Abstract
This paper explores the transformations of shamanism among the Baniwa, an indigenous people of the Northwest Amazon whose members mainly converted to evangelicalism in the mid-20th century. Based on an approach that stresses the “dialogical” dimension of shamanic activities, it describes the ancient forms of baniwa pajelança (shamanism), the alterations they suffered due to the dissemination of evangelicalism and the contemporary attempts to rehabilitate some of their aspects through “cultural revitalization projects”. By using the notion of “patrimonialization”, that helps to think these recent cultural policies, I show that the baniwa pajelança is being dissociated from its former uses and transferred to another social sphere, the external relations area, in which it is mobilized primarily to gain prestige and to attract resources from the world of white people. As a conclusion, I suggest to consider this new expression of baniwa pajelança as a “shamanism of interface”.
Keywords:
shamanism; Baniwa; Upper Rio Negro; patrimonialization