Material Morality: An Ethnography of Value among the Sanema of Venezuelan Amazonia Amy

280 Pages·2015·4.95 MB·English

London School of Economics and Political Science

Material Morality:
An Ethnography of Value among the Sanema of
Venezuelan Amazonia

Amy Penfield

A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology of the
London School of Economics for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

London, March 2015
DECLARATION

I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of
the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other
than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the
extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified
in it).

The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted,
provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced
without my prior written consent.

I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights
of any third party.

I declare this thesis consists of 96,925 words.

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ABSTRACT

This thesis explores the value of manufactured items among the Sanema, a hunting
and horticultural people of Southern Venezuela. By extending the ‘virtue ethics’
approach prevalent in the study of Amazonian societies, I suggest that artefacts are as
much a component of Sanema virtuous conviviality as corporeal practices.
Manufactured items are meaningful in a distinct way to the often-studied crafted
artefacts, which are widely seen to embody the human subjectivities of the maker.
Instead, the valuable prefabricated properties of industrial goods, which I refer to as
‘affordances’, can allow morality to be conceptualised and materialised. The focus on
manufactured items reflects the recent influx of such goods into Sanema lives that
feature centrally in their daily narratives of personhood, sociality and ethical practises.
In drawing attention to these industrial goods that emerge from the wider national
context, I contextualise Sanema experiences within the contemporary setting of
political participation, the market economy and frequent encounters with non-
indigenous people. In contexts that range from expressions of care, inter-ethnic
dependence, acts of justice, manoeuvrability within state apparatus, and the moral
actions of nonhuman beings within the cosmos, the ethnography demonstrates that
morality is often articulated as being realised through or within ‘things’. As such, my
approach attempts to transcend the human-artefact dichotomy by leaving open the
possibility that morality emerges from manifold material forms.

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In memory of Na’ai and Japa

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS 5
LIST OF FIGURES 8
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 9
A NOTE ON ORTHOGRAPHY 11
GLOSSARY OF FREQUENTLY USED TERMS 12
TRANSLATIONS, FIGURES AND PSEUDONYMS 13

PROLOGUE
Generator-Shaped Kinship 14

CHAPTER ONE
Uncovering the Source of Manufactured Value 16
Virtue Ethics in Amazonian Scholarship 16
Coexisting with Manufactured Things 20
Things as Concepts and Concepts as Things 26
Value, Aesthetics and Morality in Action 30
From Crafted and Subjectified to Prefabricated and ‘Moralised’ 32
Reflections on Fieldwork and Methods 37
Chapter Outline 45

PART ONE: DESIRING AND PROCURING THINGS

CHAPTER TWO
Sanema Historical and Regional Context 51
The Sanema 51
Historical Context 54
Life in a Sanema Settlement 60
Kinship 69

CHAPTER THREE
The Pursuit of Good Things: Manufacturing Personhood and Sociality with
Goods 74
The ‘Goods’ Life 76
A Historical Desire for Good Things 79
Owning and Protecting 84
Morality Materialised 89
Conclusion 95

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CHAPTER FOUR
Submission as Extraction: Active Strategies for Procuring Goods 97
Relations of Dependence 100
Timid Fearlessness in the Presence of Others 103
A History of Extraction from the Ye’kwana 108
Nonreciprocal Relations 115
A New Perspective on Predation 118
Conclusion 121

PART TWO: FOUR VALUABLE THINGS

CHAPTER FIVE
Kin as Adornments to the Self: Beads as Kinship 124
Kinning the Absential Body 126
The Properties of Beads 133
The Source and Use of Beads 136
Kin as Adornments to the Self 139
The Moral Affordances of Beads 145
Conclusion 150

CHAPTER SIX
The Sharp and the Flat: The Machete as a Medium of Balance 152
The Properties of Machetes 153
Accompanying Fear 156
Empowering Fearlessness 160
Facilitating Revenge 165
Resolving Conflict 170
The Machete’s Moral Affordances 174
Conclusion 176

