essay

Effects of contact on revenge hostilities among the Achuará Jívaro

Warfare, culture, and environmentOrlando, Fla.Published In 1984 • Pages: 83-109

By: Bennett Ross, Jane.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this article, Ross examines how internecine conflict among the Jivaro intensified with commercial penetration in the post-contact era. According to Ross, feuds were periodic and originally related to ecological factors, however with the slave trade, rubber boom, gold rush, and in the 20th century, lumbering, Europeans made alliances with certain groups to keep the area safe for commerce, which created the basis for perpetual warfare. Ross focuses on the Achuará, a less studied Jivaro group living along the headwaters and middle ranges of the Pastaza and Morona rivers. In this region, the collection of cinchona bark to make quinine was the principle commercial activity followed by cattle ranching. Shrunken heads were exchanged for guns, escalating fighting between groups. Jivaro groups also blamed epidemics on each other, precipitating additional raids and killing. Ross analyzes a 1973 killing and the failure of commercial interests and relations to trump kinship relations and need for retribution.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Acculturation and culture contact
Settlement patterns
Inter-community relations
External relations
Instigation of war
Warfare
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Jivaro
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2000
RegionThe area the document pertains to
South America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Amazon and Orinoco
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Ian Skoggard; 2005
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1973-1974
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1815-1974
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Peru and Ecuador
NotesAdditional notes
Jane Bennett Ross
Hans Stade was a captive among an eastern Brazilian tribe from 1547 to 1555.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 107-109)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
83021452
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Jivaro Indians/Shuar Indians