Papers by Leonor Valentino
Tipití, 2024
In the introduction to this special issue of Tipití, dedicated to recent ethnographies conducted ... more In the introduction to this special issue of Tipití, dedicated to recent ethnographies conducted among indigenous peoples in Guianese Amazonia, we offer an overview of the main anthropological traditions that have placed the region at the center of debates in Amazonianist ethnology. Alternatively defined as a "linguistic area," "cultural area," or "ethnographic area," the Guianas region is shared by indigenous collectives of the Cariban family and, to a lesser extent, Arawak, Tupi, Yanomami, Sáliva, and Warao-speaking groups, and is associated with some of the monographs that inaugurated the modern period of ethnological reflection on kinship in Amazonia, as well as influential comparative syntheses on the native regional systems of Lowland South America. Throughout the text, we point out the recent repercussions of classical images regarding the Guianese Indigenous peoples, as well as the awakening of other theoretical concerns and new contexts of disciplinary dialogue and ethnographic work in Amazonia. It is noteworthy that this issue stands as one of the few and possibly the first to include texts authored by indigenous researchers on the ethnology of the indigenous Guianas, themselves belonging to the Wai Wai people. Their articles, written in collaboration with non-indigenous researchers, demonstrate the necessity for diverse authorial and methodological approaches in the context of the increasing Indigenous presence in universities. The articles included in this issue provide a glimpse into contemporary research in the Guianas, covering a wide range of topics including conviviality, gender, kinship, morality, emotions, death, ritual, music, space-time, movement, memory, orality, mythology, partnership, and ethnographic authorship. They not only shed light on the enduring fertility of key debates in regional ethnology but also reveal significant transformations in anthropological paradigms and the lived experiences of Guianese peoples.
Tipití, 2024
Na introdução a este número especial da Tipití, dedicado a etnografias recentes realizadas junto ... more Na introdução a este número especial da Tipití, dedicado a etnografias recentes realizadas junto a povos indígenas na Amazônia guianense, sobrevoamos as principais tradições antropológicas que posicionaram a região no centro dos debates da etnologia amazonista. Alternativamente definida como “área linguística”, “área cultural” ou “área etnográfica”, a região das Guianas é compartilhada por coletivos indígenas falantes de idiomas da família Caribe e, em menor medida, de línguas Aruaque, Tupi, Yanomami, Sáliva e Warao, e está associada a algumas das monografias que inauguraram o período moderno da reflexão etnológica sobre o parentesco na Amazônia, além de influentes sínteses comparativas a propósito dos sistemas regionais nativos das Terras Baixas da América do Sul. No decorrer do texto, apontamos a repercussão recente de imagens clássicas a respeito dos povos indígenas guianenses, bem como o despertar de outras preocupações teóricas e de novos contextos de diálogo disciplinar e de trabalho etnográfico na Amazônia. Ressaltamos, nesse sentido, que esta coletânea é possivelmente uma das primeiras de antropologia nas Guianas a incluir textos de pesquisadores indígenas, eles próprios pertencentes ao povo Wai Wai. Seus textos, ambos escritos em colaboração com um pesquisador não indígena, demonstram a necessidade de diferentes soluções de autoria e de método, em um contexto de crescente presença indígena na academia. Os artigos, incluídos no número especial, apresentam uma amostra das pesquisas contemporâneas realizadas nas Guianas e abordam temas tão diversos como convivialidade, gênero, parentesco, moralidade, emoções, morte, ritual, música, espaço-temporalidade, movimento, memória, oralidade, mitologia, parceria e autoria etnográfica. As contribuições evidenciam, assim, a fecundidade perene de debates caros à etnologia regional, ao mesmo tempo em que iluminam transformações significativas de paradigmas antropológicos e das próprias vivências dos povos guianenses.
This paper presents a description of kinship terminology in Katwena-Tunayana, a Cariban language ... more This paper presents a description of kinship terminology in Katwena-Tunayana, a Cariban language of northern Amazonia, based on an ongoing doctoral research project in the Trombetas River Basin, a left tributary to the Amazon River in the northwest of the Brazilian state of Pará. More specifically, the research focuses on the villages distributed along the upper course of the Trombetas, on the Mapuera and Turuni Rivers, both left tributaries to the Trombetas. The terminology is discussed in conjunction with the kinship attitudes and related to data on Waiwai kinship practiced in the same region, which were obtained in the field and through publications from authors who researched the Waiwai in other contexts. The objective is to provide an initial panorama of Katwena-Tunayana kinship by exploring its relations to ethnonymy and its contrasts to Waiwai kinship.
