Shamanism and Politics in the Uaçá (Lower Oiapoque, Amapá, Brazil)
Between September and November 2007, convulsive crises affecting teenagers shook the Galibi Marworno village of Kumarumã (Indigenous Territory in Uaçá), revealing the precarious balance that had been struck over the past 40 years in terms of the religious and ethnic re-composition, institutional alliances and relocation of the economic center from the Cassiporé River to the town of Oiapoque. The flagrant defiance against the Pajé (a local name given to shaman) and the political crisis which followed this episode seem to give way to an outdated interpretation of the situation harkening back to the « spiritual wars », a time when families lived dispersed for fear of disease spread by assault sorcery. This situation is resented as anachronistic, as community leadership has become increasingly institutionalized, more managerial and less spiritual. These recent events provide us with an opportunity to examine the changing relationships between shamanism and politics since Brazil annexed Northern Amapá in 1900.