Description
Book SynopsisThe Andean nation of Ecuador derives much of its revenue from petroleum that is extracted from its vast Upper Amazonian rain forest, which is home to ten indigenous nationalities. This book presents a trenchant ethnography of history, ecology, imagery, and cosmology to focus on shamans, ceramic artists, myth, ritual, and political engagements.
Trade Review"If there is a single book that is capable of condensing and addressing all of the issues of exchange, articulation with global economies, and ethnogenesis in Amazonia, it is Whitten and Whitten's book Puyo Runa.--Ethnohistory
"As a convincing and accessible account of one people's struggle to comprehend and overcome the challenges of colonial history and a tumultuous geopolitical moment,
Puyo Runa stands as a powerful argument for the essential perspective that only long-term, rigorous, and imaginative ethnography can provide."--
Anthropological Quarterly "This career capstone volume will be broadly useful for all social scientists as well as Latin Americanists. . . . Highly recommended."--
ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgements ix
Notes on Orthography and Pronunciation xxi
Notes on Pronouns, People, and Pseudonyms xxv
1. Puyo Runa and Nayapi Llacta 1
2. Cultural Reflexivities, Images, and Locality 30
3. Empowerment, Knowledge, and Vision 59
4. Connections: Creative Expressions of Canelos Quichua Women
Dorothea Scott Whitten 90
5. Imagery and the Control of Power 119
6. Cultural Performance 140
7. Aesthetic Contours: History, Conjuncture, and Transformation
Dorothea Scott Whitten and Norman Whitten 167
8. Return of the Yumbo: The Caminata from Amazonia to Andean Quito
Norman Whitten, Dorothea Scott Whitten, and Alfonso Chango 200
9.
Causaunchimi!: Processes of Empowerment 231
Glossary 259
References 271
Index 293