Anthropological Linguistics, 2020
Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi - Ciências Humanas, 2019
Este artigo apresenta uma descrição da terminologia de parentesco katwena-tunayana, língua caribe... more Este artigo apresenta uma descrição da terminologia de parentesco katwena-tunayana, língua caribe do norte amazônico, com base em pesquisa de doutorado em curso na bacia do rio Trombetas, afluente da margem esquerda do rio Amazonas, no noroeste do estado do Pará. A terminologia é tomada em conjunto com o sistema de atitudes e relacionada a dados sobre o parentesco waiwai, obtidos diretamente em campo e por meio de consulta a trabalhos de autores que pesquisaram com os Waiwai em outros contextos. O objetivo é fornecer um panorama inicial do parentesco katwena-tunayana, explorando relações com a etnonímia e também o contraste com o parentesco waiwai.
This paper presents a description of kinship terminology in Katwena-Tunayana, a Cariban language of northern Amazonia, based on an ongoing doctoral research project in the Trombetas River Basin, a left tributary to the Amazon River in the northwest of the Brazilian state of Pará. The terminology is discussed in conjunction with the kinship attitudes and related to data on Waiwai kinship, which was obtained in the field and through publications from authors who researched the Waiwai in other contexts. The objective is to provide an initial panorama of Katwena-Tunayana kinship by exploring its relations to ethnonymy and its contrasts to Waiwai kinship.
Monographs by Leonor Valentino
Dissertação de mestrado. Programa de Pós Graduação em Antropologia Social, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, 2010
Este trabalho analisa o cristianismo dos Waiwai, grupo indígena da amazônia setentrional, na regi... more Este trabalho analisa o cristianismo dos Waiwai, grupo indígena da amazônia setentrional, na região de fronteira entre o Brasil e a Guiana, levando em conta a importância que os próprios Waiwai atribuem ao processo de transformação de seu modo de vida a partir da convivência permanente com missionários evangélicos da Unevangelized Fields Mission (UFM), iniciada nos anos 1950. Inspirado na etnografia amazônica recente, este trabalho procura mostrar que o cristianismo waiwai não é apenas um efeito da expansão colonial, mas constitui, do ponto de vista nativo, resultado de transformações operadas pelos Waiwai a partir de seus princípios cosmológicos tradicionais. Trata-se de um trabalho bibliográfico, no qual lanço mão da rica etnografia disponível sobre esse grupo, e também de relatos dos missionários sobre a conversão dos Waiwai. A partir do cotejamento dessas duas fontes, observo que do ponto de vista missionário, o movimento dos Waiwai em direção ao cristianismo segue um padrão convencional comum às narrativas evangélicas, onde a ênfase é a redenção do indivíduo enquanto ser moral autônomo e intrinsecamente mau. Sugiro, ao contrário, que a conversão desses índios não se dá a partir da idéia de indivíduo, e sim como um processo de reconfiguração das relações de consubstancialidade ou parentesco que constituem a pessoa entre os Waiwai.
This dissertation explores the Christianity of the Waiwai, an indigenous group from a region in the Northern Amazon at Brazil's frontier with Guiana. It deals with the importance that the Waiwai themselves attribute to the transformation of their way of life due to their permanent cohabitation with the Evangelical missionaries of the Unevangelized Fields Mission (UFM), initiated in the 1950s. Inspired by recent ethnographic work, this dissertation argues that Waiwai Christianity is not only an effect of the colonial expansion, but constitutes, from the native point of view, an effect of transformations performed by the Waiwai in accordance with their traditional cosmological principles. The dissertation is bibliographic, drawing on the rich ethnographic literature of this group, and also on the reports of missionaries concerning the the conversion of the Waiwai. Comparing these two sources, it can be seen that from the point of view of the missionaries the movement of the Waiwai towards Christianity follows a conventional pattern common to evangelical narratives, where the emphasis is on the redemption of the individual as an autonomous, and intrinsically evil, moral being. However, the present work suggests that the conversion of these indians does not reside in an idea of the individual, but rather in a process of reconfiguration of the relations of consubstantiality or kinship that, for the Waiwai, are what constitute persons.
Esta é uma tese sobre os processos de fabricação da pessoa e do parentesco entre os Katwena e os ... more Esta é uma tese sobre os processos de fabricação da pessoa e do parentesco entre os Katwena e os Tunayana, povos Caribe do norte amazônico, situados na região de tríplice fronteira Brasil-Guiana-Suriname, no noroeste do estado do Pará. Ela se baseia em uma pesquisa etnográfica realizada entre os anos de 2012 e 2018 em diferentes aldeias nos rios Mapuera, Turuni e alto curso do rio Trombetas, onde os Katwena e os Tunayana vivem em intercâmbios com diversos outros povos, notadamente os Waiwai, por intermédio dos quais entraram em contato com a religião cristã, em vertente evangélica, há cinco décadas. Este estudo articula uma investigação sobre a noção de pessoa aos sentidos da vida entre parentes e ao cristianismo, três domínios nos quais a capacidade ou potência de transformação ocupa lugar central.
