Time to move: winds and the political economy of space in Andamanese culture

Abstract

Seasons, or temporal duration, for Andamanese are created by the flow of winds through the Andamanese cultural construct of space, which is neither fixed nor constant. In order to organize the space for society, Andaman islanders have to move constantly out from the place where the winds are. Winds associated with temperamental spirits are powerful aspects of nature that culture has to negotiate. Within this worldview where winds affect individual body condition and the capacity to continue hunting and gathering, Andaman islanders negotiate space by creating conditions that invite winds to structure and sustain life. For this purpose, smells are ritualized and wind movements are manipulated. As a result, seasons are distinguished either by winds that are spirit‐given, or by a lack of winds caused by islanders' actions. Based on ethnographic data from the Ongees and Jarwas, this analysis will focus on how various forms of movement in Andamanese culture are negotiated according to a political economy of winds and smells. The worldview of the Andaman islanders, within which winds are so central, has major implications for government authorities, who are keen to confine the translocating Jarwas to a specific and permanent location. But is this possible for the Andamanese, for whom space, like time, changes by the presence and absence of winds?

Smell with inspiration: The evolutionary significance of olfaction

“…Humans even exhibit tremendous cultural variation in olfactory stimuli and value (Airkem Inc., 1952; Gilbert and Wysocki, 1987; Classen, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999; Pandya, 1990, 1993, 2007; Stoddart, 1990;Lancet et al, 1993; Zimmer, 2002; Menashe et al, 2003; Drobnik, 2006; Menashe and Lancet, 2006; Keller and Vosshall, 2007; Keller et al, 2007; Moreno‐Estrada et al, 2008). Classen (1993) reviews odor‐related culture‐bound olfactory values.…”

“…The ethnographic data pointing to cultural variation in olfaction and experimental data pointing to variation in perception–behavior relationships (Airkem Inc., 1952; Gilbert and Wysocki, 1987; Classen, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999; Pandya, 1990, 1993, 2007; Zimmer, 2002) suggest that the taste and smell industry could be making more individually tailored chemical compounds for its clients (who in turn produce foods, cleaning products, perfumes, etc.). A clearer understanding of the interaction between genes and odor perception has the potential to impact the taste and smell consumer product industry in terms of product development and demographic marketing.…”

Space, Place, and Hunting Patterns among Indigenous Peoples of the Guyanese Rupununi Region

“…Many studies have addressed the relevance of including spiritual and indigenous knowledges in studies of indigenous resource use alongside other forms of knowledge (Ulloa et al, 1996;Silvius, 2004;Pandya, 2007;Watson and Huntington, 2008;Berkes, 2009;Peloquin and Berkes, 2009;Roth, 2009). Cultural and spiritual 'rules' of behavior control such aspects of life as location of resource use areas (Redford and Robinson, 1987;Silvius, 2004;Ulloa et al, 2004), food taboos (Ross, 1978;Silvius, 2004), and timing of specific activities.…”

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Breath, Body and World

“…For the Karo, understandings of spirit are not conceived as in opposition to the material body, as might be considered in the Cartesian tradition. Vishvajit Pandya (2007) perceives that questioning such conventional Western modes of envisioning breath and soul is critical to comprehending modes of life in the Andaman Islands. He notes:For [the West] there is an ontological opposition between spirits and matter…[This] opposition implies that spirits are immaterial.…”