A morte e o corpo dos xamãs nas narrativas siona

Abstract

The work examines the relation between representations of the body and notions of death arnong the Siona Indians, a Western Tukanoan group of the Colombian Amazon Basin. Of particular focus is the corporality of shamanic power, which not only enables the shaman to mediate between the invisible and visible realities of the Siona universe, but which also pennits an immortal existence, as opposed to that of the common person. Six narratives which relate the destiny of sharnans bodies and souls are presented as exemples of the possibilities of immortality. Finally, the paper analyzes Siona notions of death and afterlife in view of discussions on the topic concerning other Tukanoan groups, in particular that of Reichel-Dohnatoff for the Desana and that of Cipolletti for the Siona-Secoya. Focus on the body and on shamans characteristic of Tukanoan cosmology.

Keywords

• sharnanic power
• death
• Tukano Indians
• body
• narrative