Percursos no Mawa Yuxyn: conexões e reflexões sobre o xamanismo feminino Yawanawa

Abstract

The thesis proposed herewith is an ethnography that addresses the theme of Yawanawa female shamanism, whose research was carried out from the composition of the analysis of anthropological literature, the material available in the media relevant to the theme, specially interviews and videos, the experiences of the author at the Mawa Yuxyn Center (Mountain of the spirits) in the Rio Gregório Indigenous Land in Acre, in the municipality of Tarauacá, combined with participation in some shamanic ceremonies held in cities in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, adding to the analysis of anthropological literature and material available in the media relevant to the topic, especially interviews and videos. The Yawanawa are self-recognized as the “Yawanawa people” and belong to the Pano linguistic family. The main aim of the ethnografic investigation was the reflect on the ascendancy of the female Shamanism and its meanings, considering that in Yawanawa Shamanism the male exercise prevaleid. The involvement of women with shamanic practices in villages and ceremonies performed in urban centers is relatively recent, it has not yet reached two decades. Therefore, the research proposal problematized the possible particularities of that Shamanism. Next, some aspects of Yawanawa cosmology are addressed, with an emphasis on the changes that have taken place since women began to perform the Muká Diet. It can be inferred that the participation of women in Yawanawa Shamanism, especially in relation to their visibility, grew concomitantly with the period called Yawanawa cultural revitalization, which coincides with the intensification of alliances between the Yawanawa and the Nawa (from in a general way, in a relation of alterity, Nawa means white people), consequently expanding the insertion of shamans in ceremonies in the urban centers of transnational cities. Apparently, the entry of women into Yawanawa Shamanism has caused transformations in the processes of initiation and learning of Shamanism, constituting a process of seeking financial autonomy and female legitimacy in a space that until then was predominantly male, which dictated the rules about life management choices. Many of these changes are expressed in ceremonies, in the songs, in aesthetics and in corporeality, of which the reactivation of the Yawanawa kene is an example.