Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that folktales in some societies are characterized by a culturally constructed underlying emotional structure, or Cultural Emotion Schema. In this paper we argue that Matsigenka illness narratives and folk stories share an underlying emotion schema, in which death and suffering result from conflicts between strong-willed individuals prompting anger and aggression. Analysis of illness narratives collected by Izquierdo in the Matsigenka community of Kamisea in the Peruvian Amazon between 1996 and 1999 reveals a common pattern in which envy and frustration lead to the belief in sorcery as the main cause of illness and death. This pattern contrasts with the typical stories of a previous generation collected by the Johnsons among the Matsigenka of Shimaa and other Matsigenka researchers, where sorcery beliefs were virtually absent. Our argument is that important changes in ecology, community, politics, and religion have led to a systematic rise in feelings of envy and frustration, and that these have increased the likelihood that sorcery accusations will occur. We explore the likelihood that such beliefs increase as egalitarian peoples become more crowded into settlements where they are likely to experience greater inequality, more competition for resources and increased societal and personal stress.
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Notes
We refer to the Matsigenka living in the upper and lower Urubamba regions, where the majority of this population resides. In our discussion we do not include the Matsigenka of the Madre de Dios regions and Manu National Park, as their historical and political situation is quite different (see Shepard 1998, 1999, 2002).
Dreams of snakes indicate great danger and imply the dreamer’s fear. Additionally, as we will discuss, the Matsigenka are reluctant and fearful to refuse requests.
While both sorcery and witchcraft use magic for evil purposes, witches have the distinction of being in a supernatural class of their own, as “member[s] of a special class of human beings believed to be endowed with a special power and propensity for evil. His or her power is an intrinsic attribute, a sort of class prerogative, not an acquired skill accessible to anyone” (Murdock 1980, p 67). In other words, you can learn sorcery, but you must be born a witch. Murdock argues that while witchcraft is more prevalent in societies where social status differences are more pronounced and factors such as lineage, class, and gender are believed to determine who is a witch, sorcery predominates in South America, as in any nonliterate society with less cultural complexity and social stratification. Societies like the Matsigenka, which lack a class system and in which access to the supernatural is widely distributed among the population, provide exceptionally fertile ground for the development of sorcery practices. Other important differences between witchcraft and sorcery are evident in the different treatment methods employed. Sorcery can be treated using magical therapies, typically the removal of an intrusive object or alien spirit. Witchcraft is less susceptible to treatment after the fact, as it often leaves no trace. Its victims rely to a greater degree on prevention: wearing protective devices such as amulets or uttering verbal formulas. Individuals who master techniques for producing illness by “magical” means also possess knowledge that can be applied to counteract the efforts of the sorcerer, the medicine man par excellence. Stewart and Strathern (2004) also note that witches are characterized by “eating the victim’s life force” and sorcerers more generally by “inflicting sickness through magical means” (6).
The rubber boom represents the most hostile period of contact among the Matsigenka, the outside world, and other neighboring groups. Matsigenka were frequently the target of slave-raiders, who forced them to work in latex extraction as the demand for rubber to fuel the military activities of other countries and a demand for rubber in the rest of the world increased steadily.
Both areas have had centuries of medical traditions where shamans, curers, and curanderos practice their trade on victims of sorcery-induced illnesses.
Sorcery and accusations due to envy and competition of resources have been present in populations since times immemorial: in the highlands, in the Andes, and in many places in the Amazon. We are only noting that among the Matsigenka, who have been fairly isolated until recent decades, sorcery and envy were not mentioned as major causes of illness until now.
Tragically, there are no practicing shamans in the Kamisea region. The Evangelical church was instrumental in stamping out the cultural influence of shamans through wholesale demonization of their practices. Curers have filled the void created by a demand for traditional medicine and answers to spiritual concerns. These curers serve the function that shamans used to serve, but with some differences in their social status, knowledge, and treatment methods.
Ana was interviewed in the Matsigenka language, and both Sebastián and Antonio in Spanish.
Ana’s recollections vary over time, as can be appreciated in this narrative in relation to the quote cited in the Introduction; that is, the mention of a snake dream in the first narrative. Izquierdo’s research included the understanding of recall memory in illness episodes over time (from 1997 until 1999 and then in 2004), which meant that the details of stories varied over time.
Women have far more latitude in claiming sorcery hexes and for being excused from community work than do men.
Posanga (inchashi inchatoshi) is “love” magic that often uses plant potions to attract members of the opposite sex. The Matsigenka complain about the introduction of these potions by other indigenous groups, such as the Piro, the Ashaninca, and now Mestizo outsiders.
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Acknowledgments
Funding from several institutions made this research possible: Fulbright IIE, National Science Foundation Dissertation Research Grant SBR-9707454, the Anthropology Department at UCLA, and the Sloan Foundation (Center on Everyday Lives of Families; CELF) at UCLA. We are especially thankful to the Matsigenka people of Peru for their generosity and friendship always.
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Izquierdo, C., Johnson, A. Desire, Envy and Punishment: A Matsigenka Emotion Schema in Illness Narratives and Folk Stories. Cult Med Psychiatry 31, 419–444 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-007-9067-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-007-9067-x