Journal of Ethnobiology
September 22, 2024
James Andrew Whitaker, Vikram Tamboli, Lewis Daly et al.
8 citations
Among Indigenous peoples in the Guianas, including the Makushi, Pemon, and Karinya, certain plants are regarded as animate, agentive beings—plant persons—that can act independently or in concert with humans. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and archival records, the article describes how these plants exert agency in contexts of subsistence, shamanism, assault sorcery, and romantic attraction, as well as within extractive frontiers such as mining, forestry, and plantation agriculture. The authors argue that these botanical agencies shape relationships between humans and plants, raising questions about how plant persons are positioned across different practices and how they interact with shamans, sorcerers, hunters, gardeners, and miners.
Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America
January 1, 2012
James Andrew Whitaker
7 citations
A book review of Carlos Fausto's 'Warfare and Shamanism in Amazonia' describes the work as examining the relationship between warfare and shamanism among indigenous Amazonian peoples. The book argues that these practices are interconnected and central to social and cosmological life, challenging Western distinctions between war and religion. Fausto draws on ethnographic fieldwork and historical sources to show how shamanic power and warrior status are mutually constitutive, with both involving predation and transformation. The review notes the book's detailed analysis of ritual, myth, and social organization, presenting it as a significant contribution to Amazonian anthropology.
Folklore
October 2, 2025
James Andrew Whitaker, Lewis Daly
Pathogenic projectiles called waawî among the Makushi people of Guyana are ambiguous entities that are both objects and beings. Fabricated by shamans as embodiments of spirit-helpers, these magical darts exist beyond conventional distinctions between nature and culture. Similar pathogenic objects are also used by other-than-human owners and masters, as well as certain stars. The article argues that these Makushi shamanic concepts challenge familiar dualisms such as material/immaterial, body/spirit, and subject/object, offering new insights into debates about animism in Amazonia.