The Napo Runa of Amazonian Ecuador

Introduction: Value and Ethnographic Translation

Introduction:฀฀ Value฀and฀Ethnographic฀Translation I฀remember฀standing฀with฀a฀group฀of฀Napo฀Runa฀men฀in฀a฀long,฀motorized฀ dugout฀canoe฀at฀the฀edge฀of฀a฀wide,฀slow-moving฀river.฀The฀luscious,฀tall฀ trees฀bent฀toward฀us,฀blocking฀out฀the฀rays฀of฀the฀newly฀risen฀morning฀sun.1 ฀ Birds฀flew฀overhead,฀looping฀and฀singing,฀while฀insects฀buzzed฀and฀chirped.฀ A฀fresh฀rain฀the฀night฀before฀had฀left฀the฀river฀dark,฀and฀intermittent฀clumps฀ of฀debris฀from฀the฀shower฀moved฀steadily฀down฀it.฀Still฀cooled฀from฀the฀ dimness฀and฀the฀passing฀rain,฀the฀air฀was฀crisp. ฀ It฀was฀a฀Sunday฀during฀the฀first฀months฀of฀my฀fieldwork฀in฀Yacu฀Llacta,2 ฀and฀ I฀had฀been฀invited฀to฀play฀in฀a฀soccer฀match฀with฀the฀men,฀who฀had฀joined฀ a฀league฀in฀a฀nearby฀town.฀After฀shoving฀off,฀we฀moved฀slowly฀upriver,฀and฀ I฀struggled฀to฀maintain฀my฀balance฀as฀the฀canoe฀rocked฀back฀and฀forth฀and฀ the฀wind฀gusted.฀The฀men฀around฀me฀were฀talking฀in฀an฀animated฀manner,฀ making฀jokes฀and฀commenting฀on฀current฀events.฀The฀conversation฀turned฀ toward฀Runa฀men฀who฀had฀to฀miss฀the฀game฀because฀they฀were฀working฀in฀ a฀nearby฀ecotourism฀hotel฀owned฀by฀a฀rich฀Swiss฀man฀whom฀the฀Runa฀called฀ the฀“Suizo.”฀The฀captain฀of฀the฀team,฀Jorge,฀complained฀that฀this฀foreigner฀ was฀using฀both฀the฀region’s฀natural฀resources฀and฀its฀people,฀whom฀he฀paid฀ a฀pittance฀compared฀to฀the฀large฀amount฀of฀money฀his฀business฀generated.฀ Jorge฀looked฀at฀me฀angrily฀and฀said,฀“Whites฀[blancos]฀don’t฀understand฀ what฀it฀means฀to฀live฀by฀sharing.฀We฀Runa฀people฀live฀by฀reciprocity฀[pariju฀ causana].”3 ฀I฀appreciated฀Jorge’s฀discourse฀about฀values฀and฀value฀conflicts฀ as฀seen฀from฀the฀Runa฀perspective.฀Other฀people฀in฀the฀canoe,฀however,฀ thought฀that฀Jorge’s฀anger฀was฀directed฀at฀me,฀and฀they฀asked฀him฀to฀be฀ quiet.฀This฀was฀the฀first฀time—but฀not฀the฀last—that฀the฀distrustfulness฀of฀ others฀taught฀me฀something฀important฀about฀value. ฀ This฀book฀resulted฀from฀my฀own฀personal฀inquiry฀into฀value.฀It฀is฀based฀on฀ innumerable฀acts฀and฀experiences฀of฀living,฀participating,฀and฀talking฀about฀ value฀and฀value฀conflicts฀within฀Napo฀Runa฀communities.฀Like฀others฀who฀ 00.INTRO.1-24_Uzen.indd฀฀฀1 5/26/05฀฀฀9:23:42฀AM 2 introduction have฀considered฀value฀from฀an฀anthropological฀perspective฀(Dumont฀1977,฀ 1980,฀1982,฀1986;฀T.฀Turner฀1984,฀1996;฀Munn฀1986;฀Gregory฀1997;฀Piot฀1999;฀ Damon฀2002a,฀2002b;฀Graeber฀2001),฀I฀approach฀it฀as฀an฀ethnographic,฀ theoretical,฀and฀intersubjective฀question฀(Jackson฀1989,฀1996).฀A฀beginning฀ definition฀of฀value฀might฀be฀the฀“chains฀that฀link฀relations฀between฀things฀ to฀relations฀between฀people”฀(Gregory฀1997:12).฀Values฀are฀contained฀not฀in฀ things฀by฀themselves฀but฀only฀in฀a฀total฀social฀context฀of฀people฀and฀things฀ (Gregory฀1982,฀1997).฀As฀I฀argue฀in฀this฀book,฀value฀is฀not฀given฀in฀nature฀but฀ produced฀by฀human฀action฀and฀intentionality฀(see฀Godelier฀2000:260). ฀ There฀is฀more฀at฀stake฀here฀than฀just฀another฀ethnography฀about฀a฀remote฀ place฀in฀Upper฀Amazonia.฀I฀seek฀to฀shed฀light฀on฀how฀data฀from฀the฀Upper ฀Amazon฀fit฀into฀recent฀debates฀about฀gifts฀and฀commodities฀(Gregory฀ 1997;฀Appadurai฀1986;฀Piot฀1999;฀Humphrey฀and฀Hugh-Jones฀1992;฀Bloch฀ and฀Parry฀1989),฀personhood฀and฀kinship฀(Valeri฀1994;฀Strathern฀1988,฀1992;฀ Rival฀and฀Whitehead฀2001;฀Overing฀and฀Passes฀2000;฀Weismantel฀1995),฀ exchange฀theory฀(Mayer฀2002;฀Damon฀2002a,฀2002b),฀and฀Amazonianist฀ debates฀about฀the฀social฀themes฀of฀conviviality฀and฀predation฀(Overing฀and฀ Passes฀2000;฀Viveiros฀de฀Castro฀1992,฀1996;฀Taylor฀1993,฀1996;฀Lorrain฀2000;฀ Santos-Granero฀2000;฀Rivière฀2000).฀I฀also฀address฀social฀theory฀and฀the฀ problem฀of฀how฀other฀cultures฀view฀“society”฀(or฀sociality)฀itself.฀I฀approach฀ the฀issue฀of฀sociality฀from฀the฀perspective฀of฀the฀native฀philosophy฀guiding฀ reproduction,฀the฀native฀theory฀of฀kinship.฀I฀argue฀that฀the฀kinship฀and฀value฀ forms฀discussed฀here฀represent฀a฀sophisticated฀Upper฀Amazonian฀political฀ philosophy.฀This฀system฀has฀deep฀historical฀roots฀in฀the฀pre-Hispanic฀regional฀ systems฀that฀once฀connected฀the฀people฀of฀this฀region฀to฀the฀Lower฀Napo฀and฀ the฀Andean฀world฀through฀modes฀of฀circulation฀that฀included฀trade,฀marriage,฀ and฀possibly฀adoption฀(see฀Uzendoski฀2004a;฀Salomon฀1986;฀Weismantel฀ 1995;฀Kohn฀2002a).฀The฀principles฀behind฀these฀Upper฀Amazonian฀social฀ forms฀are฀not฀immediately฀obvious฀to฀the฀outsider,฀but฀they฀are฀as฀multifaceted ฀and฀complex฀as฀the฀forms฀and฀structures฀of฀the฀capitalist฀world-system฀ (Uzendoski฀2004a). ฀ In฀analyzing฀concepts฀of฀social฀form,฀value,฀and฀value฀metamorphosis,฀I฀ take฀inspiration฀from฀Marx฀(1977),฀who...