Dodged debts and the submissive predator: perspectives on Amazonian relations of dependence

Abstract

This article explores the nature of inter‐ethnic asymmetry and the dynamic of long‐term dependence in Amazonia. Drawing on the case of the Sanema and their neighbouring Ye'kwana, it seeks to gain a deeper understanding of submission and indebtedness with a view to rethinking where the power might lie in such relationships. The association between the two groups, I argue, is motivated by the Sanema's pursuit of manufactured items, access to which the Ye'kwana had historically monopolized. The dynamic entered into in order to procure these goods is one of voluntary deference on the part of the Sanema, a demeanour that is actively pursued because it enables morally valued autonomy and a freedom from ongoing reciprocity. I conclude that this ‘submissive extraction’ can offer new perspectives on the relationship between debt, predation, and freedom.

Contractual dependencies:

“…But disability in other societies can be more associated with the “socio‐centric” value of being part of social networks of dependencies rather than with individual work capacity, appearance, or ability (e.g., Livingston ; Nicolaisen ; Whyte and Ingstad , 11). Dependencies on others, in this perspective, can be not a backward system but a valued achievement and a route toward social mobility (e.g., Ferguson ; Penfield ; Scherz ). In sub‐Saharan Africa, “wealth in people” (Guyer ; Miers and Kopytoff ) as a mode of political power and a way of becoming a valuable person demonstrates how dependencies can be desired.…”

“…Furthermore, the beggars’ written and oral flattery invokes models of patronage common in many parts of Africa (e.g., Barber ; Irvine ; Vail and White ), and which hold a prominent position in various aspects of Kinois popular culture (e.g., White ; Pype ). Beggars performed deference as a “declaration of dependence” to extract resources (Bonilla ; Penfield ), and the declaration had a coercive edge.…”

“…Despite assumptions to the contrary, personhood is not something that must be universally conceptualized in liberal frameworks of sustainability and self‐reliance, and subordinate relationships are not always paired with lack of control or freedom (Englund ; Ferguson ; Kowalski ; Mahmood ; Penfield ; Scherz ). Ultimately, however, attention to practices of petitioning reveals that even if the practicalities of asking for help are very similar, people consider some dependent relationships more morally valuable than others.…”

Animal Transference and Transformation Among Wounaan

“…). Other scholars recognize relationships of dependence by voluntary submission, such as among the Huaorani (Rival ), Sanema (Penfield ), and Urarina (Walker ), or by being, like Cofán, ungrateful predators whose predatory agency is beyond Cofán initiative and control (Cepek ). While illustrating asymmetrical aspects of care among the Urarina, Walker (:209) has noted that moral conceptions of what is good and valuable relate to how “the self is made through accompaniment and cannot be reduced to a stable or unitary point of view.” Londoño Sulkin () finds an “Amazonian package” of resemblances among lowland South American indigenous peoples: that human bodies are socially fabricated, within the context of a perspectival cosmos, and that relations with dangerous outside others are indispensable to this process.…”

“…Predation and commensality have been described as distinct, "yet dynamically articulated forms of producing people and sociality" (Fausto 2007:500)-a notion furthered by attention to unequal relationships of mastery (control and/or protection), ownership, and nurture (cultivation and care of the quality of humanity) in Amazonia (Brightman et al 2016). Other scholars recognize relationships of dependence by voluntary submission, such as among the Huaorani (Rival 1999), Sanema (Penfield 2017), and Urarina (Walker 2013), or by being, like Cofán, ungrateful predators whose predatory agency is beyond Cofán initiative and control (Cepek 2015). While illustrating asymmetrical aspects of care among the Urarina, Walker (2013:209) has noted that moral conceptions of what is good and valuable relate to how "the self is made through accompaniment and cannot be reduced to a stable or unitary point of view."…”