CHAPTER SEVEN
Manoeuvring for Knowledge: Experiencing Venezuelan Society with Paper 178
Paper and the State 179
The Properties of Paper 181
Paper for Petrol 183
A Revolution of Goods 186
Communal Council Papers and Diligencia 191
Voyaging for Knowledge 197
Paper’s Moral Affordances 201
Conclusion 204

CHAPTER EIGHT
Between Animism and a Petro-State: Petrol and Moral Relationality 206
A Substance that Doesn’t Fit 208
The Material Manifestation of the Petro-state 210
The Properties of Petrol 213
Moral Animism 216

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The Absence and Presence of a Spirit 219
Petrol’s Poison 221
Petrol Responding 226
Petrol’s Moral Affordances 230
Conclusion 231

CHAPTER NINE 234
Conclusion: Action Emerging from Value 234

BIBLIOGRAPHY 241
APPENDICES 261
Appendix 1: Map of the Caura Basin 261
Appendix 2: Caura Communities 262
Appendix 3: Silverio’s Account of the Founding of Maduaña 263
Appendix 4: Kinship Terminology 264
Appendix 5: The Myth of The Origin of Modern Goods 265
Appendix 6: The Myth of The Origin of the Sanema 268
Appendix 7: Two Stories of the ‘War’ with the Ye’kwana 270
Appendix 8: The Ye’kwana Myth of the Sanema (Shirishana) 272
Appendix 9: Population Segments 273
Appendix 10: The Myth of Pumutuma 274
Appendix 11: The Myth of Waso Osowai 276
Appendix 12: The Myth of the Origin of Fire 277
Appendix 13: Fabiana’s Story of Escape from Oka Töpö 280

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Maduaña’s generator .................................................................................... 15
Figure 2: Outboard motor ............................................................................................ 16
Figure 3: Boy with a pot .............................................................................................. 21
Figure 4: Map of Venezuela with field sites ................................................................ 38
Figure 5: Yanomami language groups ......................................................................... 51
Figure 6: Maduaña’s encampment in Maripa .............................................................. 53
Figure 7: Maduaña with Venezuelan flag .................................................................... 60
Figure 8: Maduaña with family sectors ....................................................................... 62
Figure 9: Sanema men after a hunt .............................................................................. 63
Figure 10: Dancing Shaman ......................................................................................... 65
Figure 11: Sanema man with a yucca-grating machine ............................................... 76
Figure 12: Sanema family at their hearth ..................................................................... 89
Figure 13: Clothed children ......................................................................................... 94
Figure 14: Ye’kwana man speaking to a group of Sanema during the ‘operative’ ... 100
Figure 15: Ye’kwana man sharing roasted frog with a Sanema man ........................ 115
Figure 16: Woman wearing beads ............................................................................. 126
Figure 17: Girl with beads following jokölomo seclusion ......................................... 131
Figure 17: Woman threading beads ........................................................................... 135
Figure 19: Children with beads .................................................................................. 142
Figure 20: Two girls with beads after jokölomo seclusion ........................................ 143
Figure 19: Sanema with Venezuelan flag .................................................................. 147
Figure 22: Woman peeling yucca with a machete ..................................................... 158
Figure 22: Nelson’s back with machete marks .......................................................... 173
Figure 23: The guía .................................................................................................... 179
Figure 24: Sanema man with election ink on finger .................................................. 189
Figure 25: Sanema man with paperwork ................................................................... 193
Figure 26: Children swimming with barrels of petrol ............................................... 208
Figure 27: A group of young Sanema men with barrels of petrol ............................. 214
Figure 28: Gold .......................................................................................................... 219
Figure 29: My Sanema family with some of their matitö .......................................... 239
Figure 30: Map of the Caura basin showing locations of communities .................... 261

