Title: A production of alterity:The Wayãpi of the Upper Oyapockand isolated groups
Abstract:This study was carried out amongst the Wayapi Amerindians of French Guiana, who have been
made sedentary by governmental ‘francisation’ policies since the 1970s. Based on geographic
location, ethnoh...This study was carried out amongst the Wayapi Amerindians of French Guiana, who have been
made sedentary by governmental ‘francisation’ policies since the 1970s. Based on geographic
location, ethnohistorical literature and Ameridian discourse, it proposes the definition of three
“zones” near the Franco-Brazilian border which could potentially be inhabited by isolated or
unknown Amerindians. Reviewing concepts of alterity and ontologies (Descola 2013), as well as
Amerindian discourse on isolated groups, it identifies the foundational elements present in the
Wayapi’s alterity production processes concerning the isolated groups in the Upper Oyapock
River region. It distinguishes six categories of elements the Wayapi resort to when producing
alterity vis-a-vis the isolated groups. It concludes that this alterity production happens
predominantly within naturalism, with only a few cases of animism. This research contributes
to a better understanding not only of sociality in general, but also of sociocosmological patterns
in Lowland South America. Furthermore, ascertaining how the sedentary Wayapi see the
isolated groups and how this alterity is constructed may help to determine whether the legal
right of the isolated group to remain isolated (right of self-determination) is in danger.Read More
Publication Year: 2019
Publication Date: 2019-03-01
Language: en
Type: dissertation
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