Stephen William Kidd Phd Thesis
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However, during the twentieth century their land has been colonized by cattle ranchers and they have been obliged to enter the market economy. While anthropologists have proposed a range of theories to explain indigenous social and economic relations, the main concern of this thesis is to examine how the Enxet themselves explain their social behaviour. The Enxet make salient use of "emotion words" when discussing their social and economic practices. For instance, a fundamental dichotomy in Enxet thought is between "love" and "hate" and much of their discourse centres on these two concepts. The Enxet seek to create "good/beautiful" people who know how to act appropriately. In certain contexts they should practise "love" while in other contexts "hate" is acceptable. Enxet social organization should not be understoodas a structure but as a process, as something that is being continually created. I will consider different aspects of this process through an examination of kinship, co-residence, marital relations, "brideservice" and inter-community contact, and I will describe how economic transactions are key elements in the generation of "loving" social relations. However, self-centred practices create many challenges to a harmonious community life and I will consider how the Enxet strive to overcome them. Of particular interest will be demand sharing which responds, in part, to a strongly-held egalitarian ethic but can also provoke disharmony and discomfort in community life. I will also discuss commodity relations within Enxet communities and challenge the common assumption that money is necessarily destructive of indigenous social relations. I will conclude that the overriding goal of the Enxet is the attainment of tranquillity in both their personal and social lives. For the Enxet, economic relations are not about gaining material wealth but about living well with other people. They recognize that personal affective comfort is dependent on engendering tranquillity in other people. Therefore, the "emotion words" they use to explain their social behaviour should not be regarded as merely referring to "feelings" but as encompassing an aesthetics of social behaviour. CONTENTS List of Maps iv List of Tables v List of Figures vi Acknowledgments vii Note on Orthography viii 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Explaining Sharing 4 1.2. A Discourse on Affects 10 1.3. Outline of the Thesis 17 1.4. The Ethnographic and Historical Setting 19 1.5. Anthropological Research among the Enxet 27 1.6. Locating my Research 28 2. THE WANMAGKO: THE SOURCE OF VITALITY 33 2.1. The Universe of Invisible Beings 33 2.2. Multiple Wanmagko and the Aetiology of Illness 38 2.3. Shamanic Healing 41 2.4. Death 43 2.5. Conclusion 45 3. THE W4XOK, THE SOCIAL CENTRE OF THE PERSON 47 3.1. Defining the W6xok 47 3.2. Constructing the Wdxok 49 3.3. Characteristics of a Knowledgeable Person 51 3.4. Lacking Knowledge 56 3.5. Contextualizing Affective Discourse 58 3.6. Temptation and the Tempter 59 3.7. Alcohol and Anger 62 3.8. Conclusion: an Enxet Perspective on Personal Autonomy 66 4. GENERATING KINSHIP 69 4.1. The Creation of Kinship 70 4.2. The Kindred 78 4.3. Kinship Terminology 82 4.4. Conclusion 97 5. PATTERNS OF RESIDENCE 99 5.1. The Household 103 5.2. Intra-Community Settlement Patterns 110 5.3. Conclusion 121 6. THE CONTEMPORARY ECONOMY OF THE ENXET 122 6.1. The Creation of Indigenous Work-Camps 123 6.2. Subsisting from Diversity 125 6.2.1. Hunting 126 6.2.2. Gathering 127 6.2.3. Fishing 129 6.2.4. Agriculture 130 6.2.5. Stock-rearing 131 6.2.6. Other production undertaken within indigenous colonies 132 6.2.7. Wage Labour 133 6.3. "Delayed Return" and Immediate Consumption 136 6.4. Personal Autonomy and Productive Choices 138 6.5. Conclusion 141 7. CONCEPTS OF PROPERTY 142 7.1. Durable Goods and Domestic Animals 142 7.2. Food Ownership 150 7.3. Communal Food Rights 158 7.4. Conclusion 165 8. MARITAL RELATIONS 166 8.1. Conceptualizing Indigenous Marriage 166 8.2. Companionship 168 8.3. Relations of Demand 171 8.4. Abandonment, the Ultimate Sanction 173 8.5. Conclusion 176 9. "BRIDSERVICE, " A PRODUCT OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL IMAGINATION? 