Relations with Powerful Beings in the Bajo Urubamba, Peruvian Amazonia

• In Event: Obliged by Powerful Others: Reciprocity and Obligation in Indigenous South-America

Abstract

Almost everyone in the Bajo Urubamba area is Christian of one sort or
another, but the Christian God coexists with a number of other
supernatural agents such as the dead and the powerful beings of the river
and forest. Relations with these supernatural beings, including the
Christian God, take a variety of forms ranging from fear to love. Central
to the relations between humans and powerful beings are attempts to both
elicit compassionate help and avoid harm from the latter through the
bodily transformations of the former. The paper will explore how adequate
concepts of reciprocity and obligation are to elucidate the underlying
generative template of action.

Author

• Peter G Gow, University of St Andrews