Abstract
This article presents an ethnographic approach to shamanism, its materialities, and innovations. The presence of women in the vast literature on classic themes like kinship, shamanism, and ritual is timid and inexpressive, while leaders and shamans have been normatively described as men. Based on the trajectory of Kamaya (Iamony) Mehinako, including her shamanic initiation, this article analyzes the actions of women leaders and shamans within the contexts of their communities and beyond. The Mehinako data are analyzed in dialogue with literature from the region (Barcelos Neto, 2008; Figueiredo, 2015; Guerreiro, 2015) in order to reflect on Mehinako gender and corporeality, the relationship with the city, and recent transformations. This text is intended to investigate the place of these women among their people by weaving networks of care and simultaneously producing kinship and otherness every day.
Keywords
Shamanism; Upper Xingu; Mehinako; Indigenous Amazonia; Gender relations