On the Line: The Nambikwara and Telegraph Lines

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to explore the history of the passage of telegraph lines through the territory occupied by the Nambikwara peoples, based on what I propose to call a theory of lines, formulated by the Nambikwara groups in ritual contexts. My intention is not to speculate whether the ritual somehow reproduces the image of the telegraph lines and roads that crossed Nambikwara territory, originating in a historical experience. Rather, I intend to argue that, for the Nambikwara, roads, telegraph wires, and the lines used during rituals are ontological conductors through which we can reflect on the notion of transformation in this ethnographic context. My hypothesis is that the Nambikwara theory of lines shows a conception of territory in which topography constitutes people and places and has its material expression in the lines that cross spaces and bodies.

Keywords:
Nambikwara; telegraph lines; ritual; territory; body