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The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon

2010-01-01 Social Science
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Release : 2010-01-01
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 675/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon by : Janet M. Chernela

Download or read book The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon written by Janet M. Chernela. This book was released on 2010-01-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wanano Indians of the northwest Amazon have a social system that differs from those of most tropical forest tribes. Neither stratified by wealth nor strictly egalitarian, Wanano society is "ranked" according to rigidly bound descent groups. In this pioneering ethnographic study, Janet M. Chernela decodes the structure of Wanano society. In Wanano culture, children can be "grandparents," while elders can be "grandchildren." This apparent contradiction springs from the fact that descent from ranked ancestors, rather than age or accumulated wealth, determines one's standing in Wanano society. But ranking's impulse is muted as senior clans, considered to be succulent (referring to both seniority and resource abundance), must be generous gift-givers. In this way, resources are distributed throughout the society. In two poignant chapters aptly entitled "Ordinary Dramas," Chernela shows that rank is a site of contest, resulting in exile, feuding, personal shame, and even death. Thus, Chernela's account is dynamic, placing rank in historic as well as personal context. As the deforestation of the Amazon continues, the Wanano and other indigenous peoples face growing threats of habitat destruction and eventual extinction. If these peoples are to be saved, they must first be known and valued. The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon is an important step in that direction.

The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon

2010-01-01 Social Science
Download The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon PDF Online Free

Author :
Release : 2010-01-01
Genre : Social Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 675/5 ( reviews)

GET EBOOK


Book Synopsis The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon by : Janet M. Chernela

Download or read book The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon written by Janet M. Chernela. This book was released on 2010-01-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wanano Indians of the northwest Amazon have a social system that differs from those of most tropical forest tribes. Neither stratified by wealth nor strictly egalitarian, Wanano society is "ranked" according to rigidly bound descent groups. In this pioneering ethnographic study, Janet M. Chernela decodes the structure of Wanano society. In Wanano culture, children can be "grandparents," while elders can be "grandchildren." This apparent contradiction springs from the fact that descent from ranked ancestors, rather than age or accumulated wealth, determines one's standing in Wanano society. But ranking's impulse is muted as senior clans, considered to be succulent (referring to both seniority and resource abundance), must be generous gift-givers. In this way, resources are distributed throughout the society. In two poignant chapters aptly entitled "Ordinary Dramas," Chernela shows that rank is a site of contest, resulting in exile, feuding, personal shame, and even death. Thus, Chernela's account is dynamic, placing rank in historic as well as personal context. As the deforestation of the Amazon continues, the Wanano and other indigenous peoples face growing threats of habitat destruction and eventual extinction. If these peoples are to be saved, they must first be known and valued. The Wanano Indians of the Brazilian Amazon is an important step in that direction.

Advances in Historical Ecology

2012-09-18 Science
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Release : 2012-09-18
Genre : Science
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 577/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Advances in Historical Ecology by : William L. Balée

Download or read book Advances in Historical Ecology written by William L. Balée. This book was released on 2012-09-18. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecology is an attempt to understand the reciprocal relationship between living and nonliving elements of the earth. For years, however, the discipline either neglected the human element entirely or presumed its effect on natural ecosystems to be invariably negative. Among social scientists, notably in geography and anthropology, efforts to address this human-environment interaction have been criticized as deterministic and mechanistic. Bridging the divide between social and natural sciences, the contributors to this book use a more holistic perspective to explore the relationships between humans and their environment. Exploring short- and long-term local and global change, eighteen specialists in anthropology, geography, history, ethnobiology, and related disciplines present new perspectives on historical ecology. A broad theoretical background on the material factors central to the field is presented, such as anthropogenic fire, soils, and pathogens. A series of regional applications of this knowledge base investigates landscape transformations over time in South America, the Mississippi Delta, the Great Basin, Thailand, and India. The contributors focus on traditional societies where lands are most at risk from the incursions of complex, state-level societies. This book lays the groundwork for a more meaningful understanding of humankind's interaction with its biosphere. Scholars and environmental policymakers alike will appreciate this new critical vocabulary for grasping biocultural phenomena.

Scoping the Amazon

2016-07 History
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Release : 2016-07
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 406/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Scoping the Amazon by : Stephen Nugent

Download or read book Scoping the Amazon written by Stephen Nugent. This book was released on 2016-07. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Savage cannibal or utopian proto-environmentalist? Nugent examines both popular images of Amazon peoples in film and general books as well as changing anthropological views of the rainforest and its people.

A Reference Grammar of Kotiria (Wanano)

2013-07-01 History
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Release : 2013-07-01
Genre : History
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 228/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis A Reference Grammar of Kotiria (Wanano) by : Kristine Stenzel

Download or read book A Reference Grammar of Kotiria (Wanano) written by Kristine Stenzel. This book was released on 2013-07-01. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published through the Recovering Languages and Literacies of the Americas initiative, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation This volume is the first descriptive grammar of Kotiria (Wanano), a member of the eastern Tukanoan language family spoken in the Vaupes River basin of Colombia and Brazil in the northwest Amazon rain forest. The Kotirias, who have lived in this remote region for more than seven hundred years, participate in the complex Vaupés social system, characterized by long-standing linguistic and cultural interaction. The Kotirias remained relatively isolated from the dominant societies until the early part of the twentieth century, when increasing outside influence in the region triggered rapid social and linguistic change. Today the Kotirias number only about sixteen hundred people, and their language, though still used in traditional communities, is in risk of becoming endangered. Kristine Stenzel draws on eight years of intensive work with the Kotirias to promote, record, and revitalize their language. Working with dozens of native speakers and drawing on numerous oral narratives and written texts, this book is the first comprehensive study of this endangered language and one of the few reference grammars of this language family.

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