"LITTLE HANDBOOK FOR GETTING MARRIED AND NOT DYING": NOTES ON SUBSTANCE IN DJEOROMITXI KINSHIP

Abstract

This article provides an understanding of the role of substances in the processes of kinship as experienced by the Djeoromitxi (a hunting, fishing and fermented drink-consuming people from southwest Amazonia). It focuses on the effects of substances on the constitution of persons and their connection to the model of marriage alliance, group membership and, conversely, to elaborations of incest as metaphorized in the unwanted effects of such substances. I elucidate how the fabrication of people and metamorphosis inscribe themselves in the realm of kinship and propose that this encounter should be read by way of opposite-sex relations, especially in conjugality.

Key words:
Substance; Kinship; Djeoromitxi; Amazon