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Narratives on menstruation and its transformations in the Northwest Amazon

Abstract:

In this article, I place in the foreground Tukano, Desana and Tuyuka feminine narratives, about the transformations of care in the first menstruation and I demonstrate how these women formulate the variations in the practices of (self) care in terms of moralities elaborated in the form of rules/laws [duhtiro] linked to different spatialities-temporalities; the time of grandmothers and longhouses, the time of priests and nuns and boarding schools, and the time of parents and communities and indigenous schools; that can coexist according to the configuration of each family and personal experiences. The memories have an affective and moral content and reveal vulnerabilities, responsibilities and care taken to protect themselves and others, which shape generational and gender differences and orbit around the conceptual universe of shamanic incantations [bahsese], counseling [werese], and abstinences [betise].

Keywords:
menstruation; care; female narratives; Eastern Tukanoan

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