: Prosigue el debate sobre el caso Aidesep-Petrobras. Algunas citas textuales…”, Servindi, November 16, 2022. Accessed April 10, 2024. https://www.servindi.org/node/51203.
Seymour-Smith, Charlotte. 1988. Shiwiar: Identidad Étnica y Cambio En El Río Corrientes. Quito: Abya-Yala.
Sztutman, Renato. 2012. O profeta e o principal: a ação política ameríndia e seus personagens. São Paulo, SP, Brasil: Edusp : FAPESP.
Taylor, Anne-Christine. 1985. “L’art de la Rréduction: la guerre et les mécanismes de la différenciation tribale dans la culture jivaro.” Journal de la société des Américanistes 71 (1): 159–73. https://doi.org/10.3406/jsa.1985.2260.
Taylor, Anne-Christine. 1993. “Remembering to Forget: Identity, Mourning and Memory Among the Jivaro.” Man 28 (4): 653–78. https://doi.org/10.2307/2803991.
Taylor, Anne-Christine. 1999. “The Western Margins of Amazonia from the Early Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century.” In The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, edited by Frank Salomon and Stuart B. Schwartz, 188–256. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, Anne-Christine. 2006. “Devenir Jivaro. Le statut de l’homicide guerrier en Amazonie.” Cahiers d’anthropologie sociale 2: 67–84. https://doi.org/10.3917/cas.002.0067
Taylor, Anne-Christine. 2007. “Sick of History: Contrasting Regimes of Historicity in the Upper Amazon.” In Time and Memory in Indigenous Amazonia: Anthropological Perspectives, edited by Carlos Fausto and Michael Heckenberger, 133–68. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.
Veber, Hanne, and Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen (eds.). 2017. Creating Dialogues. Indigenous Perceptions and Changing Forms of Leadership in Amazonia. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
Published
2024-11-17
How to Cite
Mouriès, Thomas. 2024. “Assembling Differences: The Reshaping of Hostility in Indigenous Assemblies (Peruvian Amazon)”. Swiss Journal of Sociocultural Anthropology 30 (1):42–61. https://doi.org/10.36950/sjsca.2024.30.9760.
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