This dissertation explores the processes involved in the fabrication of the person and of kinship among the Katwena and Tunayana, Carib peoples located in northwestern Pará state, Brazil, in the region along the borders with Guyana and Suriname. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2012 and 2018 in various villages on the Mapuera, Turuni, and upper Trombetas rivers. The Katuena and Tunayana engage in exchanges with other peoples, notably the Waiwai, through whom they entered into contact with evangelical Christian missionaries five decades ago. This study investigates the interconnections among the notion of the person, the meanings of life among kin, and Christianity, three domains in which the capacity or
potency of transformation plays a central role.
Uploads
Papers by Leonor Valentino
This paper presents a description of kinship terminology in Katwena-Tunayana, a Cariban language of northern Amazonia, based on an ongoing doctoral research project in the Trombetas River Basin, a left tributary to the Amazon River in the northwest of the Brazilian state of Pará. The terminology is discussed in conjunction with the kinship attitudes and related to data on Waiwai kinship, which was obtained in the field and through publications from authors who researched the Waiwai in other contexts. The objective is to provide an initial panorama of Katwena-Tunayana kinship by exploring its relations to ethnonymy and its contrasts to Waiwai kinship.
Monographs by Leonor Valentino
This dissertation explores the Christianity of the Waiwai, an indigenous group from a region in the Northern Amazon at Brazil's frontier with Guiana. It deals with the importance that the Waiwai themselves attribute to the transformation of their way of life due to their permanent cohabitation with the Evangelical missionaries of the Unevangelized Fields Mission (UFM), initiated in the 1950s. Inspired by recent ethnographic work, this dissertation argues that Waiwai Christianity is not only an effect of the colonial expansion, but constitutes, from the native point of view, an effect of transformations performed by the Waiwai in accordance with their traditional cosmological principles. The dissertation is bibliographic, drawing on the rich ethnographic literature of this group, and also on the reports of missionaries concerning the the conversion of the Waiwai. Comparing these two sources, it can be seen that from the point of view of the missionaries the movement of the Waiwai towards Christianity follows a conventional pattern common to evangelical narratives, where the emphasis is on the redemption of the individual as an autonomous, and intrinsically evil, moral being. However, the present work suggests that the conversion of these indians does not reside in an idea of the individual, but rather in a process of reconfiguration of the relations of consubstantiality or kinship that, for the Waiwai, are what constitute persons.
This dissertation explores the processes involved in the fabrication of the person and of kinship among the Katwena and Tunayana, Carib peoples located in northwestern Pará state, Brazil, in the region along the borders with Guyana and Suriname. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2012 and 2018 in various villages on the Mapuera, Turuni, and upper Trombetas rivers. The Katuena and Tunayana engage in exchanges with other peoples, notably the Waiwai, through whom they entered into contact with evangelical Christian missionaries five decades ago. This study investigates the interconnections among the notion of the person, the meanings of life among kin, and Christianity, three domains in which the capacity or
potency of transformation plays a central role.
This paper presents a description of kinship terminology in Katwena-Tunayana, a Cariban language of northern Amazonia, based on an ongoing doctoral research project in the Trombetas River Basin, a left tributary to the Amazon River in the northwest of the Brazilian state of Pará. The terminology is discussed in conjunction with the kinship attitudes and related to data on Waiwai kinship, which was obtained in the field and through publications from authors who researched the Waiwai in other contexts. The objective is to provide an initial panorama of Katwena-Tunayana kinship by exploring its relations to ethnonymy and its contrasts to Waiwai kinship.
This dissertation explores the Christianity of the Waiwai, an indigenous group from a region in the Northern Amazon at Brazil's frontier with Guiana. It deals with the importance that the Waiwai themselves attribute to the transformation of their way of life due to their permanent cohabitation with the Evangelical missionaries of the Unevangelized Fields Mission (UFM), initiated in the 1950s. Inspired by recent ethnographic work, this dissertation argues that Waiwai Christianity is not only an effect of the colonial expansion, but constitutes, from the native point of view, an effect of transformations performed by the Waiwai in accordance with their traditional cosmological principles. The dissertation is bibliographic, drawing on the rich ethnographic literature of this group, and also on the reports of missionaries concerning the the conversion of the Waiwai. Comparing these two sources, it can be seen that from the point of view of the missionaries the movement of the Waiwai towards Christianity follows a conventional pattern common to evangelical narratives, where the emphasis is on the redemption of the individual as an autonomous, and intrinsically evil, moral being. However, the present work suggests that the conversion of these indians does not reside in an idea of the individual, but rather in a process of reconfiguration of the relations of consubstantiality or kinship that, for the Waiwai, are what constitute persons.
This dissertation explores the processes involved in the fabrication of the person and of kinship among the Katwena and Tunayana, Carib peoples located in northwestern Pará state, Brazil, in the region along the borders with Guyana and Suriname. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2012 and 2018 in various villages on the Mapuera, Turuni, and upper Trombetas rivers. The Katuena and Tunayana engage in exchanges with other peoples, notably the Waiwai, through whom they entered into contact with evangelical Christian missionaries five decades ago. This study investigates the interconnections among the notion of the person, the meanings of life among kin, and Christianity, three domains in which the capacity or
potency of transformation plays a central role.