178 9.1. "Loving" and being "Loved" by your Father-in-Law 179 9.2. Imagining Brideservice in Lowland South America 184 9.3. Conclusion 190 10. VOLUNTARY SHARING AND THE GENERATION OF "LOVE" 192 10.1. "Love, " the Motivation for Voluntary Sharing 193 10.2. Voluntary Sharing in Practice 195 10.3. Gender and the Creation of Social Relations 213 10.4. Redistribution 216 10.5. Conclusion 224 11. THE SONS OF JOB THE PATRIARCH 225 11.1. The Joy of the Visit 228 11.2. Visiting and the Maintenance of Intra-Community Tranquillity 235 11.3. Conclusion 238 11 12. DEMAND SHARING: A THREAT TO TRANQUILLITY 242 12.1. "People without Things" 242 12.2. The Practice of Demand Sharing 244 12.3. The Discomfort of Borrowing 249 12.4. In Praise of Deceit 253 12.5. Conclusion 256 13. DOMESTICATING LETHAL MONEY 259 13.1. "Love" and the Generative Power of Money 262 13.2. Cash and the Maintenance of Egalitarian Relations 263 13.2.1. A windfall mentality 264 13.2.2. Levelling mechanisms 267 13.3. Commoditization within the Internal Economy 270 13.3.1. Informal commodity transactions 272 13.3.2. Indigenous stores 275 13.4. Employing Kin and Co-Residents 283 13.5. Conclusion 287 14. CONCLUSION 289 Appendix I Genealogical Chart of the Community of Palo Santo 296 Appendix 2 Genealogical Chart of the Community of San Carlos 297 Bibliography 298 iii LIST OF MAPS Map 1.1. Location of Enxet Territory and Neighbouring Peoples 21 Map 1.2. Location of El Estribo 25 Map 1.3. Location of Communities within El Estribo 25 Map 1.4. Location of Makthlawaiya 26 Map 5.1. Households in Palo Santo and San Carlos that are Linked by a Parent/Child Relationship 112 Map 5.2. Households in Palo Santo and San Carlos that are Linked by a Sibling Relationship 117 Map 10.1. Sharing Relations of Houses 8,9 and 10 of San Carlos 202 Map 10.2. Sets of Houses in Palo Santo and San Carlos whose Owners are Related as Parents/Children and as Siblings. 209 Map 11.1. Location of Members of the Kindred of Maruca Caballero 228 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1. Enxet Kin Terminology 84 Table 4.2. Enxet Affinal Terminology 89 Table 5.1. Household Composition in Five Communities of El Estribo 105 Table 5.2. Type of Residence of Married Couples with Unmarried Children in El Estribo and Makthlawaiya 108 Table 6.1. The Time of the Year when the Enxet Consume Wild Plants 128 Table 6.2. Income from Cotton in Karandd and Veinte de Enero during 1995/96 131 Table 11.1: Residential Location of the "Close" Kin of the Children of Maruca Caballero 229 V LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1. Shamanic Representation of a Person's Twelve Wanmagko 39 Figure 4.1. An Example of a Cause of Potential Confusion in the Use of Kinship Terms 94 Figure 5.1. Examples of Multiple Households in El Estribo 106 Figure 5.2. Residents of Houses 39,45 and 46 113 Figure 5.3. Residents of Houses 31,32,35 and 36 114 Figure 5.4. Residents of Houses 4,18,21,23 and 24 120 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would have been impossible without the kindness of the Enxet communities of Makthlawaiya, El Estribo and Ydn6kydha who allowed me to spend time among them and offered me generousassistance whenever I was in need. I would especially like to thank Nena Quintana,Leoncio Rodriguez, Maruca Caballero, Timon Recalde,Angela Fretesand Felipe Caballero who welcomed me into their homes and provided me with warm hospitality. I am also grateful to Anibal L6pez, Raul Quintana, Eusebio Quintana,Ambrosio L6pez Ramirez, Anita Severo, Solano Acufta, EstebanGaleano, Felix Bogado,Zacarias Severo and many others from whom I received friendship and support.Of thosewho are no longer with us, I recall with fondnessthe kindness shown by Leon Chdvez,Tomds Kilwaia and Lazaro G6mez. Between 1984 and 1991 my work in Paraguay was supported by the South American Missionary Society (SAMS) and the Iglesia Anglicana Paraguaya and I would like to thank them for putting up with me, even when it became clear that I no longer shared their aims. I am also grateful for being given access to the SAMS' archive. I would especially like to thank Ed Brice, Omar Ortiz and the late Peter Tyson all of whom, with their families, showed me particular kindness, especially in my first few years in Paraguay.