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis was made possible by a grant from the Economic and Social Research
council. Its completion was also facilitated by a research studentship from the London
School of Economics and a Childcare grant from the LSE Students Union.
There are many people who have made this thesis possible, only some of
whom have been named here. First and foremost my most profound gratitude goes to
the Sanema of both of the communities where I conducted fieldwork. They graciously
accepted a strange criolla into their lives with laughter, generosity and warmth. In
particular I am indebted to ipa sawa and ipa nawani whose hospitality, patience and
good humour were so precious to me over those years.
This all began with generosity and adventurous spirit of an inspirational
friend, Dyan Summers, to whom I am immensely grateful. If it weren’t for her, I
certainly wouldn’t be writing these acknowledgements now. There were a number of
people in Venezuela whose hospitality, support and bureaucratic acumen I could not
have survived without. Most importantly is Alejandro Reig who invested a lot of
energy in helping me through my permission saga, encouraging me to pursue work
among the Sanema despite the difficulties. I also wish to thank Bettsimar Díaz,
Claudia Urdaneta, Arturo Jose Garcia Arana, and Piera Lo Curto Coelles, all of whom
made my time in Caracas both more fun and more manageable than it would have
been otherwise. In Ciudad Bolívar I was lucky to have Carlos Zagala as a supportive
friend. Time spent with Natalia Cáceres when doing her own research among the
Ye’kwana was helpful to me on an academic and personal level and I am grateful to
her for that. From CAICET I thank Magda Magris and America Perdomo for their
interest in and support of my work with the Sanema. In the Caura region I am
particularly grateful to Aurora Rodriguez and Simon Caura for their kindness and
hospitality, and for feeding me fish when on my way downstream. I am grateful also
to Marcus Colchester for supplying me with a copy of his Sanema dictionary and for
the supportive conversations prior to fieldwork.
In London I wish to thank my supervisors, Michael Scott and Harry Walker,
who have inspired and supported me throughout the PhD. Michael Scott has been my
supervisor since the beginning and I am immensely grateful to him for sharing his

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unique perspectives, which have helped to shape some of my better ideas, but also for
his endless dependability and patience. Harry Walker has been a great support during
the latter part of the writing stage; his encouragement and thoughtful insights have
been invaluable. It is thanks to Olivia Harris that I was able to do this PhD at the LSE,
I only wish I wish I had had more time to get to know her. I am thankful Laura Rival
for taking me on as a student after Olivia’s death. Her perceptive comments and
suggestions were welcome and very useful.
Many of my colleagues at the LSE provided some important insights during
the LSE thesis writing seminar, and I am grateful to all participants. There are a
number of fellow students, though, to whom I owe a particularly big and special thank
you for reading (or listening to) drafts of my work at particularly important stages of
writing up, in particular Matt Wilde, Anna Tuckett, Agustin Diz, Ruben Andersson,
Joanna Whiteley, Ana Paola Gutierrez Garza, Aude Michelet, Alanna Cant and
Daniela Kraemer. I would especially like to thank Tamara Hale, who has been a close
friend throughout the PhD, and who has supplied as many laughs as academic flism
(and often both at the same time). Mathijs Pelkman, Rita Astuti, Fenella Cannell,
Alpa Shah and Charles Stafford also read early drafts of chapters for the thesis writing
seminar and I thank them for their comments. I am grateful to Jane Millar for reading
a draft of the paperwork chapter. Thanks also to Yanina Hinrichsen for being so
organised!
My father’s adventuresome spirit brought him down to my field site where he
became well-known not only for refurbishing the school, but also for his playful spirit
and regular naps. Thanks dad. My deepest gratitude goes to my mother, Ali Cooper,
for helping out with Otto in the early stages and then for dropping everything to come
and look after him during his gamut of illnesses towards the end of the writing up. My
sister, Kate Beaumont, also made the slow transition back into work after the birth of
Otto that much easier. Thank you to Jennifer and Brian Cole for the many years of
refuge in Bath.
Most importantly of all, immeasurable gratitude and respect goes to Alex Cole
who was there from the first mention of a PhD until the final manic moments. There
are a long list of things I could thank Alex for, but mostly I thank him for his infinite
energy, patience and support. And for the excellent maps. Although you might not
read this until you are much older Otto, I thank you for your patience too, and for
quite literally keeping me sane.

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