The Napo Runa of Amazonian Ecuador

3. Ritual Marriage and Making Kin

3 Ritual฀Marriage฀and฀Making฀Kin Weddings฀are฀celebrated฀by฀three฀days’฀festivity,฀which฀consists฀ principally฀in฀chicha฀drinking,฀with฀singing,฀dancing,฀and฀music฀ kept฀up฀incessantly฀day฀and฀night. —Alfred฀Simson฀(1883:24)฀on฀Napo฀Runa฀weddings Before฀my฀wedding,฀during฀the฀“dry”฀months฀of฀1994,฀I฀and฀those฀associated ฀with฀my฀adoptive฀family฀in฀Yacu฀Llacta฀spent฀months฀preparing฀for฀the฀ arrival฀of฀the฀warmi฀parti,฀or฀“woman’s฀side.”฀On฀the฀day฀the฀warmi฀parti฀ was฀due,฀I฀was฀particularly฀exhausted฀from฀having฀stayed฀up฀all฀the฀previous฀ night,฀participating฀in฀the฀fiesta฀for฀the฀cari฀parti,฀or฀“man’s฀side.”฀We฀had฀ been฀preparing฀for฀weeks:฀fishing,฀harvesting฀manioc,฀preparing฀beverages฀ and฀food,฀recruiting฀helpers฀and฀other฀ritual฀participants฀for฀the฀wedding฀ ceremony,฀and฀providing฀the฀warmi฀parti฀with฀transportation฀from฀Pucara. ฀ Galo฀and฀I฀were฀now฀waiting฀for฀the฀buses฀that฀were฀to฀bring฀the฀bride฀ and฀her฀relatives,฀both฀near฀and฀distant,฀from฀Pucara.฀The฀river฀was฀clear,฀ low,฀and฀slow฀moving฀under฀an฀unforgiving฀sun;฀we฀waited฀for฀hours฀on฀ that฀incredibly฀hot฀day.฀At฀one฀point฀Galo฀said฀to฀me,฀“They฀aren’t฀coming.฀ They฀stood฀you฀up.฀Let’s฀go฀home.”฀Dejected฀and฀tired,฀I฀replied,฀“Let’s฀ wait฀just฀a฀few฀more฀minutes.” ฀ Suddenly฀we฀heard฀the฀rumble฀of฀a฀bus฀in฀the฀distance.฀In฀a฀few฀minutes฀ three฀buses฀emerged฀from฀the฀trees฀and฀came฀to฀an฀abrupt฀stop฀amid฀a฀cloud฀ of฀dust.฀People฀began฀exiting฀quickly.฀They฀were฀talking฀in฀an฀animated฀fashion ,฀carrying฀many฀things,฀and฀shouting฀and฀laughing.฀A฀grandmother฀got฀ off฀the฀bus฀and฀came฀right฀up฀to฀me.฀She฀greeted฀me฀as฀masha฀(son-in-law)฀ and฀took฀my฀hand,฀stroking฀it฀gently.฀She฀said,฀“It฀is฀our฀custom฀to฀give฀the฀ masha฀a฀name฀on฀his฀wedding฀day.฀I฀don’t฀think฀I฀have฀ever฀seen฀such฀a฀hot฀ summer฀day฀as฀this.฀Look฀how฀the฀sun฀burns.”฀She฀looked฀up฀at฀the฀sun฀and฀ then฀turned฀around,฀announcing,฀“This฀is฀our฀inti฀masha฀[sun฀masha].” 03.69-94_Uzen.indd฀฀฀69 5/26/05฀฀฀9:25:22฀AM 70 the napo runa of amazonian ecuador Liminality฀and฀Production According฀to฀Van฀Gennep฀(1965:3),฀“The฀life฀of฀an฀individual฀in฀any฀society฀is฀ a฀series฀of฀passages฀from฀one฀age฀to฀another.”฀Van฀Gennep฀thus฀saw฀society฀ as฀a฀series฀of฀transformations.฀His฀insight฀was฀to฀suggest฀that฀transitional฀rites฀ exhibit฀a฀general฀logic฀of฀three฀essential฀phases.฀First฀there฀is฀separation.฀Next฀ there฀is฀the฀“liminal”฀period,฀in฀which฀the฀person฀is฀symbolically฀outside฀society ฀and฀“in-between”฀communities฀or฀cohorts.฀Last฀there฀is฀incorporation,฀ which฀signals฀a฀new฀status฀of฀the฀postliminal฀person฀(Van฀Gennep฀1965;฀Morris฀ 1987).฀This฀schema฀has฀influenced฀many฀different฀anthropologists,฀but฀Victor฀ Turner฀in฀particular฀has฀developed฀and฀refined฀this฀complex฀of฀ideas. ฀ In฀“Betwixt฀and฀Between,”฀from฀The฀Forest฀of฀Symbols฀(1967),฀Turner฀describes ฀the฀characteristics฀of฀the฀liminal฀period.฀Liminality฀is฀an฀ambiguous฀ condition฀in฀which฀all฀categories฀and฀classifications฀are฀ritually฀dissolved,฀with฀ the฀dissolution฀often฀expressed฀through฀metaphors฀and฀role฀reversals.฀In฀ addition,฀liminality฀often฀includes฀a฀period฀of฀seclusion฀or฀symbols฀thereof.฀ Moreover,฀stress฀is฀put฀on฀the฀absolute฀authority฀of฀elders,฀who฀are฀the฀keepers฀ of฀morality฀and฀ritual฀knowledge.฀Turner฀thus฀views฀liminality฀as฀a฀mode฀of฀ ritual฀action฀linked฀to฀social฀process,฀a฀means฀of฀creating฀and฀transforming฀ social฀relationships.฀Turner฀shows฀that฀explanations฀of฀liminality฀must฀rest฀ not฀on฀structure฀but฀rather฀on฀its฀negation. ฀ Ritual฀liminality฀produces฀real฀effects฀within฀society,฀for฀rituals฀create฀value฀ by฀transforming฀relationships.฀Indeed,฀the฀rituals฀I฀will฀discuss฀employ฀antistructural ฀processes฀to฀emphasize฀dissolving฀relationships฀and฀identities.฀The฀ destructive฀aspect฀of฀ritual฀and฀public฀action,฀however,฀is฀internal฀to฀production ฀itself฀(Damon฀2002b:127).฀Ritual฀marriage฀among฀the฀Runa฀exhibits฀ principles฀of฀destruction฀that฀allow฀for฀social฀recombination฀and฀the฀production ฀of฀valued฀relationships฀that฀define฀adult฀personhood.฀Ritual฀involves฀the฀ exchange฀and฀circulation฀not฀only฀of฀things฀but฀also฀of฀the฀relational฀parts฀ of฀persons฀(Damon฀2002b). ฀ This฀view฀of฀ritual,฀however,฀becomes฀clear฀when฀framed฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀ argument฀that฀marriage฀among฀the฀Runa฀is฀part฀of฀a฀total฀social฀process.฀ Marriage฀processes฀unfold฀from฀the฀Napo฀Runa฀notion฀of฀persons฀“with฀ relationship฀already฀implied”฀(Wagner฀1991:163).฀As฀I฀will฀detail฀later,฀marriage ฀not฀only฀transforms฀individual฀persons฀but฀also฀reproduces฀the฀whole฀of฀ Napo฀Runa฀society.฀Napo฀Runa฀people฀say...